After six SRI Performance Thunder Bomber Heat Races at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, 18 drivers are locked into Saturday’s championship Feature at the World Short Track Championship.
Mattison Hoots, Luke Clements, Jason Edmonds, Jonathan Hinson, and Stetson Todd all earned victories in Friday’s Heat Races, putting themselves in an excellent position for Saturday’s finale.
Heat Race 1
Mattison Hoots took advantage of his inside front-row starting spot in SRI Performance Thunder Bomber Heat Race 1 and never looked back at the drop of the green.
Hoots led all six laps to score the victory, going unchallenged by Tyler Guice and Christian Patterson.
Guice and Patterson will join Hoots in Saturday’s championship Feature.
Heat Race 2
Luke Clements took the lead on Lap 1 of SRI Performance Thunder Bomber Heat Race 2, sliding in front of Brandon Greene as they exited Turn 2.
As Clements pulled away, Greene spun on Lap 2, bringing out the Pro Fabrication Yellow Flag.
When the race resumed, Clements slid in front of Bryson Guice entering Turn 1, and went back to the front, going unchallenged the rest of the race to earn the victory.
Guice settled for second, and Walt Waddell held off a hard-charging Bryson Harper to earn the final transfer spot.
Heat Race 3
Jason Edmonds powered ahead of the field on Lap 1 of SRI Performance Thunder Bomber Heat Race 3, pulling away from Mark Towell in the race’s early stages.
Towell tried to sneak by Edmonds on the inside lane for the lead late in the race but didn’t have enough to get by the No. 119.
Edmonds went on to score the win, while Towell finished second. Tyler Smith held off Bryson Sweat to earn the final transfer position, finishing third.
Heat Race 4
Jonathan Hinson won a wild SRI Performance Thunder Bombers Heat Race 4, holding off Ricky Bogan for the win.
Hinson grabbed the lead on Lap 1, but the race was slowed quickly after a yellow for Jesse Richardson.
When the green came back out, Hinson gained an advantage over Travis Jamieson. However, Jamieson’s good run was short-lived as he lost a left front tire entering Turn 3, ending his night early.
From there, Hinson earned the win, followed by Bogan and Cruz Mattison, who held off Seth Outlaw.
Heat Race 5
Stetsen Todd took the lead on Lap 1 of SRI Performance Heat Race 5, quickly pulling away from Bailey Hipp.
Hipp tried holding Nate Jackson and Cory Skipper off for second as they battled through Turn 2. But that’s when the No. 46 slowed, allowing Jackson and Skipper to sneak by.
That was all they needed as Todd, Jackson, and Skipper earned the three transfer positions.
Heat Race 6
Defending SRI Performance Thunder Bomber championship Feature winner Luke Doggett used the outside lane to power around Jacob Funderburke for the lead as they battled down the backstretch.
With Doggett out front, Rod Tucker started moving forward from his sixth starting position.
On the race’s only restart, Tucker slid past Funderburke for the number two spot in Turn 2. The two battled side-by-side until the final lap when Tucker pushed Funderburke up the racetrack and took the position away.
However, the No. 43 car wasn’t done. Funderburke went underneath Tucker on Lap 3 and 4, taking advantage of the inside lane to beat him to the line.
Doggett scored the win, while Funderburke narrowly beat out Tucker, who earned the final transfer spot.
Up Next: The SRI Performance Thunder Bombers return to The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 2, for the final day of the ninth annual World Short Track Championship. A Last Chance Showdown will start the day before the Championship Feature Saturday night.
Tickets for the event are on sale at DIRTcar.com/WorldShortTrack and will be available at the track on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 41-Mattison Hoots[1]; 2. 47-Tyler Guice[2]; 3. P8-Christopher Patterson[3]; 4. 21-Hunter Digh[6]; 5. 08-Duce Miller[5]; 6. 3T15-Dustin Thompson[9]; 7. 14L-Blake Lyons[8]; 8. 13-Dallas Miller[7]; 9. 101-Justin Hamrick[10]; 10. 14-Keith Eaton[11]; 11. N2N-Bradley Whitesides[4]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 51C-Luke Clements[1]; 2. 28G-Bryson Guice[4]; 3. 22W-Walt Waddell[7]; 4. 32-Brandon Greene[2]; 5. 20H-Bryson Harper[6]; 6. 36-Chase Carter[9]; 7. 8S-Brian Suttles[10]; 8. S2-Garrett Sweatt[3]; 9. 45-Jamie Decker[8]; 10. 16-Benny Peeler[5]
Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 119-Jason Edmonds[2]; 2. 97T-Mark Towell[4]; 3. S4-Tyler Smith[1]; 4. S1-Bryson Sweatt[5]; 5. 135J-Trenten Jamieson[7]; 6. 8A-Shane Gosnell[10]; 7. 14P-Tyler Parker[8]; 8. 03-Carson Taylor[9]; 9. 2L-Kylee Laws[11]; 10. (DNF) G41-Grant Burton[3]; 11. (DNF) 22-Michael Owensby[6]
Heat 4 (6 Laps): 1. 4H-Jonathan Hinson[1]; 2. 83-Ricky Bogan[6]; 3. 05-Cruz Mattison[4]; 4. 13S-Seth Outlaw[7]; 5. G1-Greg Carroll[5]; 6. 00-Jerry Mckeel Jr[8]; 7. 00V-Keith Vane[3]; 8. N2-Kris Norwood[9]; 9. 7X-Jessie Richardson Jr[10]; 10. 135-Travis Jamieson[2]
Heat 5 (6 Laps): 1. 19-Stetsen Todd[1]; 2. 21J-Nate Jackson[2]; 3. 4-Cory Skipper[4]; 4. 98-Isaiah Parker[5]; 5. 483-Hannah Wall[8]; 6. 8-Dwayne Ray[9]; 7. 07-Cole Hooper[10]; 8. 4N-Siler Norwood[7]; 9. 3-Eddie Ray[6]; 10. 46-Bailey Hipp[3]; 11. (DNS) 54-Jesse Wall
Heat 6 (6 Laps): 1. 97-Luke Doggett[2]; 2. 43-Jacob Funderburke[1]; 3. 28-Rod Tucker[6]; 4. 78-Hunter Funderburke[3]; 5. 5-Matt Coley[5]; 6. 40-David Whitaker[4]; 7. 34-Joey Powell[10]; 8. 5K-Kayden Outlaw[9]; 9. 316-Isaac Thomas[8]; 10. 5S-Tommy Suttles[7]; 11. (DNS) 28XL-Johnny Hipp
