Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Wilkesboro, NC(November 4, 2010) -- It was Halloween weekend and the Late Models finally got to hit the hallowed ground of the North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time in over 15 years. The field may have been short, but action and controversy still ruled the day, in both the Late Model and Limited Late model events. Halloween is all about being scared, but to both the leaders late in the events mentioned above, the scariest thing they saw all weekend were the officials.

The Limited Late Models were up first, and it became evident very quick that Rock Harris and Jesse Little had the field covered. The two would scoot away easily, and after an early restart Harris would take the top spot away from Little only to have Little hound him for the rest of the event. Behind them Justin Sorrow had settled into third with the most action coming from Gary Davis, after starting deep in the field he was a man on a mission, passing cars at will and knocking those that held him up out of the way.

As the front two rode away and the laps started to wind down, you had to know that something was going to happen. Little seemed to have the faster car, but passing Harris would prove to be a test in itself, as he would let Little have the inside line but would get the good run off the top groove exiting the corners. The track has no scoreboard, but with just a handful of laps left Little gets into Harris as they approached a lapped car going into turn three and Harris goes for a quick spin. Nobody saw what was coming next though.

As the field rode under caution, Harris comes back to the front to voice his displeasure with Little, as any driver would. All of a sudden the black flag is flown, and Harris is told to go to the back of the field. The flag was also for another car though, as the officials decided the contact to start the whole thing was too much from Little, and the leader with less than ten to go was put in the back also. Two guys going for the win with less than ten laps remaining, a little contact was made, it's called racing.

Well, now we have Justin Sorrow and Gary Davis being the two cars to settle the race. Sorrow jumps out to the early lead but Davis is determined and quickly catches him to ride in his tire tracks. Davis tries to get inside in turn one and nearly does it, as Sorrow pulls him down the backstretch. He tries again and gets up to his front fender, they exit turn four and Sorrow wins by 5 feet as the two spin and make contact in turn one after the checkered flag.

Sorrow was ecstatic as he did a burnout on the frontstretch, while behind pit wall Little was DQ'd for giving the officials a hand gesture. Talking about adding insult to injury, but this would not be the last time during the day that the officials would have a major influence on a race.

It was now time for the Late Model event, going for 150 laps. Matt DiBenedetto grabbed the pole from Matt McCall and Steven Wallace, so some big names were on hand despite the small 15 car field. Mix in Kyle Grissom, Mack Little, Danny O'Quinn Jr., Robert Johnson and Kyle Mansch, and it looks like a great race for sure.

DiBenedetto was driving for the Steve Dewalt team, a team that he has driven for in the past including Martinsville this year, but the results have not always been what the team has hoped for as mechanical failures have raised their head in the past. DiBenedetto would run good early, but once again things would fall to the wayside before halfway as something in the rear-end went away causing the car to be more than a handful. In the early going Wallace and McCall would set the pace, but there was one car that was coming for them.

Rebecca Kasten was there driving a car out of the Matt Kurzejewski stables, and had not found the balance they had needed all weekend as their 11th place starting spot reflected. Kasten, a Drive For Diversity driver, showed everyone in the early going that she should not have been back there to begin with, as she carved through the field moving into the top five before the 50 lap mark. She managed to get up to Robert Johnson for third before the halfway break, the break being what everyone but the two leaders needed, as Wallace and McCall had nearly half a lap on the field.

As adjustments were made in the mandatory halfway stop, everyone wondered what they could do to hang with Wallace and McCall, they were in a class by themselves. Most wondered if they had burned their stuff up, as Wilkesboro is one of the most weathered tracks in the country, 150 laps on a set of tires is all about management and the pace that the two leaders were setting was questioned by many.

As they took the green to start the last 75 laps, Kasten wasted no time in jumping by Johnson for third, and then set her sights on McCall. Running up near them was one thing, but passing the two experienced drivers would be something to do, and Kasten showed she wasn't intimidated in the least.

She caught McCall and put him by the wayside quickly, then within 6 laps she made up the 10 car lead that Wallace had and began to pressure him also. She makes her move and blows by Wallace as Johnson goes by McCall for third. A few laps later Johnson gets by Wallace for second, could the two dominant cars be falling off? Not a chance, they would be back.

As we click laps off, Kasten begins to pull away, as Johnson comes back to Wallace and McCall as both get by and Johnson begins to fade. Johnson falls into the grasp of Kyle Mansch for fourth, then after hounding Johnson for many laps Mansch suddenly drops off the pace and comes to a rest against the turn three wall bringing out a caution with just over 25 laps to go. This is when it gets interesting.

During the caution, many drivers behind the top three took advantage of adjustments as they were falling rapidly, those included DiBenedetto, Chris Lawson, Dean Ward and Johnson, who would make a valiant run from the back. The biggest issue was the restart.

Kasten took off and by the time she got to turn one her advantage over Wallace was less than half a car, she seemed to jump a bit early but nothing blatantly out of line. Two laps later she slows down the backstretch, and many thought that a great run had come to an end from mechanical failure. But low and behold, there is the black flag displayed from the flagstand, she had been black flagged for jumping the start.

As Kasten heads to the pits, her race over as we were down into the final laps, it was going to be settled by the two cars that had dominated the day, Wallace and McCall. McCall had got by Wallace before the lead change by Kasten, but it looked as if Wallace was just saving his tires as he easily pulled back up on McCall to give looks to the inside. But it was not to be as McCall began to pull off and took the win driving away.

It was great day of racing, but not one without controversy. The track ran things without a hitch, but the USAR ProCup officials were questioned throughout the day, long before the races began. The Limited race most definitely didn't see the best car of the day win and the Late model race, well, we will just never know if Kasten could have stayed there or not. And just like Little, she was DQ'd also for showing the officials a hand jesture.

A rule is a rule, but at the same time you have to have discretion, and you never want a call from the tower to dictate the finish of a race. It happened twice this past Saturday in the two main events. The group at Wilkesboro is still new to this game so there will be bumps in the road, but overall things seem to be moving right along on the track side of things.

Results:
Limited Late Models
1. Justin Sorrow
2. Gary Davis
3. Ryan Gibbs
4. Luke Fleming
5. Nick Waycaster
6. Sammy Jasper
7. Ben Ebeling
8. Kenny Bost
9. Rock Harris
10. Monty Cox
11. Ed Surrett
12. Steve Collins
13. Todd Hunt
14. Austin McDaniel
15. Jimmy Simmons
16. Benjie Woodward
17. Mark Goins
18. Travis Hurt
19. Zach Bruenger
20. Mark McIntosh
21. Chris Phipps
DQ Jesse Little

Late Model Stock Cars
1. Matt McCall
2. Steven Wallace
3. Danny O'Quinn Jr.
4. Kyle Grissom
5. Mack Little
6. Robert Johnson
7. Chris Lawson
8. Jeremy Burns
9. Ryan Robertson
10. Dean Ward
11. Ronnie Bassett Jr.
12. Matt DiBenedetto
13. Kyle Mansch
14. Brian Caliero
DQ Rebecca Kasten