By Spence Smithback
Joey Kelly and Newman Presnell continued their reign over the DIRTVision Hornet division at the 2024 World Short Track Championship, taking home a pair of Sport Compact Dirt Racing Association (SCDRA) Features on Saturday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Feature 1
Shawn Peche got off to a brilliant start in the first 10-lap Feature of the night, going from his fourth-place starting spot to the lead by the time he hit the backstretch on Lap 1. His hopes of a World Short Track Championship victory fell apart one lap later though, as contact with the No. 24 of Chris Martin sent him head on into the frontstretch wall and out of the race.
Before the caution came out, Kelly had already powered his way from 16th up to fourth, which allowed him to restart in the second spot. He wasted no time blasting past CJ LaVair entering Turn 1, but LaVair wasn’t interested in letting Kelly drive away. He looked to Kelly’s inside down the backstretch and stayed side-by-side with him for nearly two laps, but Kelly ultimately prevailed on the outside.
Before Kelly could get too far away, the No. 25 of Gage McManus spun in Turn 3 and was collected by Glenn Engstrom to bring out the caution with two to go. The field was unable to capitalize on their final chance at Kelly though, as he nailed the restart and drove away to his third win of the weekend.
LaVair ended the race as the runner-up for the second night in a row, while Reggie Twing came home third to stand on the podium for the first time at Charlotte.
RESULTS
Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 88-Joey Kelly[16]; 2. C4-CJ LaVair[14]; 3. 5-Reggie Twing[11]; 4. 55C-Rusty E Catoe[15]; 5. 3B-Brad McManus[7]; 6. 41JR-Kolten Saam[12]; 7. 25-Gage McManus[5]; 8. 58-Ronnie Hall[10]; 9. 777J-Jeffrey Erb[8]; 10. 17E-Glenn Engstrom[3]; 11. 359-Michael Lambert[9]; 12. 0-Shawn Peche[4]; 13. 24-Chris Martin[6]; 14. 59-Ron Scully[1]; 15. 21A-Adam Asbill[2]; 16. 94-Payne Pickles[13]
Feature 2
Ricky Weaver started on the outside of the front row and broke away to a large lead early with Mike Crickmore and Jacob Bright side-by-side behind him for second. Their battle was quickly interrupted by a lightning-fast No. 48 of Presnell, who raced from 14th all the way to third in the first half-lap.
Presnell picked off Crickmore on Lap 2 before turning his attention to Bright in second. The two battled door-to-door briefly, but a slip-up on the high side for Bright was all Presnell needed to take over second.
Presnell stayed in the low lane as he went after the leader, and while Weaver was able to hang with Presnell for a bit longer than Bright or Crickmore, he still had no answer for Presnell’s pace on the bottom.
After taking the lead at the halfway point, Presnell never looked back and led the field by almost three seconds at the end of the caution-free Feature.
“Feels good to be out here, back at Charlotte again getting another win out here,” Presnell said after his second win in as many nights. “We have a blast out here, we love this race.”
Bright got by Weaver for the second spot with two to go, forcing Weaver to settle for third – matching his career-best finish at Charlotte from 2022.
RESULTS
Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 48-Newman Presnell[14]; 2. 95-Jacob Bright[8]; 3. 21-Ricky Weaver[2]; 4. 66-Mike Crickmore[4]; 5. 55-Larry Lamb[10]; 6. 77NY-Kris Clark[5]; 7. 91-Allen Griffith[9]; 8. 15-Kenneth Colf[15]; 9. 66W-Michael Wallace[16]; 10. H2-Alex Brooks[13]; 11. 68J-Jessie Joyner[3]; 12. 328-Zachary Slone[7]; 13. 08-Dallas Griggs[1]; 14. 96-Kevin Brazell[6]; 15. 14-Wayne Taylor[11]; 16. X-Shannon Barnhill[12]
