ELMA, Wash. — Seeing the opportunity to strike, Cam Smith did not let it go to waste as the Quick Time Espresso No. 17 raced his way into SawBlade.com Victory Lane for the first time with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network on night one of the Fred Brownfield Classic.
The 158th winner with the series, Smith, is the seventh Washington shoe to top the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network and first from Mill Creek, bringing the number of winning municipalities to 120.
On winning his first Lucas Oil ASCS event, Smith said, “It’s awesome to be able to defend against the National Tour. This is what we’ve been working on over the last couple of years that when they come to town, we’re ready.
Chasing Matt Covington and Garen Linder the opening 12 rounds, the pair traded the lead several times, with Covington always able to get back to the stripe first.
Caution working lap 13, the field reverted back to the twelfth circuit. Taking off to the cushion, Covington and Linder left the bottom wide open. Mashing the throttle off the second turn, Smith shot to the point.
With the pair still stalking, it took a couple of laps to gain an advantage as Linder took over second.
Into traffic on lap 22, a pair of slower cars blocked Smith’s path. Seeing a half straightaway advantage dwindle to car lengths, Smith was finally able to thread the needle coming to the white flag. With a rolling roadblock in place, Smith claimed victory by 2.126 seconds.
Garen Linder’s first podium appearance with the National Tour, the runner-up finish in his 16th feature appearance, is his first top five.
Settling into a ferocious battle in the closing laps, Matt Covington held on to third by 0.120-seconds over 10th starting, Blake Hahn, and California’s Willie Croft, who all crossed in a battle nearly too close to call.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17-Cam Smith[2]; 2. 22L-Garen Linder[4]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[10]; 5. 29-Willie Croft[8]; 6. 96-Greg Hamilton[7]; 7. 33-Colton Heath[14]; 8. 63-JJ Hickle[13]; 9. 21P-Robbie Price[9]; 10. 4L-Lane Taylor[6]; 11. 19-Colby Thornhill[5]; 12. 18-Jason Solwold[16]; 13. 28-Scott Bogucki[17]; 14. 22X-Tyler Thompson[20]; 15. 56-Joel Myers[19]; 16. 2L-Logan Forler[12]; 17. A1-Jared Hood[15]; 18. 33S-Lance Sargent[3]; 19. 10L-Brock Lemley[11]; 20. 55-Trey Starks[18]; 21. 88-Travis Reber[21]; 22. 15-Jeff Dunlap[22]; 23. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[23]
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