Ryan Glenski passed Sam Mayer for the lead with 22 laps to go and checked out to score the victory at Myrtle Beach Speedway on Saturday night.
Glenski had come close to winning the race in the past, with runner-up finishes and top-five finishes, but he ultimately prevailed. Glenski held back challenges from Mayer, Mack Little and Chris Chapman to hold on for the win – his first in the SELLM race.
“Definitely had to earn it,” Glenski told Race22.com after the race. “Running up there with really good equipment and good drivers, finally got it done. I don’t know how many second place finishes I’ve had at this racetrack. It’s been a while since we’ve had a win and it just feels great.”
Glenski’s win came the day after tragedy again struck the Myrtle Beach Speedway community with the loss of Jackie Ward. Glenski, who was racing in memory of Terry Evans, took a moment to pay tribute to the two fallen racers – Evans and Ward.
“I had that 35 car, Terry Evans, on my windshield the whole night,” Glenski remarked. “Last year, I finished second to him. It just puts you in the moment, what happened yesterday with Jackie. I can’t be more thankful for what’s going on right now. It’s unreal.”
Chris Chapman, who has also come close in this race year after year, once again came up short with a second-place finish.
“If we didn’t have to start so far back, we would have had a run at him,” Chapman commented. “I had to use up more than I wanted to getting up towards the front. Starting 17th and finishing second is a good night, but I just had to use too much tire to get up through here and didn’t have anything left toward the end.”
Mack Little, once again disappointed after Myrtle Beach, settled for a third place finish.
“I started on the inside and I spun the tires a little bit,” Little stated, regarding the final restart. “We had a good night. I wanted to pull off the win but if [Mayer] would have quit thinking we were iRacing, turning me sideways, they don’t realize people can get hurt. We work hard and they rent those rides so when you outrun those rent-a-rides, it makes you feel good, us being a little shop out of Kernersville.”
Sam Mayer dominated for much of the race, taking the lead early and holding back Glenski for much of the race. He ultimately finished fourth.
“I was just battling a loose car this entire time,” Mayer said, responding to Little’s comments. “I burned them up on a few of the restarts. Coming to the line, I got into him a little bit but I was trying to turn right so I couldn’t go into the inside wall.”
Jessica Dana, continuing her impressive Limited Late Model career, finished fifth – her third top-five finish in three starts driving for Lee Pulliam Performance. Austin Green finished sixth while Kevin Kielineski, Cale Gale, Rusty Daniels and Corey Rose rounded out the top-10.
Tasha Kummer won the Southeast Limited Late Model Series championship – her first of any kind.
Unofficial Results
- Ryan Glenski
- Chris Chapman
- Mack Little
- Sam Mayer
- Jessica Dana
- Austin Green
- Kevin Zielezinski
- Cale Gale
- Rusty Daniels
- Corey Rose
- Ben Stanton
- Jason Myers
- Archie Adams, Jr.
- Jeremy Pelfrey
- Mitch Walker
- Chris Huffman
- Amber Lynn
- Monty Cox
- Daniel Graeff
- Devin Dodson
- Brandon Cox
- Jimmy Wallace
- Eric Green
- Trevor Rizzo
- Gage Painter
- Jacob Borst
- Zach Telford
- Adam Congrove
- Tasha Kummer
- Mark Goin
- Thad Moffitt
- Casey Kelley
- Taylor Nesbitt
- J.J. June
- Daryn Cockram
- Zach Bruenger
- Alex Reece
- Miguel Cesar, Jr.
