Whirlwind Rules Wilkesboro: 15-Car Charge Decides Late Model Opener

North Wilkesboro, NC —Chris Worrell delivered an absolute short-track masterclass at North Wilkesboro Speedway, slicing forward 15 positions from deep in the pack to capture the Season 35 opening round of the Bootleg Racing League’s Late Model Invitational Series. Racing under the series’ strict “Big Boy” rules—100 laps with no tire changes and no fast repairs—Worrell perfectly timed his late-race surge on the high line to conquer the historic track famously known as “the house that moonshine built.”

The grid was set by a complete reinversion of the top 13 finishers from the previous season’s finale, placing Jeff Sharp on the pole alongside veteran Lowell Jewell. Sharp executed a perfect jump at the green flag to lead the opening circuits, but short-track tension boiled over on lap 11. Todd Liston made contact with Chris Hazlip on the outside line, causing a severe accordion check-up in the pack behind them. John Wilson was unable to slow his machine in time and plowed heavily into the back of defending champion Ruben Altice, banishing the Season 34 titleholder to the tail end of the field.

Following the restart, Jewell flexed the muscle of his Mustang by launching a spectacular outside pass on Sharp to take command. Jewell dominated the mid-race stretch, leading 36 laps while a hornets’ nest of traffic battled behind him. During this phase, three-time champion James Lowe had to fight tooth and nail to move forward, getting trapped behind a slower, damaged Tom Hilbert for multiple laps and losing critical ground to the front-runners. Meanwhile, Luke Logan “Kid Lemon Lime” Allen found his rhythm, matching Lowe’s lap times to muscle his way into the top three.

While Jewell controlled the pace, Worrell was quietly putting on a clinical display of equipment management from the 16th starting spot. The entire complexion of the race shifted during the final stint after a caution involving Brendan Myers and Chris Davis. Realizing that the outside line had finally rubbered in and gained maximum grip, Worrell utilized the final restarts to catapult himself directly into the trophy conversation.

With roughly 15 laps remaining, a high-stakes shootout ignited between teammates Lowe and Worrell, alongside a hard-charging Allen. Worrell carried superior momentum past his teammate to snatch the lead, but the true heartbreak of the night belonged to Jewell. After controlling the field for a significant portion of the event, Jewell slammed the outside wall exiting Turn 4 after contact with another car. The heavy left-front damage dropped him eight laps down, cruelly erasing his podium night.

Worrell crossed the stripe untouched to lock down the spectacular opening-round victory. The remaining steps of the podium turned into a family affair, as Allen secured a brilliant runner-up finish just ahead of his father, Kenny Allen, in third. Mike Holloway mounted a stealthy, highly effective late-race charge to capture fourth, while Kurt Smith survived the short-track chaos to round out the top five.