(New Smyrna Beach, FL) – The season-opening event for the ASA STARS National Tour was full of spins, spills, and thrills, but Gavan Boschele outlasted his peers to claim the victory in the Clyde Hart Memorial at New Smyrna Speedway.
Boschele was a quiet contender all night, patiently waiting to capitalize behind racers like Ty Majeski, Colby Howard, Carson Brown, and more. For Majeski and Howard, the night’s ongoing theme of cautions and carnage eventually caught up.
The final stage of the Clyde Hart Memorial saw the two leaders, who had worked for well over three quarters of the race to be in race-winning positions, get tangled up in an incident. The contact and subsequent spin for Majeski resulted in terminal damage to his car, but also resulted in Howard being sent to the back and therefore ending his night.It was a long race, just shy of two hours and thirty minutes to be exact. Much of that time was spent with cars parading under yellow flag conditions. Shortly past the halfway mark, officials made a much-needed decision to start counting caution laps.
The Howard-Majeski collision in particular opened the door for Boschele to take the lead. Boschele held off William Sawalich, who had himself gone for a spin earlier in the night, to take the victory. Behind Sawalich, Cory Hall continued his stellar World Series of Asphalt run by finishing in third.
George Phillips and Stephen Nasse rounded out the top five. Carson Brown and Ty Majeski won Stage 1 and Stage 2 respectively before Boschele went on to conquer the final and most important stage.
For Boschele, the first Super Late Model win of his career was more than just a special milestone. Boschele’s Tuesday night victory served as an early birthday present, with the racer turning 17 years old on Wednesday.
“We kinda screwed ourselves coming in to pit early,” said Boschele in victory lane. “I just kept my head in it, listened to the boys in the pits, and they were right. I just tried to keep it smart. You’re gonna have to get physical towards the end, so I just kept my head in it and kept smart.”
The story for second place William Sawalich was one of a comeback, rallying after being spun via assistance from Cory Hall early on.
“We had a left rear start to go down, so that’s what was wrong,” said Sawalich on the spin. “Unfortunate, but we had really good speed on way older tires.”
Canadian driver Cory Hall has had a tremendous week thus far in his first World Series of Asphalt, picking up one win and adding to the success with a third place run in the Clyde Hart Memorial.
“We kinda tried to give it away multiple times,” said Hall. “I apologize to [Sawalich] on the contact there that sent him around. We were able to drive through the field, just weren’t able to adjust on it. It’s a big trip for us and it’s big to be on this stage.”
ASA STARS Clyde Hart Memorial 200 Results
- Gavan Boschele
- William Sawalich
- Cory Hall
- George Phillips
- Stephen Nasse
- Christopher Bell
- Gabe Sommers
- Derek Griffith
- Bubba Pollard
- 10.Spencer Davis
- Cole Butcher
- 12.Derek Kraus
- 13.Austin Nason
- 14.Derek Thorn
- 15.Colby Howard
- 16.Jake Finch
- 17.Matthew Craig
- 18.Nicholas Naugle
- 19.Michael Hinde
- 20.Chase Pinsonneault
- 21.Billy VanMeter
- 22.Dawson Sutton -2 laps
- 23.Carson Brown -5 laps
- 24.Dustin Smith -15 laps
- 25.Ty Majeski -28 laps
- 26.Paul Shafer Jr. -43 laps
- 27.Cody Ware -113 laps
- 28.Conner Jones -152 laps
- 29.Ty Fredrickson -164 laps
- 30.Brad May -191 laps
- 31.Kyle Steckly -197 laps
- 32.Mike Hopkins -197 laps
