Mother Nature held out just long enough and Max Blair turned it into a big payday, winning a 43-lap, $4,000-to-win Overhead Door Super Late Model Special, Saturday, at Stateline Speedway.
In addition to his big Overhead Door Super Late Model win, Blair went to Victory Lane in the Ed Shults Auto Group RUSH Crate Late Model feature event.
Blair started in the third row of the Overhead Door Super Late Model main event behind pole sitter and early leader Jake Finnerty. Finnerty was able to lead the opening lap before Doug Eck made a strong outside move stick out of turn four, becoming the races' second leader in the opening two laps. Eck went to work on putting some distance on the field while Darrell Bossard put together a strong early run, holding fourth ahead of a side-by-side battle for fifth between Blair and David Scott.
Eck led until lap seven when the first yellow flew for a spinning Colton Flinner. On the restart, John Volpe was able to execute a power move to ease ahead of Eck and become the event's third leader. Behind him, Blair began to make his presence known. After passing Bossard for third, Blair quickly dispatched Eck leaving only Volpe out his front windshield. Despite showing speed, Blair had little success catching Volpe for awhile as the #53 built a nearly three-second lead.
That three-second lead dissappeared in an instant on lap 20 when the races' third yellow was thrown. On the restart, Blair muscled his way ahead of Volpe and led the race with 22 laps to go when another quick yellow flew. Volpe would steal the lead back on the ensuing restart only to watch Blair go back ahead on the race's final restart with 18 laps to go.
After the final restart, Blair went to work on showcasing his dominance, clocking the fastest laps of the night on his way to his fourth Overhead Door Super Late Model feature victory of 2017. Bossard came on strong late to take the runner-up spot followed by Volpe, Eck and John Lobb. Rich Gardner was credited with sixth and Chad Valone, Scott, Ward Schell and Steve Kania rounded out the top 10. Valone, Scott and Blair won the heat races.
The Super Late main event wasn't Blair's only win of the night as the Titusville native also drove to victory in the Ed Shults Auto Group RUSH Crate Late Model feature event. He didn't have to start quite so far back in this victory, sharing the front row with Dennis Lunger. Lunger and Blair battled for the top spot during the opening lap before Lunger got loose in turn four, setting off an accordian effect that saw Jason Genco take the brunt of the damage.
The Super Late main event wasn't Blair's only win of the night as the Titusville native also drove to victory in the Ed Shults Auto Group RUSH Crate Late Model feature event. He didn't have to start quite so far back in this victory, sharing the front row with Dennis Lunger. Lunger and Blair battled for the top spot during the opening lap before Lunger got loose in turn four, setting off an accordian effect that saw Jason Genco take the brunt of the damage.
Blair maintained the lead on the restart, but the current 2017 points leader - Lunger - soon found his night ending on a sour note when he, Travis Martineau and Paul Norman all made heavy contact just past the start-finish line. The late caution spoiled Lunger's night, but only delayed Blair's trip to victory in the Shults Auto Group RUSH Crate Late Model event. Like the SLM race, Bossard was again second to Blair followed by Lyon in third, Scott Gurdak in fourth and Stebbins in fifth. Blair and Lunger won heat races.
RESULTS
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Fourth of July Weekend- Super Late Model Special
at Stateline Speedway- Busti, N.Y.
ED SHULTS AUTO GROUP RUSH CRATE LATE MODELS (14 cars)
Heat 1 (8 laps, 7 cars): 1. Max Blair, 2. Darrell Bossard, 3. Jason Genco, 4. Travis Martineau, 5. Nathan Earle, 6. Paul Norman, 7. Wyatt Scott
Heat 2 (8 laps, 7 cars): 1. Dennis Lunger, 2. Scott Gurdak, 3. David Lyon, 4. Kurt Stebbins, 5. Kyle Zimmerman, 6. Chad Schauers, 7. Steve Houser
Feature (20 laps, 14 cars): 1. Max Blair, 2. Darrell Bossard, 3. Dave Lyon, 4. Scott Gurdak, 5. Kurt Stebbins, 6. Nathan Earle, 7. Kyle Zimmerman, 8. Wyatt Scott, 9. Dennis Lunger, 10. Travis Martineau, 11. Chad Schauers, 12. Paul Norman, 13. Steve Houser, 14. Jason Genco
OVERHEAD DOOR SUPER LATE MODELS (22 cars)
Heat 1 (8 laps, 8 cars): 1. Chad Valone, 2. John Lobb, 3. Jake Finnerty, 4. Darrell Bossard, 5. John Lacki, 6. Ward Schell, 7. Joe Layfield, 8. Colton Flinner
Heat 2 (8 laps, 7 cars): 1. David Scott, 2. Steve Kania, 3. Nathan Hill, 4. Chris Hackett, 5. Matt Latta, 6. Rick Tripodi, 7. Jason Dobson
Heat 3 (8 laps, 7 cars): 1. Max Blair, 2. John Volpe, 3. Doug Eck, 4. Bump Hedman, 5. Dutch Davies, 6. Rich Gardner, 7. Andy Boozel
Feature (43 laps, 22 cars): 1. Max Blair, 2. Darrell Bossard, 3. John Volpe, 4. Doug Eck, 5. Rich Gardner, 6. John Lobb, 7. Chad Valone, 8. David Scott, 9. Ward Schell, 10. Steve Kania, 11. Matt Latta, 12. Bump Hedman, 13. Nathan Hill, 14. John Lacki, 15. Rick Tripodi, 16. Jason Dobson, 17. Joe Layfield 18. Dutch Davies, 19. Colton Flinner, 20. Chris Hackett, 21. Jake Finnerty, 22. Andy Boozel DNS
