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Ty Majeski goes back-to-back with Rattler 250 victory

By Series PR
Posted 12:00PM on Monday 20th March 2017 ( 7 years ago )

KINSTON, Ala. - The trophy looks the same. The check is for the same amount. However, Ty Majeski’s win in Sunday’s Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway, the season opener for the Southern Super Series, tells a vastly different story than his previous triumph.

Majeski grabbed the lead for the first time all day from Harrison Burton on a restart with just 19 laps to go. In 2016, Majeski dominated the race, leading all but eight laps en route to the win.

“We definitely didn’t have the car to win all day,” Majeski said. “We were not in the race track quite where we needed to be. We weren’t the best car today, and probably shouldn’t have won. But in my opinion, those are the days that define you as a team and as a driver. When you win races you shouldn’t, they are always special.”

While Majeski and Burton were the dogs, Jeff Choquette played the role of the rabbit early on. Choquette led the first 211 laps – the second most amount in event history – but saw Garret Jones and Burton pounce on him following the competition caution at lap 200.

Jones restarted third, and made the most of his four new sticker tires by going right after Choquette. The two waged a tremendous battle for the lead before Jones slipped by on the inside. However, Jones’ stay out front was short lived, as Burton wrestled the lead away from Jones just a lap later.

Burton appeared to be on the way to another win in dominant first quarter of the 2017 season, but botched the restart with less than 20 to go.

“I had a lot of crap on my tires and need to do a better job cleaning them off,” Burton explained. “I just couldn’t get going, and it took me too long to get back up to speed. Once the car came back, we were really fast. It’s just a heartbreaker.”

The “friendly” rivalry between Majeski and Burton wrote another chapter Sunday afternoon. The two young drivers combined to win three races at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing in New Smyrna. With Burton winning SpeedFest and Majeski bagging the Rattler, they now have chalked up the two biggest early-season Super Late Model races in the Deep South.

Majeski said he enjoys racing with Burton, and has a lot of respect for him.

“He is really fast lately, and has been for a couple of years,” Majeski said of his rival. “They really picked up their game when they got their new Fury car, and were probably better than us again today. We’re close, but not where we want to be. Harrison is one of the best every week right now.”

Burton paid the same respect to Majeski.

“Both the teams, the 91 and the 12, work really hard all the time,” Burton said. “They always bring us good cars to the track. I got to know Ty a little bit through NASCAR Next. Everyone wants to beat everyone, but I think we might want to be each other even more.”

For the second night in a row, Choquette was left thinking what might have been. After leading more than half the race in Saturday’s Pro Late Model race, he suffered a mechanical issue while leading. In Sunday’s race, he simply lost the handle late in the going.

“We got the lead early and led all the way until lap 200-and-something,” Choquette said. “The only thing we changed was to put four tires on it. We went from leading by a straightaway to a straightaway behind. That is just one aspect of the racing that you can’t control. You can make all the adjustments you want, but if those four tires don’t go, there is nothing you can do.”

With the win, Majeski puts his name among some of the elite in South Alabama Speedway. He becomes just the second driver to win back-to-back Rattlers, and only the fourth driver in the history of the event to win more than one 250.

When told, he entered a list with the likes of Georgia Racing Hall of Fame member Ronnie Sanders and Grant Enfinger, Majeski was humbled.

“This is one of the premier Super Late Model races in the country every year,” Majeski said. “The best teams and best drivers in the country come together for this race, and have for a long time. It was really special to win it one time, and to come back down here and win it again makes it even better.”

Next up for the Southern Super Series is a stop at Tennessee’s Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville for a combination event with the ARCA/CRA Super Series on April 7-8.

For more information, visit SouthernSuperSeries.com.

Southern Super Series
South Alabama Speedway – Kinston, AL
Rattler 250 (Unofficial) – March 19, 2017

1. 91 Ty Majeski
2. 12 Harrison Burton
3. 66 Steve Wallace
4. 9 Jeff Choquette
5. 51 Stephen Nasse
6. 15 Christian Eckes
7. 26S Chandler Smith
8. 99 Raphael Lessard
9. 88 Garrett Jones
10. 55 Cole Anderson
11. 26 Bubba Pollard
12. 10 Steve Dorer
13. 7 Casey Roderick
14. 19 Kyle Plott
15. 112 Augie Grill
16. 98 Paul Kelley
17. 14 Connor Okrezsik
18. 71 John Van Dourn
19. 14D Chris Davidson
20. 7S Paul Shafer, Jr.
21. 81 Derek Scott, Jr.
22. 97 Chase Purdy
23. 2W Donnie Wilson
24. 04 Cory Roper
25. 16 Brandon McReynolds
26. 5 Jerry Artuso
27. 79 Kyle Bryant

Ty Majeski is given the traditional winner's treatment at Sunday's Rattler 250 - by having a rattlesnake draped across his shoulders in South Alabama Speedway's victory lane. It marked Majeski's second straight victory in the Southern Super Series opener.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/3/514755/ty-majeski-goes-back-to-back-with-rattler-250-victory

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