Justin Williams Scores Pro LM Win In Return To Racing At Virginia Motor Speedway

Story By: DAVE SEAY / VIRGINIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY – JAMAICA, VA – After a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic Virginia Motor Speedway got back to racing with a large car count and a great crowd on hand to see Victory Lap Late Model Champion Justin Williams of Concord, VA pick up where he left off in 2019, with a win.

“We have been waiting on the 2021 schedule to come out to see if I was going to take another year off from racing; we were pumped to see it finally come out. To get the win tonight, in front of a crowd like tonight, is amazing and exciting,” commented Williams in WhosYourDriver.org victory lane.

Williams would sweep the outside of Corey Almond of Appomattox, VA, on lap 2 to take the lead, one he would not relinquish over the remaining 33 laps. Williams would take the checkers 2. 709 seconds over Almond, followed by Jeremy Pilkerton, fast qualifier Matt Quade, and Matt Glanden.

In other action Davis Lipscombe of Mechanicsville, VA took home the win in dominating fashion after returning to the division after a four year absence. In the Budweiser Modified feature defending champion Hunter McClendon of Williamsburg, VA passed Joey Polevoy of Powhatan, VA on lap 8 of the 25 lap feature and went on to score the win. And in the Collision One Limited Stock Car feature Brian Maxey of King George, VA returned to the division after a four year absence to take home a dominating win.

A stellar field of Victory Lap Pro late Model took the green flag with defending champion Justin Williams of Concord, VA getting around Corey Almond on lap 2 to take the lead in the 35 lap feature. Williams would pull away from Almond by a little over a second. Behind the two leaders the battle for third began to heat up between fast qualifier Matt Quade, Jeremy Pilkerton, Matt Glanden, and Trevor Collins. With Williams showing the way with laps winding down, Almond worked to keep pace with Quade and Pilkerton in a tight battle for third. Quade and Pilkerton would exchange the third spot on multiple occasions before Pilkerton would claim the spot for good. Williams looked like his old self by taking the win over Almond, Pilkerton, Quade, and Glanden.

After four years away from the Truckin Thunder Sportsman division, Davis Lipscombe of Mechanicsville, VA picked up where he left off, by taking the win in dominating fashion.

Lipscombe set fast time but was inverted back to fourth with the pill pull. It didn’t take him long to catch leader Matt Meads. On lap 5 Lipscombe pulled up to the back end of Meads and tried several times on the bottom to take the lead. On lap 7 Lipscombe shot to the outside of Meads in Turn 3 and 4 taking the lead by inches at the line. Once out front Lipscombe began pulling away from the battle for second. With 5 laps remaining Tim Shelton began his assault to the front with a pass on Kacey Gordon. Coming to the white flag Shelton got inside Meads for second but had nothing for Lipscombe who took home the win by a full straight away. Rounding out the top five where Shelton, Meads, Gordon, and Steve Causey.

It took defending champion Hunter McClendon of Williamsburg, VA six laps to catch then leader Joey Polevoy of Powhatan, VA in the Budweiser Modified feature. On lap 8, while in traffic McClendon took the lead from Polevoy in heavy traffic taking over the top spot on lap 8. Once out front McClendon would pull away from the field. Behind him the battle for third on back between Bret Hamilton, Chase Polevoy, and Josh Harris. Butler would finally take over the third spot while the battle for the lead heated up. With five laps to go McClendon began racing in heavy traffic, at one point going three wide with slower traffic. That allowed Polelvoy to close the gap before getting caught up in that same lapped traffic which allowed McClendon to cruise on to the win. Rounding out the top five were Polevoy, Butler, Harris, and Lance Grady.

In the Collision One Limited Stock Car 25 lap feature fast qualifier Brian Maxey started sixth with the pill pull, it only took him 2 laps to get to the front, taking the lead from Trent Clemons with an outside pass in turn 3. Once out front Maxey began to pull away from the battle for second on back. Johnny Brooks, Trent Clemons, and Ryan Hutchens all took turns at running second behind Maxey. With the laps winding down the only thing to slow Maxey were three cautions that closed the field on his back bumper for a brief moment. Maxey would go on to take home a dominating win in his return to the division after a four year absence. Rounding out the top five were Givens, Cory Bradley, Ryan Hutchens, and Trent Clemons.

