Jesse Love, Jr. was the SLM winner on night 2 at New Smyrna(Photo: @JesseLoveRacing on Twitter)
The New Smyrna Speedway played host to the World Series of Asphalt for the second of what is scheduled to be nine nights of racing on the track located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. At the end of the night it was Jesse Love, Jr. who left the track with the accolades that accompany the winner in the Super Late Model division.
Jesse Love was the fast qualifier of the night as he turned a lap in 17.61 seconds around the half-mile speedway to beat out Colin Garrett, Augie Grill, Sammy Smith, Max Calles-McDonald, Derek Griffith, Anthony Sergi, Brad May, Jake Garcia and Jett Noland.
The post-qualifying draw place Colin Garrett on the pole with Jesse Love starting second. Only the top-2 cars were inverted which placed the remainder of the field on the grid just as they qualified.
At the start of the 35-lap feature it was Love who went to the early lead with Garrett, Grill, Smith and Griffith trailing. Grill and Smith engaged in a side-by-side battle for third on laps two and three before Smith claimed the position. Griffith then went to work on Grill and took the fourth spot on lap 4.
By lap 15 it was Love who remained in the lead pulling away from the pack with Garrett running second while Griffith harassed Smith for third.
At lap 20, the cars of Garrett, Smith, Griffith and May raced in tight formation as they engaged in a fierce fight for positions 2-5. Two laps later, the car of Garrett bobbled which opened a door for Smith. The No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports car got into the left rear of the No. 24 machine which sent sparks and smoke flying. That, in turn, provided Griffith with an opportunity to take third from Smith.
Lap 25 saw Griffith grabbed the runner-up spot from Garrett. On the following circuit both May and Grill slipped by Smith to assume the fourth and fifth positions. May would then pass by Garrett to take third on lap 29.
A lap 33 caution set up a final dash to the finish. That yellow flag was brought when the lapped car of Vincent Staggs was sent spinning after contact from Jett Noland, who earlier had won a controversial Pro Late Model event that saw other competitors angry with the young Florida driver. Sergi and Justin Mondeik found themselves caught up in the accident as well.
Love got the jump on the final restart and motored away from Griffith and the rest of the field to capture the victory. On the strength of his two second place efforts, Griffith currently holds the World Series of Asphalt points lead.
Feature Finish: 1. Jesse Love, 2. Derek Griffith, 3. Brad May, 4. Colin Garrett, 5. Augie Grill, 6. Sammy Smith, 7. Ryan Moore, 8. Anthony Sergi, 9. Jake Garcia, 10. Justin Mondeik, 11. Austin MacDonald, 12. David Rogers, 13. Max Calles-McDonald, 14. Patrick Thomas, 15. David Green, 16. Kyle Sieg, 17. Jett Noland, 18. Trey Bayne, 19. Vincent Staggs, 20. Steve Weaver
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association
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