As the first race of the HidesPride.com #RoadToTheFallBrawl is set to get underway tonight, many of the league’s best will be sitting out the event with the race only being eligible to non-winners of The Button Box Shop Super Series. This means the door will be left wide open for a new driver to reach victory lane in this special event. A win in this event could increase confidence, add some momentum for the rest season, and will lock a driver into the Fall Brawl major event later this year.
While previous Super Series winner are ineligible to race tonight, we caught up with a few of these drivers and asked who they thought could be the favorites to pick up the win. We presented a list of 30 drivers that we expected to be possible entries for the race tonight, and asked each one to pick two favorites and an underdog that could end up in victory lane.
Here’s who they picked:
David Krikorian – 8 career Super Late Model wins
DAVID’S FAVORITES: TREVOR EDWARDS & CHRISTIAN PEDERSEN
- South Boston is one of Trevor’s favorite tracks and he is towards the front in most cars at this track.
- Christian has been fast throughout the course of the season and has already been fairly close to a win. Setup knowledge and experience in other cars also gives him an advantage.
DAVID’S DARK HORSE: DARRELL HAMLIN
- Darrell hovers around the top ten most of the time and being teammates with Derek Robinson, who has had a lot of speed at South Boston in the past, will benefit Darrell greatly.
Derek Robinson – 4 career Super Late Model wins
DEREK’S FAVORITES: TREVOR EDWARDS & JEREMY ADAMS
- Trevor is my favorite to win with 4/1 odds. He is a part of a strong team that has produced winners year-in and year-out. Trevor is a strong qualifier and can run up front with relative ease in most cases. He real life experience should help him out with a race like this and with a win in this race could propel him to more SLM race victories in the future.
- Jeremy is another favorite to win with 5/1 odds. He seems to always be running in the top five or top ten. He is hard to pass and if he’s able to start up front, and with some clean air, he could just set sail to the field and win this race with ease. I look for Adams and Edwards to battle for the win in what could be the best race we see all season.
DEREK’S DARK HORSE: DEVON ROGERS
- My “underdog” of the race is Devon Rogers. This guy has shown some speed in past races running around the top 7-10. If he can keep his nose clean, along with some lady luck on his side Rogers could pull off the upset and steal a victory from some of the consistently faster guys on the non-winners list.
Bill Martin – 7 career Super Late Model wins
BILL’S FAVORITES: CHRISTIAN PEDERSEN & JEREMY ADAMS
- I’d pick Christian or Jeremy as my choices as winners. They may not have any wins in the Super Late Model in SARA but both are favorites in any race they run.
BILL’S DARK HORSE: DALLAS PATASKA
- Dallas gets my underdog hopeful.
Joe Schaffer Jr. – Two-Time Super Series Champion and 10 career Super Late Model wins
JOE’S FAVORITES: TREVOR EDWARDS & CHRISTIAN PEDERSEN
- Trevor is a multiple time champion in SARA, but just hasn’t broke through to take the victory in a Super Late Model yet.
- Christian has led the points this season, but still hasn’t won.
JOE’S DARK HORSE: IAN LAYNE
- Ian damn near won the Fall Brawl last year, and damn near won a Pro Late Model championship. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
Tim Bills – 2 career Super Late Model wins
TIM’S FAVORITES: CHRISTIAN PEDERSEN & JEREMY ADAMS
- Christian races smart and has been running very good lately.
- Jeremy runs very well at South Boston and has came close to winning on several occasions.
TIM’S DARK HORSE: IAN LAYNE
- Ian has run well but usually has some bad luck.
Matt Rolfe – Two-Time Super Series Champion and 2 career Super Late Model wins
MATT’S FAVORITES: CHRISTIAN PEDERSEN & SAM ROUSH
- There’s about 4-5 drivers I could put on this list, but Christian has to be the top favorite for the win, as he’s been at the top of the standings this season and consistently has been running around the top five. As long as he gets a solid qualifying spot, this could be his to win.
- Sam seems to have had a lot of bad luck this season. But he has been fast and run well, plus it doesn’t hurt that his teammates have won 5/6 races so far this season. With a little luck going back in his favor, he could easily add another win for his team.
MATT’S DARK HORSE: DALLAS PATASKA
- Although Dallas has DNQ’d in two races this season, in the other four races he’s been right there around the top ten, and with the right circumstances he could steal this win.
Dustin Caldwell – No Super Late Model wins, but 31 Super Late Model broadcasts of SARA winners
DUSTIN’S FAVORITES: JEREMY ADAMS & SETH DEMERCHANT
- Jeremy has dominated in other league races that I’ve broadcasted.
- Seth is a great driver.
DUSTIN’S DARK HORSE: LOGAN RUNYON
- Logan is good at that track.
Catch all of the action LIVE tonight on the Digital Forge Broadcast Network at 10 PM Eastern: