Posted by Corey Latham on December 4, 2007, 12:18 pm
Board Administrator

"THE MAIN EVENT" Originally, 37 cars were to start the event, 36 on time, or through the heats with one provisional. By the time the race was to start, 42 cars were on track. Track owner Kirk Leone took the provisional, added another for Tiffany Daniels, and Chrissy Wallace, Curtis Truex Jr., Matt Lofton and Richard Gdovic(Frank Deiny started Richard's car) would shell out 2 grand to be in the event. With the heats and the "buying-in" out of the way it was time to race. Stephen Berry would lead them to the green having blistered the field by nearly 2 tenths of a second to take the pole. Before the race even started, 5th place qualifier Deac McCaskill pulls into the pits with a broken right rear axle, ending his day before it started. At the green it was Berry taking off and checking out. Denny Hamlin didn't wait long, taking 6th, 5th, 4th, and finally 3rd from Jamey Caudill by lap 4. The field is slowed for the first caution of the night as Tiffany Daniels checks the strength of the inside wall off of turn 4 ending her day only 6 laps in. In the early going, it was clear that Hamlin's car wasn't the best at restarts. Whoever was behind him after the many restarts would challenge for a lap or so before Hamlin would get his #20 machine going and clear the challenger. Most of the time in the early going that car was the #99 of Corey Strickland, he had a great piece and would be a force to be reckoned with throughout the event. In the early going it was Berry, Drew Herring,Hamlin, and Strickland that were the class of the field. The cars coming through the field by lap 50 were Carl Long to 6th (+7), Davin Scites to 13th (+9), and Cliff Daniels in 20th (+12). Stephen Berry was cruising, by far the class of the field. All he had to do was stay out of trouble, that went out the window on lap 103. The #07 of Matt Lofton, who had been involved in many of the early cautions already, got into it with Berry causing heavy front damage. Berry would slip back a few spots before retiring his #71 machine for the day. SNRP track champion Drew Herring would lead the field into the halfway break, but not before top ten running Jason York ends his day with motor issues on lap 134. The front runners stayed there but the cars of Davin Scites and Cliff Daniels were coming in a hurry, gaining 18 (Scites), and 23 (Daniels) spots respectively by the mid-race point. At halfway: 1.Herring 2.Hamlin 3.Caudill 4.Scites 5. Carl Long 6.Cory Strickland 7.Ryan Rhodes 8.Tommy Lemons Jr. 9.Cliff Daniels 10.Scott Young (note:Frank Deiny has given the reigns of the #64 back over to Richard Gdovic) A halfway inversion would put Srickland up front and the clean air was what he needed as he took off and would not be challenged for the next 65 laps. Behind the leader, Caudill makes a power move one lap after green on Scites for 3rd, and Hamlin and Herring follow suit pushing the #06 back to 6th. Just 18 laps later the Long Brothers entry piloted by Carl Long pulls into the pits after the motor started "tightening" up while running second. As Strickland was just riding, Hamlin was pestering Caudill like a knat flying around your head. He finally pressured Caudill enough to get a nose inside and makes the pass for second on lap 172, but not before Caudill does a little banging on him from the outside lane. This opened the door for Herring and Scites to follow and they bump the #50 back to 5th. Meanwhile the #03 of cliff Daniels has quietly disposed of Ryan Rhodes and Tommy Lemons and moved himself up to the 6th position. After a few quick cautions, Hamlin has what he was looking for, an opprtunity to get up to the lead after Strickland had ran away just a bit. At this point in the race it looks as if Denny has got the car adjusted just right and the somewhat sluggish restarts are a thing of the past. He pressures Strickland just a little, and makes the move for the lead on lap 215 without much protest. Scites has gotten around Herring for second and makes a valiant effort on some restarts after cautions, but Hamlin seems to take off after 2 laps each time once again. The big one comes on lap 241 when the cars of Tommy Lemons, Alex Yontz, Ryan Rhodes, Adam Murray, Richard Gdovic and Clay Jones all get into a mess in turns 3 & 4. All cars pull away, some a little beter off than others. Before the wreck, Cliff Daniels had gotten around Caudill and Strickland moving into the 4th position. It's "go-time" now, and Scites and Herring know if they want to do something with Hamlin, they need to start doing it now. Once again Hamlin gets a great restart as Scites is caught sleeping just a little allowing Herring to make the move for second on lap 251. At lap 254 a soft mist begins to fall and race is red flagged at lap 257 with the cars heading directly to pit road. The tarps are put on the cars and Drew Herring's bid for Hamlin's spot looks to be in doubt. The trucks start to drag tires and the rain stops before the track really even gets wet. the showers are spotty and Herring knows it's now "do-or-die" time. The rain is spotty indeed, we had 3 more cautions for rain with the and Herring gets one more run at Hamlin. Drew gets into the corners better but can't get the car to hook up off the turns allowing Hamlin to gain a car length down the straights. Behind them Daniels is all over Scites for 3rd but he nor Herring get the chance to advance with the race going under caution for the final time at lap 279. The rain begins to pour and Danny Hamlin wins the Thanksgiving Classic 10 laps short of the finish. We had money for spots, an expanded 42 car field, mad drivers, rough driving, lots of wrecking and some good racing. It was indeed a full day with a little bit of everything. Towards the end though the best cars were up front and put on a whale of a show until mother nature slowed us all down. It didn't matter to Denny Hamlin, he did a wet burn-out and got soaked with champagne in victory lane. He may have moved on to the next level in his racing career, but he was proud of this one, he had to race hard and definately earned this victory, one that had eluded him in the past. No more, Denny Hamlin is now a champion of the "Thanksgiving Classic". Final Results 1. Denny Hamlin 2. Drew Herring 3. Davin Scites 4. Cliff Daniels 5. Jamey Caudill 6. Cory Strickland 7. Joey Coulter 8. Scott Young 9. Chad Harris 10. Gary Causey 11. Jamie Yelton 12. Curtis Truex Jr. 13. Tommy Lemons Jr. 14. Timothy Peters 15. Chad Kendrick 16. Richard Boswell 17. Kirk Leone 18. Thomas Burbage 19. Wade Day 20. Chrissy Wallace 21. Frank Deiny (Richard Gdovick got in at halfway) 22. Terry Brooks 23. Lucas Ransome 24. Adam Murray 25. Cam Strader 26. Clay Jones 27. Matt Lofton 28. Alex Yontz 29 Ryan Rhodes 30. Carl Long 31 Joe Heigl 32. Jason York 33. Stephen Berry 34. Rodney Cook 35. Michael Hardin 36. Justin Milliken 37. C.E. Falk 38. Brandon Butler 39. Michael Rouse 40. Tiffany Daniels 41. Stacy Puryear 42. Deac McCaskill