Special from Speed51.com
On the heels of the biggest victory of his career at the North/South Super Late Model Challenge at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, Corbin, Kentucky’s Josh Brock has become the second driver to officially accept an invitation to compete in the inaugural Speed51 Super Select. The winner-take-all Super Late Model All-Star Race will be held at Lucas Oil Raceway, just down the road from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, on September 7 during the Brickyard 400 weekend.
Brock, the defending ARCA/CRA Super Series champion had the race on his 2019 schedule; he just needed that big win to ensure himself an invitation to compete with Super Late Model racing’s best. After a top-five finish at the Rattler 250 in March, he punched his ticket into the Speed51 Super Select by leading wire-to-wire against 33 of the best drivers that CRA, the Southern Super Series, and the CARS Super Late Model Tour have to offer in the North/South Super Late Model Challenge.
“It was a race we had on our schedule and we were hoping that we would be invited,” Brock told Speed51.com. “Our big win this weekend definitely gave us our chance into the race and hopefully we can build on it and show everyone just how strong we are.”
With the country’s best Super Late Model drivers planned to be at Lucas Oil Raceway for the Super Select, Brock is honored to be invited to compete with the very best. He says the biggest draw to the race is the potential for it to become Super Late Model racing’s All-Star Race.
“As this thing grows and really gets going, maybe one day it turns into like an all-star race for the Super Late Model guys,” Brock told Speed51.com. “There’s many big races where the all-star drivers already show up to, but this would be like our all-star race for us.”
Brock will head into the race having competed at the .686-mile oval one time in an ARCA/CRA Super Series start in July 2017. When asked, he doesn’t believe his past experience there will give him any kind of advantage going into the weekend.
“I’ve only got to race there one time,” he said. “I don’t think so, there’s so many good cars and teams these days that time’s almost gone. There’s kids showing up in new cars to places they’ve never been and they’re still fast. Those days are just about gone with the new information and technology that’s out there.”
Brock is no stranger to the technology used by today’s youth movement. He made laps at Lucas Oil Raceway on iRacing to prepare for last year’s Speed51 Super Select before Mother Nature had other plans for the weekend, and he plans to do the same to prepare for this year’s inaugural event.
“We always take that into our wheelhouse,” he said. “I actually had practice last year getting ready for the Super Select on iRacing. I was getting ready for it without actually making a lap at the track. That’s one good way that I could hopefully take into consideration.”
Winning the inaugural Speed51 Super Select would be big for Brock. With the history of Lucas Oil Raceway and racing in Indianapolis and it being the first edition of the race, being able to be called the first winner of the Super Select would go far for he and his team.
“It would be special because of the history behind the track, then also with this year being the very first one,” he stated. “It would be really cool to set that precedent as being that first one. There’s only one first, it would be nice to get that win.”
Each invitee from the “Select Team” that accepts their invitation prior to July 1, 2019 will receive a guaranteed starting spot in the race held Saturday, September 7. Those who accept the invitation will also receive free entry into the race and one free set of tires to use during the race.
The Speed51 Super Select winner will have a chance to win a minimum of $10,000. Additional bonuses and contingency awards are to be announced prior to the race.
A pair of features will be contested on September 7, one for the Super Late Models (ARCA/CRA Super Series sanctioned) and a 100-lap race for the USAC Silver Crown Series. There will also be a 50-lap race for Super Late Model drivers who don’t earn invitations to race their way into the Super Select field. The event is being promoted by Track Enterprises.
More information regarding the 2019 Speed51 Super Select will be announced soon. Stay tuned to Speed51.com for more details about the event.
-Story by: Koty Geyer, Speed51.com Stated Editor (IN & MI)
-Photo credit: Speed51.com
