Taylor outduels Gaines for Kenyon Classic win

Dameron Taylor (1st), Clayton Gaines (2nd) and Landon Brown (3rd) round out the podium for the 2024 Don & Mel Kenyon Classic at Anderson Speedway.

By Ken de la Bastide

ANDERSON – In a classic hard fought battle two veteran competitors with the Kenyon Midget Series delighted fans at Anderson Speedway. Clayton Gaines took the lead at the start from the front row following the redraw chased by Evan Hammond and Dameron Taylor.

Taylor moved into the second spot on lap 3 and for the next 72 laps the two competitors battled for the victory in the Don and Mel Kenyon Classic.

The race was red-flagged on lap 30 when BJ Shaw spun in turn four and Kyle Sheard made contact with the outside retaining wall in turn three.

The restart showed Gaines on the point chased by Taylor, point leader Ryan Huggler, Jase Petty and Landon Brown.

On lap 40 Taylor was able to get inside of Gaines briefly in turn two but Gaines made a nifty move back to the inside coming off the corner to retain the lead.

Taylor finally moved to the front in lapped traffic on lap 46 on the back straight. The final caution flag waved on lap 70 when Trisdon Brown spun on the front straight.

Taylor was able to withstand a last effort by Gaines to win by a tenth of a second with Landon Brown scoring his first podium finish followed by Petty and Trisdon Brown.

It was Taylor's second win the Don & Mel Kenyon Classic having won the inaugural event in 2017.

“The car was really loose in the beginning,” Taylor said in the Riley & Sons Victory lane. “I knew it would get tight as the race went along. You just have to maintain your line,” he said. “Need to keep running your line and keep the competitors running that line.”

Gaines, who won the Dick Jordan Classic earlier this year, said his engine wasn't running right at the finish. “I would get into the corner and the engine wasn't running right,” he said. “I've been racing with Dameron (Taylor) for probably ten years and it's fun racing with him.”

Landon Brown picked up his first career K&K Marketing fast time award starting sixth in the feature and was able to conserve his tires for a strong run at the finish. Brown said on the last restart he had hoped to contend for the win. “Hopefully this will be the start of some strong runs,” he said. “We finally got to run upfront with the leaders.”

Jett Neal was the race's hard charger starting 13th and finishing seventh.

It was a tough night for Evan Hammond, who entered the night second in points but was forced out of the event on lap 10 and for Buddy Hollmeyer who only completed two laps with a flat right rear tire.