A spinning George Brunnhoelzl III in turn two illuminated the caution lights for the fourth time with 33 laps left, as well as brought Myers and Preece down pit road from the top two spots. Rear tires for Preece and a full set for Myers meant that a tire war would be the story of the closing laps.

With the pit stops, late model ace Jeff Fultz lined up as the leader when race pace resumed again, but Measmer roared past on the outside to claim command as defending North-South Shootout winner Andy Seuss entered the picture.

Seuss took second from Fultz before charging to Measmer’s inside in turn three with 29 to go, heading the field for the first time in the race and hoping his tires were good enough to hold on.

All the while, Preece was flying forward. After restarting outside the top 10, he found himself up to fifth in just three laps, advancing one more position to fourth before becoming locked into a two-by-two, four man scramble for the lead as lap 103 went up on the board.

Moments later, a six-car melee in turn one brought out the day’s fifth yellow flag, under which the top four accordioned together entering turn three and Preece’s front nerf bar was jammed skyward after contact with Hirschman ahead of him.

None of that was any consequence to Measmer, however, who got a huge shove from behind by Preece on the restart with 22 to go to seize the lead from Seuss. He brought Preece with him, but the caution flew again after Ward’s motor expired on the frontstretch with 19 laps remaining.

Measmer elected the outside lane for the restart, but Preece’s fresher tires were too much. Preece rocketed to the lead as Hirschman came through to second the next time by.

From there, it was a battle of wills, as Hirschman closed on Preece’s back bumper before charging to his inside with 13 to go, making the move at the entrance to turn three and never looking back once he worked clear.

After that, Measmer applied just enough pressure to Preece’s bumper to allow Hirschman to drive off into the distance, with Preece citing his car’s handling after the race as a factor in his demise.

“When you take rears (tires) it tightens the car up. Well it really tightened us up, too tight to (the point) where I couldn’t really roll the center like I had been doing all day,” Preece explained. “I know I’ve got a really good race car, I just need to work on my adjustments for the second half.”

Measmer completed the podium in third, driving through from the back of the field after destroying his car in a crash on Friday night and having to borrow Danny Bohn’s car just to compete at Concord on Saturday.

Myers and Fultz completed the top five at the finish.

Full race results can be viewed on the next page…