"We were going off the #80 (Jason Thales) team's notes," Borlan said. "Those guys led first practice, were top-10 in final practice. I figured we'd improve and could just try to earn enough points on the night since we started the night one point out. A win wasn't on my radar until quals."
Meanwhile, the race for the final playoff position came down to Kenny Knox and Craig Martin. With Borlan sneaking into the playoffs from outside the cut line, plus Robert Harrison and Eric Van Arsdale safely ahead, Knox had to fight off a fast #82 on points. "We started the weekend fast, but when Martin led final practice we were nervous," Knox said. Although he spent most of the race near the back of the field, the #76 avoided two different multi-car accidents to gain enough spots and hang onto the 12th and final playoff spot. Despite finishing 7th, Martin was the first driver out. "It just sucks cause I couldn't do anything at the end," Martin said. "The guys in front drove away and my chances at points fell off. But fair play to Knox, he's had a better season than us." With Borlan entering the playoffs, one driver did end up dropping out. Jacob Rose was one point to the good entering the race, but he slammed right into the spinning Joey Radcliffe and 19carfan that brought out the first caution and sent Rose to a 40th place run. Jay Jefferson and eventual regular season points leader Conor Mays were also involved. The race did end under caution as a result of two part-timers, Tyler Reid and Steve Rea, getting together in turn 1 and collecting multiple cars, including playoff contenders Dwayne Callaway, Chris Harley, Kyle Law, and Austin Rogers, all of whom were either clinched going into the race or safe to advance.
"We're putting most of our chips into this race," crew chief Noah Bruce said. "It's probably going to be a sacrifice to our playoffs performance if we make it, but it means nothing if we don't make it in the first place. We've been lacking the speed regardless.
Martin has a best finish of 10th at Grand Detour Raceway, a short track like Nazareth, but has eight top-20s in the 11 races this season. Here's the top-10 from final practice: 1) Craig Martin - 27.322 (111 laps) 2) 19carfan - 27.330 (110) 3) Ray Chapman - 27.358 (112) 4) Chris Harley - 27.360 (103) 5) Alexander Rowe - 27.361 (105) 6) Ryan Kendall - 27.367 (108) 7) Jason Thales - 27.370 (111) 8) Conor Mays - 27.371 (111) 9) Kyle Basaglia - 27.379 (109) 10) Robert Harrison - 27.382 (105) |
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