Herring Prevails In Inaugural Charlie Mize Memorial At Hartwell Speedway

To the delight of many of the Hartwell faithful, Parker Herring held off a strong field of touring regulars and local standouts to take down the Charlie Mize Memorial and claim his first FASTRAK touring win of 2011. In a season that has yielded only one repeat winner on the SE tour, Herring became the fifth different driver to visit victory lane in six events. Not only did Herring claim event #6, but he also became the proud winner of the inaugural event celebrating the life and contributes of former Hartwell Speedway owner and promoter Charlie Mize.

Lee Cooper, the leader of the SE Touring points entering Hartwell, made his presence felt early as he set fast time in Shell Racing Solutions time trials. Herring and Brandon Umberger followed Cooper in qualifying setting the stage for an exciting 40 lap feature. After the traditional 4-wide salute and fireworks display, the drivers settled in and the fans rose to their feet as the smooth track surface around the 3/8 mile was ready to host an electric event. Herring vaulted into the lead early as side by side racing ensued from the drop of the green. Cooper and Umberger fell in line as the racing action behind them heated up in a hurry. Frankie Beard, Danny Sanders, Brandon Overton, Chad Hale, and a host of others waged war behind the top three in the early stages of the event. The double file restarts, which have always been exciting and often pivotal, lived up to their billing as some drivers made their moves on the restarts in an effort to gain track position. Herring built a small advantage as the race approached the halfway mark. A yellow flag set the field for another double file restart and the battle was on. As the war raged on for the lead, a spin developed on the inside of turns one and two collecting Cooper, Umberger, and many of the top 10 competitors. David Smith was the huge benefactor as he narrowly escaped catastrophe and eluded the incident. Herring restarted with the lead followed by Smith and a fast group of cars trying to make their way back to the front of the field. In the end, Herring held off all challenges to claim the win. He was followed by Smith, Ty Lowe, Brandon Overton, and Chad Hale.

Smith’s efforts regained him the points lead as Umberger and Cooper, who rebounded to finish 6th and 11th respectively, now reside 2nd and 3rd in the overall point standings. The championship battle is just heating up as teams will be allowed to drop their worst two finishes for the 2011 tour. The next stop is a double header as the teams will head to Cleveland County Speedway (July 15th) and Volunteer Speedway (July 16th).

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