Already a two-time Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Pro Late Model track champion, Cole Williams had won a race every month the track has been open over the past decade except the big one in October.

 

Mission accomplished.

 

The 25-year-old from Borden, Indiana claimed an All American 400 weekend guitar on Sunday night after outdueling Cody Coughlin in a race through lapped traffic that could have ended at any moment.

 

Facing a hard deadline of 7 p.m. local time, the final restart within the final 25 laps took place at 6:45. The next flag could have ended the race and the contenders traded paint on several occasions before and after the restart.

 

Coughlin took exception to how Williams won the race and initiated contact during the cool-down lap.

He’s a loser,” Coughlin said after finishing second. “It’s as simple as that. He couldn’t win in his own car, so he goes out and buys Willie [Allen]’s.

Williams has driven for Rackley WAR this season.

 

“Glad it’s working for him,” Coughlin added. “He ripped our quarter panel off, too, so we’ll follow him for the next few races and junk him.”

 

Nevertheless, Williams claimed one of the biggest wins of his career, if not his biggest given its placement on the calendar.

 

“It’s my biggest win for sure,” Williams said. “I’ve won every race weekend here except one on All-American 400 weekend. We’ve always had bad luck that happens, or we come up short.

 

“To do it with this team and to take this momentum into the Snowflake (100 at Pensacola) means a lot.”

 

As for the comments from Coughlin, Williams chalked it up to a heat of the moment interview, and wasn’t interested in a public back and forth.

I’ve beat him plenty of times with our other car, but Cody is a good guy and a good driver and I’m not going to talk bad about him,” Williams said. “He’s driven through me the last couple of times we were side-by-side on the front row, and once last year when we were faster, and it ended up screwing us from winning the race.

“He cut me off on a restart going into Turn 2 and I would tell him that was his last strike. I didn’t do anything to wreck him. I mean, he kept going and finished second.”

 

Coughlin, while chasing Williams through lapped traffic was trying his best to get to the back bumper to retaliate.

 

“I could have a couple of times after he got by me, but I didn’t do it then,” Coughlin said. “He got out too far in front of me and I couldn’t get to him, but if I was back in position, hell yeah, I would have returned the favor.”

 

And no, don’t expect a rematch in Pensacola.

 

“I hate that race,” Coughlin said.

 

Williams said he wasn’t sure when the race was going to end and he simply didn’t have time to wait.

 

“They told me to drive my ass off,” Williams said. “Curfew is coming, curfew is coming. That’s the rule in that situation. Do whatever I can, you have to go. I felt like I had the better car once I got out in clean air and we were able to get some distance once we did.”

 

Completing the podium was Sprint Car and Midget ace turned NASCAR prospect Buddy Kofoid. Driving the Donnie Wilson Motorsports No. 24, Kofoid started on pole in his first race at Nashville and even took Williams and Coughlin three-wide on the final restart.

 

He took a quick liking to the venerable Tennessee short track.

This is a completely different dynamic from Sprint Cars, with the power differential, but racing is never easy,” Kofoid said. “The way you find speed and grip is just different. I feel like I’m starting to pick it up and feel like we’re almost to the point of getting a win. We were close tonight.

“I wish that last run had stayed green when (Coughlin and Williams made contact) because I felt I was in the ballpark with them in traffic. It’s fun though. I’m enjoying working with Donnie and (crew chief) Bond Suss. I appreciate them helping me get more comfortable in these cars.”

 

Michael House, the 34-year-old from Murfreesboro, TN, claimed his second track championship at Fairgrounds Speedway with a 12th place finish. His previous championship came in 2018.

 

-Story by: Matt Weaver, Racing America Editor-in-Chief – Twitter: @MattWeaverRA

-Photo credit: Speed51 Photo

 

Unofficial Results – All American 400 Pro Late Model Feature

  1. Cole Williams
  2. Cody Coughlin
  3. Buddy Kofoid
  4. Dylan Fetcho
  5. Bryson Shaffer
  6. Jackson Boone
  7. Jake Bollman
  8. Hunter Wright
  9. Trey Craig
  10. Ryan Luza
  11. William Hale
  12. Michael House
  13. Nick Egan
  14. Daniel Bolden
  15. Jolynn Wilkinson
  16. Garrett Dies
  17. Austin Brawley
  18. Dylan Bates
  19. Bennie Hamlett
  20. Mike Pruitt
  21. Tandy Marlin
  22. Kevin Folan
  23. Kevin Cremonesi
  24. Ethan Myers
  25. Wes Griffith
  26. Tracy Green
  27. Dylan Jones
  28. Jordan Riddick
  29. Michael Bolden
  30. Chase Johnson
  31. Jon Beach
  32. Conner Jones
  33. Davey Coble
  34. Brian Brown
  35. Mark Day
  36. Stacey Crain
  37. Austin MacDonald
  38. Austin Wilson
  39. Jim Wall