The RB Performance Super Late Model Series would make the transition from last week’s flat half-mile track of Stafford, to the high banked half-mile of the New Smyrna Speedway for tonight’s 125 lap event. 30 drivers would bring their Super Late Models out for qualifying, with the top 24 cars advancing directly into the feature event. After time trials, those 24 cars would be split up into 3 heat races to determine the starting lineup for the race, while the other drivers would have to battle it out in an LCQ for the final transfer spots. Justin Brooks would grab the quick time in qualifying with a time of 16.799 seconds, just .002 seconds ahead of Heath Smith.
Heat races would start off the night’s race action, and Justin Brooks would power to the lead in the first heat and grabbed the win, which would earn him the pole starting spot for the feature event. Jacob Linkiewicz lead the 2nd heat early, but James Poleske was able to get by him at the half way mark and went on to win the heat for a front row starting spot. Then in the 3rd heat, David Krikorian would grab the lead early and went on to win his heat. For the LCQ race, just 5 cars would run, trying to grab the final two transfer spots on the grid. Scott Dunlap would lead the first 14 laps of the LCQ, before Nicolas Moreau ran him down and took the spot on the last lap for the win. The two drivers would both advance to the feature, while SARA officials decided to give the other 3 cars all provisionals rather than just 2 and sending just one car home. 29 cars would be placed on the grid for the feature event.
When the green flag flew for the feature event, Brooks was able to get the initial jump and lead the field into the first corner ahead of the other heat winners, Poleske and Krikorian. The three of these drivers would spend much of the night in the top 3 and they looked to be the ones to beat as the race went on. A couple of good runs in the early laps set up plenty of racing action throughout the field. Fred Moreau worked up into the top 5 in the early going, as well as Kenny Lindsley and Todd Garren who had both worked their way up from back in the field. Both Moreau and Lindsley would run into trouble before lap 50 though, and Garren would work his way up into the top 3 before finding trouble himself later in the race.
At the front of the field, Brooks would continue to jump ahead on any restarts and had the dominating car as he pulled away each time. His ability to get good jumps on restarts would be a key factor later in the race. There was plenty of green flag action during the first 80 laps of the race, but as the race wound down, drivers began to race a little harder which lead to a few more cautions in the late laps.
While the top 3 drivers looked comfy at the front of the field, both James Linkiewicz and Trent Brown made their way into the top 5 later in the race. On a lap 109 restart, Poleske’s top 3 run would come to an end as he and Linkiewicz would make contact going into turn 1. After the yellow, the LCQ winner Nicolas Moreau had also made his way into the top 5, but he too would find trouble with just a handful of laps to go.
But out front, no one had anything for Brooks as he would come around to take the checkers, leading all 125 laps en route to his first SARA SLM victory, and his 4th league win this season. Krikorian finished off a strong race, running in the top 3 all night and finishing in the 2nd spot, while Trent Brown made his way up to 3rd for his best career SARA SLM finish. James Linkieiwcz finished off his strong race with a 4th place finish, with Cameron Hobbs having a very quiet run, working his way up to finish 5th in his first SARA start. Points leader, Trey Jarrell, would miss tonight’s SARA race as he was racing a real SLM at Greenville-Pickens, but with his impressive start to the season, he still leads the standings by 37 points over Jacob Linkiewicz.
- Justin Brooks
- David Krikorian
- R Trent Brown
- James Linkiewicz
- Cameron Hobbs
- Stan Bragg
- Russell Berry
- Brandon Wilkinson
- Matthew Eddy
- Mike Belanger
- James Poleske
- Scott Dunlap
- Jacob Linkiewicz
- Nicolas Moreau
- Michael Rennebu
- Matt Rolfe
- Anthony Celentano
- Robert Matthews
- Todd Garren
- Fred Moreau
- Cody Leland
- Dale Owen
- Andre Beaudoin
- Kenny Lindsley
- Brian Tedeschi
- Heath Smith
- Danny Sanchez
- Ken Belanger
- Shain Held (DQ)
Next week the Super Late Models join the rest of the SARA divisions as all 4 series makes the trip to the Langley Speedway, where the SLM drivers will face off for the first of three straight 150 lap races.
For the full results and standings, click HERE.