MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Though Justin Hicks crossed the finish line first on Saturday at Myrtle Beach Speedway, he was not crowned the winner of the final Southeast Limited Late Model Series Pro division event of the season.
Instead, that honor went to Terry Evans, who originally finished second in the Renegade Race Fuels 100 but inherited the victory after Hicks was disqualified during post-race technical inspection for a weight violation.
The final results are unofficial, with the disqualification being under appeal.
Amid the drama at the front of the field, 17-year-old Connecticut young gun Anthony Alfredo came out on top of a topsy-turvy, three-way championship battle to secure the series title by 38 points over 15-year-old Colby Howard.
The day began with Hicks on the pole alongside Colby Howard, who sat at the helm of the Pro division championship battle for much of the afternoon after entering the day 22 points in arrears. With Alfredo qualifying 11th and points leader Luke Sorrow rolling off 15th, Howard took the green flag as the championship leader on a tie-breaker over Alfredo.
Hicks held the early lead despite two cautions prior to lap 10, but the man on the move early on was Ryan Glenski, who started ninth but had moved inside the top five by the race’s second restart. He assumed fourth from Mike Jones on the 11th round and was third three laps later.
By lap 15, Glenski had dispatched Howard for the runner-up position and on the 17th round, he used an inside move to take the lead from Hicks as the race settled into a long green-flag run.
In fact, from the race’s second caution on lap eight, a 69-lap run broke out as the championship trio diced for their positions among the field and in the title tilt.
Glenski held the lead through the halfway point, while Alfredo was mired as far back as 17th and Sorrow sat 26th while Howard enjoyed a running position inside the top six for the entirety of the race’s first half, but following the lap 50 benchmark the latter pair began to charge.
On lap 57, Weatherford used a three-wide move to assume the lead from Hicks and Glenski, while by lap 60, Howard had moved back into the top five as Alfredo sat 14th and Sorrow 20th.
At the three-quarter benchmark Howard had picked off another position, while Sorrow had moved into 17th and was closing rapidly on Alfredo’s back decklid before it all went wrong for the No. 9 Vannoy Construction entry.
