Keith McGee avoided many laps, crashes and mayhem to take the checkered flag and win the thrilling Danger Ranger on dirt Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Event host and YouTube sensation Cleetus McFarland presented the trophy and a new bass boat to former NASCAR Truck Series racer McGee in victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway for claiming the all-time victory won
In the afternoon, McFarland congratulated Iowa native Brad Chandler for winning the Midwest Compacts feature race.
“Man that was a lot of fun,” said McGee, an Alaska native who now lives in Mooresville, North Carolina. “This is now the most fun I’ve ever had in a race car. I told Derek Bieri (Vice Grip Garage team owner) this afternoon that we were going to win a boat tonight and we did.”
McGee said his strategy for the race was to stay back and let any crash unfold in front of him.
“We were going to play it safe and stay on the back and avoid the wrecks,” McGee said. “But then I knew I had to go to the front. I felt like I’d been through a lot of crashes.”
With 15 laps to go, there were still 19 trucks left in the 30 race that took the green flag and for a while it looked like Kameron McConchie was going to win, but McGee continued to charge. He eventually overtook McConchie with a lap to go.
The carnage that took place on the Danger Ranger was insane even by Bristol standards.
A spectacular four-truck pile-up on the first lap of the race set the tone from the start. The green and yellow #33 of Kyle English went out of control and did a sharp back spin into oncoming traffic and was hit by several trucks, including the 69x of Flan Bental. A trio of trucks flipped on their sides and had to pull out of the race with excessive damage.
Tyler Hewett’s truck then flipped between turns three and four on lap two to bring out the second caution and officially let everyone in attendance know that the “danger” was real.
With 41 laps to go, there was another truck flipped while driving the #78 of Kevin Smith. Meanwhile, Cleetus McFarland’s truck had to pull to the side of the track as it was starting to smoke well under the hood. His lost engine spewed oil all over the track and several trucks lost traction and slipped and slid behind him.
As he pulled away from his truck and saw the trail of black oil, the BMS crowd gave Cleetus a loud “You’re done!” shout out.
“My engine jumped out of my Ranger, but aren’t you entertained?” McFarland asked the large crowd gathered at BMS. “This wasn’t supposed to be this entertaining, and three laps wasn’t supposed to happen this soon. We’ve got a lot of races left. Hopefully we don’t have too many more crashes. It’s entertaining as hell, that’s all I can to say”.
The last big spin during the race came along the front stretch when Ronnie Lester’s truck came loose in the fourth quarter and barreled through three laps, eventually landing on the wall right at the start/finish line .
Jeffrey Bloch finished third and was followed by Evann Renslow and Nate Prater in the top five for Danger Ranger on Dirt.
In the Midwest Compacts All-Star Race, Brad Chandler of Cedar Rapids, Iowa used a last-lap charge to pass race leader Aaron Tatman in turn four for the win .
Tatman led 29 laps of the race and was putting on a clinic in his No. 9 compact before the power-packed Chandler fired up and eliminated him by a half-car length while flying the checkered flag.
“I was ready to do some scrubbing if I had to with everything on the line,” Chandler told McFarland during his interview in Victory Lane. “This means a lot to me, it will probably be one of the last races I will run. I’ve raced here three or four times on concrete and dirt, so it feels good to finally get a win here.”
In the compact race, McFarland was caught up in an early-race crash on the second lap and had to park the car after his crew tried to work on it.
Early race leader Josh Barnes in the #13 looked to have the car to beat, but was caught up in a crash near the halfway point of the race as he and Tatman battled for the lead. Barnes eventually finished 15thth.
Ryan Crocker finished third, Ashley Bell fourth and Wayne Buckner rounded out the top five in the Midwest Compacts race.
Ranger in danger in the dirt
Bristol Motor Speedway
Final results, 40-lap feature
- Keith McGee
- Cameron McConchie
- Jeffrey Bloch
- Evan Renslow
- Nate Prater
- Uncle Chet
- Drew Jackson
- Ronda Madison
- LS Jordi
- Zack Walker
- Ty Brown
- Sean Chojnocki
- Jackstand Jimmy
- Brock Sweeter
- Amanda Weatherwax
- JH Diesel
- Clint Lowes
- Chad Lower
- Scott Gates
- Ronnie Lester
- Kevin Wallace
- Brett Lasala
- Carl Amato
- Simon Egan
- Cleetus McFarland
- Kevin Smith
- Tyler Hewett
- Tyler Schmeltzle
- Logan Sibley
- Kyle English
- Bental flan
Midwest compacts
All-Star Invitational
Bristol Motor Speedway
Final results, 30-lap feature
- Brad Chandler
- Aaron Tatman
- Ryan Crocker
- Ashley Bell
- Wayne Buckner
- Nick Jenema
- Nick Williams
- Don Rufener III
- Will Slaughter
- Ryan Hufford
- Bruce Foulk
- Josh Lank Jr.
- Greg Marlow
- Jay Orr
- Josh Barnes
- Mike Currier
- Devon Dixon
- Shawn Grabinger
- Dave Smoot
- Jason Jones
- Hunter Hollis
- Colin Preston
- Jessie Yopp
- LJ Crain
- All the hits
- Dan Smith
- Ryan Hamm
- And Rigoni
- Devin Jones
- Scott Rich
- Chase Willard
- Josh Lank
- Cleetus McFarland
- Ethan Hite
- Chris Carter
- Anthony Wood
- Chris McCrimmon
BMS PR
