The RB Performance Super Late Model Series rolled into the New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a championship on the line, with Jacob Linkiewicz needing a solid finish to clinch, while Trey Jarrell would have to gain maximum points to have a shot at the title. They would be joined by 18 other drivers, as 20 cars took time during open qualifying with Jarrell getting the start he needed by picking up 5 bonus points and the pole position with a time of 29.856 seconds. Justin Brooks would start 2nd on the night, with Linkiewicz starting back in the 12th spot.
Jarrell would lead the field to the green while Brooks quickly got in line in the 2nd spot. Bill Martin would power on the outside to grab the 3rd spot over Ty Spearman and David Krikorian would take the 5th spot as the field settled in during the early laps. With Jarrell out front, Brooks wouldn’t let him get away and followed right in his tire tracks and looked content to follow the leader during the beginning stages. Behind the top 5, James Linkiewicz, Fred Moreau and Dale Owen were all battling for the 6th spot, and not too far behind them it was the foursome of Jacob Linkiewicz, Kenny Smith, Matt Rolfe and Clay Snider looking to grab spots in the top 10.
A lap 11 caution would see all of the leaders take the early chance to head down pit road, while Ken Belanger took the chance to stay out and lead his first lap of the season, but he too would duck down pit road giving the top spot back to Jarrell on the restart. Jarrell would get the quick jump and Brooks would follow him down into the corner, while behind them Owen was looking to hold on to the third spot, but Spearman, Krikorian and Moreau would all get by him over the next few laps. Brooks would close back onto the back bumper of Jarrell for the lead during the run, and would ride behind him for a couple laps before making his move for the lead on lap 38. He would dive to the low side under the leader, but Jarrell would get the run off the corners to hang onto the spot. Brooks wouldn’t give up as he kept diving to the bottom trying to slide up into the lead but Jarrell would be too strong as they ran side-by-side, before Brooks would get loose on the low side letting Jarrell get away in the lead.
Krikorian was able to get by Brooks shortly after he had to save his car from a spin, but Brooks would take the spot right back. While this was going on, Martin had worked his way back up through the field into the 5th spot, and he would dive his car under Moreau for the 4th spot for a number of laps but couldn’t quite make the pass. On lap 57 however, as Brooks looked to chase the leader back down, he would get loose off of turn two and spun on the backstretch, and would save his car from any contact but the yellow flag would fly. This may have been the turning point in the championship race as Jacob Linkiewicz had fallen back to the 14th spot and was 3 spots out from the spot he needed to finish in. The field would all head down pit road under the caution to take on new tires, with Jarrell coming off pit road first to remain in the lead.
After another short yellow, Jarrell would get the jump on the lap 66 restart, setting up the final 34 lap green flag run to the checkered flag. Jarrell got the jump as Krikorian moved up into 2nd, with Brooks, Martin and Moreau in the top 5 after the restart. Behind them it would be Snider, Rolfe, Trent Brown, Jacob Linkiewicz and Owen all running in the top 10, but the battle to watch for the rest of the race was back out front. Krikorian looked to put pressure on the leader but he would clip the wall off of turn 4 on lap 69, allowing Brooks to get back by for 2nd and he would set his sights on the leader.
By lap 80, Jarrell’s lead had closed to just a car length as Brooks pulled up to his bumper, but over the next 10 laps Jarrell would stretch that gap back out to about 5 car lengths by lap 90. As the laps were winding down, it looked like Jarrell would be too strong for Brooks in the late laps. Jarrell took the white flag and headed down into turn 1 but missed his mark and slid up the track, allowing Brooks to close the gap. As they headed into turn 3, again Jarrell would drift high, and Brooks to take his car to the low side to attempt the pass and the two would drag race off the final turn. But with the momentum on the high side, Jarrell would win that drag race and came to the checkered flag first by just .069 seconds for the win. Jarrell would pick up maximum points, and his 6th win of the season. Brooks finished 2nd, while Martin recovered for a strong 3rd place finish. Krikorian would finish 4th, and Moreau held off Snider to take the 5th spot.
Despite being held outside of the top 10 for much of the race, Jacob Linkiewicz would put his car in the position he needed to be in after the last restart and would finish off the night in the 7th spot. That finish would be enough to hang onto the points lead, as he would be crowned with the title by just 9 points, earning his first career SARA Championship. His championship run consisted of 1 pole, 6 top 5’s, 8 top 10’s, and 93 laps led on the season. Even with no wins on the season, Linkiewicz put himself near the front of the field in every race with consistency to pick up the title in the leagues highest and toughest division.
- Trey Jarrell
- Justin Brooks
- Bill Martin
- David Krikorian
- Fred Moreau
- Clay Snider
- Jacob Linkiewicz
- Dale Owen
- James Linkiewicz
- Stan Bragg
- Trent Brown
- Tim Bills
- Matt Rolfe
- Matt Eddy
- Kenny Smith
- Ty Spearman
- Ken Belanger
- Mike Belanger
- Robert Matthews
- Cody Leland
Tonight’s race marks the end of the Summer Season for the Super Late Models, but a new season will be starting up in a few weeks where the action will pick right back up.
For full results and the final championship standings, click HERE.