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Sam shines through with another great run
Sam’s main purpose for coming back to Florida this past 4th of July weekend was to defend his Clyde Hart Memorial win of last year. The new Dickies sponsored car was put out on the track again and looked great. Some minor adjustments were made in testing during the week prior to the race, as this car had never been on the New Smyrna Speedway.
With the exception of a few adjustments, everything seemed set for race day. Sam went out towards the end of the pack at Qualifying and put down the second fastest time of 17.397, which was slightly slower than Tim Russell who ran a 17.384. However, something was amiss on the 36 car of Russell while going through tech, so the pole was given to Sam. The 5 pill was drawn, which put Sam in the 5th starting spot.
At the drop of the green flag the outside lane started moving but the inside lane didn’t, causing Sam to find himself in about 8th place. After settling down into single file racing a few laps into the race, Sam found his car could work on the outside, so he passed the 05 of Colangelo and the 78 of BJ Mcleod. Sam worked his way to the 2nd spot. The 92 car of Anderson was very dominant, leading the entire race. On restarts Sam was able to stay with the 92 car only for a few laps before getting left behind again. He remained in 2nd for most of the race. Meanwhile, after having to start from the rear from being DQD in tech, the 36 car of Tim Russell was gaining on the front-runners.
As the laps wound down, Sam tried a few more times to pass Anderson, but could only do so on restarts. All attempts failed, and eventually Russell passed Sam with about 15 laps to go. The top 3 remained the same to the end, although Sam had to fend off some hard charging coming from Rodgers.
Sam was extremely happy with his 3rd place finish. His car looked as good at the end of the night as it did at the start. Driver, team and crew were very happy, as Sam ran a very patient, careful race. He now heads back to North Carolina for some more up there again.
Sam’s next race will be Hickory on Saturday, July 19th.
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