Loudon, New Hampshire - The third short track on the 4 Wide season seven schedule was once again a game of follow the leader.
In what is becoming a case of deja vu, for the third time in four weeks the number 98 car of Brandon Hawkin paced the field for the near the entirety of the race. That track position helped Hawkin avoid the myriad of carnage that occurred over the course of the race who noted after the race: "Everything played out well for [me] and I'm glad I didn't get caught up in anything".
RELATED: Race results | Standings
Hawkin, who led 147 of the race's 155 laps was fully aware of how treacherous the low banked mile long New Hampshire Motor Speedway could be. "It was really tricky to drive, you had to be on it because if you washed up it could step out [on you]" he said. Hawkin now moves into 15th in the season seven driver standings with half as many starts (4) as the drivers ahead of him in points (8).
TOP 3 FINISHERS
The rest of the field however was not so lucky in avoiding the chaos that took place over the 155 laps of the 'magic mile', with 20 of the race's 34 drivers receiving driver penalties for excess incident points. The eighth stop on the 4 Wide schedule, the race produced the most cautions (22) of the season so far. In fact, race winner Hawkin was the only driver not to be involved in a single incident.
WATCH: Race Replay
The calamity caused an abrupt end to the races several of season seven's strongest contenders. Points leader Jayden Porter turned in a disappointing 24th finish after being collected on lap 133 trying to avoid a sideways number 38 Kyle Benson and who would ironically go on to take the point lead from Porter. Chicagoland and Auto Club winner Steven Maggio's car was finally turned to scrap metal on lap 98 after multiple incidents and would settle for a 29th place finish.
All time wins leader Lawson Peel started 2nd on the grid and had good track position for most of the night: but it couldn't save him from getting pummeled when he missed a shift on lap 128 and then collected by his own teammate Brandon Banks aborting a pitstop on the ensuing yellow flag. He would finish a lap down in 27th.
STAT REPORT
Season 2 winner Scott Healy grabbed 2nd position despite having to repair damage early in the race. "I had some wheel damage, I managed to fix it [without going a lap down]. Thankfully my car handled much better once I did". "Hopefully I can continue to make more starts this season" Healy said, "Charlotte [next week] is one of my best tracks".
Managing your damage and driving back through the field in the caution filled race was the key to a strong finish for many drivers like Healy. Long time series veteran Craig Lautenslager drove his number 13 Ford Mustang, which more closely resembled the 'shit mobile' from the Trailer Park Boys by race end, through the field multiple times to grab a 7th place finish.
His Murray-Reedy Motorsports teammate Kyle Benson was strong all night, rounding out the podium positions in 3rd place. "It was one the 'races' of all time, the set up was not very good" he said. "Hawkin was very fast so I was tailing him all night". Benson reclaimed the points lead from Porter with his top three finish and now enjoys a slim 4 point advantage.
The 4 Wide Racing League will continue it's regular season at Charlotte on Wednesday November 20th (9PM EST, Kbueno Racing Network on YouTube).
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