The NEO Racing News SK Shootout Series returned to the Five Flags Speedway this past Monday night for a 125 lap feature event and the 8th race on the season.
The night got started with Matt Rolfe picking up his 42nd career SARA pole, and he would lead the field to the green flag in the feature. Rolfe would lead the first few laps but would give up the lead early to Michael German who took over on lap 5. German would continue to lead through the races first caution flag on lap 20, but shortly after the restart it was Hunter Combs that took over the lead on lap 29. Things weren’t easy for Combs out front though, as Bill Martin had charged through the field after starting at the tail end of it, and would run right on the leaders bumper for a number of laps.
Combs would hold Martin off for a long time, up until the two drivers got together on lap 93 which sent both cars for a spin, and out of the lead. This handed the lead over to Colin Allman, but it wasn’t long after the restart that Martin was charging his way back towards the front as the laps wound down. Martin would take over the leap on lap 109, with Combs joining him in 2nd a few laps later, and on a late race shootout, Martin was able to hold off the field and went on to pick up his third straight win, fourth of the season, and his 32nd career SARA victory.
Behind Martin out front, Dale Owen would pick off Combs to finish 2nd on the late restart, after Owen ran inside the top five for most of the race after starting in 8th. Combs would come up a little short on picking up his first win, despite leading 65 laps on the night and would have to settle for a 3rd place finish. Clay Snider had a quiet night, but was able to work his way up into a 4th place finish, while Allman would finish in 5th after a late spin but was able to hang on to a top five.
With another victory on the season, Bill Martin extends his points lead in the standings up to 82 points, and will look to keep things rolling when the division heads into Lanier next week for some double features.