December 23, 2013 — Audio, photos and story by Jacob Seelman for Speed77 Radio and Race Chaser Online — Altamahaw, NC — When the race winner asks over the radio if he actually won the event, you know it simply doesn’t get any closer than that.
And that moment of stunned realization was exactly what Carson Hudson experienced on Saturday afternoon during the Bandolero portion of the Superior Trailer Winter Series finale at Ace Speedway.
Hudson, who won the series opener at Ace in November, took command of the 15 lap feature on a late race restart and held off a furious charge by Josh Kossek coming off Turn 4 on the final lap to edge out his second victory at the 4/10 mile oval this season and third consecutive Bandolero division victory.
“When we crossed the line, I had no idea if we had won the race or not,” a breathless Hudson said in victory lane. “That was the race of my life right there. I knew we had a shot on the restart, and I just went for it. Got the push I needed to get around the 29 (of DJ Canipe) and just focused on my line from there.”
Unofficially, Hudson’s #46 held off Josh Kossek by three one-thousandths of a second (0.003 seconds) at the checkered flag.
When asked about how he managed to hang on, Carson laughed and shook his head.
“Man, I have no idea. On that last lap, we went down the backstraightaway and I knew Kossek was behind me, and by the time we were in three, I saw him up high and knew they were trying to freight-train me. I moved up to block him and we came together a little bit, and at that point it was just point it straight and put the pedal to the floor. And somehow, we got it.”
Josh Kossek crossed the line on the outside of Hudson to finish second, with DJ Canipe rounding out the podium in third. Canipe’s finish allowed him to clinch the Winter Series Bandolero points championship.
The 15-lap feature event ran smoothly until Lap 11, when a scary crash coming off of Turn 4 slowed the action and forced a 20 minute red flag. The 74 of Henry Broadbent Jr. spun coming off the corner and snapped hard up the racetrack and into oncoming traffic. The 110 of Kade Lambert had moved high to avoid the incident before the Broadbent machine blocked the outer lane. Lambert, with nowhere to go, t-boned the rear end of the 74 before dropping down the banking and impacting the inside wall.
Luckily, neither driver was injured in the incident, but both young racers were shaken up before leaving the track. Kade Lambert was transported to the hospital for observation but was later released.
Carson Hudson’s triumph wrapped up a dream ending to an up-and-down season for the Haw River driver. The win at Ace completed a run of three straight wins and a total of four wins in his final five starts to round out the season after being out of the car during the summer.
“It’s been an unbelievable ride to end this season. I can’t wait to get 2014 going and see where this kind of momentum can take us.”
With the conclusion of the Superior Trailer Winter Series, the INEX Bandoleros now look forward to the beginning of their 2014 season, which opens with the Winter Heat at Charlotte Motor Speedway on January 4th.
Results – Superior Trailer Winter Series Race #6 – Ace Speedway
Bandoleros (15 laps): 1. Carson Hudson, 2. Josh Kossek, 3. DJ Canipe, 4. Cody Wiles, 5. Henry Broadbent Jr., 6. Kade Lambert, 7. Xander Broadbent
Audio with race winner Carson Hudson:
