CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The last lap pays the most and Cole Duncan took that methodology to heart on Saturday evening at Atomic Speedway, utilizing a last-lap pass to score the George Fisher Memorial Freedom 40 title worth $15,000.
For Duncan, the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 score was his first of the season and seventh overall.
“George built my motors when I started racing, and to win a race in his honor is pretty special,” an elated Cole Duncan explained, ace of the Helms Construction/Ohio Heating No. 22 sprint car. “He was such a great guy and he is missed so much. One heck of a mechanic and an even better guy.”
In fact, the last lap was the only lap that Duncan led during the entire 40-lap distance, commencing his march to the front from the inside of row three.
Parker Price-Miller and Travis Philo were the pace setters for the first 39 circuits with Price-MIller leading the first 22 before Philo took over on lap 23. Price-Miller’s hiccup occurred with a slip in turn two, leaving the abrasive groove open for Philo at the exit of the corner.
Incidentally, Philo’s loss of the lead on 33 was due to the same mistake, ultimately leaving the bottom, abrasive groove open for Price-Miller to slip by.
The duo would exchange positions yet again on lap 36 with Philo retaking command, this time due to Price-Miller’s near contact with a lapped car at the entrance of turn three. Philo seemed to have the cat in the bag, but a series of cautions due to flat tires on lap 38 kept the race at a standstill.
Green lights would eventually return, but only for a circuit, as a stoppage due to tire failure would bring out the yellow yet again. By this time, Duncan had quietly powered his way to second, getting by Hunter Schuerenberg on the fifth lap-38 restart attempt.
With an abrasive surface the obvious issue, rather than finish with a traditional green-white-checkered format, the call was made to finish green-checkered. Despite the extra lap out of the question, Duncan persevered, using a slingshot move down the backstretch to power by Philo at the exit of turn four.
“I was actually kinda hoping for those cautions,” Duncan continued. “I just felt like I had more tire. I really went into conserve mode there about halfway. It was getting hard to get by lapped cars, so I just let the front two or three race. Travis didn’t do what I thought he was going to do on the last lap. My only option was to try and keep my left rear in the rubber and drive out around him. It worked out for us tonight.”
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 22-Cole Duncan[5]; 2. 5T-Travis Philo[3]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[13]; 4. 4X-Danny Smith[11]; 5. 101-Cale Thomas[15]; 6. 59-Bryan Nuckles[21]; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[9]; 8. 5J-Jake Hesson[18]; 9. 49X-Ian Madsen[17]; 10. 11N-Paul McMahan[24]; 11. A79-Brandon Wimmer[22]; 12. 22B-Ryan Broughton[16]; 13. 13-Justin Peck[14]; 14. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]; 15. 7-Scott Bogucki[7]; 16. 11-Parker Price Miller[1]; 17. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 18. 4-Cap Henry[4]; 19. 19-Chris Windom[12]; 20. 101A-Lachlan McHugh[10]; 21. 35R-Ron Blair[19]; 22. (DNF) 47X-Dylan Westbrook[6]; 23. (DNF) 10-Zeb Wise[23]; 24. (DNF) 26-Cory Eliason[20]