Disqualification Leads to First-Time New Year's Bash Winner

Following the disqualification of provisional winner Bobbie Tumbleston III, Kyle Lynch took home the victory in the 12th Annual New Year's Bash Street Stock Nationals at Dillon Motor Speedway for the biggest win of his career.

Tumbleston, the 2021 winner of the New Year's Bash, appeared to have successfully defended his title in the event. However, a left-side weight violation during post-race technical inspection led to his disqualification.

Dillon Motor Speedway track owner Ron Barfield explained the ruling.

"The New Year's Bash is always a heck of a race. We're paying $2,500 to a Street Stock team and we had 55 cars come in to run this race," Barfield told Racing America. "Whenever that happens, you have to make sure the cars are right after the race.

"After the race was over, while they were in victory lane, I walked down to victory lane, looked at the car, looked inside the car, took a picture with the driver [Tumbleston] in victory lane and congratulated everybody down there. I took a picture and saw where the water bottles and stuff were in the car.

"I roll it over the scales and my tech team is there. The first time I rolled it on the scales, it showed 55.6% left-side weight. 55.0% is supposed to be the max. The driver's steering wheel was on the roll bar right beside him. I said I needed him in driver's position.

"He got in driver's position, we rolled him off the scales. We reset the scales, rolled it back on the scales, and when we rolled it back, we had his crew chief looking at it. When we rolled it back on the scales, it was 55.8% in driver's position. I rolled it off the scales, zeroed it again, had his crew chief look at it, rolled it back on. When I rolled it back on, it was 55.7%.

"I told him in the car it was heavy on the left side and I wanted to roll him forward so I could weigh everyone else and make sure my scales were right. I was getting ready to roll it forward, and he said, 'No, you ain't.' He put it in gear, cranked it up, snatched the clutch, and it threw my scales across the parking lot and ripped the wires out of my scales. He was mad at that point, and at that point he was DQ'd.

"I checked the second-place man [Lynch]. I couldn't weigh him because they tore my scales up. I checked the third-place man [Sonny Schoffen], then we rolled the eventual winner in victory lane, got pictures, and inspected him and he passed inspection."

However, Tumbleston felt the disqualification was in response to comments he made during the race's halfway break, criticizing restart procedure.

"At the beginning of the race, there were a lot of bullcrap restarts. Wayne Locklair, a local around here, was jumping restarts, three car lengths before the line, two car lengths after the line, lagging back and getting a running start. He's been running a long time, he knows how to do a restart.

"Anybody watching the video can watch. When me and [Schoffen] were side-by-side, we had some nice restarts. Somebody talked to me at halfway, and I said what I had to say about the restart box and the fans cheered for me. They knew it was wrong.

"Ron Barfield sent word through my crew chief that he would get the last laugh of this and I threw him under the bus with his own microphone. He might get the last laugh throwing me out, but he won't get the last laugh on social media."

While Tumbleston left frustrated, Lynch celebrated the biggest win of his career.

For Street Stock competitors in the region, the New Year's Bash is the biggest race of the year. It also draws competition from across the country, as racers from the Northeast and Midwest come south for a chance to race during their offseason.

With such strong competition, the New Year's Bash was unquestionably a career-defining triumph for Lynch.

"It feels amazing," said Lynch. "They don't come easy. It's been a long road for me. It's been years and years we've been trying to do this and get this car to run this good. To come down here and beat these guys to win the New Year's Bash, it's a dream-come-true for me."

"We're ready to go now. This is going to be a lot of momentum so hopefully we can win a bunch more. This is only my second career win."

Sonny Schoffen ultimately finished second in the final running order. Schoffen battled with Tumbleston on several late restarts but was unable to wrestle the lead away.

"I was saving the whole time. We made some adjustments at halfway, and they were the right adjustments," said Schoffen. "The car was definitely better in the second half. On a couple of those restarts, I thought I'd see what we had. We had a couple of good runs, but he definitely was strong. He knew we were there for a little bit."

12TH ANNUAL NEW YEAR'S BASH RESULTS

1. Kyle Lynch
2. Sonny Schoffen
3. Austin Somero
4. Josh Sage
5. Wayne Locklair
6. Jeff Sparks
7. Devin Kelley
8. Josh LaBatch
9. James Swan
10. Chris Riendeau
11. Tanner Woodard
12. Kris Watson
13. Garrett Zacharias
14. Joe Pontbriand
15. Josh Way
16. David Thomas
17. Greg Barnette
18. Jim Storace
19. Davey Smart
20. Sam Knight
21. Chris Meinders
22. A.J. Hyatt
23. Pete Close
24. Chris Buffone
25. Aaron Plemons
26. Mike Cooper
27. Jeff Melton
28. Ron Flynn
29. Nick Emmans
30. Gary Ledbetter, Jr.
31. Will Bruorton
32. Jerrad Ledger
DQ. Bobbie Tumbleston III