PASS South Super Late Model points leader Zane Smith took the lead following contact between leaders Roger Lee Newton and Jeff Fultz with 11 laps to go and led the rest of the way to win Friday night’s Old Glory 125 at Concord Speedway in Concord, N.C.
Smith’s victory came in the first race back at the venerable half-mile speedway in nearly three years.
“I don’t know how I won this one,” Smith said in victory lane. “I told them on the radio ‘I don’t know how I’m going pass them, but I’m going to figure out a way to get by’. To be honest, I kinda saw it coming because they (Newton and Fultz) were running so close. We didn’t qualify great, but we were consistent and I knew we would be good in the race. And, luckily we were.”
In qualifying, Jody Measamer scorched the half-mile triangular speedway with an average lap speed of over 116 miles per hour. Following the top 10 qualifiers redraw, Measamer would start third behind Roger Lee Newton and Tate Fogleman.
Newton jumped to a quick lead at the start, but Ryan Moore and Corey Lajoie were the two cars on the move in the early going. After starting 20th, Moore made his way around Brandon Ward and into the top 10 on lap 34. Just two laps later, 11th place starter Lajoie passed Dawsonville, Ga.’s Spencer Davis to move into the top five.
The first caution of the night waved on lap 55 when the quick qualifier Measamer slammed the turn one wall. On the restart, Garrett Campbell restarted second and was able to move around Newton into the lead as the field raced into the dogleg. The caution waved for the second time of the night when Lajoie slowed to a stop on the speedway on lap 62.
On the next restart, Campbell held the lead over Newton, but Moore was continuing his climb to the front. While battling for seventh on lap 70, Moore and Tate Fogleman made contact in the short chute causing Fogleman to slap the wall. Moore passed Fultz for fifth place on lap 86. Just four laps later, Moore and Preston Peltier touched entering turn one, sending Peltier up the track and back to the seventh position.
Following a spin by Billy Lemmons on the frontstretch with 31 laps to go, Newton reassumed the lead over Campbell on the restart. As Campbell struggled with the handling on his machine, Fultz moved by to take second with 24 laps to go. Fultz began cutting into Newton’s lead as the laps wound down, followed closely by Smith in third. Fultz made his move for the top spot with 11 laps to go, but made contact sending Newton around in turn three. As the leaders made contact, Smith was able to pass Fultz prior to the caution waving.
On the final restart, Moore, who was running third at the time, spun entering turn one collecting Ward and Matt Craig. Smith led the rest of the way to claim the win over Fultz, Davis, Jared Irvan, and Fogleman.
In other action, Kodie Conner led all 50 laps to take his fourth PASS Pro Late Model win of the season over Austin Thompson, Adam Welch, Chandler Smith, and Ryan Krachun.
Sonny Schofen took the Mid-Atlantic Street Stock win over a 25 car starting field with Bryan Thomas and Gary Ledbetter completing the top three.
Burt Myers held off his brother, Jason, for his third KOMA Unwind Modified Madness win of the season.
The PASS South Super Late Models hit the track again for 150 laps on Saturday, June 6 at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, VA, along with Twin 75s for the NASCAR Late Model Stocks and action for the USAC Eastern Midgets and Legends.
For more info, visit ProAllStarsSeries.com.
PASS South Super Late Models
Concord Speedway – Concord, NC
Old Glory 125 – May 22, 2015
1. 77 – Zane Smith
2. 54x – Jeff Fultz
3. 129 – Spencer Davis
4. 28 – Jared Irvan
5. 8f – Tate Fogleman
6. 74x – Preston Peltier
7. 33 – Roger Lee Newton
8. 01 – Derek Scott, Jr.
9. 12 – Garrett Campbell
10. 2 – Trevor Noles
11. 62 – Brandon Ward
12. 54 – Matt Craig
13. 74 – Ryan Moore
14. 4m – Kyle McCallum
15. 49 – Jeff Batten
16. 15 – Colt James
17. 00 – Billy Lemmons
18. 8x – Corey LaJoie
19. 98 – Jody Measamer
20. 71 -Jimmy Doyle
DNS: 7 -Tyler Church
DNS: 16 – Hayes Goodson
PASS South Pro Late Models
1. 45 – Kodie Conner
2. 2 – Austin Thompson
3. 71 – Adam Welch
4. 26 – Chandler Smith
5. 29 – Ryan Krachun
6. 22 – Wesley Noles
7. 55 – Jake Spillers
8. 3 – Jordan McCallum
9. 7 – Matt Murphy
10. 23 – Zachery Dabbs
