by Zach Evans / Racing America
On Saturday night, three grassroots racing series convened at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Short Track U.S. Nationals: The Last Lap. Billed as the final outing for the Vores Compact Touring Series, CRA Street Stock Series and Midwest Modifieds Tour to Bristol, the event added two names to the list of Bristol winners.
MAYNARD MAKES A MEMORABLE BRISTOL DEBUT WITH STREET STOCK WIN
It may be ‘The Last Lap,’ but it was a memorable first lap for Austin Maynard.
Maynard scored the victory in the CRA Street Stock Series presented by Chevrolet Performance feature in his first trip to Bristol. It was a rare appearance at a larger track for Maynard, but certainly one he’ll never forget.
“It’s really cool. The only other half-mile, or close to a half-mile, I’ve been to is Nashville,” said Maynard. “To come here and win, last one, is something special, especially to join Brett Hudson and Chuck Barnes on this list.”
Maynard had to hold off none other than Chuck Barnes, Jr. in the closing laps, especially after a restart with 12 laps to go. Coincidentally, Barnes provided a lot of advice that put Maynard on the right track for the win.
“Chuckie has helped me a lot, a lot. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be standing here honestly. He didn’t put in the work, but he told me everything I needed. I never doubted that he’d steer me in the right direction.
“I appreciate him. I knew we could race clean. I knew he was coming, so I had to go.”
Barnes, Jr. finished second, followed by Jeff Lane, Brett Hudson and Heath Helton.
GOSSAR COMPLETES THE VORES COMPACT SERIES TRIFECTA
Tom Gossar added a third sword to his collection from Bristol Motor Speedway, scoring the Vores Compact Touring Series powered by Mercer County Electric win at the Short Track U.S. Nationals.
Gossar took the lead with 17 laps to go in the 50-lap event, surviving a battle of attrition while many of his toughest competitors fell by the wayside on the grueling high banks.
“This is the best victory lane there is,” said Gossar. “I definitely didn’t want to see the last [caution]. I knew most of the faster cars had fell out. I was really surprised that the 25 [of Shawn Bowar] had on the restart. I knew once we got clear of him, we had a pretty good shot to keep it.”
While this year’s event is being billed as “The Last Lap,” Gossar acknowledged he didn’t think he’d get another chance to race at Bristol after the 2020 edition of the event.
“I thought maybe when we won the last one, it was going to be the last one. I’d like to end it on a good note.”
Shawn Bowar finished second, followed by Cody Griffith, John Ketron and Karter Stark.
STICKLER ADDS TO RESUME WITH SHORT TRACK U.S. NATIONALS WIN
Cody Stickler has won plenty of big races in his career, such as the Hot Shoe 100 and the Modifieds of Mayhem event at the Snowball Derby. Now, he can add a victory at Bristol to the list after taking the checkered flag in the Midwest Modifieds Tour powered by Wheeler Trucking.
Stickler benefitted from a friendly redraw, setting fast time in qualifying and starting third in the 24-car field. He quickly jumped to the lead and led the rest of the 40 laps for the victory.
“Starting third definitely helped,” said Stickler. “Getting out in that clean air was definitely a good thing. It feels great.”
For Stickler, the Bristol win goes right to the top of his list of accomplishments.
“Man, this one’s right at the top with the Derby. This one feels good.”
SHORT TRACK U.S. NATIONALS: THE LAST LAP UNOFFICIAL RESULTS CRA STREET STOCK SERIES
| FIN | NO | DRIVER | LAPS | DIFF |
| 1 | 29 | Austin Maynard | 40 | — |
| 2 | 44B | Chuck Barnes, Jr. | 40 | 0.274 |
| 3 | 21L | Jeff Lane | 40 | 2.148 |
| 4 | 00H | Brett Hudson | 40 | 3.502 |
| 5 | 16H | Heath Helton | 40 | 3.776 |
