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Track Advice Assists Ebeling to SCSCS Sweep at Kingsport
Kingsport,
Tennessee (June 16, 2018) – In the
initial appearance for the Super Cup Stock Car Series at Kingsport
Speedway, a vast majority of drivers on hand were navigating the
tricky oval known as the “Concrete Jungle” for the first time.
Hickory, North Carolina’s Ben Ebeling was one of those, but
adapted to the 3/8-mile rather efficiently leading into Operation:
Johnson Kitty Friday Night Thunder at Kingsport presented by Racing
Radios.
In qualifying it
was Ebeling’s team owner, Mike Potter, who scored a well-received
first career SCSCS pole award as evidenced by the cheers from the
local fans in the stands and team members in the pits with a best
time of 15.516 seconds. The
nearby Johnson City, Tennessee resident broke out into an impressive
lead from the get-go in his No. 14 Potter Racing Chevrolet, his
first laps led in series competition.
As the first of the
twin 50-lap races progressed past halfway, Potter’s advantage on
second place Ebeling began to shrink.
After a few laps of hounding the back bumper, the No. 44
Startown Carpet and Flooring / SwannysAutoSales.net / Battery
Specialists / Potter Racing Ford peeked under Potter.
After a couple circuits of side by side action, the first
lead change of the event came on lap 38.
In the process, Bob
Schacht, the winner of the first three races this season, had reeled
in the front two. Although
Ebeling would ultimately be able to pull away slightly, the No. 75
Engineered Components / Bob Schacht Motorsports Chevrolet challenged
Potter. Contact was made
between the two, who both 
competed
in the 1992 Daytona 500, going into turns three and four and ended
in turns one and two when the result was Schacht spinning which
triggered a caution.
A couple more
yellow flags collected a few competitors such as contender Brent
Nelson, making his 50th career and series leading 47th
consecutive race. Stephen
Cox, making his first start of 2018, suddenly saw himself on the
outside front row for the restart after starting the feature from
the ninth position. The
No. 21 STA-BIL 360 Performance / Impact Race Products / CR7
Motorsports Chevrolet made a challenge late but was no match for
Ebeling.
It
was a particularly special victory for the 37-year-old driver, not
only because it was his first SCSCS win away from Lonesome Pine
Raceway, but because he had to pass one of his racing idols to get
there.
“(Potter)
wasn’t going to give me any extra inches but he was going to run
me clean and run me hard, and that’s what I expect out of him and
anybody else out here,” Ebeling said.
“I’m thankful for that and thankful to him for giving me
this opportunity.”
Cox held off
Schacht to round out the podium with another Tri-Cities area legend
Brad Teague and Pennsylvania’s Kevin Kromer finishing fourth and
fifth. Potter settled
for sixth in the rundown and gave his take on what had occurred in
the second half of the distance, both with the lead battle and the
altercation for second.
“I had a tire
going down is why Ben caught me,” Potter commented.
“I was about checked out on everybody and I started getting
loose going off in the corner and I knew that a tire was going down.
I held on for as long as I could.
The 75 body-slammed me going off into three and I didn’t
appreciate it, so I just turned him around down there.
That was the way it was.”
Potter
recovered by redrawing the pole for the second race and jumped out
to the early lead. It
would not take Ebeling long to catch him, taking the top spot on lap
three. Schacht made it
past Potter for second a few laps later.
From there, Ebeling
had to hit his marks every lap around the concrete oval with Schacht
ready to pounce at any moment at his back bumper.
Despite being nose to tail in the turns, Ebeling managed to
keep nearly a one car length advantage on the Mooresville, North
Carolina veteran on the straightaways each time by as both weaved
through lapped traffic.
With three laps
remaining, Larry Berg lost control out of turn two while running in
third place, setting up a dash to the finish.
Schacht motioned to choose the inside line for the restart,
as did third place Potter, letting Cox to choose the outside
starting position to Ebeling in a spitting image to the conclusion
of the first event.
Once
again, Ebeling held Cox off to sweep the evening and gained his
fourth career series race win. Much
of the success was thanks to the expertise and advice given to him
by teammates as well as a former Kingsport Speedway Late Model Stock
Car champion.
“Between Mike,
Brad Teague, Jon Kerley, and even his dad Benny Kerley, they have
all run a bunch of laps here,” Ebeling indicated.
“We also kind of made friends with Kres VanDyke and they
helped us get some insights and stuff at the track.”
Coupled with a
strong third place showing at Dominion, Ebeling holds a slim
advantage in defense of his Southern Division crown over Schacht.
“We’ll see how
it turns out in the end,” Ebeling commented.
“The thing with that deal is if you win races then you
don’t have to worry about that.
That’s what our goal is – to go out and win races.”
Cox, a non-factor
in the first half of the 50-lap race once again, took home a
somewhat unexpected second runner-up finish in a row.
The Indianapolis racer was quick to point out that it was not
simply luck that led him to those results.
“That’s half of
the game in Super Cup,” Cox noted.
“These cars have way too much horsepower for way too little
tire and if you go out and try to drive for the engine instead of
the suspension and the tire you’re going to spin yourself out,
you’re going to take somebody else out, you’re going to have a
bad night. When you have
the patience and good sense to drive your tires, you’ve got a
chance to make some things happen.”
Schacht finished
the night with a pair of third place finishes and maintains a
comfortable overall SCSCS point lead, but had very little to say at
the end of the night after ending up short of victory lane.
“It was a good
race,” Schacht remarked. “I
had a flat tire at the end there.
Nothing I can do about it.”
Potter finished a
best career fourth with Berg recuperating for fifth.
In three weeks, the
Super Cup Stock Car Series makes its first of three appearances at
the popular Jennerstown Speedway 1/2-mile Pennsylvania complex.
The first
Operation: Johnson Kitty Friday Night Thunder at Kingsport presented
by Racing Radios twin 50-lap race is scheduled to premiere on MAVTV
on Thursday, July 12 at 12:30 p.m. while the second will air on
Thursday, July 26 at the same time.
Please visit the
official web site at www.supercupstockcarseries.com
and the Super Cup Stock Car Series Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram
for more information.
Twin 50 No. 1:
