TIMMONSVILLE, S.C. – Ty Majeski may be a newcomer to late model stock car racing, but he didn’t let that stop him from finding a way to victory lane Saturday at Florence Motor Speedway.
Reuniting with Chad Bryant Racing, the same team with whom Majeski won three ARCA Menards Series races in 2019, the Seymour, Wis., native banked $10,000 for winning the inaugural South Carolina 400 at the half-mile short track.
Majeski stalked NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I national champion Josh Berry for the majority of the 225-lap feature before passing Berry with 26 to go and motoring on to victory.
It marked his first win in the super late model kingpin’s first appearance in a late model stock car. It was also somewhat of a marquee victory, as Saturday’s race was the successor to the Myrtle Beach 400 – held until 2019 at the now-defunct Myrtle Beach Speedway.
If that wasn’t enough, Majeski and the CBR crew worked through not one, but two engine changes before finally beating out Berry by .686 seconds at the checkered flag.
“My gosh. These poor guys on this team worked their tails off,” Majeski noted in victory lane. “Not only two engine changes, but I was being picky, apparently much too picky, all weekend. I think I may have just been looking for something that may just not be possible (in these cars), but we kept working on it and working on it and got it as close as we could.
“I think that me pushing them to get the car a little bit better was the difference tonight. Josh is an unbelievable race car driver, especially in this discipline. It feels good to beat a guy who has been on top of his game like that all season long.”
Behind Majeski and Berry, who led 108 laps overall, Sam Yarbrough crossed third. Lee Pulliam and Nolan Pope filled out the top five.
Conner Jones, Justin Johnson, Averitt Lucas, Matt Cox and Mark Wertz were the balance of the top 10. Eight cars finished on the lead lap.
The finish:
1. Ty Majeski, 2. Josh Berry, 3. Sam Yarbrough, 4. Lee Pulliam, 5. Nolan Pope, 6. Conner Jones, 7. Justin Johnson, 8. Averitt Lucas, 9. Matt Cox, 10. Mark Wertz, 11. Timothy Peters, 12. Austin Somero, 13. Jacob Heafner, 14. Braden Rogers, 15. Sammy Smith, 16. Heath Causey, 17. RA Brown, 18. Brenden Queen, 19. Wes Burton, 20. Austin McDaniel, 21. Casey Kelley, 22. Matt Craig, 23. Doug Barnes Jr., 24. Dylan Ward, 25. Josh Yeoman, 26. Jamie Weatherford, 27. Riley Gentry, 28. Bobby June, 29. Robert Powell, 30. CP Powell III, 31. Kevin Parsons, 32. Mitch Walker, 33. Blaise Brinkley, 34. Anthony Adams, 35. David Roberts.