Chris Ferguson had the car to beat during the Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals race at Wythe Raceway on Friday night, but unfortunately, Ferguson suffered a mechanical issue that saw his race end early while leading.

Ferguson quickly worked his way to the front after starting in fourth. On the first lap he drove past Benji Hicks on the high side through turns 1 and 2. He then got a huge run coming down the back stretch and was able to work underneath Chris Madden through 3 and 4 to secure the second spot.

He did not stop there. He then set his eyes on race leader Hudson O’Neal. On the second lap of the race, he dove to the inside of O’Neal through 3 and 4 and was able to take the lead at the start/finish line and then fully secure it exiting off of turn 2.

Ferguson then began to slowly inch away from O’Neal and Madden until a caution came out with 33 laps left in the 40 lap feature. On the ensuing restart, Ferguson had a phenomenal restart and quickly pulled out to a 4-5 car length lead.

With 26 laps left, a caution came out for Ben Watkins, who suffered a flat tire. Ferguson repeated his restart again, quickly pulling away from both O’Neal and Madden. Unfortunately, with just a little over halfway to go Ferguson suffered a mechanical issue and slowed down the back stretch, brought it into the pits, and parked the car for the night.

Ferguson explained in a post to Facebook what happened, “After starting 4th, we had a really fast Schaeffer’s Oil Stinger Racecar. Our crew absolutely nailed the setup, and we were able to drive past some of the fastest guys in the country to take the lead.”

“Unfortunately, at the halfway point we stripped the oil pump drive spud and lost power,” he shared. “That one hurts. But at the same time, it feels good to be back running where we know we belong.”

“Congrats to Hudson O’Neal on the win, and thank you to Wythe Raceway for a great track. Big thanks to my wife, family, crew, sponsors, and fans. And a special thank you to all of our partners for believing in us—we couldn’t compete at this level without you. God is great, Jesus is real,” he concluded.

Finally, he shared he would make the trip to Tazewell Speedway for the 6th Lil’ Bill Corum Memorial where $21,000 is up for grabs.

Ferguson has had really good speed everywhere he has shown up this year. He started his year with the World of Outlaws when they rolled into Volunteer Speedway and Smoky Mountain Speedway. He finished 7th in both features.

However, after those two top 10s, he’s been plagued with mechanical issues. At Cherokee Speedway with the Southern All Stars and Spring Nationals on March 21st he ended up finishing in 23rd after he suffered a broken transmission while running in the top 5.

He then rolled into East Alabama Speedway with the World of Outlaws Late Models for the inaugural Chattahoochee Clash at the end of March and looked like he was going to have another solid top 10. Unfortunately, he shared that he had an oil leak and parked the car.

The next night at Senoia for the Billy Clanton Classic he slowed on the backstretch with a mechanical issue on lap 26 of the 50-lap feature.

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