Loden Completes the Three-peat!
By Jill Frischmann, Hickory Motor Speedway

NEWTON, NC (September 13, 2008) - It was Championship Night for the 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series at “The World's Most Famous Short Track”, Hickory Motor Speedway.

Presented by Gaston Rentals, the 20th round of NASCAR action featured appearances by the Bojangles Late Models, the Jewelry Exchange Limited Late Models, the Advance Auto Parts Super Trucks, the Hickory Pro 4's, the Hickory Street Stocks, and the Red Baron Race Parts Hobby Stocks. Champions were crowned in all divisions, and history was made as the #29 of Andy Loden won his third Track Championship in a row in the Late Model division.

The first few laps of the Bojangles Late Models 50 lapper seemed as though the dominance of the #10 of Andy Mercer was back as he jumped to the lead from his WynnCom Pole Position. The first and only caution of the event flew early in the race on lap three when the #95 of Michael Buckner and the #52 of Julia Dawson connected heading into turn four, sending Dawson for a spin, collecting the #99 of Sean Ballantine along the way. From the restart Mercer maintained his position in the lead, but the #29 of Andy Loden stayed closely behind.

At the mid point of the feature a tight battle for the first and third place positions was in progress. Loden continued to try Mercer for the lead, while the #43 of Jesse LeFevers looked to move back into the third place position, capturing it from the #89 of David Latour Jr. On lap 31, Loden dove under Mercer to take over the lead. The two raced door to door for several laps, Loden gained momentum in the turns but Mercer would regain ground on the straight-aways. Loden eventually settled back into the second place position and waited for his chance to overtake Mercer using his famous high line.

With five laps to go, Mercer and Loden raced side by side. As the two entered turn four Loden ducked to the low line and sailed past Mercer for the lead. Mercer remained close behind Loden until the very end, looking for any chance to move back into the top position. Loden grabbed the win and the title of “Late Model Track Champion”, leaving Mercer to finish with a solid second place run. “That was one heck of a race! That was fun, Andy ran me clean…,” Loden exclaimed from Victory Lane. LeFevers, Latour Jr., and the #00 of Lucas Ransone completed the top five.