Wil Herrington wasn’t the only Durrence Layne Late Model racer to enter Sunday’s $2,000-to-win feature at Magnolia Motor Speedway with no prior experience at the notoriously slick track, but he was the only one to win.
Herrington, a native of Cochran, Georgia, ascended to the lead early after pole-sitter Austin Franklin exited briefly for repairs. Herrington would survive a feverish charge to the front by Ashton Winger, the 2018 Durrence Layne touring series points champion, over the last five laps to hold on and win the Salute To The Army National Guard 40.
Herrington looked unbeatable in the first half of the 40-lap race, displaying the ability to drive all three lanes and navigating lap traffic without issue. But the car “started going away” over the last 10 laps, Herrington said.
“We were just trying to hang on at that point,” he said. “We’ve never been here before, so tires, that was one thing we weren’t really sure about. But the car was really good about halfway through, and then we started getting really tight. Luckily, I think the one-lane track started helping us a bit.”
Herrington is in his first season competing on the Durrence Layne Touring Series. He finished seventh in the Durrence Layne race at Whynot Motorsports Park on Saturday and said his car was good enough there to finish in the top 3.
The win is a positive turn of fortune for Herrington, whose team had battled suspension problems for much of the season, including “bent” suspension parts that were difficult to diagnose, he said. The suspension issues bled into Sunday night, too, and provided an interesting plot twist at the end of the race: Winger’s team loaned Herrington suspension parts Sunday, and on lap 39, Winger and Herrington tangled in turn 3, with the former spinning out, exiting the race and finishing 18th.
“If it weren’t for (Winger) and his dad, I wouldn’t even be racing today,” Herrington said. “We bent some suspension parts last night – the whole left front suspension is theirs.”
Herrington said he’d like to think of the late-race contact as a “racing deal,” but he wanted to watch the race film before making a determination.
“I saw (Winger), and my dad was giving me signals that he was getting closer and closer,” Herrington said. “I saw him when we got off (turn 2), and I thought I drove far enough in there to get down in front of him getting into turn 3. I feel bad about it. (Winger) said it was his fault, but I feel like I probably cost him the race. He’s been fast all year, and he was tonight.”
Jake Knowles was the beneficiary of Winger’s exit and finished second. Knowles, the current series points leader, also hadn’t raced at Magnolia prior to Sunday night, though it wasn’t for lack of trying – the Georgia native entered races at The Mag in September and November of last season, but both races were rained out.
Knowles has a win and two second-place finishes in his last five races.
“(Herrington) was real good, but we were just a tick too loose,” Knowles said. “We hadn’t gotten many laps here, so we don’t have many notes to go off of. All in all, we were pretty good. But now we have some notes to go off of next time we come here.”
Oakley Johns, Justin McRee and Braden Mitchell rounded out the top 5.
In other race action, Brian Rickman won the Super Late Model feature. Dane Dacus, Bub McCool, Rick Rickman and Jamie Tollison rounded out the top 5.
Bryson Mitchell won the 602 Sportsman feature. Michael L Pickard, Zack Owens, Buddy George and Kirk Atkins rounded out the top 5.
Bryan Fortner won the Street Stocks feature. Dewayne Estes, Lee Ray, Jason Hollis and Ben Keith rounded out the top 5.
Josh Holbrook won the Factory Stocks feature. Blake McNeill, Lee Ray, John Johnson and John A. Beard, Jr. rounded out the top 5.
Joey Wray won the Hot Shots feature. Cody Wellington, Kody Love and Shauna Browning rounded out the top 4.
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