Brad May celebrating his World Series win(Photo: @FURYRaceCars on Twitter)
The third night of the World Series of Asphalt was contested at New Smyrna Speedway with the Super Late Model machines again taking to the track on Sunday evening. Home state racer Brad May earned the victory in that class and left the New Smyrna Beach, FL facility with the points lead in the nine-night series.
Justin Mondeik was quickest in qualifying for the SLM division as he turned a lap in 17.701 seconds around the historic half-mile track located not far from the Daytona International Speedway. Rounding out the top-10 in time-trials were Anthony Sergi, Saturday night winner Jesse Love, Jr., Ryan Moore, Friday night victor Sammy Smith, Brady May, Stephen Nasse, Max Calles-McDonald, Derek Griffith and Colin Garrett.
The post-qualifying draw placed May on the pole with Smith, Moore, Love, Sergi and Mondeik also being inverted from their starting positions.
At the start of the 35-lap feature it was May who took the lead after slight contact with Smith. Moore seized the opportunity and worked his way inside and around Smith to grab the runner-up position. Further back, Sergi and Love engaged in a side-by-side battle for the fourth spot that, after a couple of laps, fell in favor of Love.
Nasse moved forward from his eighth starting spot as he entered the top-5 by passing Sergi on lap 5. At that time, May began to slip away from his pursuers as the top-5 runners fell into single-file formation as they roared around the high-speed track.
Smith, Love and Nasse ran in tight formation for position 3-5 on lap 15. Just behind that, Sergi, Mondeik and Griffith fought over the spots just outside the top-5. Ultimately, Mondeik would get by Sergi on lap 23 with Griffith, who entered the night as the World Series points leader in the SLM class, also moving around the fading Sergi.
Back up at the front of the field Smith and Love broke away from Nasse then closed in on Moore in hopes of challenging for the runner-up position. But in the end, May went unchallenged as he cruised under the checkered flag for the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Brad May, 2. Ryan Moore, 3. Sammy Smith, 4. Jesse Love, 5. Stephen Nasse, 6. Justin Mondeik, 7. Derek Griffith, 8. Anthony Sergi, 9. Max Calles-McDonald, 10. Colin Garrett, 11. Jake Garcia, 12. Austin MacDonald, 13. Trey Bayne, 14. David Rogers, 15. Jett Noland, 16. Augie Grill, 17. Vincent Staggs, 18. Steve Weaver, 19. Patrick Thomas, 20. David Green
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association
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