The RB Performance Super Late Model Series visited the Oxford Plains Speedway on Thursday night for their week 9 event. 28 cars would show up for the 150-lap race, and things got underway with an open qualifying session to set the lineup, and Justin Brooks would put his car at the top of the charts to take the pole with a lap time of 15. 466 seconds.
Brooks would bring the field around for the green flag, but a couple of quick cautions right off the start would slow the pace early. After the lap 12 restart, the field would finally get a few green flag laps in, as Brooks would jump out into the lead. Fred Moreau would be on his outside for the restart but would begin to shuffle back on the outside as he was looking for a hole to get back to the bottom. This allowed Cody Kelley and Steven Burnett to move into the top 3, as Moreau would drop back to 4th ahead of Bobby Timmons in 5th. A caution near the back of the pack would bring out the yellow flag on lap 19, setting up a lap 24 restart.
Brooks got the jump out front once again, while this time it was Kelley who was stuck on the outside and was getting shuffled back on the outside. Burnett would move into 2nd was was sitting just a car length behind the leader as the next 24-lap run began. By the time Kelley found his way back in line, he had moved back into the 6th spot, moving Ty Spearman into the top 5. As the run continued, Burnett was still within a car length of the leader as the entire field would fall in line single file. Not much changed during the run, as the top 6 cars began to separate themselves from the rest of the field and were running nose-to-tail, before the next caution flew on lap 48 for a single car spin.
After another quick caution, Brooks would jump back into the lead on the lap 63 restart, and Burnett was able to fall in line quickly behind him as the field began another 24-lap green flag run. On lap 65, Burnett would slip up a little bit allowing Timmons to get a run on the low side to take the 2nd spot, with Kelley following him up into 3rd. Burnett would fall back into 4th as Ty Majeski would return to the top 5 after a spin earlier in the race. As the field reached halfway, Brooks had begun to pull away out front with the top 5 remaining the same. Just outside the top 5, Moreau was back in 6th, while Mickey Kudlicki, Brandon Simmons, James Linkiewicz, and Bill Martin would run inside the top 10.
About 10 laps later when the field reached lap 85, some contact near the front of the field would see Kelley get turned sideways as he checked up for Timmons who had gotten loose. Even though Kelley was able to save it, the caution would come out on lap 86, erasing the 1.6-second lead that Brooks had build out front.
On the restart, Brooks would use the outside groove to jump into the lead, ahead of Timmons on the bottom groove. But coming out of turn 2, Timmons got loose once again and drivers behind him were looking to take advantage, which resulted in Majeski facing the wrong way after getting tagged from behind to bring out a quick caution.
This set up a lap 97 restart, and another lengthy green flag run. This time Brooks would restart on the inside groove to pull into the lead, while Timmons would get shuffled back on the outside. Simmons was running in the 3rd spot after benefitting from the last caution, and would follow Brooks up the inside to take over the 2nd position. Burnett would also follow the inside into 3rd as Timmons would fall in line back in 4th ahead of Moreau in 5th. Timmons would poke a nose inside of Burnett to grab 3rd from him on lap 100, and just behind them, Spearman would also poke a nose under Moreau to move up into 5th as laps continued to tick off during the run.
As Brooks brought the field around on lap 115, he had extended his lead out to 1.1 seconds ahead of Simmons who continued to run in 2nd. Spearman was making some moves during the run as he had moved up into the 3rd spot, and looked to track down the top 2 while drivers behind him were all battling for a couple of top 5 positions. Burnett would break away into the 4th spot as Timmons was holding off a group of 6 cars behind him for 5th. Back near the front, Spearman had chased down Simmons and would take the 2nd spot from him, just before the next caution would come out on lap 129.
Over the final portion of the race, drivers would battle it out on a couple of restarts to gain some positions but it resulted with a couple of drivers in the top 10 seeing their chances end late in the race. A stack up on the lap 135 restart would see both Burnett and Timmons get turned around to bring out a caution and they would have to go to the back of the field. On the next restart, another stack up out front would see Casey Kelley get turned around and Majeski’s engine would blow, ending both of their chances as well.
Those cautions would set up the final restart on lap 146, and Brooks was able to jump ahead into the lead like he had done all night, and that would be all he needed. He would lead the field around for the final couple of circuits, and would pick up the dominating victory after leading all 150 laps of the race. The win would be his league leading 27th career win, and his 4th SLM win of the season. Spearman would hang on during the last couple of cautions to finish in 2nd, with Linkiewicz moving up late to finish in 3rd. Cody Kelley would rebound for a 4th place finish, as Simmons would finish off his strong run with a top 5 finish.
Penalties:
Ty Majeski – Aggressive Driving – EOL in results
Next week the Super Late Models will visit Lanier Speedway for their Week 10 event.
Fred Moreau hung on for a 7th place finish, which would see his points lead drop a little bit but he still hangs onto a 60 point lead in the standings. For full results and standings, click HERE.