Tom Ogle led 161 laps of the 200-lap YesterYear Classic on Tuesday night. Ogle started on pole and had command throughout much of the race. Just short of the midway point of the race, Donny Moore “rolled the dice” with pit strategy and stayed out on old tires while most of the field pitted, including leader Ogle. Once up front, Moore proved to be hard to handle by setting fastest lap of the race (18.645) and pulling away from Ogle for a brief period of time before his tires began to really show their wear. In the end though, the pit strategy gamble did not pay off for Moore as he had to stop off cycle and got caught behind slower traffic.
Dale Copeland finished second only 0.181 seconds behind winner Ogle. Copeland pressed Ogle in the waning laps but could not muster up enough of a run on the tight Martinsville “Paperclip” Speedway to threaten for the win.
New England’s Brian Bianchi finished in third place with a solid consistent run. In the post-race interview Bianchi reminisced about his days in 1990 actually going to some of these races YesterYear will replay with his Father.
Another driver with a solid night was Bootleg Racing League owner Lowell Jewell. Jewell was the “Hard Charger” last night starting 19th and making it all the way up to 6th. With that result, Jewell celebrated a birthday and a top 10 finish in the YesterYear Classic.
The race got off to a rocky start with two immediate cautions, but then seemed to settle. The YesterYear Classic was Round One of the 2024 YesterYear Racing Series. The Series will replay 15 actual races in history during the 1990 Winston Modified and SMART Modified Tours. The drivers will take the track again on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 8:30pm EST for the Hickory 150 which will replay a SMART Modified Tour night race that took place at Hickory Motor Speedway on March 31, 1990.
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