Collins takes Carolina Clash main at Shrine Race
Kenny Collins had a memorable night at Laurens County Speedway Tuesday night, winning the Carolina Clash main event during the evening’s Shrine Race.
Collins set a Carolina Clash record for qualifying at LCS to win the pole position, posting a time of 14.405 seconds. Franklin came close to taking t he pole from Collins, finishing in 14.473 seconds, but won the other spot on the front row. Dennis Franklin qualified second for the main event and started on the inside of Row 1 – with Collins on the outside of Row 1.
After a caution on Lap 2, Collins used his starting spot alone on Row 1 and got off to a good start. Smith managed to get to second on the restart, but Collins was already building his lead to more than 1.5 seconds through four laps. The lead continued to grow and grow for Collins as he made the race look too easy, going up by two seconds through the ninth lap, was near a three-second lead two laps later, and by the end of the 16th lap had already established a whopping 4.159 seconds. It appeared the race was well in hand, and the only debate would be over how much Collins would win by.
However, a caution on Lap 20 for debris changed all of that, bunching up the field again and giving the rest of the field, led by Smith, a chance to take the lead away. That chance didn’t last very long, as Collins used a good restart and re-established a safe lead. Zack Mitchell, meanwhile, had come through the field and managed to get by Smith for second place, and set himself up as a potential challenger to a Collins victory over the final 15 laps. The lead held at less than a second with 10 laps to go as Mitchell was able to stay close, but it appeared the effort would be for naught as Collins tried to pull away through lap traffic.
Mitchell got one final chance at the lead when the race was stopped due to a caution with four laps to go as the field was restarted in a single-file formation. Collins punched the gas once the race resumed and pulled away from Mitchell, whose best efforts proved futile at the end.
Field results: 1. Kenny Collins; 2. Zack Mitchell; 3. Jeff Smith; 4. Brett Hamm; 5. Dennis Franklin; 6. Will Harris; 7. Anthony Sanders; 8. David Yandle; 9. Travis Pennington; 10. Adam Yarbrough.
11. Kale Green; 12. Frank Coates; 13. Bryson Harper; 14. Larry Grube; 15 . Kevin Godwin; 16. Mike Kernells.
Look for full results of the entire Shrine Race card in this weekend’s edition of The Laurens County Advertiser Extra.
