Prudhomme Wins First Career Lucas Oil Feature - Robblee Wins First 50

The Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series Presented by Benson Auto Parts was in action Sunday August second to make up for an earlier rain out this year at Flamboro Speedway.

The first order of the day was qualifying, and point leader Steve Robblee was able to extend his point lead with a pole winning run, besting Shawn McGlynn by 0.14 second for the top spot in time trials.  Cole Weber was third, with Josh Wood and Kevin Trevellin rounding out the top-five.

Following a 10-car inversion, Matt Robblee would bring the field to the green, but things didn’t run very smoothly for Robblee as contact spun him out before there was even a lap on the board.

Steve Robblee would blast his way to the front of the pack, and in less than 10 laps had taken the lead.  He would put some distance between himself and Mitchell Brown, until McGlynn spun with just four laps to go.  On the restart Robblee would again check out, while Brown was forced to fight off Bob Merrifield for second.  Merrifield was able to get by Brown, and bring Dave Connelly with him on the bottom, as Brown, the youngster, would have to fight for a fourth-place finish.  Merrifield finished second, with Connelly claiming the bronze medal, and Robblee winning his third feature of the season in five starts.

Robblee spoke about the win in victory lane, “We were able to get to the front pretty quickly with all the contact.  Now we’ll get the car ready for the second race.”

Dirt sensation Chris Raabe finished fifth in his asphalt debut, but the car was a few pounds light in post race inspection and he was penalized for the infraction, moving Brennan Didero to fifth in the running order.

Following another inversion Josh Wood and Prudhomme were on the front row for the second 50-lap feature, and Prudhomme was able to take the early lead, while McGlynn and Wood swapped second spot a number of times.

Wood would get another crack at the top spot as he passed Prudhomme on a restart, and would lead uncontested until lap 43.

Steve Robblee had worked his way through the field and moved into second shortly before the yellow with just seven to go.

On the restart, Robblee raced into turn one on the outside of Wood, but Josh got in to the corner too deep and drove into the side of Robblee’s car.

Robblee would gain control, but lost several spots while trying to gain control of his car and found himself outside the top-five.

Another yellow with three laps to go would set up the one-mile shootout between Wood and Prudhomme, and Dan was able to get the jump on the outside, clearing Josh while racing into turn three.  Prudhomme held onto the lead and captured his first career Sportsman feature win, with Wood second, Connelly third, Weber fourth, and McGlynn fifth.

An excited Prudhomme spoke about the last restart afterwards, “I wanted the outside lane.  It seemed to be the best on the restarts, and as long as you pinched down the inside guy, you had a shot.  I knew we had a good car, and that if we didn’t get that caution, I wouldn’t have got Josh for sure.” 

For Prudhomme it was just his sixth start in the division, and he is enjoying his time on tour so far.  “This is just an awesome feeling, and the series is a pretty good deal.  These cars are a lot more stable that the Open Wheel Modifieds that I drove before, and the guys did a great job.  Our car wasn’t good in the first 50, and we made a ton of changes for the second one and the car was so much better.”

The points chase was tight coming into the event.  While Robblee had a healthy lead, second through seventh were separated by just nine markers.

With a pair of bronze medals, Connelly should move to second in points, with McGlynn likely remaining third.

The next event for the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup will be this Saturday, August eighth, at Capital City Speedway in Ottawa.

1st 50 – 1. S. Robblee, 2. Merrifield, 3. Connelly, 4. Brown, 5. Didero

2nd 50 – 1. Prudhomme, 2. Wood, 3. Connelly, 4. Weber, 5. McGlynn.

More photos available at www.maudsleymotorsports.com.