Drought ends, Ross captures first Sooner Late Model victory

by John Rittenoure - ENID, Okla. (October 2, 2021) - It has been a long time coming for 19-year old Hayden Ross.

For the past two seasons Ross has been looking for his first Complete Well Testing Sooner Late Model Series victory. Over 36 races Ross has logged 14 top five finishes while holding down second in points, but no wins to show for his efforts.

That changed Saturday when Ross took charge late in the feature at Enid Speedway and pulled away to capture his first victory.

Ross was running third when the yellow flag waved on lap 16. That was the opportunity he needed. On the restart Ross was quick on the gas and shot outside of second place Dustin Allen. He pulled up alongside of leader John Herring and the swapped the lead with Herring back in front at the start-finish line at the end of lap 16. Ross was not to be denied as he challenged Herring again on lap 17 and took the lead for good.

On lap 19 Herring bobbled in turn two and Allen took over second. Allen could not catch Ross and finished second. Herring fell out of the race with engine problems leading Troy Bynum with third. But on the final lap Kip Hughes passed Bynum to finish third.

The feature got underway with Herring setting a torrid pace for the first 15 laps. Bynum passed Eddie Tidwell for second on lap 2 eventually giving way to Allen on lap 11. Ross was up to fifth at that point. Ross drove into third on lap 15 just before the only yellow of the race waved.

Ross, who trails Hughes in the points race, will be looking to follow up on his victory at his home track when the Complete Well Testing Sooner Late Models wrap up the 2021 season on October 8-9 at Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee.

Complete Well Testing Sooner Late Model Results

Enid Speedway - Enid, Okla.

October 2, 2021

HEAT 1 (10 Laps)

1, 96-John Herring. 2, 11-Dustin Allen. 3, 88S-Richard Shepler. 4, 5R-Kaleb Roach. 5,

1B-Darren Moses. 6, 99-Brandon Givens.

HEAT 2 (10 Laps)

1, 42R-Ross McCarthney. 2, 66-Hayden Ross. 3, 42c-Courtney McCartney. 4, 51-Eddie

Martin. 5, 84-Gary Kilbourn. 6, 29S-Scott Donnell.

HEAT 3 (10 Laps)

1, 4-Kip Hughes. 2, 55K-Chris Kratzer. 3, 81-Troy Bynum. 4, 1-Eddie Tidwell. 5, 25-Al

Purkey. 6, 65-Eric Brill. (DNS).

A FEATURE (25 Laps)

1, 66-Hayden Ross. 2, 11-Dustin Allen. 3, 4-Kip Hughes. 4, 81-Troy Bynum. 5, 25-Al

Purkey. 6, 42c-Courtney McCartney. 7, 96-John Herring. 8, 1-Eddie Tidwell. 9, 1B-

Darren Moses. 10, 88S-Richard Shepler. 11, 29S-Scott Donnell. 12, 42R-Ross

McCarthney. 13, 99-Brandon Givens. 14, 5R-Kaleb Roach. 15, 55K-Chris Kratzer. 16,

84-Gary Kilbourn. 17, 51-Eddie Martin. 18, 65-Eric Brill. (DNS).

About Complete Well Testing

Based in Oklahoma, Complete Well Testing is a family owned and operated company specializing in hydrostatic tubing testing and EMI tubing scanning.

About Sooner Late Model Series

The Sooner Late Model Series was formed in 2016 by Enid Speedway co-promoter Mark Brill. Brill felt there was not many opportunities for late model competitors to race in Oklahoma and the Sooner Late Model Series was formed. Now the series has grown beyond the borders of Oklahoma with events held in the neighboring states of Kansas, Texas and Arkansas as well.

Travis Barnard photo