Matheson Holds Off Gluchacki for Legends Win
Jake Matheson knocked Connor Holderbach out of the lead in a lap seven pass, then went on to win the second Legends race of the season. It was not an easy victory, as Derek Gluchacki got past Eric LeBrun on lap 10 to avidly pursue the leader all the way to the checkers. Gluchacki had missed the season’s opener on doctor’s orders after suffering a collapsed lung. A week later, the young stalwart seemed to be showing none of the ill effects as he unleashed a withering attack on Matheson over the second half of the race. The torrid confrontation could not shake Matheson loose, however, and he came home just ahead of Gluchacki with the trophy. Lebrun nabbed third, followed by Holderbach and brother Luke LeBrun.
Adam Avedisian jumped off the pole into the lead and Holderbach settled in to contest. RJ Marcotte nabbed third, Reagan Parent ran fourth. Matheson was working his way up from an eighth place start and quickly went to seventh then sixth over two laps. A lap three spin eliminated Caleb Hoyt and Joe DeRensis and on the restart, Holderbach took over the lead while Matheson came up to fourth. He edged Parent back to fourth and two laps later, it was Avedisian’s turn to yield second to Matheson. Two laps more and he was by Holderbach into the lead he would never relinquish.
Meanwhile, Gluchacki was biting off a position each lap, working up from the eleventh place start. By lap 6, he was in fifth place, , then eased parent back to grab fourth behind Luke. Luke moved up, putting Holderbach between himself and Gluchacki, but Derek powered by into third and lap ten saw him move Luke out of second.
Matheson had built a 5-car lead as Gluchacki came to second. Derek put the hammer down and began to close, with Luke giving chase, followed by Holderbach, Parent and Eric LeBrun. Luke went outside of Holderbach.
With ten laps remaining, Gluchacki had closed in to a car length of the leader. Holderbach had Eric on his tail and Parent was running outside the lapped car of Josh Parsons. Eric was able to pass and claimed third.
The final six laps of the race featured Gluchacki emptying his bag of tricks on Matheson. But Matheson remained resolute and held him off for the distance. The top five paraded the rest of the way to the checkered flag.
Sixth appeared to have become a contest between Parent and Mason Levesque, but Brendan Hammann shot up from eighth to move them both out of position to steal the sixth spot. Levesque fell to seventh and Parent to eighth. Ninth was Mason Tessier and Avedisian completed the top ten.
Sources: Dana Rowe/Seekonk Speedway