BURNSIDE, Ky. — When polesitter Tanner English overtook fellow front-row starter Tommy Bailey on the 12th lap Saturday at Lake Cumberland Speedway, the Benton, Ky., driver was well on his way to his richest victory of the season.

Not so fast.

When the frontrunners hit heavy traffic just past the midpoint of the 50-lap Harold Hardgrove Memorial, English slipped up exiting turn four and allowed Bailey to regain the lead.

But just as soon as Bailey went back out front, he also got too high exiting turn four on the following lap, allowing English to regain a lead he’d never give up in racing to a $10,022 victory in the unsanctioned event for Super Late Models.

“(Bailey) fought back there, it was close. I thought I gave it away again,” English said. “I’ve gave a bunch of ’em away like that, but he raced me clean and gave me a lane. It’s pretty cool racing with him like that.”

Bailey, of Corbin, Ky., settled for second, 0.995 seconds behind at the finish while eighth-starting Jason Jameson of Lawrenceburg, Ind., was third. Jameson’s teammate Justin Rattliff of Campbellsville, Ky., was fourth and Tyler Carpenter of Parkersburg, W.Va., rounded out the top five at the 3/8-mile oval.

Bailey jumped into the lead from outside the front row with English tracking him in the early laps before making his move with a turn-two slide job on the 12th lap.

“It helps starting out front, but you know, me and Tommy had a great race there for a little bit,” English said. “I stayed right on his bumper. He made a little mistake coming out of (turn) four, I think it was, and that was my shot. I knew (the track) was fixing to latch down and I needed to go. I passed him there.”

English cruised with clean air, but when the frontrunners caught traffic he struggled to keep Bailey behind him.

“It was hairy, for sure. They were racing three-wide and bumper-to-bumper, so it’s hard (when you’re leading),” English said. “You get behind cars, too, and these cars are so aero-dependent, even on a rubbered-up track, it means a bunch. You lose the air on you (car’s) nose and then you shove and get out of the rubber. It means a lot being out front in clean air. It slowed me down a lot when I got behind (the slower cars).”

Things were dicey for English even after regaining the lead from Bailey on lap 29 as the frontrunners struggled to get past the slower car of Ohio invader Shane McLoughlin.

English almost got too high again exiting turn four on the 32nd lap, briefly opening the door for Bailey. But English got back down on the frontstretch, sealing Bailey off and sliding under McLoughlin to open up some breathing room just before another caution appeared to give him clear racetrack.

Bailey, going for his richest career victory, settled for second after twice giving up the lead to English.

“We were pretty good there at the beginning. I didn’t really set a fast enough pace, I guess, and he found the rubber before I did. He was pretty good, too, though,” Bailey said. “We passed him back there in lapped traffic, then I made a wrong move and he got back by me.”

Jameson who raced with slight spoiler damage after an early brush with the wall, never quite got into the English-Bailey mix up front.

“We had a pretty decent car there. I think was was better if it stayed green,” Jameson said. "When we got in lapped traffic there, I thought we might’ve had something for ’em. But it is what it is. It locked down there like 10 laps in. We’ll take third from where we started at.

“I got around Justin(Rattliff) down there in (turns) three and four. I found something in the middle when they were all married to that bottom (groove). I ran ’em down there going down the backstretch, and that’s right when that caution came out, and I didn’t want it to, because I think we could’ve passed ’em both and snuck in the lead there. I don’t know if I’d have been able to hold Tanner off, but it would’ve been a lot harder for him to pass me (after).”

The race was slowed by eighth cautions, most significantly on lap-17 restart for a frontstretch pileup that included McLoughlin, Devin Gilpin, Tim Taylor and track points leader Rod Carter Jr.

Another key yellow triggered that lap-17 restart when Tony Jackson Jr. of Lebanon, Mo., making his Lake Cumberland debut, was running fourth when he exiting with left-rear damage.

Other cautions came out for a Kenny Cobble spin (lap four), Camaron Marlar’s spin (lap 33), a Bryson Center frontstretch spin (lap 33), Tim Taylor spin (lap 34) and another for Center when his nosepiece folded under (lap 40). The final yellow appeared for Connor Meade’s lap-43 flat tire.

Notes: Tanner English next plans to tackle the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky., on Aug. 30. “We’ll be there and see how we stack up against them Lucas guys,” he said. … Twelve of 22 starters finished with 10 completing 50 laps. … The race honored long-time Lake Cumberland owner Harold Hardgrove, who bought the track in late 1997 and opened the track in 1998. He operated the speedway until his death in 2009. His son Brandon Hardgrove now promotes the track.