The Dirt Late Model Series headed to Lakeland, Florida and the USA International Speedway this past Wednesday night for two feature events as drivers would battle it out in double 65-lap features.
Race 1 Winner – After Time Trials, and an invert at the front of the field, Bruce Perry led the field to the green flag and led the opening laps. Dante Curtis would put the pressure on early and took over the lead on lap 9, which set off quite the battle up front for a number of laps. Curtis held off Matt Rolfe, Perry, and Kenneth Drake for a number of laps before a caution settled things back down. In the late laps, Curtis looked comfortable up front until Perry posted one last charge as he closed the gap on the last lap, diving to Curtis’s inside in the final corner, but it wasn’t enough. Curtis would hold on for the win to pick up his first career SARA victory.
Race 2 Winner – In Race 2, the lineup was set based on the Race 1 results with an invert at the front of the field again, which brought Travis McKinney to the front of the field. For much of the race, and through long green flag runs, McKinney pulled away out front and dominated much of the night as he extended his gap out front over Ty Spearman. But a restart with 10 laps to go bunched the field back up, and allowed Spearman, Rolfe, and Joe Schaffer Jr. to join the battle. Despite Spearman getting along side McKinney for the lead in the final laps, McKinney would hold off the pack and went on to pick up his 2nd win of the season and his career.
Check out the highlights from the battles for the lead in both races, here: https://youtu.be/Jmg1c5KF7SU
Pole Award – Travis McKinney set the fast lap in Time Trials with a lap of 21.102 seconds.
Hard Charger – Darrell Hamlin and Scott Dunlap both moved up to earn the hard charger in Race 1, while Windell Stratton earned hard charger in Race 2.
Title Fight – Entering the night, Ty Spearman led Joe Schaffer Jr. by just 4 points, and with double features on the night it open the door for a major points swing. But after two races, the gap remains the same as Spearman still leads by just 4 points with one race left.
Up Next – Next week the series will head back to Eldora for the Eldora Summer Finals where drivers will battle it out for 100 laps to crown the inaugural Dirt Late Model Series champion.
Late Model Series Division Page
Penalty Box
Race 1 Results
Race 2 Results
Standings
Race 2 Results