SOPHIA, N.C. - Matt Craig battled back from two laps down to pass race leader Jared Fryar on the final restart and led the rest of the way to score his first career PASS South Super Late Model Series win in the Dogwood 125 Saturday night at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, N.C.
Craig’s win allowed him to close in to within two points of PASS South points leader Kodie Conner, who finished third.
Craig had fallen two laps back after repairs were made to a broken throttle linkage 35 laps into the race.
“I was running third about 20 laps into the race and I felt the pedal go to the floor, and I thought, dang there goes another one,” said Craig. “I just drove my tail off after that. They told me to save my stuff and wait for a caution, I didn’t listen to them. I think I’m pretty good at restarts and we got one there at the end and were able to hold on for the win.”
In qualifying Ryan Moore toured the .455 mile speedway at a fast lap of 99.550 miles per hour to claim the quick qualifying time. However, Moore would slot into the ninth starting position after the top 10 qualifiers redraw, while defending race winner Fryar and Brandon Lynn would move to the front row.
At the drop of the green flag, Lynn would take the lead from the outside pole over Fryar and Craig. Moore wasted little time moving to the front taking fifth position from Trey Jarrell on lap 10. The first caution of the night waved on lap 35 when Craig lost power down the backstretch and slowed to a stop due to a broken throttle linkage. Craig would lose two laps while his crew made repairs to his Chevrolet.
On the restart, Jody Measamer was able to get by Lynn to take the lead on lap 36. The next caution would not wave again until lap 76 when Kyle McCallum went for a spin exiting turn two. On the next restart, Lynn would overtake Measamer to regain the lead, while Fryar would move by to take second. Just one lap later, Fryar moved by Lynn to take his turn back up front.
With 27 laps to go, Michael Pilla spun exiting turn four to bring out a caution that would allow Craig to get back on the lead lap. Racing over the final circuits would be intense as Moore began to challenge Lynn for second. The two cars would make contact exiting turn four with 14 laps to go, and then again entering turn one, sending Moore’s car around and into the outside wall.
The biggest benefactor would be Craig, who would start alongside Fryar for the restart. Craig got the advantage over Fryar on the final restart and would lead the rest of the way for his first career PASS South Super Late Model victory.
Fryar finished in second, with Conner third, Measamer in fourth, and Lynn in fifth.
Jarrell, Vinnie Miller, McCallum, Kyle Desouza and Jimmy Doyle rounded out the top ten.
The PASS South Super Late Models will be back in action on Saturday, May 27 at Concord Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. For more information, visit ProAllStarsSeries.com.
PASS South Super Late Model Series
Caraway Speedway – Sophia, NC
Dogwood 125 (Unofficial) – April 16, 2016
1. 54 – Matt Craig
2. 116 – Jarod Fryer
3. 45 – Kodie Conner
4. 98 – Jody Measamer
5. 4 – Brandon Lynn
6. 12 – Trey Jarrell
7. 16 – Vinnie Miller
8. 4m – Kyle McCallum
9. 88 – Kyle Desouza
10. 71 – Jimmy Doyle
11. 4x – Mike Pilla
12. 74 – Ryan Moore
13. 15 – Ron Young
14. 24 – J.P. Josiasse
