AUDIO/RECAP: Dominant Drive; Chad Laughton Tames Texas and Scores Third Straight NPAS Win for The TEAM

FORT WORTH, Texas — Audio and recap by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — iRacing.com photo —

For the second year in a row, Texas Motor Speedway became The TEAM’s personal playground — but Tuesday night during Round Four of the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series (NPAS) powered by iRacing, it was Chad Laughton (as opposed to Kevin King) who stole all the headlines.

Laughton took the lead for the first time at lap 35 and proceeded to decimate the field from there, leading 122 of the final 133 laps en route to his first win of the 2015 season, second career NPAS victory and third-straight win for The TEAM as an organization on the 2015 title trail.

“This is a huge win,” Laughton expressed in victory lane. “I’ve had quite a few good wins in the Pro Series and at Michigan last year [in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series] … but this is really big. To hold off two of the best drivers on the web in Kenny [Humpe, teammate] and Ray [Alfalla] — it means a lot and I’m really appreciative of all the people who help out in making this possible.”

“Cody [Byus] gave us pieces to putting a great setup underneath us tonight. Everyone did their part, of course, but he was a big force behind it — and we had a rocketship tonight. There at the end I just focused on doing what I knew I had to do and it ultimately held Kenny off and won us this race.”

Laughton’s teammate Justin Bolton laid down a pole-winning lap of 28.663 seconds (188.396 mph) to take the prime position early, and he immediately jumped out to the point ahead of defending series champion Michael Conti, who took the runner-up spot and gave chase on the opening lap. However, it would be lap nine before Conti powered to the inside off turn four to take command of the race for the first time.

That duo would begin to break away from the field and scramble for the top spot between themselves — with Bolton taking the top spot back at lap 22 — but by that time, the field would begin to reel the top two back in and stage a multi-car duel for the top spot. With that fight, Conti would begin to fade at lap 26, falling all the way back to sixth as The TEAM — led by Bolton, Laughton and Cody Byus — moved into the top three spots.

Laughton would not be held down by his teammate for long, however — taking the top spot for himself at lap 35 for the first time and holding it until he sparked a round of green flag pit stops at lap 56 — resuming control of the race five laps later at lap 61.

The TEAM would continue to rule the headlines as Laughton paced the field — Cody Byus began the final cycle of green flag pit stops at lap 111 — but Laughton would cycle through on his stop and return to a 1.6 second advantage at lap 116.

The No. 26 would hold the dominant advantage until lap 139, when Tyler Hill clipped the apron coming off turn two and backed his car into the inside wall on the backstretch to bring out a game-changing caution flag — the only yellow of the night.

That caution would not slow down Laughton, however, who bolted back to the point on the restart with 24 laps to go and never gave it up the rest of the way, crossing the line 0.132 seconds ahead of Humpe at the finish.

Humpe, who won the last two races on the NPAS circuit, rallied late but could not make a charge on Laughton in the final laps and settled for second — saying he just didn’t have enough in the final short dash to the checkered flag.

“It’s cool to see Chad win, and congratulations to him — he was just better than us tonight,” Humpe said following the race. “We definitely weren’t the fastest car, but we proved again why we’re a championship-contending team and it’s a solid night for us even though it’s one spot short of the three-peat.”

“We just didn’t have enough on the short run to the finish — we could get close, but I just couldn’t quite get there. I probably had a shot at him earlier in the run, and maybe I shouldn’t have waited as long as I did, but what can you do, you know? That’s racing.”

Daytona winner (and two-time Texas winner) Ray Alfalla charged into third to complete the podium, followed by Chris Overland and polesitter Justin Bolton, who rounded out the top five.

P.J. Stergios finished sixth ahead of Bryan Blackford and Patrick Crabtree, while Conti fought back in the closing laps to notch a top ten finish in ninth. Brad Mahar capped off the top ten.

Defending race winner Kevin King was never a major factor in the top five and finished 12th, while Cody Byus — who qualified on the front row — had late-race problems and finished 21st.

The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series returns to action in two weeks’ time with Round Five, the 200-lap Commonwealth Clash, from the Richmond International Raceway. The event marks the first short-track showdown of the 2015 NPAS season.

For more information, visit wcs.iracing.com.

Audio with race winner Chad Laughton: