KNOXVILLE, Iowa – In a virtual showdown every bit as exciting as the real deal, Chad Morgan, who normally turns the wrenches for Brian Brown, picked up the win Friday night with the Lucas Oil ASCS eSeries presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network at virtual Knoxville Raceway.
Battling hard with Clinton Boyles through the latter half of the feature, a dry fuel cell ended the night for Boyles with a pair of laps to go.
“It’s fun to race on here with guys that race like what we see in the real world,” said Morgan on the battle with Boyles.
“He had a good car and I was worried about maybe being too tight and a little off the pace early. I set up for late, but we mixed it up and he raced me clean. It got tough to hit the bottom but that’s normally where I’m pretty good and he was little better than me on the top but I was able to not screw it up and have a good race with him. It was a blast.”
Gridding the field sixth for the 35 lap, feature, Morgan moved to the runner-up spot on lap nine. Giving chase to Clinton Boyles, it didn’t take long for the pair to begin sizing each other up. Trading the point officially on lap 14, it was short-lived with Boyles back out front on lap 15.
Neck and neck at either end of the Knoxville Raceway, the two Missouri drivers traded lines several times with neither giving an inch. Finally retaking the lead on lap 23, Morgan kept the No. 98 at bay as the pair slipped into slower traffic. Keeping pace with the ShopRico.com No. 50, Boyles tried to size up a run in the closing laps, but fuel would run out for Boyles coming to the white flag, allowing Morgan to sail to victory.
Kameron Key ended up second with California’s Justyn Cox rallying from 17th to complete the podium. Austin O’Neal from 24th made it to fourth with Waco’s Chase Randall also making a big drive through the field from 19th to fifth.
The finish:
1. 50-Chad Morgan[6]; 2. 211-Kameron Key[2]; 3. 7-Justyn Cox[17]; 4. 011-Austin O’Neal[24]; 5. 9-Chase Randall[19]; 6. 212-Kevin Fry[7]; 7. 40-Ryan Leavitt[13]; 8. 05-Anton Hernandez[18]; 9. 98-Clinton Boyles[1]; 10. 43-Seth Bergman[10]; 11. 24-Danny Sams III[23]; 12. 024-Garet Williamson[22]; 13. 021-Ray Allen Kulhanek[8]; 14. 27-Carson McCarl[9]; 15. 8-Alex Sewell[12]; 16. 11-Roger Crockett[11]; 17. 32-Johnny Anderson[14]; 18. 125-Scott Thomason[21]; 19. 06-Jett Carney[20]; 20. 99-Tony Gualda Jr[3]; 21. 41-Colton Hardy[5]; 22. 79-Billy Rowlee[4]; 23. 18-Tanner Holmes[15]; 24. 39-Kevin Swindell[16]