Haiden Masterson-Thomas scores third consecutive win at Carteret! Daniels, Benford and Pacitti continue their dominance on the Crystal Coast!

Haiden Masterson-Thomas celebrates in victory lane after winning the U-CAR portion of the Milam Equipment Rentals Memorial Classic at Carteret County Speedway. (Andy Marquis/Honey Badger Entertainment photo)

PELETIER, NC – Familiar faces visited victory lane in Sunday evening’s Milam Equipment Rentals Memorial Classic at Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway.

Haiden Masterson-Thomas extended his winning streak to three in the U-CAR division, leading every lap of the 25 lap feature.  The young driver was born and raised in New Mexico has been racing since he was eight years old prior to moving to Greenville, North Carolina.  He’s been racing in U-CAR since.

“It’s awesome right now,” Masterson-Thomas said.  “It’s been tough getting up to the first position but so far this year, we’ve been great.  This is our third win this year, and we’re looking for more.  We’re here racing for the championship.  Hopefully we can win this year’s championship and move up to Legends next year.”

Travis Miller, who is one of the winningest drivers in Mini Stock racing, dominated in the Battlefield Tire Pros Mini Stock division, picking up his second win of the season.

“To be able to have my granddaughters, my family, and wife here, I’m usually a lone ranger, so to be able to have them here and be able to honor our soldiers is dear and important to our race team,” Miller said in victory lane.  “It could be my last one, so I will take everyone I can get.  God’s blessed me with more than I deserve.”

Sammy Pacitti and Andrew Watson have been battling each other for wins all season long at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, North Carolina. 

Watson decided to travel to Carteret for Sunday’s Memorial Classic, adding a thrilling new chapter to the friendly rivalry as he looked to dethrone Pacitti.  The race between the two did not disappoint as the two drivers swapped the lead multiple times in the 25 lap Down East Homes Bomber feature.

Pacitti saved his best for last, taking the lead from Watson in the final two laps and driving away for the win.

“I am worn out,” Pacitti said.  “I was on the phone with Shannon saying I don’t know how much more I can take of this.  It was a good night.  Andrew’s a tough competitor who drives clean but he puts it to you at the same time. “

Watson settled for second after mounting one final charge on the last lap.

“I don’t know if I could have got around him,” Watson said.  “I sent it a little hard and got myself bent out of shape.  I know he’s fast and I had to do what I had to do.  I’m not going to wreck him but I drove it in a little too hard.  We could have done a little better coming out of turn four, but it’s fun any time.”

Tyler Smith prevailed in Street Stock after John Sharp, who qualified on the pole, and Curtis Lanier tangled early in the race.  The incident, which took place on the seventh lap of the race, sidelined Sharp.

Rusty Daniels scored his fifth win of the season in Chargers, while Scotty Benford was victorious in Legends, and Harry Artemisio picked up his first career victory in the Down East Homes Bomber B-Main.

Sunday’s Milam Equipment Rentals Memorial Classic also saw racing from the Southern Ground Pounders Vintage Racing Club.  Shayne Lockhart scored the overall win in his Vintage Modified while Kevin Floars picked up the victory in the Vintage Sportsman category.

Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway returns to action on Saturday, June 7 with the School’s Out 150 featuring the penultimate race in the Six Pack Charger Series with Southern National.  The Down East Homes Bombers, Battlefield Tire Pros Mini Stocks, U-CARs, and Legend Cars will be among the other divisions in action while the Virginia Vintage Racers will also compete.

Unofficial Results

Charger (40 laps): 1. 16-Rusty Daniels[1]; 2. 2-Sarah Whitesell[2]

Legend Car (25 laps): 1. 51-Scotty Benford[1]; 2. B1-Brenton Irving[2]; 3. 9-Brody Rhodes[3]; 4. 27N-Nick Bulkeley[5]; 5. 28-Oliver Missner[4]; 6. 6-Austin Eckert[6]; 7. 3-Shane Irving[7]; 8. 30-Keagan Abrams[9]; 9. 97-Michael Bivens[11]; 10. 18-Knox Bryant[13]; 11. 100-Kaedin Ridenhour[8]; 12. 006-Landon Barefoot[10]; 13. 99-Carsyn Gillikin[12]; 14. 00-George Ingram[14]; 15. 0-Ryan Walters[17]; 16. 2-Greg Farley[15]; 17. 14-Roy Combs[16]

Down East Homes Bomber A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 43P-Samuel Pacitti[2]; 2. 08-Andrew Watson[1]; 3. 1-Charlie Mercer[5]; 4. 9B-Bradley Morgan[4]; 5. 34N-Matthew Newman[11]; 6. 91-Timothy Medeiros[3]; 7. 43-Juan Mejia[7]; 8. 11-Hunter Brown[6]; 9. 9-Deanna Stancill[8]; 10. 38-Chris Schmittberger[9]; 11. 55-Kaleb Watson[10]

Down East Homes Bomber B-Main (15 Laps): 1. 72-Harry Artemisio[2]; 2. 28-Randy "Bubba" Parker[3]; 3. 14-Tom Palmer[1]; 4. 77-Richard Smith[7]; 5. 4-Mack Tatum[5]; 6. 15-Brandon Tartanian[4]; 7. 3-Alexis Steffan[6]

Street Stock (25 Laps): 1. 51-Tyler Smith[2]; 2. 22-Curtis Lanier[3]; 3. 42-Lenny Spence[5]; 4. 9-John Sharp[1]; 5. 94-Michael Ludwig[4]

Battlefield Tire Pros Mini Stock (25 Laps): 1. 99-Travis Miller[1]; 2. 9-Trace Raynor[2]; 3. 10-Landon Strickland[3]; 4. 7-Nolan Walker[8]; 5. 11-Abby Jolly[4]; 6. 54-Tom Hutson[5]; 7. 03-Cornell Williams[6]; 8. 2K-Kendall Lanier[7]

U-CAR (19 Laps): 1. 22-Haiden Thomas[8]; 2. 83-Robert Drum[2]; 3. 17-Brian Gooden[1]; 4. 13-Mitchell Kerstetter[4]; 5. 95-Jeffery Tarvis[6]; 6. 58-Summer Sullivan[3]; 7. 66-Ronnie Kropp[7]; 8. 33-Nathan Hall[5]

Southern Ground Pounders (35 laps): 1. K95-Shayne Lockhardt[7]; 2. 1-Kevin Floars[1]; 3. 2M-Steve Mendenhall[4]; 4. 21-Josh Roberts[6]; 5. 2-Mack Tatum[8]; 6. 18-David Hill[3]; 7. 51-James Turner JR[9]; 8. 32-Allan Rowe[10]; 9. 3-Lindsey Pond[5]; 10. 60-Brooks Jones[2]

Sammy Pacitti passes Andrew Watson in the closing laps of the Down East Homes Bomber feature in Sunday's Milam Equipment Rentals Memorial Classic at Carteret County Speedway. (Andy Marquis/Honey Badger Entertainment photo)