By Robert Walden BULLS GAP, Tenn. (July 21) — Jeff Maupin of Greeneville got off to a strong start at the beginning of the season by winning the first three “Gateway Ford” Super Late Model features, but he had been shut out of victory lane for the past two months. Maupin used a mid-race pass of race leader Vic Hill to catapult him to his fourth win of the campaign on A&L RV Sales Night at the Races. Maupin set fast-time at 13.278-seconds (108.450 mph) to earn the pole position for the 35-lap main event, with Hill second-quickest to nail down the outside front row starting berth. Hill grabbed the lead on the opening lap over Maupin, with Shane Roberts, Kerry Jones and Bryan Hendrix in tow. Getting a strong run on the bottom racing off turn two on the eighth lap, Hendrix passed Jones to move into fourth. With Hill and Maupin encountering slower cars up front on lap 15, Maupin was riding in the shadows of the race leader Hill. Racing down the front straightaway into the first turn on lap 17, directly in front of Hill was the car of Gary Blanken on the inside. Maupin saw the high-groove was open, and he stayed on the gas and drove around Hill up top in the banking around turns one and two to grab a lead he would never relinquish. One circuit later the caution waved for a spinning Blanken in turn two following contact from Hill. The top five going back green were Maupin, Hill, Roberts, Hendrix and Jones. But before one lap could be completed, Hendrix spun to quickly bring the yellow (flag) back out. Back up to speed and with only 10 laps remaining, Maupin had stretched his lead to eight car lengths over Hill. On the move towards the front after starting in the 10th-spot, Michael Jackson picked off Rodney Kiker and Randy Davidson in successive laps to move into fifth-place on lap 28. But out front it was all Maupin, as he wheeled the Beamer’s Flooring Outlet/G&W Hauling & Rigging/TEG Enterprises/Landair Transport Inc./O’Reilly Auto Parts/Simpson Racing Equipment/Vic Hill Racing Engines/Team GRT Race Cars/Hoosier Racing Tires/No. 0 Monte Carlo to his fourth victory of the season worth $2,000. Finishing behind Maupin was Hill, Roberts, Jones and Jackson. Completing the top 10 finishers were Davidson, Kiker, Mike Smith, Marty Calloway and Hendrix. “Man, we really needed this one (win) tonight,” said a smiling Maupin in victory lane after climbing from his car. “After getting off to the good start this year, it just seems like it was one thing after another happened to us. But we’ve got a good car. I knew in hotlaps tonight that we’d be tough and be in contention for the win, just as long as the driver didn’t mess things up. Fortunately for us I made the right move when Vic (Hill) and I approached the lapped car and we got around him for the lead. With Vic’s experience that’s not going to happen very often, it’s just one of those deals where the lapped car kind of trapped him. “Vic’s my racing mentor and he’s really done a lot for me. He builds awesome motors and we’ve got all the horsepower you’ll ever need under the hood. This car drives like a dream and it’s all because of Vic’s knowledge of these cars and the help he’s given me and my guys on setting it (car) up. I want to thank all the guys who help work on the car — Justin Kidwell, Rodney Justice, Josh Bible, Tony Price, Ricky Thornburg and Marty Evans. This past week was Marty’s birthday, and hopefully this is a good birthday present for him.” Warren McMahan of Dandridge, the defending “Ramey Ford” Crate Late Model track champion, had recorded three top-five finishes this season but hadn’t visited victory lane. With a stellar 21-car field of cars present, McMahan stopped the clock at 14.053-seconds (102.474 mph) to earn the pole position for the 25-lap feature. But outside front row starter Bobby Mays grabbed the lead racing off the second turn on the opening lap over McMahan, Shanon Buckingham, John Llewellyn and Chris Chandler. McMahan pulled alongside Mays racing off the fourth turn on lap 4 to challenge for the lead. The duo raced side-by-side for three laps before McMahan moved into the lead racing off turn two on the seventh circuit. Jensen Ford moved into fifth-place on lap 11 racing off the fourth turn when he drove under Chandler, and with the door open, Jerry Broyles seized the opportunity