| 6 | 20C | Dalton Conner | 40 | 4.005 |
| 7 | 5B | Chuck Barnes, Sr. | 40 | 4.553 |
| 8 | 84 | Andrew Teepe | 40 | 4.850 |
| 9 | 99 | Brian Bayer | 40 | 5.726 |
| 10 | 94 | Jeff Stith | 40 | 5.945 |
| 11 | 74 | Austin Baum | 40 | 6.134 |
| 12 | 25N | Tyler Nicely | 40 | 6.395 |
| 13 | 05 | Blaine Akin | 40 | 7.632 |
| 14 | 5P | Josh Poore | 40 | 7.742 |
| 15 | 73 | Colby Lane | 40 | 8.017 |
| 16 | 19B | Cole Baxter | 40 | 8.512 |
| 17 | 3A | Shawn Amor | 40 | 8.750 |
| 18 | 32 | Roger Williams | 40 | 9.327 |
| 19 | 25 | Josh Way | 40 | 12.044 |
| 20 | 191 | Jake Hinton | 40 | 17.423 |
| 21 | 33 | Chad Richardson | 39 | 1 Lap |
| 22 | 38 | Alex Ware | 39 | 1 Lap |
| 23 | 2 | Duane Damon | 39 | 1 Lap |
| 24 | 50 | Brandon Barcus | 39 | 1 Lap |
| 25 | 77P | Justin Pirtle | 35 | 5 Laps |
| 26 | 19P | Conner Popplewell | 29 | 11 Laps |
| 27 | 76 | Joe Muldoon | 27 | 13 Laps |
| 28 | 24W | Jeremie Wiggins | 27 | 13 Laps |
| 29 | 98 | Jamie Sites | 27 | 13 Laps |
| 30 | 89 | Josh Sage | 20 | 20 Laps |
| 31 | 03D | Dillon Oliver | 19 | 21 Laps |
| 32 | 12 | Kyle Hadley | 9 | 31 Laps |
| 33 | 22 | James Kirby III | 2 | 38 Laps |
| 34 | 15S | Lonnie Sauier | 1 | 39 Laps |
| 35 | 10B | Dan Banker | ||
| 36 | 85 | Alan Williams |
VORES COMPACT TOURING SERIES
| FIN | NO | DRIVER | LAPS | DIFF |
| 1 | 0 | Tom Gossar | 50 | — |
| 2 | 25 | Shawn Bowar | 50 | 0.951 |
| 3 | 46 | Cody Griffith | 40 | 1.629 |
| 4 | 26 | John Ketron | 50 | 2.823 |
| 5 | 92 | Karter Stark | 50 | 2.968 |
| 6 | 14X | Josh Richardson | 50 | 3.262 |
| 7 | 111 | Devon Dixon | 50 | 3.987 |
| 8 | 1 | Tim Hintz | 50 | 4.450 |
| 9 | 5J | Jesse Jones, IV | 50 | 6.070 |
| 10 | 95 | David Yoder | 50 | 6.756 |
| 11 | 99 | Corey Edelman | 50 | 7.196 |
| 12 | 110 | Austin Scott | 47 | 3 Laps |
| 13 | 24T | Aaron Teegarden | 47 | 3 Laps |
| 14 | 1T | Alex Treptow | 44 | 6 Laps |
| 15 | 07 | Steve Vore | 44 | 6 Laps |
| 16 | 007 | Don Rufener, III | 43 | 7 Laps |
| 17 | 10 | Jake Albright | 42 | 8 Laps |
| 18 | 85 | Phil Iliff | 42 | 8 Laps |
| 19 | 27H | Bo Hoelscher | 35 | 15 Laps |
| 20 | 42 | Danny Cascioli | 34 | 16 Laps |
| 21 | 57 | Ricky Wilson | 31 | 19 Laps |
| 22 | 9T | Nicholas Meade | 31 | 19 Laps |
| 23 | 71S | Derek Simon | 30 | 20 Laps |
| 24 | 51M | Mark Mason | 29 | 21 Laps |
| 25 | 39 | Kyle Frame | 26 | 24 Laps |
| 26 | 6 | Chris Jennings | 18 | 32 Laps |
| 27 | 981 | B.J. Wambold | 16 | 34 Laps |
| 28 | 9A | Aaron Tatman | 16 | 34 Laps |
| 29 | 28P | Pete Doxey | 16 | 34 Laps |
| 30 | 33P | Jake Burgroff | 15 | 35 Laps |
| 31 | 71G | Trent Gossar | 12 | 38 Laps |
| 32 | 33F | Justin Brown | 12 | 38 Laps |
| 33 | 192 | Kyle Stark | 11 | 39 Laps |
| 34 | 62 | Todd Metz, Sr. | 7 | 43 Laps |
| 35 | 50B | Brandon Barcus | 7 | 43 Laps |
| 36 | 29 | Ron Sagers | 7 | 43 Laps |
| 37 | 107 | Jeff Vore | 7 | 43 Laps |
| 38 | 14JJ | Joseph Jennings | 2 | 48 Laps |
MIDWEST MODIFIEDS TOUR
| FIN | NO | DRIVER | LAPS | DIFF |
| 1 | 46 | Cody Stickler | 40 | — |
| 2 | 7D | Matt Dimit | 40 | 2.174 |
| 3 | 13 | Kyle Purvis | 40 | 2.495 |
| 4 | 55 | Chuck Barnes | 40 | 4.415 |
| 5 | 12B | Tim Burkett | 40 | 4.626 |
| 6 | 7M | David McManus | 40 | 5.509 |
| 7 | 12L | Nick Lechota | 40 | 5.756 |
| 8 | 00H | Brett Hudson | 40 | 5.936 |
| 9 | 16 | Scottie Lamp | 40 | 8.428 |
| 10 | 4X | Matt Maurer | 40 | 11.156 |
| 11 | 24G | Buddy Gray | 40 | 11.734 |
| 12 | 82 | Bob Sibla | 40 | 11.893 |
| 13 | 23 | Peyton Ferree | 40 | 12.362 |
| 14 | 17J | Todd Jackson | 40 | 12.544 |
| 15 | 5 | Danny Jackson | 40 | 13.844 |
| 16 | 2 | Billy Hutson | 40 | 13.970 |
| 17 | 81M | Logan McPherson | 33 | 7 Laps |
| 18 | 12S | Bubba Smith | 28 | 12 Laps |
| 19 | 31 | Doug Meyer | 24 | 16 Laps |
| 20 | 135 | Wesley Smith | 19 | 21 Laps |
| 21 | 11 | Brian Nester | 9 | 31 Laps |
| 22 | 26L | Jeff Lane | 3 | 37 Laps |
