Newton and Smith Claim Electric City Twin 125 Wins at Anderson
WILLIAMSTON, SC (June 17) – Roger Lee Newton inherited the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model win after a wild finish, while John Smith played the right strategy for his first Southern Modified Racing Series (SMRS) win Friday night at Anderson Motor Speedway. For Newton, the Concord, NC veteran was in the right place when leaders Matt Craig and Dalton Sargeant made contact on the final lap to claim his third career PASS South Super Late Model victory.
“To be in this position after where we started today, we changed everything but the seat in this car,” said Newton afterwards. “Man, the crew worked their butts off today. I don’t give up on them and they don’t give up on me, it’s a team. The last four or five races has taken a lot of wind out of our sails and we were about to quit racing. I don’t like to win this way, but we will take them however we can get them.”
In qualifying, Jody Measamer paced the field with a lap of 87.447 miles per hour for his second quick time of the season. Measamer would start seventh after the top 10 qualifiers redraw, while Newton and current PASS South points leader, Kodie Conner, would move to the front row.
On a windy, but comfortable night for racing, Newton would take the lead to start, before RS Senter would move to the front on lap three. Conner would take the top spot from Senter on lap 19, but Senter would move back around on lap 32 and begin to pull away from the field.
While Senter was out front, defending Electric City 125 winner, Jared Irvan, was making his way up through the field after starting last due to a faulty oil pump. Irvan moved around Measamer and into the top 10 on lap 53.
Another driver on the move was Matt Craig, who moved by Dalton Sargeant for third on lap 80 and Conner for second just seven laps later. Craig closed in on Senter and was able to take the lead entering turn one with 33 laps to go as they lapped the machine of Tyler Scofield. But, with eight laps to go, Trey Jarrell would go for a spin in turn two to put the field under caution.
On the restart, Craig continued to lead, while Sargeant and Newton made their way past Conner, who was shuffled back to fourth in turn two. The final caution of the night would wave with five laps to go when Tate Fogleman spun in turn two while battling Irvan for fifth.
Back under way, Craig and Sargeant waged war for the lead, trading paint and the top spot over the final laps. On the last lap, Sargeant would move Craig up the track to take the lead entering turn one. As the leaders raced down the backstretch for the final time, Craig got into Sargeant entering turn three causing him to spin. After review, Craig was penalized for excessive rough driving which resulted in Newton taking the win over Irvan, Conner, Jacob Schneider, and Measamer. Rounding out the top ten were Jeff Scofield, Wes Burton, Senter, Sargeant, and Craig.
In the SMRS Tour Modified 125 lapper, veteran John Smith took the lead from Precision Built Spindle Pole Award winner Brandon Ward with 14 laps to go and led the rest of the way for his first career series win.
“We rode and rode for about the first 40 or 50 laps and when it went back green around lap 65, I ran about three or four hard laps to see what I had and what we needed to do for adjustments,” said Smith of his strategy. “I love this race track. You can pass on it and we put on a good race. It was a long, hot day, but it thankfully it all worked out for us.”
At the drop of the green flag, Gary Putnam jumped into the lead before being passed by Mike Norman on lap four. Tom Buzze would take a turn up front, but Jimmy Wallace would take the lead on lap 24 and dominate the mid stages of the race.
Following the final caution with 44 laps to go, all the leaders would pit for tires and to make adjustments. Jason Myers would lead after the restart before being passed by Ward with 35 laps to go. Ward would stay out front until Smith made the winning pass on with 14 laps to go. Following Smith took the checkered flag were J. Myers, Burt Myers, Buzze, and Ward.
The next event for the SMRS Tour Modifieds will be the “Battle At The Bullring” on Saturday night, July 2 at Wake County Speedway near Raleigh, NC. Be sure to “Like” the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @PASSSLM14.
PASS Super Late Model – Electric City 125 – Unofficial Results
1. 33 – Roger Lee Newton 125
2. 28 – Jared Irvan 125
3. 45 – Kodie Conner 125
4. 81 – Jacob Schneider 125
5. 98 – Jody Measamer 125
6. 57 – Jeff Scofield 125
7. 5 – Wes Burton 125
8. 10 – RS Senter 125
9. 55 – Dalton Sargeant 125
10. 54 – Matt Craig – 125
11. 45 – Kodie Conner 124
11. 89 – Lee Hansard 124
12. 21 – Trey Jarrell 123
13. 8f – Tate Fogleman 120
14. 07 – Tyler Scofield 105
15. 71 – Jimmy Doyle 82
16. 2c – Sarah Cornett-Ching 32
17. 15 – Ron Young DNS
SMRS Tour Modified – Electric City 125 – Unofficial Results
1. 25 – John Smith
2. 4 – Jason Myers
3. 1 – Burt Myers
4. 5 – Tom Buzze
5. 19 – Brandon Ward
6. 33 – Jimmy Wallace
7. 12 – Mike Norman
8. 77 – Gary Putnam
9. 104 – Jared Fryar
Sources: Alan Dietz/PASS PR