12/28/2022
Postman 68
2022 Race Chasing Podium: September 16 -- Wake County Speedway
Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, N.C. is thriving with their Friday night NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series racing program. A strong season ended on Friday, September 16th, with not only track championships on the line, but Late Model Stock racer Clay Jones racing for a NASCAR North Carolina State Championship.
Jones, a veteran racer, won seven times coming into the final night. He was in decent shape on the track championship and needed a third-place finish to win state honors.
Championship Night at Wake County brought a standing-room-only crowd, and not only was the crowd large but also very engaged in what was happening. Every pass and skirmish in the earlier features brought a cheer, so when the late models rolled out, they were aware of what was happening.
The headliner was a 60-lap feature on the quarter-mile bullring. Tyler Matthews jumped into the early lead with Daniel Vuncannon second, Jones was able to settle into third and rode the first half of the race comfortably there. Jones is a hard-core racer and was not comfortable “riding” and midway through the feature he moved second.
As the race wound down it appeared like Matthews would cruise to victory, but Jones was not done. In the final ten laps he picked up the pace and tracked down the leader. With two laps remaining Jones dove inside Matthews into turn three and they took the white flag side-by-side. Off turn two Jones got the upper hand into the lead and to the win.
To say the crowd approved of the final few laps was an understatement; the entire crowd was standing and cheering for their pending state champ. When he crossed the finish line the place went crazy, and Jones returned the excitement with a burnout for the ages.
A great track, a fantastic finish, and a career moment; all with a large enthusiastic crowd made the September 16th season finale at Wake County a podium finisher.
Note: In 2022 I attended 160 racing events; far more than I ever had accomplished in a year. This week as we wind down the year, we will highlight my top three races as well as a look at the overall numbers for the year.
-Steve Post
Submitted By: Steve Post
