The RB Performance Super Late Model Series competed at the Iowa Speedway on Thursday night, for the 7th race of their season with a 100 lap feature event.
Bill Martin got things started off on the right foot for himself when he picked up his 33rd career pole in Time Trials. However a full 10-car invert on the grid would drop him back for the start of the feature and for the Qualifying Dash. In the Dash, Ian Layne jumped out to the lead in the opening couple of laps, but it was Derek Robinson that quickly made his way to the front to pick up the Dash victory.
In the feature event, Layne decided to start his car at the rear, which put Cameron Hobbs and Russell Berry on the front row of the field. A slight stackup on the initial green flag allowed Marc Gammack to make his move into the lead, where he remained in the top spot for just two laps, before Robinson again quickly charged to the front. Once things settled out though, it was Bill Martin that was on the move from his 10th starting spot, and he put the pressure on for the lead by lap 18.
Martin looked to the bottom a couple times on Robinson, before finally making the pass to the lead on the outside groove. From there, the race remained under green flag conditions for the entire length, which allowed Martin and Robinson to pull away out front. Robinson would remain on Martin’ rear bumper for a majority of the race, but after some fuel miscalculations, Robinson would end up having to make a pit stop, which left Martin out front by himself. Martin would lead 79 total laps on the night, and went on to pick up the victory, his first of the SLM season, and the 30th of his career.
Behind Martin, Windell Stratton would end up finishing in the runner-up spot, after he moved into the top three early in the race but was never able to close the gap on the leader. Jason Williams had a strong but quiet 3rd place finish, dropping back a few spots in the opening laps of the race before picking off a few spots throughout the run. Once the first part of the green flag run sorted out, Matt Rolfe found himself running in the 6th spot, before moving up a couple spots after guys dropped down pit road for fuel, leaving Rolfe with a 4th place finish. After dropping to the back on the initial start, Layne was able to make steady progress throughout the race before settling into a 5th place finish.
Just outside the top five, Russell Berry would end up finishing 6th, after he fell back early, and then followed the same course as Layne, steadily picking his way back up to 6th. Robinson would end up finishing 7th on the night as the first car that ended up coming down pit road for gas and tires, giving up his battle for the lead with just 15 to go. Gammack ran inside the top five until about lap 65 when he too headed down pit road, and would come back out to finish 8th. Clay Snider and Dale Owen would each move into the top ten early in the run, but were never able to quite make up enough ground to get to the top five, and would end up settling for 9th and 10th respectively.
After his 4th place finish, Matt Rolfe takes over the points lead, and will lead the series into the off-week, before returning after Thanksgiving for some Twin-50 races at The Milwaukee Mile.