CATAWBA, N.C. – Brandon LaChance parlayed a perfect start into a $2,000 payday on Monday night at Mountain Creek Speedway, leading from wire to wire to win the inaugural Clash at the Creek for mini outlaw karts.

LaChance powered past polesitter Hunter Richards on the outside during the initial start of the race and never looked back, surviving a caution-laden 25-lap feature and holding off his good friend Logan Seavey in the closing stages to capture the victory.

“I like to think that move on the start was really what won me the race,” said LaChance, who started second. “We got a taste of (how important track position would be) in the dash, where Richards got us on the start, so we just doubled down, made some little adjustments and got where we needed to be to make some things happen. I knew I had to do my part to take control of the race … and once we were in control, no one could get back to us.”

Richards was swept up in a multi-car melee on the opening lap, after also being passed by Jesse Colwell, but was able to retain his position in third after spinning to avoid damage in the incident.

Meanwhile, the two game-changing moments in the feature came later on in the first half.

Working lap six, Richards got a run on Colwell for the runner-up spot exiting turn two, coming up on the outside as Colwell came up of the bottom onto the straightaway.

The duo made contact and Richards later spun in turn four, bringing out the night’s third of eight caution flags and sending the night’s fast qualifier and first heat race winner to the rear of the field.

Later, on a lap 12 restart following a caution for the stalled Tanner Holmes machine in turn four, a second multi-car accident erupted down the backstretch and involved nearly the entire field.

The incident was sparked after Colwell and Kyle Craker made contact down the backstretch while racing for third. Craker ended up hooked into the outside wall and then went flipping wildly towards turn three, coming to rest amid a parking lot of damaged karts but able to climb out uninjured and walk away.

From that point, LaChance, Seavey and Kyle Larson – the only three karts to survive the incident without some sort of damage – lined up in the top three spots and never relinquished their podium positions the rest of the way despite two cautions in the final seven circuits.

Seavey, who crossed the line .462 of a second behind LaChance at the twin checkers, said he would have needed traffic in the closing laps to mount a charge and there simply wasn’t any to slow his good friend’s march.

“I was able to get really good restarts, but I knew we wouldn’t get to traffic with the way that race was going,” said Seavey. “The restarts, the whole time you could get close to someone if you timed it right. I had really good takeoff speed, stayed right on his bumper and tried to work the outside, but just couldn’t get close enough to him.

“I could have tried dive-bombing him, but it wasn’t worth wrecking us both,” Seavey added. “At the end of the day, I’m happy. Brandon ran a stellar race. That’s what it took.”

Larson completed the podium after transferring into the feature by winning the second B-Main earlier in the night. Carson Kvapil and Daniel Whitley followed in fourth and fifth.

Richards crossed the line seventh after having to come from the back twice, but was disappointed with the final result after coming into the feature with a shot at sweeping the program.

“I didn’t get a good start and that’s really where it started to unravel,” admitted Richards. “They passed me, I was trying to recover and then I was coming on the outside and got hit. That spun us and sent us to the back, and then we just had to get all we could.

“Regardless of the final outcome, this was still a good night. We were way better than we expected. It’s just a bummer not to close the deal after we had such a fast kart.”

LaChance will have a shot to sweep the week and pocket more than $7,000 if he can also win Wednesday night’s big-money event at nearby Millbridge Speedway.

“This is great. I’ve been anticipating this week for months now,” noted LaChance. “To start the week off like this is awesome. I can’t ask for much more. We’re not done yet.”

Kyle Beattie won the 20-lap Open division non-qualifiers race, taking the lead with three laps to go when Brian Hubert’s car slowed with an issue on a late restart.

Beattie then beat Renee Angel to the checkered flag by 1.613 seconds.

The non-qualifiers feature was a 20-lap war of attrition, in which only Beattie and Angel made it to the checkered flag on the lead lap.

In other racing action, Tyler Letarte was in the right place at the right time to capture the win in the 25-lap, $500-to-win Intermediate division main event.

Letarte, who started on the pole but was passed by Brent Crews on the opening lap, inherited the top spot when Crews spun in lapped traffic with three to go.

He then held off Gray Leadbetter and Caden Kvapil to bring home the trophy. Crews rallied back through the field to finish fifth.

The finish:

Brandon LaChance, Logan Seavey, Kyle Larson, Carson Kvapil, Daniel Whitley, Karsyn Elledge, Hunter Richards, Brent Crews, Derek Pernesiglio, J.D. Frey, Adam Welch, Jesse Colwell, Kyle Craker, Briley Pompe, Tanner Holmes, Tyler Seavey, Casey McClain, Joey Robinson, Jake Park, Ryan Israel.