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Years
in the Making for SCSCS, Career Best Finishers, and the Big Winner
at Motor Mile Speedway
Photo
Credit: Erika Bree
Photography
Radford,
Virginia (August 8, 2021) – Friday night’s WFXR – FOX TV
presents the Inaugural Super Cup Stock Car Series Twin 50s were a
long time coming for many awaiting to tackle the 0.416-mile Motor
Mile Speedway oval. The
outcome featured intense side by side action, a winner breaking into
victory lane twice at a track he previously competed at
semi-regularly, and a night of career best performances for a pair
of teammates.
After Mooresville,
North Carolina’s Bob Schacht and Maysville, West Virginia’s
Jason Kitzmiller paced the two
half hour practice sessions, it was current point leader Ben Ebeling
who set the quick time in qualifying.
Circulating the facility
in 16.488 seconds was not the only fortune on 
his
side, as his “little lucky charm”, daughter Lilly, drew the
number one pill for Ebeling to
start out front for the first 50-lap race.
Championship rival
Schacht started on the outside front row, but Ebeling built a
comfortable lead following the opening lap.
The only yellow flag during the distance flew with a mere
four laps remaining when JJ Pack’s No. 61 David Lucash Racing
Engines / IceBoxx Customs / JP Racing Pontiac blew a rear line which
caused Kevin Kromer’s No. 77 High Voltage AC/DC Tribute Band /
Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute / Mission R.A.C.E.R. / Versalift East
/ Leindecker Racing Engines / K2 Motorsports Toyota to spin and back
into the wall upon hitting the fluid that was down.
Ebeling
fought off a late challenge by Kitzmiller to take his sixth victory
of 2021.
“We got to start
on the pole, and that’s a huge advantage track position-wise,”
the Hickory, North Carolina driver indicated.
“We were just able to kind of set our pace, hit our marks,
and really be able to capitalize on that one.”
Kitzmiller and the
No. 97 A.L.L. Construction / CR7 Motorsports Garage Chevrolet team
matched their best result to date after making a late race pass on
third place finisher Schacht. Petersburg,
West Virginia’s Brent Nelson took hard charger honors by moving up
to fourth in the final finishing order, while Kitzmiller’s
teammate Samatha Rohrbaugh, also from Petersburg, rounded out the
top five.
The second Twin 50
was a different story but ultimately concluded with a similar
result. For this
race’s redraw, No. 51 John 3:16 / Southern Coal Corporation /
Harrison’s Motorsports Chevrolet driver Harvey Harrison started on
the pole. Nelson though
took his No. 80 Precision Auto Collision / Airtek Inc. / RAM
Trucking / Snap-On Tools / Atkinson Welding / QH Design / JEBCO /
Nelson Motorsports Chevrolet on the outside and got the advantage to
lead the opening laps.
Charging fast, this
time starting alongside each other in the second row, were Ebeling
and Schacht. The No. 75
Engineered Components Co. / Bob Schacht Motorsports
Chevrolet worked its way to the front first on lap nine.
Nelson’s night came to an abrupt
end when a mechanical failure sent Larry Wilcox’s No. 6 Sellstate
Choice Realty / Daddy K's BBQ / Larry Wilcox Racing Ford around in
turns three and four leaving Nelson nowhere to go.
The caution flag
right before halfway set up the duel of the night between
championship contenders for the fans in attendance to enjoy.
Schacht had the slight edge at the line on a majority of the
occasions, but only by a nose with Ebeling fighting back on the
outside. Finally after
nearly 10 consecutive circuits of side by side racing, Schacht
earned the top spot; however, that margin was short-lived.
Hiddenite, North Carolina’s Jon Kerley, substituting for
Johnson City, Tennessee’s Mike Potter in the No. 14 Potter Racing
Chevrolet, suddenly slowed on the front straightaway.
