PELETIER, N.C. – Chris Burns opened up Sunday night’s WITN-TV Memorial Classic with a victory in the first of two Limited Late Model features while T.J. Barron closed out the night with his second Limited Late Model win at Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway.

Burns started on the pole in the first twin race and led the first 33 laps.  Ross “Boo Boo” Dalton, after starting sixth, drove past Burns on lap 34 to take the lead and looked like he had the win in hand in his first ever Carteret County Speedway start.  However, Burns would battle back, taking the lead with five laps to go and holding on for the win – his second Late Model win of the 2019 season.

“Boo Boo is a tough competitor,” Burns said in victory lane.  “For being his first time here, very stout.  They keep on coming back and they’ll win some races here.  We didn’t have the best car tonight, I don’t think.  We had some sort of problem.  A little bit of luck fell on our side tonight.”

While Dalton did lead laps late, he believed Burns’ car was just a little better at the end of the race.

“I knew he was probably going to be able to get back to me,” Dalton stated.  “We were really free right there.  I really couldn’t get back to the throttle the way I wanted to.  He was a little worse than us up off of two.  That was the only place I could capitalize.  He was a lot better through three and four.  First time out, never saw the place until Thursday, got it dialed in pretty close.”

T.J. Barron finished third while Tyler Horne and Rusty Daniels rounded out the top-five in the 14 car field.

The second race came down to a duel between Barron and Burns.  Burns once again dominated much of the race, but Barron made the winning pass inside 20 laps to go and never looked back as he went on to pick up his second win in three races and his second career Carteret County Speedway victory.

“It’s what you always hope for,” Barron said.  “We got that monkey off our back.  We’ve got a good car, good crew.  Me and Chris, we go way back racing almost 20 years together.  That’s how racers race right there.  We got into each other a little bit, banged some doors, but it was a good race.”

Burns said he had nothing for Barron in the final laps, despite hanging with him and looking like he could make his move.

“I think we were rolling the center a little better than him but, where we lacked, he gained,” Burns commented.  “It was close racing.  I wanted to race T.J. clean, I know he’d race me the same way.  I can’t complain.  I’m happy to be in second.”

Eric Winslow, who has had a rough season to date, picked up his first podium finish of the season.

“I think we had a pretty fair shot at the win tonight,” Winslow remarked.  “The car was pretty good.  This is the first week we haven’t had to rebuild the motor the night before.  Just that in itself is pretty much a win.  I’ve got to thank all the fans for coming out.  We’ve got some really great fans.  This little girl drew a picture for me a little while ago.  We’ve got great fans and that’s why we come to Carteret.  It’s four hours for us but these people are second to none.”

Boo Boo Dalton and Brandon Clements rounded out the top-five.

While Clements remains winless in the Late Model division in 2019, he was finally able to pick up his first win of the year in the Battlefield Tire Pros Mini-Stock race.

After starting at the rear of the field, Clements quickly raced his way through the field and passed Stephen Sanders for the lead within the first 10 laps of the race.  After making the pass, Clements held Sanders off and returned to victory lane for the first time since October 2018.

“This win means a lot,” Clements said.  “Hit in the shoulder, I guess.  It doesn’t matter if you in a Mini-Stock car, Late Model, or a tricycle, they’re hard to come by.  It definitely means a lot every time.”

Sanders finished in second while Kris Hetu, Adam Resnick and Travis Provost rounded out the top-five.

Zach Miller led wire-to-wire in the Legends feature, holding back Eric Courtney to pick up his second win of the season as he continues to prepare for the INEX Legends Asphalt Nationals in October.

“I think we learned a lot the last time we came down here,” Miller said.  “Definitely learned from our mistakes.  Got the thing tightened up a little bit this time so I could actually get in the gas.  The car was hooked up.  This has been an incredible weekend.  We were in Charlotte on Friday, we’re here today celebrating Memorial Day weekend.  This one goes out to all the veterans.  If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here.”

Courtney finished in second while Tyler Lester, Sam Butler and Caleb Heady rounded out the top-five.

Lee Ottaway picked up the victory in Champ Kart competition over Cory Dimauro and Stephen Sanders.  For much of the race, Ottaway was holding back a challenge from Sean Wales, but Wales was forced out of the race in the final laps – ending his winning streak.  The $150 bounty that was placed on Wales will carry over into the next race for Champ Karts on June 8^th.

Andrew Jackson held off a hard charging Robert Arch to pick up his second U-CAR victory of the 2019 season.  Steve Sullivan finished in third while a pair of active duty U.S. Marines, Zac Reimer and Neil Mason, finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Greg Butcher picked up the win in the Southern Ground Pounders Sportsman division, Dwight Saults was victorious in Southern Ground Pounders Modified competition, and Jacob O’Neal scored the win in the Bandolero feature.

The 2019 racing season at Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway resumes on June ^th with the Summer Sizzler, which will be headlined by the Sportsman’s Wholesale Street Stock division.  Mini-Stocks, Legends, U-CARs, Champ Karts and Mini Cups will also be in action on June 8^th.

For more information about Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway, visit the track’s official website at www.carteretspeedway.com, “like” Carteret County Speedway on Facebook or follow @carteretcoswy on Twitter.

Source: Andy Marquis/Carteret County Speedway

Photo Credit: Morgan Odum, Race22.com