Caudill Makes Last Lap Pass for Win
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Chad McCumbee(13) missed the field for the Seneca 400 after Corey LaJoie(71) held him off for the final transfer position in a heat race.
Rob Fuller(17), Robert Elliott(95), Forrest Reynolds(04), Garrett Campbell(12) and Shaun Mangum run in a group just before Elliott crashes out.
Ty Dillon(2) races to the inside of JJ June(33) for a position. Dillon attempting to make his first race, but did not make the field.
Shane Huffman(81) won the third heat race, but had his left front tire going down during the final laps.
The field barrells down into turn one after the green flag flew on the Seneca 400. Pole winner, Clay Rogers(52) jumped out front early.
Jonathan Cash(2) in the Long Brothers car had a good run going until he encountered rare mechanical problems early in the 250-lap race.
Austin Dillon(3) takes the low line making it three wide with Stuart Ricks(75) and Kevin Leicht(21). Dillon passed a lot of cars during the race.
Kyle Grissom(32) had a good run in the Seneca 400 above passing Bo Foust(20) for a position around the midpoint of the 250-lap event.
Lucas Ransone(06) had a career night running up front all race long. Above he works past top five qualifier, Brandon Dean(99).
Frank Deiny, Jr.(24) tries to hold off Jamey Caudill(50) for the lead on the final lap, but when Jerame Donley spins on the back straight, he slows and Caudill goes on to win.
Story by: Corey Latham/RACE22.com
Myrtle Beach, SC ~ The air was rather cool at Myrtle Beach Speedway for the annual running of the "Seneca 400", but the racing on the track was red-hot.
After practice, qualifying, and support divisions on Saturday night, it was time to conclude the 4 day race weekend with 250 laps of Late-Model racing. Some big names went home before the main event, some crashed out from hard racing, and in the end it was Four Oaks N.C. driver Jamey Caudill taking the checkered flag. The best part was that nobody knew that he would be the winner until 100 feet before the flag stand. The last lap was one of the wildest of the season.
Qualifying was ran Saturday, with Clay Rogers grabbing the pole by 0.003 over Jamey Caudill. Time trials only lock in the top 20, so all others are required to run heat races to complete the starting lineup. The heats were uneventful for the most part, but by the 15 lap mark of the 25 lap races, you could see how much the track would make a car "fade". Myrtle Beach is known to eat up tires, and it played havoc in the heats races as some very good cars burned their tires up and had to load up and go home. Such names as Chad McCumbee, Ty Dillon, Rodney Cook, R.A. Brown, David Roberts, and Clay Greenfield among others were unable to advance to the main event. The big name that was much of a surprise was Alex Yontz, as he could never get speed in the car from the first day off the trailer, he would be a spectator for the 250 lap main event.
20 drivers made it on time, 18 more from the heats, and 4 provisionals, it was time to get it on. At the drop of the green Clay Rogers made sure everybody knew he was for real, as he set the pace early and often running out to a big lead from the start. Behind him the big mover at the beginning of the race was Dustin Storm, as he advanced from his 22nd starting spot to 8th place in the first 10 laps. But the track can be deceiving from the grandstands, as was evident right before halftime when Storm's tires gave up, sending him from 7th to almost a lap down in the final 10 laps of the first segment.
As Rogers tried to run away in the first segment, it was hard to know who was "riding" and who was "going". One car definitely going was Coleman Pressley, and it wasn't because he was burning his tires up, he was that good. Rogers had gotten away from the field by nearly half a straightaway, but on lap 34 Pressley catches him and makes the pass for the lead. As good as his car looked it would be short lived, as Rogers would take the top spot back after a lap 42 restart. It looked to be a 5 car race, with Rogers, Pressley, Caudill, Lucas Ransone and a fast approaching Frank Deiny coming in a hurry. Right before the 100 lap mark, Deiny moves into the top 5, and just after the 100 lap mark Pressley begins fading. Pressley ducks into the pits for new tires on lap 109, and at the same time Caudill overtakes Rogers for the lead, with Deiny and Ransone following him through. We get to halfway and the story goes South for Pressley, as it turns out they much larger problems than a tire, unsure exactly what it is, they call it a day.
Halfway (lap 125) 1.Caudill 2.Deiny 3.Ransone 4.Rogers 5.Stuart Ricks
At the end of the long green flag run before the break, the leaders put many cars a lap down. On the restart after halfway it was very evident how much tires wear here, as 4 lapped cars took off and left the leaders in the dust, showing just how much you needed to lay back to have something at the end. But at the same time you can't go "too" slow, and on lap 138 Deiny shows that he's tired of 2nd, and makes the pass around Caudill for the lead. Caudill will lose 2 more spots 17 laps later, as the Myrtle Beach regular Rick Smith, along with Rogers bump the #50 machine back to 4th. Smith then set his sights on Deiny but Rogers wanted to go once again, would he burn his tires up too quick again? That he did, he took the lead from Deiny but Smith takes the top spot on lap 168, and Rogers starts to fall back through the top 5 once more.
It started to look as if it was going to be the Rick Smith show, as the field got very strung out, and it seemed as if he was just riding. With less than 40 laps to go, Deiny starts to make his run at Smith for the lead. It looked as if the race would go green to the finish, but Corey LaJoie, who was having a great run, blows a tire in turn one and hits the wall hard. After another restart for Ryan Truex in turn 3, Deiny gets under Smith for the lead, and Caudill and Ransone follow through, it is going to be 3 cars going for the win tonight. The race eventually comes down to a back and forth battle between Deiny and Caudill and it's a bran burner.
Caudill leads, but Deiny passes his with four to go then just as fast as the drivers come to the white flag the race is on again. Caudill looks to have a slight advantage into turn one with Deiny trying to fight back as the two drivers race each other clean around the half mile super speedway type short track. In the meantime Jerame Donley spins down the back straight and in the blink of an eye Deiny slows while Caudill keeps his foot in it and swerves around the spun car of Donley to take the lead alone and held on to win the race. Deiny was barely able to hold off Ransone for second as the two went three wide through turn four and coming to the checkered flag.
For Caudill it was the one "big race" that he hadn't won and celebrating the victory included a few tears from he and his team ... this was a big one and they knew it. Caudill has had a great career, he'll certainly go down in the history books as one of the greats of Late Model Stock Car racing and he's not done, this veteran driver has a lot more he wants to accomplish.
Jamey Caudill poses for a photo after one of his biggest accomplishments. He can put his Seneca 400 trophy right along side of his Bailey's 300 Granfather clock!