and he dropped Chandler back another spot to seventh in the running order. The caution waved on lap 12 when Brad Kenyon spun in turn two. The top five on the restart were McMahan, Mays, Buckingham, Llewellyn and Ford. Just two laps back up to speed, Buckingham drove under Mays to move into the runner-up position. The yellow (flag) appeared on lap 16 when Hugh Scalf looped his mount in turn two, erasing an eight car-length advantage McMahan held over Buckingham. Poised and ready to strike going back green, Buckingham was riding in the rearview mirror of race leader McMahan. With the laps winding down, Buckingham was applying pressure on McMahan for the point — sticking his nose underneath the leader as they raced off turn two on lap 23. But the veteran McMahan, driving the Gantte Insurance Agency/Gantte Real Estate & Appraisals/Farm Credit Services/Jabo's Pharmacy/Newport Bargain Barn/Advance Auto Parts/Doc Whitson Dentistry/Dandridge Tire & Alignment/Dandridge Service Station/Bad Graphics/No. 33 Monte Carlo, would not be denied his first win of the season as he held off Buckingham, Mays, Llewellyn and Broyles for the victory. Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Chandler, Kelly Glass, Todd Brooks, Tony Trent and Anthony Arnwine. “I was kind of beginning to wonder if we were going to win one,” said a grinning McMahan in victory lane. “We really had a good car tonight, the best it’s been all year. We’ve had some good runs and finished in the top-five, but this class has a lot of strong competition and it’s definitely tough to get a win. I really want to thank my car owner George Gantte for letting me drive for him. He’s got good equipment and it’s up to me to win races. Hopefully now that we’ve got this first win out of the way, we’ll be able to reel some more (wins) in.” Jesse Helton, a five-time feature race winner and the current “Rusty Wallace Toyota” Hobby Stock points leader, jumped out front and paced the field in the 20-lap feature for the first three circuits before tangling with Chuck Johnson between turns three and four, with both cars spinning and also collecting the fourth-place car of Jamie Whitt. The third-running entry of Morristown’s Dustin Shaver avoided the accident and moved to the point, where he remained until the checkers as he captured his first victory of the season over R.J. Mayes, Dale Reed, Whitt and Rick Fillers. Shawn Henry of Newport passed Allen Carrier for the lead on the third lap in the “Century 21 Masengill-McCrary Realtors” Mini Stock feature, and proceeded to cruise to his fifth straight victory. Henry was trailed at the checkers by Carrier, Toby Jones, Kevin Williams and Kevin Atwell. “GATEWAY FORD” SUPER LATE MODEL (35 laps) 1) Jeff Maupin #0, 2) Vic Hill #1, 3) Shane Roberts #32w, 4) Kerry Jones #6, 5) Michael Jackson #Q, 6) Randy Davidson #28, 7) Rodney Kiker #25, 8) Mike Smith #4, 9) Marty Calloway #7, 10) Bryan Hendrix #5, 11) John Tweed #1t, 12) Dwight Sams #54, 13) Gary Blanken #05, 14) Barry Arnold #15, 15) Dennis Alverson #71, 16) Shanon Buckingham #44, 17) Dennis Stiles #00, 18) Phillip Davis #31 “RAMEY FORD” CRATE LATE MODEL (25 laps) 1) Warren McMahan #33, 2) Shanon Buckingham #44, 3) Bobby Mays #19, 4) John Llewellyn #90, 5) Jerry Broyles #72, 6) Chris Chandler #8, 7) Kelly Glass #01, 8) Todd Brooks #T1, 9) Tony Trent #18, 10) Anthony Arnwine #11a, 11) Alan Poyner #2, 12) Josh Henry #B00, 13) Greg Burchett #17, 14) Travis Trent #5, 15) Hugh “Wishbone” Scalf #56, 16) James Cole #5c, 17) Jensen Ford #83, 18) Ricky Moore #75, 19) Van Lester #50, 20) Brad Kenyon #98, 21) Joe “Dirt” Good #911 “RUSTY WALLACE TOYOTA” HOBBY STOCK (20 laps) 1) Dustin Shaver #7, 2) R.J. Mayes #6m, 3) Dale Reed #52, 4) Jamie Whitt #1, 5) Rick Fillers #21, 6) Jon Cook #0z, 7) Shorty Ledford #41, 8) Chuck Johnson #17, 9) Emory Harvey Jr. #74, 10) bobby Reed #54, 11) Ken Orton #33, 12) Jesse Wilder #79, 13) Patrick Flannery #38, 14) Jeremiah Carr #18, 15) Jason Long #15, 16) Robbie Wood #16, 17) Jesse Helton #28, 18) Roger Hunter #7-11, 19) Terry Cobb #14, 20) Chris Gregg #9, 21) Tyler Smith #32, 22) Ray Jarnigan #31 “CENTURY 21 MASENGILL-MCCRARY REALTORS” MINI STOCK (20 laps) 1) Shawn Henry #B00, 2) Allen Carrier #B1, 3) Toby Jones #66, 4) Kevin Williams #1, 5) Kevin Atwell #95 – Did Not Start: Ernie Stubblefield #21