OCALA, Fla. – C.J. Leary ended the run of NOS Energy-sponsored cars in victory lane at Bubba Raceway Park with his dominant victory in Saturday night’s 30-lap Winter Dirt Games X finale.
Leary, who started from the outside pole, used a textbook lap-12 slider to wrest the lead from polesitter Robert Ballou. The Greenfield, Ind., native then held off a determined Kevin Thomas Jr. on a late restart to secure the feature win, his first since joining Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports in the offseason.
Saturday night’s performance marked the third different winner in three AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series races to open the season, as well as Leary’s eighth-career series victory, moving him into a tie with Mike Bliss, Chet Fillip, Johnny Rutherford and Joe Saldana on the all-time list.
After the race, Leary noted that he’s pleased to be off to a fast start with his new organization.
“We had high expectations with this new team,” Leary exclaimed. “Andy (Reinbold) gave us the best of everything. Davey (Jones, crew chief) and I have put a lot of hours into this car. Just to see it pay off is really awesome for Davey and me. I’m sure it is for Andy, just because he’s spent a lot of money getting this thing where it is. This kind of caps off that he hired the right two guys.”
The race was slowed by three cautions, with the first coming soon after the start when Dave Darland and Kent Schmidt got tangled up exiting turn four and both spun onto the frontstretch clay at the end of the first lap.
It was during the second run, after the ensuing restart, where Leary would eventually gain ground before finally charging underneath Ballou on the 12th round to grab the lead for good.
“He got the jump on us at the start,” Leary recalled. “The outside lane was pretty slick, and I knew the bottom still had pretty good moisture. I knew he was probably going to get the jump on us, so I was hoping to cross him over into (turn) one.
“I just stalked him there and then we had that yellow,” added Leary. “Our car was really good on the restarts, and when he made that small mistake in three and four, it got tight on him and let us capitalize, drive up under him and it was pretty smooth sailing from there.”
Despite two cautions – one with 10 to go for trouble involving Friday winner Justin Grant and a second with three laps left when Matt Westfall spun in turn four – Leary was unfazed and unhindered.
Leary’s lone challenger down the stretch was Kevin Thomas Jr., who passed Ballou after the halfway point and gave chase to Leary all the way home, but couldn’t make up ground and settled for second.
Saturday night’s Winter Dirt Games X finale marked the fourth time in five features, split between midget and sprint car action, where Thomas ended the night as the runner-up.
While he was pleased with his team’s consistency, Thomas wanted badly to cap Speedweeks with a win.
“Man, I guess finishing second like we have does show the speed that we’ve got in this car, but I want to put it in victory lane and celebrate,” noted Thomas. “I’m disappointed that we couldn’t quite get it done tonight. I just needed a little bit … and we saw Sunshine (Tyler Courtney) change lines late and make moves. If I could have found that a bit sooner maybe we could have had him, but we’ll take second.”
Courtney charged from seventh to third in the final three laps to complete the podium. Chase Stockon and opening night winner Chris Windom completed the top five.
The finish:
1. C.J. Leary (2), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 3. Tyler Courtney (9), 4. Chase Stockon (3), 5. Chris Windom (5), 6. Robert Ballou (1), 7. Jason McDougal (6), 8. Damion Gardner (8), 9. Carson Short (10), 10. Timmy Buckwalter (7), 11. Brady Bacon (12), 12. Kyle Cummins (11), 13. Chad Boespflug (15), 14. Joey Biasi (13), 15. Isaac Chapple (20), 16. Stephen Schnapf (22), 17. Matt Westfall (18), 18. Matt Goodnight (23), 19. Noah Gass (21), 20. Dakota Jackson (14), 21. Justin Grant (16), 22. Dave Darland (19), 23. Kent Schmidt (17).
