Sloan, coming off her worst qualifying effort of the season, held off a furious challenge from Columbus’ David Carter to win the Robbie Dean 94 on Friday, Aug. 6.
On July 17 — her 18th birthday — Henderson became the first female to win a late model race at Columbus Motor Speedway.
Cross Kil-Kare off that list, too.
Henderson started third, took the lead on lap two and held on to lead 93 of the next 94 laps.
Carter almost got alongside Henderson in the closing laps — the bumper of his No. 77 edged past her rear tire for what seemed like a half dozen times — but Henderson’s consistency in the corners kept the No. 4 Green Pro Landscaping out front.
“I was really nervous because we didn’t have a great race car. I had faith in all the guys working on it and they got it pretty good,” said Henderson, a fan favorite at Kil-Kare who also had a sizeable crowd during the night’s driver autograph session.
“It’s very awesome to have the support I do. To be a female in a male dominated sport, you might not expect that. I’m very blessed and very fortunate.”
Defending race champ Donald Mahaffey finished third and was followed by Chad Pendleton and Justin Alsip.
Mahaffey, who entered the weekend with a slim 12-point lead over Henderson in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points for Ohio, set the track record during qualifying.
Mahaffey’s time of 13.313 seconds edged the 13.368 posted by Henderson last week.
About the Author