NEW SMYNRA, FL :: When it comes to the Speedweeks Super Late Model championship at New Smyrna Speedway, don’t count out Harrison Burton or Steve Wallace just yet.
Two nights removed from their controversial battle in Race No. 4 of the World Series of Asphalt, Burton outdueled Wallace to become the first repeat winner of the seven-race super series. Previous winners this week have included Wallace, Zane Smith, Ty Majeski and David Garbo Jr., providing the most exciting championship battle of the five participating divisions at the facility 15 minutes south of Daytona Beach.
For Burton, the victory was the second of his career and the 1-2 finish allowed both second generation drivers to inch within championship contention with only one race remaining — the 100 lap Bruce Gowland Memorial on Saturday night.
Burton raced side-by-side with Wallace over the final 15 laps and admitted that he had flashbacks to Wednesday night when he turned Wallace in front of the field, incurring a penalty and allowing Wallace to re-assume the lead and cruise to his first win of 2015. This time, the two kept it aggressive and clean with the youngster making the final pass with nine laps to go.
“That was a lot of fun,” Burton said. “I also had a lot of flashbacks to a few nights ago that disappeared when I passed him. It means the world to me to get this win and bounce back as a team. We weren’t as good as we needed to be last night (when he finished third) but the car was spot on tonight.”
Wallace says his car was just a little too loose on Friday night, something they expect to work on before the Bruce Gowland Memorial on Saturday. With that said, he’s also satisfied with his runner-up finish and has momentum leading into the first extra distance race of the season.
“It was a good race,” Wallace said. “It was a hard race. I roughed up Harrison a few nights ago and he roughed me up — and I didn’t wreck him. That was good hard racing. I want to thank JET Tools and I’m ready for the big one tomorrow night.”
The championship battle took a dramatic turn on lap 23 when points leader Ty Majeski backed his Super Late Model hard into the Turn 2 outside retaining wall, completely destroying the rear end of his car. He entered Friday night with a one point advantage over Garrett Jones and fell all the way back to fifth and 16 points out of the top spot.
A maximum of 50 points are available to the winner with second place receiving 48. Each successive position decreases by one, meaning that Majeski will have to have multiple things go right on Saturday night to win the championship — assuming he even has a car to compete. With the turn of events, Smith now holds a two point championship lead over Jones with Wallace and Burton seven and 12 points back respectively.
Previous champions of the event include Dick Trickle, Mark Martin and Pete Hamilton.
The results from Super Late Model Race No. 6 can be viewed below.
- Harrison Burton
- Steve Wallace
- Zane Smith
- David Garbo
- Paul Shafer
- Garrett Jones
- Drew Brannon
- Denver Foran
- Joey Mucciacciaro
- Spencer Davis
- Natalie Decker
- Claire Decker
- Terrell Duke
- David Rogers
- Alex Labbe
- Derek Kraus
- Rico Abreu
- Chuck Tuck
- Josh Collins
- Gus Dean
- Ty Majeski
- Anthony Sergi
- Kyle Mccallum
- Stephen Weaver Jr.
- Bradley Bowman
Here are the championship standings with just one race remaining.
- Zane Smith Ldr.
- Garrett Jones -2
- Stephen Wallace -7
- Harrison Burton -12
- Ty Majeski -16
- Joey Mucciacciaro -21
- Paul Shafer -24
- Natalie Decker -31
- David Garbo -36
- Denver Foran -41
(Everyone Else is officially eliminated)
