On Monday night, the SK Shootout Series returned to the track for the first time in nearly a month for the third race of their season as they visited the Stafford Motor Speedway for a 100-lap feature. 25 drivers would bring their SK Modifieds out to the event and when time trials got underway, it was Kevin Myers that powered to the top of the charts with a lap of 19.572 seconds, putting him on the pole for the feature.
When the race got underway, Myers was quick to launch into the lead, but Ty Majeski wouldn’t let him get to far away as the rest of the field began to settle in. Majeski would stay glued to the rear bumper of Myers as they began a 22-lap green flag run to start the race. Behind them, Cody Kelley had settled into 3rd while Stan Bragg ran not too far behind him as well. Parker Traves held onto the 5th spot through the first half of the run until Bill Martin made his move to take that spot away. James Linkiewicz and Ryan Borges exchanged spots in the 7th and 8th positions, while Reggie Evans and Cameron Hobbs ran inside the top 10 as well early on.
As they got past lap 20, Majeski decided it was time to make his move and looked to the inside of Myers for the lead. Majeski would slide up just a little in the corner as Myers looked to hold it down to get the run off the corner, and the two drivers would make contact (with a little help from some netcode) and Myers car would spin around, bringing out the yellow on lap 22.
Much of the top 10 would stay on track as cars in the 2nd half of the field would bring their cars down pit road as they prepared for the lap 27 restart. However a quick caution after the restart would slow the field back down. On the lap 34 restart, the field would once again settle in as they would roll off a 58-lap green flag run.
Majeski used the restart to jump out into the lead and began to pull away from Martin who had moved into the 2nd spot. Martin would stay in reach of the leader as the run got going, but Majeski would gain a little bit of time each lap and had pulled out to over 1-second after about 10 laps into the run. Kelley continued to run in the 3rd spot, but Myers was on a mission to get back to the front of the field and he would take over the 3rd spot on lap 49 as he looked to track down the top 2. Borges had moved up into the top 5 during the run, ahead of Derek Robinson who broke into the top 10 after taking just 2 tires on an earlier pit stop. But as the run went on, Linkiewicz would get by Robinson as the drivers in the 6th through 10th spots all ran nose-to-tail. Dante Curtis had moved up into the top 10 to join the battle as Traves and Rolfe were close in the fight as well.
As the run continued on, Myers was continuing to charge as he tracked down Martin for the 2nd spot. He would close to the rear bumper by lap 83 and would take the spot the next lap. But at that time, Majeski’s lead had grown to over 5-seconds and he looked to have everything in control. However, that would all change as the final caution of the race came out on lap 92, bringing the field back together for a chance at a 3-lap shootout to the finish.
On the final restart, Majeski would prove to be too strong though and never gave Myers the chance to grab the spot back as he pulled away to the checkered flag. Majeski came around to lead the field to the finish, picking up the victory, his 20th career SARA win which moves him solely into the 2nd spot on the career wins list. Myers would come around to finish 2nd after making his charge back to the front, while Martin was able to finish off his strong run in 3rd. Borges would move up into the 4th spot on the final lap, with Robinson moving into the top 5 with a 5th place finish.
1. Ty Majeski
2. Kevin Myers
3. Bill Martin
4. Ryan Borges
5. Derek Robinson
6. Cody Kelley
7. Dante Curtis
8. Matt Rolfe
9. Dale Owen
10. Parker Traves
11. James Linkiewicz
12. Todd Sipe
13. Cameron Hobbs
14. Mike Belanger
15. Brandon Wilkinson
16. Paul Massey
17. Reggie Evans
18. Bill Prisco
19. Stan Bragg
20. Patrick Hahe
21. Ken Belanger
22. Darren Daves
23. Clay Snider
24. Mike Whited
25. Sam Clark
Next time out in two weeks, the SK Shootout Series will head to Lucas Oil Raceway for the 4th race of their season.
With his 2nd place finish, Kevin Myers moves up into the points lead and now holds a 33 point lead with just two SK Shootout races remaining. For full results and standings, click HERE.