PENSACOLA, Fla. — Casey Roderick outlasted 16 yellow flags en route to winning the inaugural ASA STARS National Tour super late model race Saturday night at Five Flags Speedway.
Roderick led the final 28 laps of the Sunshine State 200 at the historic half-mile track, as 36 of the nation’s top late model racers took part in the event.
Roderick, a frequent winner on the Gulf Coast late model scene, earned $20,000 for driving his No. 18 Anthony Campi Racing Chevrolet to victory ahead of California driver Jeremy Doss in a Toyota. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Ty Majeski finished third.
“We weren’t the greatest tonight, but we got better as the night went on,” said Roderick. “The car was really good in the last segment.”
The 200-lapper Saturday was divided into three stages (75 laps-75-50) and awarded bonus points for stage winners.
Roderick finished fifth in the first two stages and saved his best for last. However, the win didn’t come without some controversy. Two laps before getting around Doss for the lead, Roderick was battling Bubba Pollard.
Pollard won the second stage by a radiator against Preston Peltier and was in control of the final 50 laps before a caution flag flew. Roderick fell in line behind Pollard on the restart and stayed glued to his bumper as they barreled into turn three.
Roderick nudged Pollard enough to send him spiraling in front of the start-finish line.
“I owe him a big apology,” Roderick said from victory lane. “It was not intentional. I don’t like winning like that. I wanted to race him for the win the last few laps. It’s a bad deal. I had a good run off fourth and I just misjudged it.
“I hate winning ’em like this. I would’ve much rather race him and put on a good show for the fans than something like that.”
Roderick beat Doss to the finish by 2.821 seconds in a race that saw 10 lead changes.
Majeski claimed third, ahead of Cole Butcher and Carson Hocevar.
The race was streamed live by SPEED SPORT affiliate MidwestTour.tv.
The finish:
Casey Roderick, Jeremy Doss, Ty Majeski, Cole Butcher, Carson Hocevar, Gabe Sommers, Austin Nason, Jacob Gomes, John Bolen, Matthew Craig, Michael Hinde, Dan Fredrickson, Blaine Rocha, Billy VanMeter, Gio Ruggiero, Jake Finch, Albert Francis, Hunter Robbins, Bubba Pollard, Preston Peltier, Derek Kraus, Dakota Stroup, Derek Thorn, Timothy Watson, Ryan Moore, Jett Noland, Tony Elrod, Stephen Nasse, Michael Bilderback, Connor Okrzesik, Grant Enfinger, Boris Jurkovic, Dustin Smith, Ryan Luza, Kyle Bryant.