For the third night in a row, the fans would get quite a show at South Boston as the MRD Pro Late Models put together two impressive runs for tonight’s Twin 75 races. Things started off with standard qualifying and Ty Majeski would pick up the pole with a time of 16.335 seconds, with Kevin Myers in 2nd just .058 seconds behind. The first race would see just 15 cars start on the grid during the daylight (mainly due to the Camping World Truck Series racing at Eldora), but those 15 cars would battle all race long right from the drop of the green flag.
Majeski led the field to the green and would jump out to the lead, while Myers got down in behind him, just ahead of Matt Rolfe, Stan Bragg and Todd Sipe in the top 5. A quick caution would bunch the field back up, and again the top group of cars would all settle into the same spots on the restart. Majeski got the quick start and over the course of the run he would pull out to a 1.2 second lead over Myers, while behind them Rolfe and Bragg were battling for the 3rd spot. Bragg would catch up to Rolfe and would take the bottom groove, but Rolfe would hang tough on the outside as the two of them would battle side by side for a few laps before the next caution would fly on lap 23.
On the next restart, once again the top 2 pulled ahead, while on this restart Bragg would power past Rolfe on the high side to take the 3rd spot, and Bill Martin would also follow him by on the outside to take 4th. Those top 5 would all run in those spots until the next restart on lap 46. This time Bill Martin was able to again pull off the power move on the outside of Bragg to take over 3rd, and the two drivers would exchange the spot a couple more times. As the run went on, Rolfe began to get pressured by Dale Owen for the 5th spot and again Rolfe would give up the bottom but ran hard on the outside to hold the spot. He would hang on until lap 61, when his engine would expire, ending his run early and bringing out the final caution of the race.
The last restart would come on lap 69, and as was the case all race long, no one was able to touch Majeski as he pulled away out front and sailed on to pick up the victory in the first half of the Twin 75 races. Myers ran in 2nd all race long and would finish there, and Martin would finish 3rd after another hard fought battle with Bragg who would finish 4th. Owen rounded out the top 5.
As the sun set, the field would roll out for the second race of the night, and this time they would see a 7 car invert at the front of the field. This would move Jacob Linkiewicz up onto the pole for race #2, while Majeski would be forced back in the 7th spot. As the field rolled out onto the track Majeski would miss the grid however, which would set up a tough battle for him to recover throughout the rest of the race. Linkiewicz would get the early jump out front, and would hang onto the lead for the first 9 laps of the race before slight contact between him and Bill Martin would let Martin slip by for the lead, with Myers following him by for 2nd.
The first caution would come out on lap 13, and this would give Majeski the chance to get the lucky dog and put him back on the lead lap early in the race. Martin got the jump on the ensuing restart, and behind him Bragg would use the outside to get by Linkiewicz for the 3rd spot, while Anthony Celentano made an appearance up into the top 5. But shortly after, Majeski was already making his way through the field and took over 5th on lap 26. The 2nd and final caution would come out a few short laps later, which would set up a 39 lap run to the finish.
Myers took over the lead on the outside for one brief lap, but Martin would battle back on the inside to hold the lead. Behind them, Majeski had already moved up into 3rd, and he would sit right behind the two leaders as they battled it out. Just as Martin cleared Myers for the lead, the two would make slight contact getting down into the corner and they would both slide up, opening the door up on the bottom for Majeski to sneak by and gain the lead on lap 40. Bragg was able to get by Myers a few laps later for the 3rd spot, but by that time, the two leaders had already checked out and Majeski built his lead quickly over a full second by lap 50.
As the run carried on, Bragg began to pull away from Myers for the 3rd spot, but Myers would soon be under pressure by Linkiewicz for the 4th spot as the two would run nose to tail for a number of laps. As those two battled and Linkiewicz couldn’t get the run he needed to get a nose under Myers, Rolfe was slowly closing the gap after restarting 10th on the final restart. As the laps starting winding down, and Linkiewicz felt the pressure from behind, he knew he would have to make his move but he couldn’t get by Myers for the spot. The two would touch bumpers a couple of times but Myers would continue on unfazed. But now Rolfe would make his move and got to the inside of Linkiewicz and they would run side by side for a few laps before Linkiewicz was able to get back to the bottom. With two laps to go though, Rolfe would again make another move and got to the bottom, and the two drivers would hit doors a few times before Rolfe was able to get by him in the final corner on the last lap to take over the 5th spot.
Back up to the front of the field, Majeski had pulled out to a 3.6 second lead over Martin as he wouldn’t be denied and came around to sweep the Twin 75’s at SoBo, and would take home his 10th and 11th career SARA league wins, and his 6th of the PLM season. Martin came home with a strong 2nd place finish after leading 29 laps earlier in the race, while Stan Bragg was able to match his best finish of the season with a 3rd place finish. Myers was able to hang on for the 4th spot, with Rolfe finishing 5th after the last lap pass.
With both of his wins, and as he already held the points lead, Majeski’s lead atop the standings increased to 102 points over Jacob Linkiewicz with just a couple weeks left in the season.
Race 1 Results:
- Ty Majeski
- Kevin Myers
- Bill Martin
- Stan Bragg
- Dale Owen
- Tim Bills
- Jacob Linkiewicz
- Matt Eddy
- Scott Dunlap
- Ken Belanger
- Todd Sipe
- Joey Miller
- Matt Rolfe
- Anthony Celentano
- Vince Kuelbs
Race 2 Results:
- Ty Majeski
- Bill Martin
- Stan Bragg
- Kevin Myers
- Matt Rolfe
- Jacob Linkiewicz
- Dale Owen
- Tim Bills
- Anthony Celentano
- Scott Dunlap
- Matt Eddy
- Ken Belanger
- Joey Miller
- Todd Sipe
- Justin Brooks
Next week the series makes their first visit to Lucas Oil Raceway to take on week #11 of the season.
For the full results and standing, click HERE.