Week 6 Winners – Martin, Krikorian, Spearman, Bills

Martin and Krikroian Score Wins in Milwaukee Twin 52’s

SLM article provided by the Digital Forge Broadcasting Network.

Week six of the GM Parts XPerts Super Late Models season saw the series head to Brew City on Thursday night as they took on the 1-mile track known as The Milwaukee Mile. Area 52 Designs, the race sponsor, wanted a week that would shake up the series points without leaving the competition flat. After discussions with Sim Auto Racing Association league owners, the schedule was set to host Two 52 lap features, where the second feature would see all drivers finishing on the lead lap of the first feature being inverted for Race 2. To further the mixture, both races were to be scored separate as if each were a single week in points. By the end of the night, two winners would be named and a fair amount of drivers would be on their guard to hold on to their position in points. Balmy temperatures would keep the drivers fighting for the bottom groove, which proved to pose many issues for green flag runs.

Qualifying paved the way for some solid competition as the top 15 positions were separated by less than a half-second gap. David Krikorian would set the fast time of 28.050 seconds, cresting the previous time set by Matt Rolfe of 28.143 seconds. Rolfe was able to edge out series points Leader Joe Schaffer Jr.’s long running fast time on the night 28.259 seconds before Schaffer fell to 5th. Other notable drivers to make it in to the top five included Tim Bills in 3rd and Bill Martin would follow in 4th.

“I always feel pretty good going in to Milwaukee, for whatever reason I can just run really well here in a Super, how bad the season has gone finishing wise, this is a, I guess you can say a confidence boost.”David Krikorian

In the first feature of the night, the race would start off slow as Trevor Edwards would have connection issues that would cause his car to hit the pit wall out of turn four. In the remainder of the first 26 Laps, there would be four more cautions that would wave. Drivers would fight hard to get to the lower groove, showing some anxiety in all four turns. By the end of the event, the field would tack on three more cautions, the last waving on Lap 49 when Derek Holzhausen was spun coming out of turn four. Despite all of the chaos caused by the 8 cautions in the first 52 Lap Feature, Krikorian was able to lead the entire race from Green to Checkered and pick up his first victory of the season.

Shortly after the drivers finished up the first race, they would get a few moments to come down pit road and make some adjustments before taking to the track in the second feature on the night. The total invert was 19 cars out of the total 29 cars to field the second race. First feature winner David Krikorian would start 19th on the grid, while Kenneth Drake would start at the front inside lane with Brandon Simmons to his outside after the invert. Expectations would heighten as the drivers experienced the track conditions for 52 Laps and now they would have another opportunity at redemption in Milwaukee. The second feature would see three less cautions and three more lead changes. The hard fighting for passing opportunities carried the drivers low in and out of the turns, with the majority of passes coming in the entry of turn three. Krikorian was one of the drivers who was able to rally back after a lap 11 spin in turn four. He would go on to finish the second feature in 3rd. Bill Martin would storm to the lead on lap 12 after starting 5th on the night, and was able to hold off the pack over the final 25 laps to secure the win in Race 2. Schaffer Jr. would finish both features in second position.

“This is a second win at a another track that I have no, really no clue what I am doing. Which is probably somewhat arrogant to say when you win the race, but I mean, I was lucky to win that race.”Bill Martin

While the caution heavy Week 6 seemed “out of the norm” for this league, drivers still have some steep competition ahead, especially in Week 7. After what appeared to be an unforgiving Milwaukee track, the series will head East to Maine and take on the 3/8-mile track of Oxford Plains for the Hides Pride.com 150. The days leading up to next Thursday’s race will be fulltime work for race control and league admins as they will have to sort out the points situation following the Milwaukee races. Special thanks to the race sponsor Area 52 Designs, check them out of Facebook as they provide a wide variety of excellent paint schemes for iRacing and other simulators. Tune in next week via YouTube, Twitch, or iRacing Live to catch the action at Oxford Plains, as the drivers battle for 150 Laps of Super Late Model race action in Week 7 of the GM Part XPerts Super Late Model Series.

Watch the full broadcast of the Area 52 Designs Twin 52’s from Milwaukee: Click HERE

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Spearman Uses Bump-And-Run Late To Steal Thompson Victory

The GM Parts XPerts Pro Late Models made their first trip back to the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park since August of 2015. Ty Spearman picked up his 20th career SARA pole but would be dropped back a few spots as a 6-car invert brought Cody Erdmann to the front of the field for the 100 lap feature.

