The ASA STARS National Tour made its lone stop in the Carolinas this past Thursday night at Hickory Motor Speedway, for the annual Tar Heel 250. The race doubled as a points-paying race for both the Stars National Tour as well as the ASA Southern Super Series.
The night was delayed multiple hours due to heavy rains. But in the early morning hours the field was able to run to the finish, with points leader Cole Butcher capturing the checkered flag.
Drivers took to the track for single car qualifying around the .365-mile Hickory Motor Speedway early in the day, with the sun shining bright on the old worn out surface. Of the 25 cars that took time, it was 16-year old Brent Crews that topped the charts, just edging out Dawson Sutton and Josh Berry.
Soon after the night’s Legend Car feature that saw Keelan Harvick take the win, the downpour came. Heavy rain fell for two hours, leading to an extensive hour-and-a-half drying period as ASA drivers waited for the chance to race.
Just before 10:30 p.m. ET, the 250-lap feature for the Super Late Models finally went green. Crews got the jump on the field from pole and looked to be the dominant car in the race’s early stages.
Just before lap 30, a battle for a spot inside the top three went sideways -literally – for Berry and Gio Ruggiero. Berry drove to the inside of Ruggiero’s No. 22 into turn three, and looked to complete the pass entering turn one on the following lap.
As Berry completed the pass, Ruggiero attempted to cross back underneath his No. 4. But he misjudged the gap, clipping the right rear of Berry’s car and knocking in the right rear fender.
The two got stuck together and did a power slide off turn two, with both drivers eventually saving their cars after taking a trip through the grass.
From that point on, stage one went mostly drama free until the scheduled caution flew at lap 100, with Crews out front the entire way. In the meantime, Chase Elliott worked his way up to second after starting the night in eighth.
Crews continued to lead early in stage two, while Elliott began to flex his muscle and inch closer and closer to his rear bumper.
At lap 128, Elliott made his move for the lead. The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion poked to the inside of Crews exiting turn four, nearly drawing even into turn one.
The attempt was short lived, because all of this happened as steam began to pour out the hood of his No. 9. Seconds later Elliott slowed…
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