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Patience
Works in Brent Nelson’s Favor for Columbus Super Cup Stock Car
Series Victory
Skyland,
North Carolina (June
1, 2014) –
He may have started from the pole, but
it was all about conservation for Petersburg, West Virginia’s
Brent Nelson to claim the win in the Performance Fiberglass Products
75 presented by Boschett Timepieces at Columbus Motor Speedway.
2013 Rookie of the Year Codie
Rohrbaugh qualified fastest, but it was Nelson who redrew the number
one pill for the race. When
the green flag flew Rohrbaugh jumped out to the lead, but the field
was immediately slowed by caution when JJ Pack went around going
into turn two. Without a
single lap completed, this set up a full restart.
Nelson and Rohrbaugh ran side by side
for three laps with Rohrbaugh getting the advantage before Harvey
Harrison sustained damage in an altercation in turn four.
Rohrbaugh pulled ahead of Nelson on the ensuing restart,
while JP Crabtree and Pack mounted a charge toward the front finding
their way to second and third 25 laps into the event.
Both Pack and Crabtree caught the
leader a few laps later and Crabtree dove low in an attempt to make
it three wide into turn one. There
would not be enough room and the result was contact which sent
Rohrbaugh spinning. Later,
Crabtree admitted he should have settled down at that point in the
race.
“What happened between me and (Rohrbaugh)
was my fault,” said Crabtree.
“Drove it in too hard, and that was all she wrote.”
For the contact, Crabtree was sent to
the back of the lead lap cars. Pack,
Nelson, and Brian Harrison would breakaway and had quite the battle
among each other in the later stages.
Nelson and Pack would swap the lead on a couple occasions
with Harrison waiting to pounce.
A caution for debris set up a twenty
lap dash to the finish. The
front three pulled ahead on the restart once again with Nelson
pressuring Pack heavily for the lead.
Coming to five to go Nelson would pass and clear Pack, but
Pack made one last run for the money on the last lap nearly getting
side by side with Nelson at the checkered flag.
It was Nelson’s second straight
Super Cup win, dating back to the most recent completed race last
August. There was a lot
of give and take on this particular night.
“We had to back off and let the
tires cool down,” Nelson said.
“The third caution, I think, after it came out the tires
finally cooled down and we were able to get JJ there on the second
or third turn going in and the rest is history from there.”
For runner-up JJ, it was a good battle
amongst two competitors who respect one another.
“It was great beating and banging on
each other,” said Pack. “He
got by me, I got back by him. Just
constantly went at it and we both were tight, but he came out on
top.”
Brent agreed and attributed it to good
short track racing.
“We’re going to run everybody as
clean as we can, but when the time comes to win rubbin’s racin’
and if I’ve got to rub on him or he’s got to rub on me then
that’s what we’re going to do,” said Nelson.
JP Crabtree recovered to overtake
Brian Harrison for third with Rohrbaugh coming back to round out the
top five. Ten cars
finished the race with nine of them on the lead lap.
One
driver who returned to the series for some seat time was 2008 Rookie
of the Year and three-time winner Megan Reitenour.
A ride became available for the Miamisburg, Ohio driver late
in the week when rookie driver Chris Wenzel became unable to make
the trip due to a work commitment.
The strides the team made throughout the day and the laps
that were turned were beneficial for her upcoming participation as
one of 18 finalists around the country for the Peak Stock Car Dream
Challenge.
“My team worked amazing all day
long, and coming out with a seventh place finish, all fenders on the
car, and we got tons of track time,” said Reitenour.
“I’m really really happy and I’m ready to go to the
Peak Challenge and see what happens.”
The three-day selection process for
the opportunity at a Michael Waltrip Racing developmental ride will
take place in a couple weeks in Charlotte, North Carolina and will
air nationally in early August.
“Michael
Waltrip, Clint Bowyer, and Danica Patrick are all going to be there
so it’s going to be very exciting, a very stressful three days,
but very exciting,” said Reitenour.
“I can’t wait to get in another race car.”
The Super Cup Stock Car Series takes
most of the month of June off before heading to CNB Bank Raceway
Park in Clearfield, Pennsylvania for their next event.
Stay tuned to www.supercupstockcarseries.com
and the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SCSCSRacing)
for much more from the drivers leading up to then.
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