Erdmann led the field to the green flag and the field quickly began to realize that passing would be tough on the night as the inside lane didn’t provide much grip to open up any passing opportunities. Erdmann continued to lead through the first caution of the night, while Spearman had already worked his way up to the runner-up spot by lap 20.

While Spearman looked for a way by Erdmann out front, a number of drivers battled in-and-out of the top five which included Kyle Odaynik, Ian Layne, Cameron Hobbs, Trevor Edwards, Russell Berry, Scott Naslund, and Darek Gress. But while they were shuffling, the real battle to watch was the one for the lead.

Erdmann held off a couple of attempts by Spearman to get by, but each time Spearman had to settle back in and stayed right on the rear bumper of the lead. As the laps wound down, opportunities continued to drop away which led to one last attempt by Spearman to take the lead. Entering turn three with just three laps remaining, Spearman made slight contact with the rear bumper of Erdmann, and the leader slid up the track, which allowed Spearman to steal the lead. Spearman held on over the final few laps, and came around to take the checkered flag for his 20th career SARA victory.

Despite leading 97 out of 100 laps, Erdmann came up one spot short for his first win and would have to settle for 2nd. Ian Layne waited for an opportunity to get by as well but he would end up in the 3rd spot. Trevor Edwards ran in the top five for much of the race and finished 4th while Darek Gress came from the back of the field to finish 5th.

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Bills Leaves Thunder Valley As Bristol Winner

The SK Shootout Series returned to the Last Great Colosseum for a 125-lap feature at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Bill Martin set the fast time in qualifying but would have to start 10th after winning the week prior. A 9-car invert also shook up the front of the field, bringing Jeremy Adams to the top spot.

Adams led the field to the green flag, but for the second straight week, the lead was not the ideal spot to be in throughout the race as the leaders faced a number of issues all race long. Adams led through lap 15 until some contact dropped him back into the field

Darrell Hamlin led for a couple laps before getting loose and spinning out of the lead, leaving Matt Rolfe out front. Misfotunes continued to plague the leaders as Rolfe would lead until he clipped the wall on lap 54, and the same thing would happen to Ty Spearman shortly after as he got up into the wall on lap 87.

After all of that, Tim Bills found his way into the lead and looked to stay out of trouble. The race would stay green through the finish of the race, and Bills was able keep clean as he brought the field around to take the checkered flag for his 11th career SARA win.

Scott Naslund picked up his best career SARA finish with a 2nd place run ahead of Bill Martin who finally worked his way up into the top three late in the race. Trevor Edwards and Dale Owen rounded out the top five.

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Long Runs Allow Bills To Run Away With 5Flags Victory

The Callaway Investments Street Stocks ventured into Florida on Tuesday night as they tackled the Five Flags Speedway. Tim Bills got the night started off his way by winning the pole, with Trevor Edwards securing the outside pole. The random invert for the night was nine shuffling almost the entire top ten cars.

By virtue of the invert, Clay Snider would start the race from the first position. Snider led the field to green and stayed out front for the first 6 laps of the race before Trevor Edwards passed him for the lead. Edwards stint at the front was short lived, as Tim Bills quickly found his way to the front after the deep invert, getting around Edwards on lap 17. Bills slowly pulled away from the rest of the field.

The battle behind him was anything but settled as several cars battled hard for a top five. Cody Kelley charged from the back on a long green flag run to join the action between Trevor Edwards, Jeremy Adams, Ian Layne, Matt Rolfe, Dale Owen and Darrell Hamlin. Kelley who was trapped a lap down early in the race may have been the fastest car on the track but without a caution he would have to settle for 2nd after picking his way through the top five.

With 10 laps to go it looked like anyone from 3rd-7th could end up with a top 3 finish, but some misfortune for a few drivers would help decide the outcome. A fuel miscalculation left Rolfe sputtering back to the pits and a brush with the wall would slow Adams enough to keep him from racing for a top three. A bad restart also cost Dale Owen a solid finish in the top five.

In the end it was Bills taking the win with teammate Kelley behind him. Edwards, who is also another Wheelin N’ Dealin team member, finished 3^rd to sweep the podium. Rounding out the top five was Ian Layne in 4^th and Jeremy Adams in 5^th.

Next week the Street Stocks head to the short flat track inside of Irwindale Speedway for a 100 lap event.

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