JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Mason Maggio held off Josh Lowder to score the victory in Saturday night’s Carolina 250 presented by Atlantic Turfscapes at Goodyear All American Speedway after a thrilling battle between the top-two drivers.
Maggio entered Saturday’s race trailing Lowder in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series standings with each driver having a win on the season. Both drivers found themselves with a shot at their second win, racing side-by-side for the lead in a battle royale that took place for nearly 40 of the race’s 100 laps.
When it was settled, it was Maggio taking the lead, and the win, pulling away in the final 10 laps to secure his second career win.
“Class act by Josh,” Maggio said. “I knew at the beginning, it was just going to be a matter of saving until we got to that halfway break. At that point, when we got to the outside on the restart, I knew I had to try something to try to get the lead or get on his back bumper. Once we did that, I knew we were in good position. Josh is obviously a tough racer and he wasn’t going to give up easily. There are times where we played defense. We rubbed a little bit, but not enough to get mad at each other and continue to put on a good show for the fans and Racing America.
“I think we’re going to see a lot more battles between me and Josh for the rest of the season.”
After the race, Lowder told Racing America he enjoyed the battle for the lead and had hoped to mount one last charge for the win.
“I’ll say if you didn’t like that race, you don’t like racing,” Lowder said. “I backed off of him there the last 20 laps, got behind him, and tried to cool the tires and give it one more run but the right front’s flat, it was going down. I wasn’t quite as good as him, but we were so close. If he made a mistake, I could have got him. Thanks to Goodyear All American Speedway for having us. That was a great race.”
Dan Spenney picked up the win in the Carolina Crate Modified Series 60-lap feature over Dean Lowder.
11-year-old Tristan McKee, who has quickly become a rising star in Eastern North Carolina short track racing, swept a pair of 50-lap feature races in the Atlantic Turfscapes Super Truck Series.
Travis Miller scored the Mini Stock victory while John Ottaway won in the Champ Kart class.