Connect Four – Majeski Wins 4th Straight at Southern National

Image

The GM Parts XPerts Pro Late Model Series took on the Southern National Motorsports Park a week prior to the Summer Heat major event for their own 150-lap feature race.

Going into the event, Ty Majeski had won three straight races and started off the night by picking up the fast lap in Time Trials with a lap of 14.013 seconds. The top ten cars then advanced into the Qualifying Dash and a 9-car invert dropped Majeski pack into the pack while James Wenzel was inverted to the front of the field. Wenzel led the field to the green flag and went on to pick up the Dash victory.

PLM_Week7

Wenzel led the entire field back to the green flag for the feature event and jumped out to the early lead, while Joe Schaffer Jr. and Derek Robinson settled into the top three. The five car length gap that Wenzel had built out front began to shrink in the opening laps as Schaffer closed in, up until the first caution flew on lap 9.

On the restart, the top three cars settled back in but it only took a lap for Schaffer to make his move as he looked to the low side of Wenzel for the lead and came around on lap 17 with the race lead. Wenzel fell back in line in the 2nd spot ahead of Robinson, but as the leaders battled, Majeski was working his way back to the front after he was forced to start at the rear of the field after winning the previous couple of races, and he would crack the top ten by lap 18.

Once out in front, Schaffer began to pull away by about a half-second up until the next caution flew on lap 34. After another quick yellow, the field set out on their longest green flag run of the night as they set out on a near-50 lap stretch. Schaffer jumped back out in front on the restart, while Majeski made quick work to move up into the second position. As the green flag run began to take shape, Majeski began cutting into the gap for the lead as he looked to chase down Schaffer.

By the halfway point of the race, Majeski had narrowed down the gap to less than a car length away from Schaffer as he began to look for a way by. It was at this time that the leaders began to work their way through lapped traffic as well, allowing Schaffer to pull away slightly until Majeski found some room to reel him back in. By lap 90, Majeski closed back in on Schaffer’s rear bumper and made his move to the low side. Schaffer fought back for a few laps before having to settle in behind Majeski who became the new race leader on lap 91. The caution would fly just a couple laps later.

While Majeski pulled out to over one second after the restart, one more caution would set up the final green flag run to the finish. However it was the same story for him out front as he pulled away once more and extended the lead out to three seconds during the 31 lap run the finish as he crossed under the checkered flag for the victory. The win for Majeski would be his 4th in a row, 5th of the season, and his 71st career SARA victory.

Majeski_PLM_Win5

Behind Majeski, Schaffer would settle into the 2nd spot where he would finish after leading 74 laps on the night. Ian Layne had another impressive run in the Pro Late Models as he worked up to a 3rd place finish after running in the back half of the top ten for most of the night. Wenzel hung right around the top five all night after leading laps early in the race and ended up with a 4th place finish. Tim Bills missed the initial green flag but made up his lap and worked his way up into a top five finish. Matt Eddy, Derek Robinson, Jason Stewart, Russell Berry, and Mark Royer rounded out the top ten.

After seven events on the season, and once drop races were factored into the standings, Ty Majeski has risen to the top and leads the standings by over 60 points heading into the make-up event at New Smyrna.

Pro Late Model Division Page
Penalty Box

Results

Standings