After finally getting their season rolling last weekend at Star Speedway, the G.O. Motorsports NELCAR Legends Tour rolled into Oxford Plains Speedway this past Sunday for their second event of the 2019 race season.
17 drivers showed up to compete and the field was set by two 10-lap qualifying heats. Matt Grant took off with the early lead in the first heat. The #09 of Thomas Searles took a spin on lap 3 in turn 2, leading to the first caution of the heat.
Eric Lebrun, Jr. gained momentum on the restart, pulling into the lead. By lap 8, Matt Grant was all over Lebrun, hungry for the top spot. Lebrun held him off, scoring the heat victory. Colby Meserve rounded out the top 3.
Peter Craig powered into the early lead in the second heat, but both Casey Call and Luke Lebrun were closely lingering behind the leader. The top 3 finally fell back into line on lap 4. The #07 of Nick Calvert was on the move mid-heat, breaking the top 5 on lap 6. Casey Call took over the lead in the closing laps as Peter Craig fell back to third. Calvert continued his pursuit to the front, moving into the fourth spot on the final lap of the heat. Casey Call took home the heat victory, followed by Luke Lebrun and Peter Craig.
After the field was set, it was time for the 25-lap feature. Bob Weymouth took off with the early lead, but trouble was brewing for the #4 of Peter Craig. He took a spin on the initial lap in turn 4, but the field remained green.
Luke Lebrun powered into the lead on lap 5, but all of the top 5 cars were neck & neck, battling it out for the top spot. Thomas Everson took a spin on lap 9 in turn 1, leading to the first caution of the feature.
Aliyah Neale, Ryan Rice and Peter Craig tangled on lap 12 in turn 1, leading to another caution. This incident was followed by another incident on lap 14, with Aliyah Neale and Peter Craig getting together once again in turn 3. This second incident brought the yellow out once again.
Casey Call, the leader at the time of the caution, headed to the pits under caution, as his back bumper was dragging. This sudden turn of events put Colby Meserve into the lead. There was a 3-car breakaway by lap 18 at the front of the field. Matt Grant had also navigated through the field, moving up to fourth.
There was a bit of chaos on the backstretch on the final lap, as the #90 of Casey Call ignited and the #84 of Matt Grant took a spin. This shook up the top 5 before the field entered the final two turns.
Colby Meserve sailed into the victory, collecting his first-ever NELCAR Legends Tour victory. Luke Lebrun, Eric Lebrun, Jr., Thomas Everson and Jack Walker rounded out the top five.
Full Official Results:
1 92 COLBY MESERVE
2 27MA LUKE LEBRUN
3 17MA ERIC LEBRUN JR
4 14 THOMAS EVERSON
5 95J JACK WALKER
6 399 BOB WEYMOUTH
7 O7 NICK CALVERT
8 35 RYAN RICE
9 84 MATT GRANT
10 129 BRANDON DOUGLAS
11 14MA ALIYAH NEALE
12 15 TREVOR KROUSE
13 O9 THOMAS SEARLES
14 90 CASEY CALL
15 6 DAVID KINNEY
16 57 MIKE DELLAVECCHIA
17 4 PETER CRAIG
Congrats to Mike Olanovich and Kevin Girard, Jr. for putting on a great, clean show for the fans on Sunday and congrats to Colby Merserve for picking up his first career tour victory! It was also a strong showing for Nick Calvert, one of the drivers on the Chasing the Checkered roster.
You can catch the tour next at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway next Thursday, June 13th for the opening night of Thursday Night Thunder. The racing action begins at 7:00 pm, adult admission is only $7 and children 12 and under get in free! I hope to see you there!
Thank you to my website sponsors, Texas Roadhouse Scarborough, Four Season Synthetic and Drown Excavation. None of this would be possible without you!
