“Leave nothing” is a catchall sports mantra rarely echoed on dirt tracks, where significant consideration is given to protecting one’s equipment and reputation.
But as the winner’s purse increases, so does the threshold for risk taking.
Bryan Fortner appeared destined for third place at the Golden Egg Street Stock Spring Nationals Saturday at Magnolia Motor Speedway, where he trailed Preston Seratt and Justin McRee for the first 48 laps. Then, a combination of late-race fortune and aggressive driving set up Fortner in a race that “wasn’t for him.”
Seratt’s preferred bottom line roughed up about halfway through the race and was almost unnavigable after 40 laps. McRee, whose rear spoiler nearly detached after colliding with a lap car, eventually passed him. The moves allowed Fortner, who was milking every square inch along the wall, to mow down both drivers and win the race — the biggest of his career.
“We were using every bit of that race track,” Fortner said. “I was giving (the car) all it had. There was nothing left.
“This kind of race, this kind of money … I’m just a local guy having fun. It’s an incredible feeling.”
McRee finished second, and Seratt took third. Johnny Stokes and Dewayne Estes rounded out the top five.
Fortner entered the weekend with two runner-up finishes at Magnolia this season. He locked in the top spot Friday night but fell to the back of the dash and started sixth. Still, the quick heat performance didn’t deter him from a long-race setup that he’d built confidence in over the weekend.
Outside of a few laps early that saw Fortner, McRee, and Seratt battle three-wide, Fortner struggled to get by McRee, who was driving a High Roller house car owned by Doug Heavener. McRee was able to navigate the top and bottom lines of the track.
“It seemed like whenever I’d get a run he’d come up just enough,” Fortner said. “I know he didn’t know I was there, but it seemed like it just kept happening perfectly. When he lost his spoiler, he couldn’t stick it on the top. He was on top of the track instead of in the track with the tires. He moved down, and it gave me about two or three laps to get some momentum on that top.”
McRee took the lead from Seratt on lap 39, but he paid the price when he couldn’t dodge a lap car that had slowed significantly to the outside. McRee said he’d begun running the middle to high lines once his motor started to “bottom out” while running the lowest line.
“I was having engine problems, so I was watching the temperature gauge down the straightaways as much as possible,” McRee said. “By the time I realized there was a slow car, when I decelerated, I bottomed the suspension out, and it shoved the nose up the hill. At that point, I had to throttle up to try to get the car to rotate, and it was just ‘hopefully we miss him.’
“The position we were racing, I’d rather hit him with the right rear than the right front.”
Fortner said he “showed his nose” to Seratt on the last caution to make him think that he, too, wanted the bottom line. The strategy aligned with McRee’s approach to slow down and get underneath Seratt after his detached spoiler made it difficult to run the top of the track. McRee, though, dropped speed a bit too much, leaving the gate open for Fortner.
“Justin played a smart move,” said Seratt, who raced at Magnolia for just the second time. “He gave me a little nudge coming in, got me out of my line and got under me. When I pushed up, I caught a rut and had to check up and both of them got by me. It was $5,000, so (McRee) done what he had to do to get me there.
“People don’t understand. You got four corners and 50 laps, and that’s a couple of hundred times you got to be perfect around that place. These guys were really good through the middle and up top.”
In other race action, Evan Ellis won the NeSmith Late Model feature. The win was Ellis’ second in as many nights at Magnolia, and fourth in five starts there this season.
Ellis led the first three laps before Steve Russell passed him off turn four. Russell built a two-second lead over Ellis by lap 15, but Ellis began closing the gap along the high side of the track. Ellis navigated traffic flawlessly before regaining the lead down the front straight with two laps to go.
Russell finished second, while Chase Washington, Ashley Newman, and Randall Beckwith rounded out the top five.
Jason Byrd won the $1,000-to-win Factory Stocks feature. Cody Shism, John Beard, Dustin Rushing, and Allen Crawford rounded out the top five.
Chad McCool won the NeSmith Sportsman feature. Bryson Mitchell, Rick Hasselle, Zach Combs, and Chace Pennington rounded out the top five.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.