Posted by Corey Latham on October 14, 2007, 10:08 pm
Board Administrator

Andy Loden Takes The Belt At The "Fall Brawl" Andy Loden has been the man to beat at Hickory Speedway the past two years. He has won the track championship two years in a row and was victorious in the "Bobby Isaac Memorial 200" this past Labor Day. His nickname "Highside" was given to him for his ability to make his car work on the top groove of the track when most others can't get the car to handle up there. Sunday he put this talent to work in the biggest race of the year, "The Fall Brawl" 250. The field was lead by some "big dogs" to get things started. You had the likes of Mark Setzer, Matt McCall, Coleman Pressley, Wade Day, Kyle Grissom and Shane Huffman driving the Bailey's 300 winning car all starting in the top 10. Loden would roll off 15th while another strong competitor at Hickory, Chrissy Wallace, would start shotgun on the field in 31st after blowing a motor and having clutch issues in qualifying. Things would start off hot and heavy as the cars of the pole sitter Setzer, Pressley and McCall would fight tooth and nail the first 15 laps.Things would settle down a tad as McCall, Pressley and 7th place starter Huffman would get by Setzer before the first of many melee's happened on lap 22 involving the car of Robert Powell and Chris Lewis ending their day. The first half of the race was dominated by three things. #1. Cautions. The 3 car of relative LMSC newcomer Paddy Roddenbeck was involved in no less than 6 cautions during the first 125 laps. Sounds bad right? Well he stuck with it and was able to leave Hickory with a great 8th place finish. #2. Andy Loden on the highside. Andy started out on the bottom but by lap 47 he had moved up 6 feet higher than everyone else and put his #29 machine in the 4th position at a rapid rate from his 15th starting spot. # 3. "The Fearless One" Chrissy Wallace. Chrissy started shotgun on the field but everyone there knew she wouldn't stay there long. She started 31st and by lap 67 was up to the 9th position in a very tough field of cars." Fearless ?" Maybe. "Tough racer ?" Absolutely. Towards the end of the first 125 lap segment another story started to develop. The two cars everyone had feared were having problems. The #27 of Setzer and the #22 of Huffman stated fading badly falling out of the top 10. Their days would ultimately come to an end shortly after halfway with Setzer being sidelined with rear-end failure and Huffman parking with a failed valve cover gasket. At halfway: 1.McCall 2.Loden 3.Pressley 4.Grissom 5.David Latour Jr. As the second 125 laps began things were getting close up front. In just 6 laps the cars of Pressley and Grissom move the strong car of Loden back to 4th with the #89 of Latour coming by him a few laps later. The #07 of Wallace had moved up to 7th and looked to be one of the fastest cars on the track. The entire second half of the race it was the two cars of McCall and Pressley breaking away from the rest of the field. They would race side-by-side lap after lap before settling back in line each time, while the rest of the field trailed by 10-15 car lengths. Before lap 200, the 55 car of Chris Lawson made a great run and moved up to the 3rd position while the once front running car of Grissom parks it. Around lap 200 the #29 of Loden started to show that he wasn't done yet. He moved himself back up to the 3rd spot before a caution for the spinning car of Zeke Shell bunched the field back up on lap 213. It was time to show your cards now and the top 3 of McCall, Pressley and Loden did just that. After the restart the top 3 broke away and let it be known that the race was going to be settled between just them. At lap 215 Loden swung to the outside of Pressley for second and cleared him 3 laps later and set his sights on McCall. After McCall and Pressley had been the cars to beat almost all day, the #29 of Loden moved to the outside of McCall on lap 223, and while all the other top 5 battles lasted several laps side-by-side, this one did not. He was gone. Loden pulls away while Pressley makes a last ditch effort for second but comes up short. The racing at Hickory did not disappoint. The big names came and while some had trouble they all put on a good show. But in the end it was the guy who knows his way around there best taking the money to the bank. If someone came into my home and told me they were taking over I would say "I ain't havin it". Today 30 other drivers came to Hickory Speedway to try and show Andy Loden they were taking over his house. He pretty much told them "I ain't havin it". Hickory "Fall Brawl 250" Top 10 1. (15) #29 Andy Loden 2. (4) #23 Matt McCall 3. (2) #59 Coleman Pressley 4. (17) #55 Chris Lawson 5. (31) #07 Chrissy Wallace 6. (10) #73 Sam Watts 7. (24) #33 Patrick McVay 8. (11) #3 Paddy Rodenbeck 9. (22) #47 Patrick Molesworth 10. (23) $19 Kyle Moon