LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Marshall Skinner may have barely made the starting field for Friday night’s Short Track Nationals preliminary feature at I-30 Speedway, but by the time it was over you’d have thought he was the one standing in victory lane.

Skinner rolled off from the back row of the grid and only finished 18th among the 20-car field, but the Marion, Ark., veteran was simply thrilled to have finally made it to the checkered flag after three months of failing to finish the many events he had competed in during that span.

“Man, after the year I’ve had, I’m telling you … this feels like I won the race,” Skinner admitted. “I haven’t finished a race since July 3 … it’s just been one thing after another. I destroyed a car, I needed to freshen up a motor, I had to sit out for a bit … and then after all that I flipped at Riverside last week.

“I was about ready to quit, being honest with you,” he added. “Financially … it was bad and I was embarrassed. The front of the frame isn’t even powder-coated. We just put it together and here we are, but man … we needed this.”

Skinner is still seeking his first Short Track Nationals title.

– Brady Bacon was the night’s biggest mover during the 27-lap A-Feature, advancing out of his B-Feature and then rolling up from 16th to finish seventh in his own No. 99 entry.

It was a solid performance for the USAC sprint car and midget regular, who had only run in 360 sprint car competition once this season prior to Friday night and hadn’t even planned to be at the Short Track Nationals until USAC’s planned doubleheader weekend in the Great Plains was washed out by rain.

“We just needed to be a little bit better earlier in the night,” Bacon admitted. “We kind of got gobbled up in our qualifier and had to run the B, and then obviously starting 16th in this caliber of field … it’s hard to work your way up.

“We were rolling really well through the beginning and middle of the race, but once the track started taking rubber in (turns) three and four, we just got a little too tight. We’ll definitely take it, though. It’s really encouraging to have the speed that we did, especially since I’ve only raced the 360 once all year.”

Oddly enough, it was Bacon and Skinner who dueled for the lead during the second B-Feature of the night, both ultimately transferring into the main event.

– He might not quite be the youngest driver in the Short Track Nationals field this weekend, but 15-year-old Cannon McIntosh certainly left an impression on Friday night, learning plenty along the way.

McIntosh, a regular in the national midget ranks this season, made just his seventh sprint car start at I-30 in one of the biggest races for the discipline. The size of the stage certainly didn’t faze the teenager, as he showed well in his B-Feature before coming two spots short of making it into the main event.

Regardless of the end result, McIntosh still carried a big smile on his face in speaking to SPEED SPORT at the end of the night.

“These sprint cars are a ton of fun,” McIntosh said. “It’s definitely a change, going from the midget to this winged deal. Honestly, I feel like the midgets are a little crazier, but we’re definitely trying to get the hang of this side of things.

“We definitely have to make a few changes to the car. I don’t think we’re too bad, but there just wasn’t much passing out there on the track tonight,” continued McIntosh. “With no moisture, there’s definitely a finesse to it that I’m still trying to find. We had a blast though, and I took in a lot that I can use later.”

– Five-time Short Track Nationals champion Sammy Swindell had an eventful night, after a throttle linkage bolt came loose and relegated him into a C-Feature after he failed to finish his heat.

Swindell then charged from 14th to second in the C en route to transferring into a B-Feature, but was involved in an incident with Alex Hill in the B that hampered his night.

The three-time World of Outlaws kingpin ultimately finished 14th in the B and was done for the evening.

– The other Swindell brother also found himself mired in some chaos Friday night, as Jeff Swindell was the first driver to tumble end over end during Short Track Nationals weekend.

He got upside down in turn two during the opening lap of the fourth 10-lap qualifier.

Alex Hill later became the second casualty of the weekend flip count, tangling with Sammy Swindell during B-Feature action after she had won her C-Feature earlier in the night.

– Bobbi and Jaxx Johnson, along with multiple assorted members of the Johnson family, were in attendance on Friday night for the Short Track Nationals opener along with a replica of the late Jason Johnson’s 2006 STN-winning No. 41 machine.

The historic car will pace the field prior to Saturday night’s 41-lap, $10,041-to-win championship finale.

– Five past STN winners are entered this weekend: Sammy Swindell (1990, 2011, 2013, 2016-17), Tony Bruce Jr. (2008-09), Tim Crawley (1998), Wayne Johnson (1997) and Terry Gray (1994).