Two drivers entered last night’s MRolfeDesigns Pro Late Model Series finale at South Boston, tied atop the points standings. Windell Stratton and Bill Martin squared off in the 150-lap feature event, where every point would matter in crowning the 2015 Fall Season champion.
The night got started with Ty Majeski setting the fast lap of 14.141 seconds to take the pole and set a new track record. The top ten cars advanced into the Qualifying Dash, and an 8-car invert dropped Majeski back, while Hunter Combs was inverted to the front. Combs jumped into the lead, and was able to score the Dash victory while the rest of the field battled behind him. Martin finished 2nd in the Dash to add a four point lead, while Stratton qualified outside the top ten and couldn’t add any bonus points.
In the feature event, Combs led the field back to the green flag and held onto the lead for the first 10 laps. Just prior to a lap 10 yellow, Cody Kelley was able to make his way ahead of Combs, but under the caution, Kelley had mechanical issues that dropped him from the race, giving the lead back to Combs. After the restart, Combs held onto the lead for a few laps until Martin and Majeski both made their way by, with Martin gaining the lead and adding more bonus points to his total.
The race saw a couple more cautions up until about lap 50, where the final caution of the race came out, setting up a long green flag run to the finish. Martin continued to lead on the restart, but Majeski was right on his bumper looking to get by. Majeski set his car up into the second groove, and made his way into the lead on the outside. With the race going caution-free to the finish, it allowed Majeski to set sail out front while Martin looked to maintain his position in 2nd. Stratton had moved up into the top five prior to halfway, but needed a caution to make up ground on the leaders. Majeski went on to pull out to nearly a 4-second gap out front, and easily picked up the race victory. The win for Majeski was his 2nd of the season, and the 49th of his career.
Behind Majeski, Martin did everything he needed to do in the race to clinch the championship, by picking up bonus points, leading laps, and beating his competitor by finishing 2nd. Stratton worked his way up into a 3rd place finish, but without any cautions in the second half of the race, he wasn’t able to make up the time lost earlier in the run. Darrell Hamlin was the only car that took tires during one of the early cautions, but was only able to make it to about the 5th spot before stalling out. Hamlin and Combs battled for much of the second half of the race, and Hamlin was able to get by in the final laps to take 4th, while Combs rounded out the top five in 5th.
Bill Martin’s 2nd place finish was officially enough to clinch the championship, and the Triple Crown title as well. Joe Schaffer entered the night having already clinched the Qualifying Dash title, by picking up a total of 40 points via the Dash.
Congratulations to Bill Martin, the 2015 MRolfeDesigns Pro Late Model Series champion. Martin also secured the Triple Crown title with finishes of 1st, 5th, and 2nd. Martin’s championship season consisted of 3 wins, 1 poles, 8 top fives, 8 top tens, and 310 laps led. The title is his 2nd Pro Late Model title, his 2nd of the 2015 Fall Season, and his 6th career SARA championship.
