DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — JM3 Motorsports photo —
Justin Michael stuck to his guns on the final lap of Monday night’s 20-lap non-points Full Throttle Shootout, and it paid off with a trip to Gatorade Victory Lane for the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway.
Michael fought tooth-and-nail with veteran Matt LaCross on the bottom of the race track, going side-by-side with the No. 21 for nearly half of the final lap, before edging out the win at the start-finish line by 0.030 of a second and making his first trip of any kind to Real Sim Racing’s winner’s circle.
“It’s about time I got one of these wins; I just hate it was a non-points race,” Michael laughed. “It is special though. That was so much fun. On the down side, the setup is really tough to get a handle on, but we managed as best we could and made it work.”
“The high side is useless here, so I was shocked when Matt got all the way up to me [to lead] there at the white flag. I just stuck to what I knew would work and was able to get the win.”
Michael also said he learned something in advance of next Monday’s season-opening points race at Daytona.
“Tire management is going to be key. You have to learn to lift going into the turns otherwise you get into the outside wall. That was the real key for us tonight.”
LaCross, who led lap 19 by 0.006 of a second after going solo up the outside, finished second followed by restrictor plate expert Sean Boundy, Daniel Eberhardt and Steve Gottschalk.
The race’s only major crash came on lap 18 exiting turn two, when defending Shootout winner Johnathon Caddell was hooked into the pack by David Washington and collected a myriad of contenders in the process. Caddell had driven from 36th starting position to the top 10 before the chaos broke out.
SimVibe Daytona 250 polesitter Tim Matthews was among those caught up in the late-race carnage and came home 22nd.
Because the race was a designated no-caution affair, the yellow flag was not displayed as a result of the crash.
The =RSR= Full Throttle Cup Series will return to the race track on Monday, Feb. 22 for the final event of Daytona Speedweeks, the Daytona 250. Coverage of the season-opening points event of 2015 kicks off at 9 p.m. Eastern time live on LSRTV.
RESULTS: =RSR= Full Throttle Cup Series; Full Throttle Shootout; Daytona International Speedway; Feb. 15, 2015
- Justin Michael
- Matt LaCross
- Sean Boundy
- Daniel Eberhardt
- Steve Gottschalk
- Ross Cado
- Anthony DeBaro
- Rett McBride
- Greg Evans
- Stefan Marinak
- Anthony Fredericks
- Doug Roth
- Nelson Rivera
- Jose Gonzalez
- Carl Shedd
- Jimmie North
- David Washington
- Johnathon Caddell
- Dwayne Vincent
- Thomas George
- David Comstock
- Tim Matthews
- Mark Bratcher
- Bryan Harvey
- Glenn Campbell
- Joseph Theis
- Bobby Terrell
- Dan Murray
- Rich Jette
- Scott Simley
- Christopher Hurlow
- Corbin Himstreet
- Jason Lester
- Mitch Rollo
- Kyle Taraska
- Kevin Linden
- Adam Blattel
- William Amaker
- Mike Kelley
- John Abbott
- Rodney Perry
- Douglas Wyatt
- C.J. LaVair
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: [email protected]
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