BRISTOL, Tenn. – Austin Dillon led the list of feature winners Tuesday during the second day of competition at the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals.
Dillon led all 20 laps of the 604 late model feature and beat runner-up Shan Smith to the finish line by 3.592 seconds.
The NASCAR Cup Series regular was driving a car prepared by dirt late model veteran Cory Hedgecock.
The 602 Late Models kicked off the first set of features on Tuesday night, with Florida natives Trey Mills and Brenden Smith bringing the first main to the green.
Mills built a lead of a half of a straight away before John Brooks lost a podium spot due to a wreck on the frontstretch.
Gage Griffin gained the runner-up position on the restart, and held it through another caution period one circuit later.
Griffin closed in on Mills for the lead before the final caution with eight laps complete.
Curtis Thomas took the second spot on the restart, though he and Griffin went door-to-door through the halfway point.
Logan Walston took the final spot on the podium one round later, as Mills continued on to victory by over a second over Griffin. Walston rounded out the top five.
It was seven years after Bristol last held dirt racing when Mills was born.
Spencer Singleton held off a hard charging Cass Fowler late in the second feature to earn his spot in Saturday’s main event.
Seth Wimpey had a big lead erased late in the third and final 602 feature, but continued on to victory over Dustin Diem.
In the modified division, Wisconsin’s Tyler Wilson and California’s Jerry Flippo were the first to the stripe at for the first of three qualifiers.
Flippo took the early lead, and brought Iowa’s Justin O’Brien with him into the runner-up spot.
The lead duo pulled away from the rest of the field, but O’Brien relentlessly stalked Flippo for the top spot through seven circuits.
O’Brien’s first attempt at the lead came the following lap, as he peeked to Flippo’s inside.
Flippo remained the leader as the battle for the lead caught up to the rear of the field, but a caution saved Flippo from have to protect the lead in lapped traffic.
Ricky Alvarado made a stab at the second spot on the following restart, but O’Brien closed back in on Flippo after the latter pushed hard on the exit off of turn two near the halfway point of the twenty lapper.
The field re-stacked one final time after the last caution of the race with four rounds remaining.
Mark Noble moved past Alvarado for the final spot on the podium as Flippo continued on to victory over O’Brien.
Kyle Heckman made it two-for-three for California, as he won qualifier number two over Minnesota’s Aaron Johnson, while Iowa’s JD Auringer dominated the final feature over Clay Money.
In Sport Mod action, Cody Smith of Texas, and Minnesota’s Adam Bohlman led the field to the start of the first of three qualifying features.
Trey Stamper used a lap three restart to climb from seventh to first in the opening three circuits.
On the following restart, Brady Bjella charged from fifth to second as Stamper built a two-and-a-hald second lead by the halfway point.
Bjella caught Stamper in traffic, running to the leaders inside down the backstretch with a lap and a half remaining.
Bjella took the lead on the final trip down the backstretch, stealing the win late in the eighteen lap event by two-tenths of a second.
Justin Blevins of Virginia and Andrew Durham from North Carolina dominated the second and third features respectively, winning over runners-up Scott Busch and Zack Tate.
The finish:
604 Late Model Feature 1 (20 laps): 1. Austin Dillon; 2. Shan Smith; 3. Jackson Jise; 4. Joseph Joiner; 5. Kyle Lear; 6. Corey LaJoie; 7. Kevin Copher; 8. Tyler Arrington; 9. Anthony White; 10. Thomas Fiebelkorn; 11. Terry Poore; 12. Darrell Dow; 13. Tim Anderson; 14. Ben Sukup; 15. Jonathan Stockdale; 16. David Marlow; 17. Kyle Courtney; 18. Pete Cochran; 19. Curtis Glover; 20. Eric Pollard; 21. Luke Flemming; 22. Tony White; 23. Justin Carey; 24. Kevin Goodwin; 25. Bodi Henry; 26. Jarrod Carey; 27. John Harrison.
Other feature finishes are pending due to the late finish to the program.