Clay Rogers, seen here from earlier action, scored his second straight CARS X-1R Pro Cup victory in the Catawba Valley 250 at Hickory Motor Speedway Saturday night. Photo by ProCupPhotos.com
Clay Rogers edged J.P. Morgan on a green-white-checkered finish at Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, NC Saturday night to score his second CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series win of the season.
The victory was Rogers’ third series win at the track of his career, and moved him into a tie for second with Benny Gordon on the all time wins list with 32. J.P. Morgan looked to be back to his championship form bring home a second place finish followed by Tyler Young who overcame being a lap down early on to finish third.
“This was a lot tougher to get here tonight than it was last time in Dillon,” said Rogers. “I thought J.P. (Morgan) was going to get us there on that second to last restart, but I was able to get around him and thought we had it won and the yellow came out when we were going through in three and four. So I had to do my best to hold him off one more time and we did.
“I have to thank L & R Racing for giving me this opportunity to come back to the Pro Cup Series and race for wins again. It’s pretty cool to be able to share these moments with my daughter, wife, and everyone that came out to support us tonight close to home.”
It took two occasions for Clay to make his way to the lead before eventually winning the Catawba Valley 250. The Mooresville, NC driver could only muster a sixth place starting position behind youngster Reid Wilson, who would lead the field to green after grabbing the MAHLE pole position during series qualifying.
His reign at the peak position didn’t even last a lap as series sophomore Dalton Hopkins grabbed the lead as the field exited off of turn two, with Morgan in tow. That quickly translated into Morgan showing his strength early taking the lead on lap 12.
Several battles throughout the field were mere highlights compared to the one for the lead. Morgan raced side-by-side for several laps with Wilson, while closed behind them. Rogers played his cards right on lap 33, taking advantage of the leaders mistake while racing hard against one another, resulting in both machines sliding up the track in turn three and putting Rogers in position to take the lead.
The first major incident of the night occurred on lap 58 when Stacy Puryear dive bombed the field, body slamming Andrew Smith, while in the sixth position, sending him spinning and stacking up the rest of the field behind him. Richard Gould, making his first start of the season, got the worst end of the deal suffering major cosmetic damage as the result. All drivers were able to continue, and so would green flag racing until the competition caution yellow on lap 125 allowing teams to pit for tires and fuel.
The results of the series redraw of the top eight drivers at the event’s halfway point put eighth place man Andrew Smith to the lead and Rogers to sixth to take the green on lap 126.
It didn’t take long for action to heat up on track as Lucas Ransone got squeezed into the outside wall by Hopkins during a pass for the second position on lap 129. The damage caused Ransone’s machine to cut a tire the following turn, sending him slamming into the outside wall and ending what looked to be a good night.
With Smith continuing to lead out front, it was Rogers once again stealing the show as he sliced his way through the field on the outside, finally making his way past Andrew Smith on lap 162. With the laps winding down, drivers began to make bids for position resulting in several yellow over the final 25 laps. Solo spins by Puryear and Smith due to contact on two different occasions slowed the field, taking away any chances of a podium finish for either driver.
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Up next for the CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series is the Anderson 250 at the Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamston, SC on Saturday, May 4. For more information, visit x1rprocup.com.
CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series
Hickory Motor Speedway Hickory, NC
Catawba Valley 250 – April 20, 2013
1. Clay Rogers
2. J.P. Morgan
3. Tyler Young
4. Eric Gerchak
5. Brady Boswell
6. Rusty Skewes
7. Richard Gould
8. Stacy Puryear
9. Dalton Hopkins
10. Gus Dean
11. Andrew Smith
12. John Gibson
13. Lucas Ransone
14. Reid Wilson
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