The RB Performance Super Late Models were live on LiveSimRacingTV on Thursday night for the first race of the SLM Triple Crown. 39 different drivers attempted to qualify for the broadcasted Triple Crown 200, but only 25 cars would qualify on time, and a total of 7 provisionals were handed out to make up the 32-car starting grid.
In qualifying it was Trey Jarrell who took the fast time in time trials to grab the pole. He would lead the fast 8 cars into the Qualifying Dash which saw Jarrell jump out to an early lead and he went on to pick up the Dash win. The win for Jarrell would send him back to 8th after the invert for the feature event, while Joe Schaffer Jr. would be inverted to the top spot.
When the cameras started rolling on LSRTV, it was Schaffer that led the field to the green flag, and jumped out into an early lead. In the early going, Schaffer had the race in control, leading the first 60 laps of the race until James Linkiewicz made his move into the top spot. From there, Linkiewicz led the field until lap 93 when he and a few others came down pit road, introducing pit strategy to the race around the halfway mark.
This handed the lead over to David Krikorian for 14 laps before the drivers with new tires made their way back to the front as this time it was Jacob Linkiewicz who took over the lead during the green flag run. A caution on lap 131 allowed the rest of the field who had stayed out before to come in and get their tires with about 70 laps to go. Waiting until this caution ended up being the difference maker as it took just 10 laps after the restart for Krikorian to work his way back to the front by lap 146. From there it was all Krikorian as he would go on to lead the final 55 laps and came around to take the checkered flag. The win was his 2nd of the season, and his 13th career SARA victory.
Despite never being able to get to the lead, Cody Kelley was a factor for the win all race long and would end up with a 2nd place finish after battling Bill Martin and Jarrell late in the race. Martin would end up grabbing the 3rd spot on the podium after running inside the top ten for much of the race. Jarrell would find trouble in the opening laps but was able to recover to get himself a 4th place finish. Matt Rolfe also used the lap 130 tire strategy which allowed him to round out the top five in 5th after running around 10th for much of the race.
Just outside the top five, Schaffer would grab the 6th spot after leading the race early, going down a lap at one point during the race, and working his way back through the field late. James Linkiewicz finished 7th after looking to have the car to beat, but would fall back with some older tires late in the race. Scott Dunlap was the biggest mover of the race after starting way back in the 30th spot, and worked his way up into a quiet top ten finish in 8th. Jacob Linkiewicz and Ty Spearman would round out the top ten in 9th and 10th respectively, as they took had strong runs going on just after halfway but would hang onto top ten finishes with their older tires.
After the win, David Krikorian takes over the points lead as the division leaves Five Flags, leading 2nd place by just 9 points. Krikorian also takes an early lead in the Triple Crown standings by scoring 1 point for his victory.
If you missed any of the live action on LSRTV, be sure to check out the replay below for an exciting broadcast of the Triple Crown 200: