KENLY, NC (July 12)
– Preston Peltier survived a
furious battle with Tyler
Church and Jared Irvan in
the Southern National 150 to
claim his first Pro All
Stars Series (PASS) South
Super Late Model win in over
a year Saturday night at
Southern National
Motorsports Park. The win
was Peltier’s first since
winning the 2013 Easter
Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor
Speedway and pushed his PASS
South career wins total to
11, tops among all drivers.
“Man, I tell ya, I just
drove as hard as I could and
these guys never stopped
believing in me,” said
Peltier after his first ever
PASS South win at Southern
National. “I hope he
[Church] isn’t mad at me, I
didn’t give him any room
that’s for sure. I needed
this win in a bad way and I
thank Tyler for driving me
clean.”
Peltier started
then evening off in fine
form claiming his 15th
career PASS South quick
qualifying time with a lap
94.259 miles per hour around
the high banked, 4/10 mile
speedway. Following the top
10 qualifiers redraw,
Peltier would slot into the
fourth starting position
while rookie Zane Smith and
veteran Brandon Ward moved
up to the front row.
At the drop of the green
flag, Ward jumped into the
lead as the field headed
into turn one. Ward would
dominate the early stages of
the Southern National 150 as
the rest of the field
plotted varying strategies
to try and claim victory.
While Peltier and Church
slid back in the top 10,
rookie Kiel Spaulding
quickly made his way up from
11th starting position into
the top five.
Laps
clicked off quickly until
the first caution of the
night waved on lap 94 when
Tanner Rumburg’s Chevrolet
came to a stop on the
backstretch. Ward led on the
restart, but his first
challenge of the night came
fromTrevor Noles and Jared
Irvan. On lap 97, Ward and
Noles made slight contact
just past the start/finish
line allowing Irvan to move
into the lead entering turn
one. At this point, Peltier,
Church, and Tate Fogleman
were making a charge towards
the top five, while
Spaulding and Smith had
faded.
Irvan
continued to lead through
the race’s second caution
when Tyler Dippel spun
exiting turn two with 23
laps to go. Irvan led the
field to green, but by this
time, Peltier and Church had
made their way up to second
and third respectively.
Despite having the preferred
groove, Irvan gave way to
Peltier who moved into the
lead with a strong run on
the outside with 21 laps to
go. Eventually, Church and
Fogleman were both able to
move by Irvan and set their
sights on Peltier.
The final caution of the
night waved with 7 laps to
go for debris in turn two
and set up a classic shoot
out for the win. Peltier and
Church raced hard, making
contact on several
occasions, but Peltier was
able to pull out by a couple
of car lengths after contact
with Church as they exited
turn two. Peltier held off
Church to take the win over
Fogleman, Brandon Setzer,
and Irvan. Rounding out the
top ten were Jody Measamer,
Ward, Noles, Cole Timm, and
Tyler Audie.
In the
PASS Pro Late Model
division, Kodie Conner
passed Jeff Batten on lap 13
and led the rest of the way
for his second straight win.
Several cars were eliminated
on lap 14 when Batten and
Mason Diaz collided in turn
two causing Diaz’s car to go
up and over Batten’s hood.
Following Conner at the
finish were fast qualifier
Lucas Jones, Zachary Dabbs,
Walker Yates, and Nick
Robinson.
The PASS
South Super Late Models will
be in action again on
Saturday, August 16, at
South Boston Speedway along
with Twin 75s for the NASCAR
Late Model Stocks.
And don’t forget, the best
Super Late Model racers in
North America will vie for
over $25,000 this weekend
with the 41st Annual Oxford
250 at Oxford Plains
Speedway in Maine. |