Defending CARS Response Energy LMSC Tour champion Josh Berry managed to make the high line work on the last restart of the race to defeat Deac McCaskill and pick up his second victory of the season in the Thrifty Tire/Puryear Tank Lines 300 at Orange County Speedway.
“I felt like that we were so equal that it was going to be super hard to get by Deac,” Berry said. “The top was wet, so I just sailed it up in there and made it work.”
Rain proved to be a central theme throughout the afternoon, as a pop-up shower would wipe out the final SLM practice, as well as qualifying for both divisions. Lineups for both features would be set by practice speeds, which put Berry in the 5th starting position while veteran Craig Moore would lead the field to the green flag.
After running the first ten laps of the race under caution, Moore would find himself in a heated duel with Bradley McCaskill in the first two turns until McCaskill lost control of his car and made contact with the Turn 3 wall. Moore would quickly find himself in a fight with the other McCaskill on track, as he would lose the lead on the second green flag lap before the caution was displayed.
The middle portion of the race would showcase McCaskill at his absolute best, as he was able to hold of challenges from Berry and the rest of the competition while holding the preferred line around the track. Although McCaskill struggled to pull away from the field, he continued to set a blistering pace through both 40-lap competition cautions.
On the final restart of the race, Berry was finally able to get the restart he was looking for, as he pulled even with McCaskill for two laps before finally taking the lead away from him. McCaskill closed on Berry’s back bumper on a couple of occasions, but was unable to make a move on him, as Berry would pull away and pick up his 14th career CARS Response Energy LMSC Tour victory.
The Thrifty Tire/Puryear Tank Lines 300 would be a rough outing for both of the championship contenders, as Lee Pulliam struggled to get a grip on his Late Model and would be forced to come home with an 8th place finish. Bobby McCarty’s night nearly ended in disaster when Charlie Watson took him and Layne Riggs three-wide into Turn 1, but the current CARS LMSC Tour points leader managed to hang on and come home in the fifth position.
McCaskill was able to bring his #22 Late Model home in the second position while Moore rebounded from a slow start to come home third. Tommy Lemons Jr. proved to have one of the fastest cars in the late stages of the race, as he climbed his way up from the 12th starting position to come home in 4th place.
LMSC Feature Results:
1. 88 Josh Berry
2. 22 Deac McCaskill
3. 1m Craig Moore
4. 27 Tommy Lemons Jr.
5. 22m Bobby McCarty
6. 9 Sam Mayer
7. 2p Brandon Pierce
8. 5p Lee Pulliam
9. 9w Charlie Watson
10. 2 Chris Denny
11. 01 Camden Gullie -1
12. 74 Ronald Hill OUT
13. 07 Bradley McCaskill OUT
14. 99 Layne Riggs OUT
15. 57 Justin Johnson OUT
16. 18 Ty Gibbs OUT
17. 44 Mike Chambers OUT
