DAYTONA BEACH, FL :: CE Falk and Kyle Larson staged a classic duel in the closing laps of the Inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach at the Daytona International Speedway, but it was Larson who scored the victory when the dust settled. Larson made his move on the final lap, turning Falk on the front stretch to win the race in what proved to be an instant classic at the World Center of Speed.

Ben Rhodes dominated much of the race, leading 87 laps, in search of his first career win. The first 100 laps of the 150-lap NASCAR Whelen All American Series event were marred by a series of crashes, most involving the same three or four drivers. The attrition took its toll on contenders like Lee Pulliam, Coleman Pressley, Jake Crum, Garrett Campbell and Anthony Anders, among others. It was a particularly rough race for Ft. Myers, FL native LB Skaggs who was involved in several incidents. Tyler Howell also had a rough night at the 4/10 mile temporary circuit along Daytona’s Superstretch.

Falk was the fastest car on the restarts for much of the evening. He took advantage of the speed to get past Larson for second on lap 25 and to take the lead from Rhodes on lap 88. Rhodes began to fade late in the race allowing his teammate, Larson, to make his move. Larson made contact with Rhodes on lap 122 and made the pass after the two raced for position for several laps.

Falk was held up by lapped traffic, allowing Larson to catch him inside 15 laps to go. Once he got a run on him, Larson used the bump-and-run to get past Falk, but Falk wasn’t giving up. The two traded positions for a handful of laps until Falk finally cleared Larson. Larson wasn’t rolling over. Larson then continued to work over Falk.

In the final five laps, Larson tried to get around Falk every way he can. The two cars made contact several times. The brakes and tires were worn out on both cars. But neither driver was backing down. On the final lap, Larson made his move. In the corner of turns three and four, Larson tried to move Falk up the track to get beside him and then turned Falk on the main straightaway coming to the checkered flag.

“It’s the first race I’ve ever one in that manner, but this was a pretty big race,” Larson explained in a post-race press conference. “I wanted to win it. It’s the last lap. You have to slow down so much in the center of the corner, I got run on him and got into the back of him. I got underneath him and then got him around. I feel bad for him, but like I said, I wanted to win.”

“I just tried to protect the bottom as best I could,” Falk stated. “He got me once and I thought I was going to be OK, but I was wheel-spinning the whole time. Finally, he just finished us off. I’ve got some great notes for next year to go and try and win this thing.”

Falk slipped to third as a result of the spin. Rhodes, who was also driving for Lee McCall, finished second. Anthony Anders finished fourth and Deac McCaskill finished fifth.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

1. #98 Kyle Larson — 150 Laps
2. #46 Ben Rhodes — 150 Laps
3. #40 CE Falk, III — 150 Laps
4. #36 Anthony Anders — 150 Laps
5. #08 Deac McCaskill — 150 Laps
6. #83 Matt Bowling — 150 Laps
7. #1 Lee Pulliam — 150 Laps
8. #30 Dalton Zehr — 150 Laps
9. #7 Brandon Rogers — 149 Laps
10. #72 Garrett Campbell — 149 Laps
11. #81 Rusty Skewes — 149 Laps
12. #12 Jared Marks — 149 Laps
13. #28 Tyler Audie — 149 Laps
14. #15 Trey Hutchins — 149 Laps
15. #47 Mike Looney — 142 Laps
16. #22 Tyler Howell — 136 Laps
17. #0 Jake Engle — 127 Laps
18. #3 Kaz Grala — 112 Laps
19. #44 Nate Monteith — 106 Laps
20. #8 Myatt Snider — 103 Laps
21. #2 Trey Gibson — -97 Laps
22. #71 L.B. Skaggs — 83 Laps
23. #21 Matt Leicht — 68 Laps
24. #89 Adam Royle — 53 Laps
25. #01 Jake Crum — 30 Laps
26. #07 Austin Wayne Self — 30 Laps
27. #4 Mackena Bell — 19 Laps
28. #59 Coleman Pressley — 13 Laps
29. #41 Wes Falk — 1 Laps