Atlanta Motor Speedway's Thunder Ring roared to life for a second consecutive night Thursday and ended with bang.
Round 2 of the 2020 season was capped by the Outlaws division feature, which had the wildest finish of the evening. Clay Hocutt led for the majority of the race but contact between he and Round 1 winner Donovan Strauss sent the top two cars to the rear of the field. Bailey Buchanan inherited the lead for the final restart with two laps to go, but a whole race worth of action was yet to come.
As Buchanan held serve coming to the white flag, Bailey North nudged her way to 2nd around Kelley Puckett and closed into the back bumper of Buchanan. As North squeezed to the inside of Buchanan in turn one the two made contact that shot Buchanan out of the groove, allowing North, Puckett, and Ryan Younginer to slip past heading to the final set of corners.
There, even more drama unfolded as Puckett dove to the inside of North as the duo raced to the checkered flag. Neither of them would make it there first; a slip by Puckett sent North spinning and slowed Puckett enough to allow Younginer to drive past and on to victory with Buchanan 2nd.
"Honestly I really didn't think I was going to win that," the Locust Grove driver said after the win. "Until the last corner and they started wrecking. I just kinda sent it."
In other feature action Thursday night Caleb Heady backed up his Round 1 victory with another win in Round 2 for The Associates Group Pro division. 2019 Thursday Thunder champion Bill Plemons, Jr. picked up his second victory of 2020 in the Masters division feature while Blaze Crawford picked up his first career Semi-Pro feature win.
Mason Maggio, previously a Bandolero racer, picked up his first win in a Legends car on the Thunder Ring in the WJP Investments Young Lions feature. Tristan McKee earned back-to-back wins in the Bandits division, while Beckham Malone and Lanie Buice took the checkered flags in the Rookie Bandolero and Chargers features.
Here's the full results from Thursday Thunder Round 2:
WJP Investments Young Lions:
- Mason Maggio (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
- Michael Gannon (Canton, GA)
- Isaac Bevin (Louisville, KY)
- Keaton Hendrix (Homerville, GA)
- Justin Campbell (Griffin, GA)
- Preston Tatro (Brasleton, GA)
- Tony Yawn III (Roanoke, AL)
- Matthew Kade (Hampton, GA)
- Nathan Jackson (McDonough, GA)
- Jackson Reynolds (Marietta, GA)
- Gavin Graham (Lakeland, FL)
Semi-Pro:
- Blaze Crawford (Fayetteville, GA)
- Jonathan Taylor (Roswell, GA)
- Graham Campbell (Braselton, GA)
- Brandon Brock (Hampton, GA)
- Max Brady (Marietta, GA)
- Ashton Whitener (Monticello, GA)
- Taylor Hull (Senoia, GA)
- Jason Treschl (Lagrange, GA)
- Jadyn Daniels (Harrisburg, NC)
- Trey Tadrzak (Stockbridge, GA)
- Thomas Everson (Ulton, NH)
- Kenny Brady (Marietta, GA)
- Ian Hampton (Stockbridge, GA)
- Tyler Garrison (Muscatine, IA)
- Ricky Springer (McDonough, GA)
- Landen Lewis (Ocean Isle Beach, NC)
The Associates Group Pro:
- Caleb Heady (Shelbyville, KY)
- Jensen Jorgensen (Stockbridge, GA)
- Gage Roberts (Milledgeville, GA)
- Timothy Watson (Panama City, FL)
- Taylor Jorgensen (Stockbridge, GA)
- Christopher Clanton (Brooks, GA)
- Nick Woodall (Canton, GA)
- Max Hennebaul (Monroe, GA)
- Gauntt Hudgins (Savannah, GA)
- Kenneth Henderson (Alto, GA)
- Cale Hall (Griffin, GA)
Masters:
- Bill Plemons Jr (Locust Grove, GA)
- Ronnie Wehunt (Canton, GA)
- Mark Swan (Athens, GA)
- Robbie Woodall (McDonough, GA)
- Phillip Young (Dallas, GA)
- James Meredith (Locust Grove, GA)
- Tony Armbruster (Covington, GA)
Bandits:
- Tristan McKee (Williamsburg, VA)
- Aiden Garcia (Easley, SC)
- Garrett Gumm (Brooks, GA)
- Garrett Erwin (Covington, GA)
- Bryce Sanders (Ola, GA)
- Mitchell Flater (Conyers, GA)
- Nicolas Denton (Pascagoula, MS)
- Lee Brown (Acworth, GA)
- George Phillips (Charlotte, NC)
- Nathaniel Harry (Concord, NC)
- Baylor O'Neil (Grantville, GA)
Rookie Bandoleros:
- Beckham Malone (Rock Hill, SC)
- Carson Brown (Moseley, VA)
- Katelyn Hicks (Senoia, GA)
- Kayli Kade (Hampton, GA)
- Lane Mueller (Locust Grove, GA)
- Kerbi Mueller (Locust Grove, GA)
- Caroline Powers (Griffin, GA)
- Julia Buchanan (Senoia, GA)
- Claire Collins (Dallas, GA)
- Bo Powers (Atlanta, GA)
- Emma Britt (McDonough, GA)
- Sebastain Asztalos (Temple, GA)
Outlaws:
- Ryan Younginer (Locust Grove, GA)
- Bailey Buchanan (Senoia, GA)
- Clay Hocutt (Mobile, AL)
- Brianna Freeman (Bremen, GA)
- Gianni Esposito (Dacula, GA)
- Bailey North (Hampton, GA)
- Kelly Puckett (McDonough, GA)
- Donovan Strauss (Marietta, GA)
- Kyle Bacon (Buchanan, GA)
Chargers:
- Lanie Buice (Locust Grove, GA)
- Amanda Woodall (Canton, GA)
- Lisa Scott (Dallas, GA)
- Meredith Kepley (Falls Church, VA)
- Chance Frank (Griffin, GA)
Thursday Thunder continues Wednesday, July 8, with Round 3 on the Thunder Ring. Fans can catch all the action live on Atlanta Motor Speedway's Facebook page starting at approximately 7 p.m.
For more information on Thursday Thunder and the AMS Legends program, visit AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com or LegendsOfGa.com.