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Brent
Nelson Sweeps Shenandoah on Birthday Weekend; Dedicates Win to Past
SCSCS Champion
Shenandoah,
Virginia (September 8, 2024) – Winning three of the last four
races at Shenandoah Speedway, Petersburg, West Virginia’s Brent
Nelson certainly entered the Skyline Classic as one of the
favorites. With
continued preparation on his side, the family-run team’s efforts
continued to make their mark throughout Saturday afternoon and early
evening.
It all started to
come to reality in qualifying when Nelson set a time of 16.637
seconds, the fastest lap anyone in the Super Cup Stock Car Series
has recorded around the 3/8-mile progressively-banked oval since
2022, good enough for his sixth career Pole Award and five bonus
points.
During the first
main event, despite closest challenger and point leader by only five
heading into the event Bill Ashton setting the best lap time by a
mere 36-thousandths of a second during the race distance, Nelson was
able to stay ahead, picked a line and held it with the sun
descending from above the mountains in turn three, and led every lap
to secure the first of two checkered flags on the night by a 1.742
second margin.
In victory lane,
the driver of the No. 80 Precision Auto Collision / JEBCO / QH
Design / Nelson Motorsports Chevrolet emotionally had 2019 series
champion Kevin Kromer on his mind.
“He’s battling
cancer right now,” Nelson indicated.
“What better thing to do than to get a win and dedicate
this to him.”
For
the second race, runner-up finisher Bill Ashton started out front in
the No. 35 Ashton Racing Ford, but it was Nelson once again who
accelerated to the top spot from the get-go.
Ashton stayed within striking distance during the balance of
the race; however, Nelson could not be outdone on this night earning
his 23rd career SCSCS victory, moving within two wins of all-time
leader Ben Ebeling.
“It was actually
not as good the second race,” Nelson, who was also celebrating a
birthday the next day, explained.
“The car was a little tight and once I finally was able to
get a pretty good lead I just basically was watching the mirror and
seeing if Bill was coming.”
Ashton from
Uniontown, Pennsylvania wrapped up the night with two close second
place finishes trying to stay on top of his own car’s handling.
“When the sun
went down in the first race it tightened up and I couldn’t keep up
with Brent,” Ashton commented.
“He obviously had his car adjusted better than I did, and
when I did try to loosen it up for the second race I guess that I
just didn’t loosen it up quite enough and it was still pushing
getting in the middle of the corner.”
Ashton still
remained optimistic after another banner night that still leaves him
within championship contention.
“It should be
illegal for an old fart to have this much fun,” Ashton joked.
Scoring
a third-place result in both races was a career best for Warrington,
Pennsylvania’s Mike Senica, the recent newlywed making his first
appearance of 2024 as a teammate to the driver finishing ahead of
him.
“Jay and Rob and
the entire Ashton Motorsports team really worked great,” the
driver of the No. 57 Odie’s Oil Products / Aircraft Spruce / Blue
Ox Vodka Chevrolet said. “We
had some issues earlier during qualifying so we kind of worked
through that. We were
kind of patient all day and the second race was much better.
It was tight earlier and then it started freeing up a little
bit, which I was very happy about.
Overall, I’m very delighted with the day and love racing
here.”
The option to
reschedule one of the postponed events from earlier in the season to
October 12th remained available; however, after
consulting with the full-time teams it was decided to conclude the
abbreviated season on Saturday, September 28th with the scheduled
Champions Classic at Lonesome Pine Motorsports Park.
Heading into the
event in Coeburn, Virginia, Nelson holds a 40-point advantage over
Ashton. Top series
rookie Larry Frame from Yellow Spring, West Virginia sits third 115
back in the No. 80x Precision Auto Collision / Nelson Motorsports
Chevrolet.
“All in all, Bill
is a good competitor,” Nelson, a four-time past runner-up in the
final standings, recapped. “If
you’re not on your game, you can lose really quick.
My goal is to try to capture as many points.
I’ve got to lead the most laps, lead at halfway, set the
pole, and win the race. I’m
trying to gain as much as I can.”
More information
can be found on the Super Cup Stock Car Series official website supercupstockcarseries.com,
on Facebook (search Super Cup Stock Car Series), Twitter (@SCSCSRacing),
and Instagram (SCSCS_Racing).
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