Newman Presnell and Joey Kelly have both become very familiar with Victory Lane at The Dirt Track at Charlotte over the years, and they made their latest visits Friday night at the World Short Track Championship following their triumphs in a pair of Features for the Sport Compact Dirt Racing Association (SCDRA) DIRTVision Hornet division.
Feature 1
Kevin Brazell drew the pole for the 15-lap event to start on the inside of Kenneth Colf in second, but third-place starter CJ LaVair immediately blasted past both of them and into the early lead.
The star of the show early was the No. 48 of Presnell, who made his way from the last row all the way up to second in just two laps. He didn’t stop there though, as he powered around the outside of LaVair on Lap 5.
There was no stopping Presnell once he found clean air, as he rocketed away to the checkered flag to stay undefeated at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, winning his fifth Feature at the World Short Track Championship in his fifth start.
The win didn’t come without a late-race scare though, as Presnell’s car let out a puff of smoke coming to the white flag. Even with the trouble, his massive lead meant the rest of the field still had no hope of running Presnell down.
“I think I broke an axle,” Presnell said. “I didn’t know how close second place was. I was going to keep on riding it out and see what happened. Luckily we had enough distance on them there that we pulled the win off.”
LaVair was able to hold onto the second spot, while Brad McManus rounded out the podium.
Feature 2
The front row was occupied by Jacob Bright and Larry Lamb, but calamity broke out soon after those two led the field to green. A stack-up near the back of the field on the start sent Chris Martin head on into the frontstretch wall, bringing his night to an untimely end.
On the ensuing restart, Bright jumped out to the top spot while Gage McManus, Shannon Barnhill and Joey Kelly raced three-abreast behind him for second. McManus was able to take the long way around Turns 1 and 2 to briefly grab second, but his competition wasn’t keen on letting him slip away.
Barnhill worked the inside lane back around McManus and into second on Lap 4, and Kelly sent McManus back to fourth one lap later with the same move.
A caution for a loose wheel reset the field with nine laps to go, and Kelly seized the opportunity from third. The No. 88 sent it through the middle of Barnhill and Bright through Turns 1 and 2, hit the backstretch in second, and went to work on hunting down Barnhill.
After looking to Barnhill’s inside a handful of times, Kelly made the winning move stick in Turn 3 with seven to go and never looked back for his fourth World Short Track Championship victory and first since 2020.
“I feel at home here,” Kelly said regarding his fondness towards The Dirt Track at Charlotte. “I really don’t know. I just get lucky, really.”
Barnhill held on to finish second, while McManus got around Bright late to grab the final spot on the podium.
Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 48-Newman Presnell[15]; 2. C4-CJ LaVair[3]; 3. 3B-Brad McManus[5]; 4. 777J-Jeffrey Erb[6]; 5. 91-Allen Griffith[16]; 6. 66W-Michael Wallace[7]; 7. H2-Alex Brooks[13]; 8. 15-Kenneth Colf[2]; 9. 58-Ronnie Hall[14]; 10. 68J-Jessie Joyner[12]; 11. 328-Zachary Slone[10]; 12. 21-Ricky Weaver[9]; 13. 14-Wayne Taylor[11]; 14. 41JR-Kolten Saam[4]; 15. 96-Kevin Brazell[1]; 16. 21A-Adam Asbill[8]
Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 88-Joey Kelly[5]; 2. X-Shannon Barnhill[3]; 3. 25-Gage McManus[4]; 4. 95-Jacob Bright[1]; 5. 0-Shawn Peche[7]; 6. 66-Mike Crickmore[13]; 7. 17E-Glenn Engstrom[9]; 8. 359-Michael Lambert[11]; 9. 08-Dallas Griggs[15]; 10. 5-Reggie Twing[10]; 11. 55-Larry Lamb[2]; 12. 24-Chris Martin[12]; 13. (DNS) 94-Payne Pickles; 14. (DNS) 59-Ron Scully; 15. (DNS) 77NY-Kris Clark