The speedway will return to racing Saturday, April 15th to host Thursday Night Thunder featuring Tony Stewart and the All Star Circuit of Champions 410 sprint car series. It will be the only time this year that 410 sprint cars will visit the State of Virginia.

Competitor gates for Thursday, April 15th open at 3pm with spectator gates opening at 4pm. On track activities will begin at 6:00pm with hot laps.

RACE RESULTS FOR SATURDAY APRIL 3, 2021:

Victory Lap Pro Late Models (35 Laps): 1. 2W-Justin Williams[2]; 2. 7A-Corey Almond[1]; 3. 8-Jeremy Pilkerton[3]; 4. 47-Matt Quade[4]; 5. 01-Matt Glanden[7]; 6. 14C-Chuck Bowie[11]; 7. 72-Trevor Collins[5]; 8. 71T-Tyler Hoy[6]; 9. 96-Matthew Hilebrand[16]; 10. 2J-Larry Jackson[12]; 11. 6-Justin Fulton[14]; 12. 09-Brad Rigdon[9]; 13. 12-Cody Cubbage[18]; 14. 29H-Vaughan Haywood[15]; 15. 12R-Rusty Harman[20]; 16. 5J-Darrell Dow[17]; 17. 7H-Curtis Hughes[13]; 18. 08-Ray Love Jr[21]; 19. 38-Nicolas Love[8]; 20. 45-Billy Hubbard[10]; 21. 3-Bill Coada[19]

Fast Qualifier: Matt Quade – 18.388 seconds

Truckin Thunder Sportsman (30 laps): 1. 71-Davis Lipscombe[4]; 2. 55-Tim Shelton[3]; 3. 23-Matt Meads[2]; 4. 92-Kacey Gordon[5]; 5. 9-Steve Causey[6]; 6. 10-Matt Ashworth[8]; 7. B1-Robert Babb[11]; 8. 8-James Givens[9]; 9. 01-Tommy Upshaw[10]; 10. 22-Michael Hayes[12]; 11. 43H-Holly Weiss[13]; 12. (DNF) 25-Tyler Shipp[1]; 13. (DNS) 16-Brett Adkins

Fast Qualifier: Davis Lipscombe – 20.879 seconds

Budweiser Modifieds (30 laps): 1. 33-Hunter McClendon[6]; 2. 51-Joey Polevoy[2]; 3. 11-Chase Butler[3]; 4. 43-Josh Harris[1]; 5. 48-Lance Grady[5]; 6. 7+7-Jeff Solinger[7]; 7. 1ST-Bret Hamilton[4]; 8. 2-Michael Pappas[11]; 9. 16-David Kendall[14]; 10. 21C-Davey Conley[10]; 11. 21J-Curtis Mason[9]; 12. 75-Kelly Samuels[13]; 13. 94-Paul Washington[16]; 14. 55-Jason Sage[15]; 15. 40-Brent Bordeaux[8]; 16. 44-Stephen Bryant[12]

Fast Qualifier: Hunter McClendon – 19.446 seconds

Collision One Limited Stock Cars (25 laps): 1. 04-Brian Maxey[6]; 2. 8-James Givens[5]; 3. 41-Cory Bradley[9]; 4. 14H-Ryan Hutchens[1]; 5. 01-Trent Clemans[2]; 6. 08-Chad Champion[7]; 7. 25-Marty Coltrain[10]; 8. 30-Zac Elliott[16]; 9. 9-Justin Pullen[14]; 10. 13-Dale Rhodes[18]; 11. 7-Johnny Brooks[4]; 12. 26-Stephanie Johnston[8]; 13. 3-Dylan Pullen[12]; 14. 40-Paige Vassallo[13]; 15. 88-Jay Seward[11]; 16. 55-Raymond Harper[21]; 17. 37-Mike Harris[20]; 18. 32M-Chris Champion[17]; 19. 14-Brandon Bowler[19]; 20. 4-Randy Hutchens[3]; 21. 18-John Hankins Jr[15]

Fast Qualifier: Brian Maxey – 22.547 seconds