Bailes rolls to Fastrak Racing Series ‘Triple Crown’ victory at Volunteer Speedway

Volunteer Speedway hosted second round of the Fastrak Racing Series 11th annual Memorial Day weekend Triple Crown on Saturday, and just as he had done the night before at Princeton (W.Va.) Speedway, Ross Bailes of Clover, S.C., rolled to the $2,000 victory.

David Smith was fastest qualifier of the 29 entries, running a quick lap at 12.942 seconds, while Bailes was close behind at 12.944.

The four heat races were won by Justin Williams, Dennis “Rambo” Franklin, Smith and Walker Arthur, with Joel Prosser winning the B-main.

Franklin powered out to the lead at drop of the green flag over Williams and Arthur, while the sixth-starting Bailes quickly moved into the fourth spot ahead of Smith. The event’s first caution waved on lap 4, when Philip Thompson spun between turns three and four.

Franklin and Williams brought the field back up to speed off the double-file restart, with Franklin once again moving to the point over Williams and Bailes. Racing down the front straightaway hard into the first turn on lap 11, Bailes drove to the inside of Williams to take away second place.

After sizing up the leader Franklin for a few circuits determining where to make his move, just as he had done a few circuits earlier, at the end of the front straightaway on lap 15 Bailes sailed off into the first corner and slid up the banking in front of Franklin to take a lead he would never relinquish.

A big crash brought the caution out on lap 17 when Brandon Umberger slammed hard into the outside wall in the first turn, with Zack Mitchell also involved. While a few other caution periods would slow the action, it was quite clear that Bailes would get the victory unless mechanical gremlins would sideline him.

The 26-year-old Bailes captured the win over Franklin, Arthur, Williams and Matt Henderson. Henderson’s strong fifth-place finish came after he had started deep in the field at 22nd, after having transferred in through the B-main with a superb effort.

Completing the top 10 finishers were Smith, Benji Hicks, Chris Steele, Gary Crittenden and Colby Cannon.

The Fastrak Racing Series Triple Crown will conclude on Sunday night at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va.

Andy Ogle grabbed the early lead over John Tweed, Jason Trammell, Bryson Dennis and Heath Alvey in the Sportsman Late Model feature.

With Ogle up-on-the-wheel out front, behind him Tweed was feeling pressure from Trammell. After a couple of circuits racing side-by-side, Trammell finally completed the pass to move into second place. While Ogle had to contend with the hard-charging Trammell, other battles for position were taking place back through the field.

Lapped traffic would ultimately factor into the outcome, as the veteran Trammell, from Knoxville, capitalized on a slower car forcing Ogle to change his line around the high banks to make his move around him for the lead with just a couple of laps remaining. Trammell recorded the victory over Ogle, Tweed, Josh Fields and Jody Horton.

Shannon Emery of Morristown jumped out to the lead over Chris Rickett at start of the Modified Street feature and cruised to his first win of the season. Finishing behind Emery and Rickett were Bill Curl, Dale Reed and Jon Cook.

Volunteer Speedway PR