5/4/2025
New Smyrna Speedway
You Cant Judge A Book By Its Cover. 5/3/2025 Race Recap.
New Smyrna Speedway
5/3/2025
For a night that looked like it was going to be a straightforward Nascar Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing event, we had more twists and turns than anyone would have imagined!
The Ashley Homes Jax Pro Trucks would kick off the feature events with another strong competitive field. They would set the tone for the evening with a couple of incidents off turn 2 before we could get a lap in. On the first attempt, Nick Provost would make contact with Chuck Hiers sending him for a spin into the lap of Randy Koon’s number 2 machine. For the second race in a row, Hiers would not make it to the end of race 1. On the second attempt to get the race underway, Nick Provost would go around off the second corner with a tap from George Gorham and crash into the inside retaining wall. Both incidents were just racing deals, but they made for a slow start.
Once things finally got going, Maria Martins would battle with her brother Wilson Martin’s Jr. for the race lead. Wilson would get the clean air and open up a big lead. The battle for the runner up position was the story of the race as several intense battles would ensue. As the laps wound down, JT Chastain and George Gorham would battle door to door, thrilling the crowd to try to get track position in hopes to chase down Wilson Martins Jr. With the race going green for 25 laps and the various battles throughout bottling up the other contenders, Wilson Martins Jr. would hold on to take home a convincing victory. JT Chastain would hold of George Gorham for second and Gorham would round out the podium finishers!
Another strong field of Bomber B racers would try to follow up the great racing of the Pro Trucks and they sure did put on a show. After Dustin Higdon purchased Zachary Curtis’ dominate 63 car after last week’s event, Curtis would debut a brand new car and try to come from the back for his 4th win of the season. Curtis would quickly make his way from last to 3rd but on lap 4 a mechanical issue would cause his car to lose power. Curtis would return and once again make his way up to 3rd and boom, the car shut down again. This would mark the competitive end to Curtis’ evening.
With Curtis behind the eight ball, the race for the lead was between Dustin Higdon (in Curtis’ old car) and newcomer Coty Gray. The two would battle for the lead eventually coming together in turn 2 causing Higdon to lose control and slam the turn 2 wall ending his night. With both 63 cars out of contention the door was wide open for someone else to get to victory lane. On the final restart Coty Gray and Georgia’s Jason Lang would battle for the win and as they raced for the top spot, Lindsey Samion would try to steal the lead. Coming to the white flag, Samion would get to Gray’s bumper in turn 4 but she would lose control after a round of bumper tag. With Samion’s spin, Coty Gray would take off and claim his first New Smyrna Speedway victory and first on asphalt! Georgia’s Jason Lang would end his debut in the 2nd position with Tim Nicholas surviving this wild race in 3rd.
For 23 laps the Super Stocks ran another fantastic race, but all of that went out the window with a Brandon Gaither spin off the front bumper of Chase Symons. Chase would “tap out” giving Brandon his sport back. On the first green white checker attempt, Gaither would get the jump on Blake Clouser, who had dominated the race to this point. However, Max Wheeler would spin in turn two and get tagged by Shawn Held, setting up another restart. This time, Clouser would restart on the bottom and he and Gaither were side by side, trying to get position on each other as they looked to enter the first corner. As the track narrowed, they would run out of real estate and Gaither would pound the front stretch wall, finishing off the car with another huge hit in turn 1. When the dust settled, Gaither would climb out of his car and show his displeasure with Clouser by tossing his HANS device in frustration.
Once everything was cleaned up, Blake Clouser would lead veterans Bobby Holley and George Spears to the green. The Veterans would gang up on the young hot shoe and they would battle three wide for the win. Bobby Holley would let it all hang out as he would use the high side to take the lead at the white flag and hold off Clouser for the win! It seems a fire was lit under the entire Holley team after last week’s wild finish, as some may argue this was the drive of his career. Holley would survive the late race chaos and score his first win of the year. Blake Clouser would come home 2nd and show remorse in his interview after the contact with Brandon Gaither. George Spears would battle back from a broken ball joint in the right front that put him in the wall in the heat race, to finish 3rd!
The Mod Minis would close out the night with a clean and green 15 lap feature. Dylan Reynolds would dominate the race leading all 15 laps, but it got interesting with 2 to go. Reynolds with slip in turn 4, allowing Brad Blanton to close and challenge for the win! Reynolds would recover from the bobble to collect his 2nd win of 2025. Brad Blanton settled for the runner up spot, with Mark Broat claiming the last podium position in 3rd.
This night proved “You can’t judge a book by its cover” as our racers put on a great show for the fans in attendance. It was an action-packed night full of surprises and great racing to boot. We look forward to another round of exciting racing action after the off week (much needed for some) on May 17th with the Hoosier Pro Late Model Challenge Series Twin 50s, plus Sportsman, Bomber A and E-Mods on the card as well!
Full Race Results: https://www.newsmyrnaspeedway.org/schedules/event/544272
Full Event Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@SpeedwayVideo
Event Photos: https://jimjonesphoto.photoreflect.com/
Article Credit: Ryan Stevens
Submitted By: Ryan Stevens
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