By Tom Gianinni

(LAKELAND, FL) The ASRS Super Late Model season got off to a thrilling start yesterday at USA International Speedway. The track in Lakeland, Florida provided some excellent racing from flag to flag and saw team mates battling to the very end for the win. 33 cars entered the race with only 32 spots available. Seth Rawls was the lone driver to miss the show after qualifying was complete.

The night was dominated by the 01 of Jared Mogard and that started in time trials when Mogard grabbed the pole for the 100 lap event. Starting on his outside was Jake Douglas, third was Justin Blackdeer, fourth was Travis Wright and Jonathan Holstein rounded out the top 5. The race was exceptional with double file racing the entire length of green flag runs.

The race put fans on the edge of their seat for the last lap when team mates Zachary Bozanich made contact batting for the lead. After leading 99 laps of the 100 lap event, Mogard would not lead the most important lap. The contact would relegate Mogard to a fifth place finish but all was well with the team mates post-race.

Jared Mogard reacted after the race: “We had a good car all race long and dominated the deal. Was surprised to sit on the pole and was even more surprised on how good the car was throughout that race. The last lap last corner deal was just a hard racing thing for the win. Me and my teammate Zac were running each other really hard and I threw a big block on him with about 3 to go and expected a bump the next corner but didn’t get one. He got under me on the final lap and we battled hard. We talked right after we crossed the line about it and I looked at the replay. It looked like he clipped the yellow line and got loose just a little bit. We finished fifth, a solid start to the series opener. Gotta congratulate Zac on the win, he’s a hell of a teammate and races clean.”

Bozanich was thrilled with his win, especially considering how deep he started back in the field: “Started 27th tonight after a mistake in qualifying. I knew I had a fast car in race trim. The whole Maxxed Out Motorsports team proved that by running up front and Mogard leading every lap but one. I didn’t think I’d be able to pass Jared but he made a couple mistakes and left the door open on the last lap and I came out with the win. Wish we could have gotten a 1-2 for the team but our contact ruined that and he ended up 5th. All in all it was a great night for the team can’t thank them all enough and we are ready for next week!”

Behind Bozanich, Jonathan Holstein turned his strong ride into a second place finish. Justin Blackdeer backed up his strong qualifying run and finished third. Rex Hoyle finished an impressive fourth and Jared Mogard rounded out the top 5. The series will roll on to the Southern National Motorsports Park next Wednesday for some more night racing.