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SAM WINS SUPER LATE MODEL at the Clyde Hart Memorial 125 in New Smyrna!
The rain couldn’t dampen Sam’s spirits as he took his new super late model out for its first race. Formerly Sam’s late model car, it now has a super late spec motor under the hood. This car had only been tested twice—both times having problems—but Sam decided he wanted to race it.
Sam qualified in third place with a great 17.39. The lineup was set with Sam starting inside 2nd row behind the #84 car of Anderson. Sam’s crew chief was out of town, so Charlie Vest stood in and took over the radio. Sam followed Anderson at the drop of the green flag. Choquette had a faster car than Sam and got around him, dropping Sam to 3rd. Then as Choquette came off turn 4 with Sam on his tail, something broke and his right rear wheel came flying off. Sam went low and managed to avoid any damage. He was now in 2nd, but not for long as Patrick Conrad was on a roll. He overtook Sam, putting him again back in 3rd. BJ McLeod was now also on Sam’s tail and overtook him coming out of turn 4. But one lap later on lap 63 a car spun, causing the leaders to slow down. BJ had nowhere to go and ended up in the rear of the #84 car of Anderson. Sam managed to avoid this wreck as well.
On the restart at lap 72, the top 5 cars were all lined up. Sam was in 3rd behind the #2 car of Conrad and the #84 car of Anderson. He stayed patient again in the 3rd spot. The team would have been more than happy for the race to end that way, but on lap 107, Conrad and Anderson were battling really hard. Sam was told to stay back a bit in case something happened—and it did—the 2 cars got together putting Anderson in the wall and causing damage to the #2 car. Sam was far enough back, saw what happened and throttled the car to get by unscathed.
This now set for a 13-lap dash. Sam was in 2nd behind Patrick, who had a fair bit of damage to his car. At the drop of the green flag, Sam went high and got around Patrick, putting himself in the top spot. He then pulled away from the field with lapped cards as his only problem. Sam ended up taking the checkered flag about a straightaway ahead of Tim Russell in 2nd spot. After going through tech, the car was all passed and so the celebrations begun. Sam was overcome at this great moment—probably the biggest moment of his young career—definitely the biggest trophy! Sam thanked all his fans as well as Michael Sean Williams for helping set up the car. Te thanked Charlie Vest for his help in keeping him calm and patient.
Sam is now looking forward to the Governors cup in November at New Smyrna. Sam is heading back to North Carolina in 2 weeks to run a 250-lap race at Hickory.
To view more photos from this event, click here.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
CLYDE HART MEMORIAL 125
NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2007
1. #73 Sam Watts, Winter Springs
2. #36 Tim Russell, Longwood
3. #2 Patrick Conrad, Clermont
4. #4 Blake Lehr, Orlando
5. #40 Brock Burns, Winter Haven
6. #01 Robbie Smith, Ocala
7. #24 Eddie Gainey, Ft. White
8. #12 Corey Freed, Orlaqndo
9. #58 John Coffman, Live Oaks
10. #12x Dewayne Bryan
11. #9 Kurt Jett, Orange Park
12. #78 B.J. McLeod, Wachullad
13. #22 Dusty Cornelius, Cocoa
14. #57 Chad Pierce, Orlando
15. #7 Vince Keeler, Sebastion
16. #14x Mario Maresca, Ft. Lauderdale
17. #80 Brian Finney, Merritt Island
18. #92 Jeff Choquette, Loxahatchee
19. #14 Travis Towell, Sanford
20. #5 Dustin Skinner, Port Orange
21. #11 David Rogers, Orlando
22. #4x Ricky Carmichael, Tallahassee
23. #84 Wayne Anderson, Wildwood DQ'D
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