Jarrell Grabs Late Win In Richmond Opener

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Jarrell_PLMwin1

27 drivers brought their Pro Late Models out for the season opener of the MRolfeDesigns Pro Late Model Series at Richmond International Raceway tonight. The last couple of seasons when the series visited this track, the sky was dark and the lights were on, but this time they would run it in the daylight for a change.

The series started out the night by running the new open qualifying session, putting all 27 cars on track to set their fast laps for the starting grid. Justin Brooks would grab the pole with a time of 22.418, with Trey Jarrell starting outside the front row. At the drop of the green, Brooks would jump out to the lead, but Jarrell would take the top spot the very next lap, which was just the first of 15 lead changes between the two drivers.

Jarrell looked to have the strongest car early through the first couple of yellows as he would strengthen his lead to about a full second over Brooks. Behind them, other front runners would battle it out among the top 10. Kenny Lindsley kept his car among the top 5 the whole race, keeping the leaders in his windshield as much as possible, while other drivers such as Bill Martin and Jacob Linkiewicz also bounced in and out of the top 5.

But the real battle for most of the night was up front for the lead, as Jarrell and Brooks looked to be fairly even as the race went on. The two of them continued to swap the lead multiple times.  The 5th and final restart would happen on lap 68 which sent the field into a long green flag run to the finish. Brooks grabbed the top spot on lap 73 and looked to be in control as they got within 10 laps to go.

On lap 94 however, Brooks would attempt to work his way through lapped traffic with Jarrell right on his bumper. Coming off turn 4 under a lapped car, Brooks would get loose, opening the door for Jarrell one last time. He ducked his car down low and battled side by side for the lead before eventually clearing Brooks for the lead.

Jarrell would hang on for the final 5 laps, and would come around to take the checkers and pick up his first career SARA victory. Brooks finished in 2nd, with Lindsley would finish 3rd on the podium just a half second behind the leaders. Bill Martin worked his way up to a 4th place finish, while Todd Garren would come from mid-pack a couple of times on the night to grab a 5th place finish.

  1. Trey Jarrell
  2. Justin Brooks
  3. Kenny Lindsley
  4. Bill Martin
  5. Todd Garren
  6. Jacob Linkiewicz
  7. Jarrett Lawrence
  8. Ronald Williams
  9. James Linkiewicz
  10. Matt Rolfe
  11. Mackenzie Brewer
  12. Clay Snider
  13. Charles Denny
  14. James Moss
  15. Scott Hutchison
  16. Scott Dunlap
  17. Darrell Hamlin
  18. Mitchell Cowan
  19. Derek Colson
  20. Matt Eddy
  21. Danny Sanchez
  22. Brian Tedeschi
  23. Mark Welch
  24. David Krikorian
  25. Ken Belanger
  26. Caeton Bomersbach
  27. Mike Testa

Next week the series heads to Irwindale for a 100 lap feature on the Outer configuration.

For full results and standings, click HERE.