LUCAMA, N.C. — Bradley McCaskill picked up his second consecutive victory in the KONI Charger division at Southern National Motorsports Park on Sunday.
McCaskill took the lead on the race’s eighth lap after pole sitter and early race leader Michael O’Brien was sidelined due to mechanical issues. From there, McCaskill was able to hold off a hard charging Aiden McConnaughey.
“This is fun,” McCaskill said. “Just one of those deals. I hate it for [O’Brien], hate it for Rusty [Daniels]. Everybody puts a lot of effort into these things. They aren’t cheap to fix. Really would have loved to race with them but we’ll get a chance later on this year. Louis, Jeremy, Eric and Andy, they bust their tail on this car. I just get to show up with a driving suit and helmet and get to drive this pony. They do all the hard work. Hats off to them.”
McConnaughey’s runner-up finish is a career best in the Charger class at Southern National. Tyler Chapman finished third while division rookies Delaney Gray and Landon Burbage rounded out the top-five.
Gray was all smiles after contending for a podium position, putting a challenging Speed Week in her rear view mirror in the process.
“Awesome run,” Gray said. “We finished fourth. That’s like a win for me after all the luck we’ve had the past couple weeks. I’m glad that’s gone. We ran some Legends races and didn’t have the best of luck so I’m just so thankful for everyone that’s helped me. The good Lord, all my crew members for everything they’ve done. I wouldn’t be able to do this without them. It’s just an awesome day.”
Levi Canup and Brody Rhodes each scored wins in a Legends doubleheader. Canup’s win came in the first of two 25 lap races, taking the lead from Rhodes on the second lap and holding him off.
“My plan was just to keep him behind me,” Canup said. “I thought he had the pace on me but he didn’t. He was pushing just as hard as I was. I got it and I plan to get it in the second one. I think we have the speed to easily get a top three this next race.”
After an invert and an early race skirmish, Canup fell back to the 11th position in the second race and methodically worked his way through the field to finish in fifth. It was Rhodes, however, who would score the win over Cody Carlton and Michael Bivens.
“We worked after that first race just to make adjustments and try to get a little better,” Rhodes, whose team battled battery issues all throughout the weekend, said. “I knew Canup would be fast. I guess he got tangled up. I’m not really sure what happened. All these guys were really fast. I tried to make the least amount of errors I could and think I did pretty good at that.”
Carlton and Bivens finished third and fourth respectively in the first race.
“It’s really cool to be up here in third,” Bivens said. “I’d like to thank my mom and dad, [team and sponsors], and all glory goes to God.”
Andrew Watson edged out T.J. Medeiros to score the victory in Any Car while Kevin Floars was the overall winner in Vintage racing with Billy Ray Lucas winning in Sportsman.