The ensuing restart
saw Ebeling charging on the outside once again and clearing his way
to the lead 
once
and for all. The evening
sweep ties the driver of the No. 44 Startown Carpet & Floor
Coverings / Swanny's Auto Sales / Wrenn’s Lawn Service / L & C
Truck Repair / Battery Specialist of Hickory / RE Suspension Ford
with 2019 champion Kromer for most wins in a single-season.
“I had to earn it
a lot harder,” Ebeling, who also shatters an all-time record of
most consecutive top five finishes that has stood since 2013 with 12
and counting, commented about the second race.
“I don’t know how many laps it was, it felt like about
50, but Bob and I ran side by side for a lot of laps and gave it
everything I could on the outside to try to get past him.
I enjoy doing that, having fun and racing door to door.”
Ebeling formerly
competed in the track’s weekly Truck division, coming close but
just short of victory on multiple occasions.
“Feels good to
come here and get the pole, win both races,” Ebeling said.
“It has been 15 years in the making. I
feel like this place has owed me one.
Definitely feels very good and blessed beyond measure.”
Behind
Ebeling, CR7 Motorsports racers Kitzmiller and Rohrbaugh were having
another stellar run dicing their way toward the front.
Both achieved another series best result.
“I’m stoked,”
Kitzmiller, in his first SCSCS full season, remarked following his
second and third career runner-up results.
“That was the best car we’ve had all year and it was a
pleasure to drive. This
is a great racetrack, carries a lot of speed and you can drive it
hard into the corner. We
would’ve liked to have five or six more laps.
I think we would’ve had something for (Ebeling).
We were catching him, but it is what it is.
We’ll take second place every time.”
Kitzmiller looks
ahead now to his third visit to Jennerstown Speedway in two weeks,
which will be part of a busy itinerary across a two day period.
“We’re looking
for that W for sure, but I think we’ll have a lot better car for
Jennerstown this coming time,” the driver, who has taken over
third in the standings, added. “I
actually race (ARCA) at Michigan the day before and then head to
Jennerstown, so I’m really looking forward to that weekend.”
Rohrbaugh made a
successful bid for third with five laps remaining, her best finish
yet in the No. 7 Grant County Mulch / In Loving Memory of Mark Huff
/ CR7 Motorsports Garage Chevrolet that showcased steady improvement
and increases her confidence heading into the remaining races of the
season.
“It’s all
credit to the guys at the shop,” the younger sister of NASCAR
Truck Series racer and past SCSCS winner Codie Rohrbaugh mentioned.
“They put together a good piece.
We worked on it a lot since the last race I was at, so all
credit to them. I like
it here (at Motor Mile) and look forward to coming back.
I hold myself to a higher standard now that I know what the
car is capable of. I
have to compete at the level that the car is competing at.”
Schacht slipped to
fourth in the final order, as the car, rebuilt with the help from
many following a wreck the prior month at Jennerstown, began to lose
some of its handle that it had shown earlier as the laps wound down.
Midland, Virginia’s Pack recovered from the DNF in the
first race to fifth and took home the hard charger award in the
second Twin 50. Renick,
West Virginia’s Brian Harrison, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania’s
Lauren Butler, and relative newcomer Dusty Silvers from
Elizabethton, Tennessee were contenders throughout the night and
each of the trio secured top 10 results in both races.
Heading into the
championship stretch in 2021, Ebeling has the opportunity to exceed
some more series marks, but will continue to keep the focus
consistent with how they started.
“We set out this
year that we wanted to win races and that’s our goal,” Ebeling
noted. “The rest of it
will work itself out if you accomplish that goal.
That’s what we’re going to do.
We’ve been blessed this year so far and we may not win
another race, and I hope that’s not the case, but we’re going to
go into every weekend trying to win.
That’s what we set out as a team as a goal to do.”
The Super Cup Stock
Car Series returns on Saturday, August 21st to Jennerstown,
Pennsylvania for another edition of twin 50-lap features.
More details and
continued updates throughout the season will be available at the
official web site at supercupstockcarseries.com
as well as the Super Cup Stock Car Series Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram
pages.
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