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Trevor Noles gained plenty of experience in Super Late Models over the last few seasons. On Saturday night, he mixed things up in a new ride at Southern National Motorsports Park.

The 21-year-old Noles climbed into a Late Model Stock machine for the first time, eyeing an appearance at the prestigious ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway. The night provided its own excitement, with Noles overcoming adversity to score a fourth-place finish in the second 40-lap feature of the evening in Lucama, North Carolina.

Noles quickly adapted to his Fat Head Racing Late Model, qualifying fourth out of 20 cars for the first race of the evening. However, a misfire in the engine ended the first race for Noles and his team.

Forced to start from the rear of the field for the second race, Noles charged through the 20-car field. Noles finished fourth in the second race, beating out defending track champion Jonathan Findley for the spot.

“That was a lot of fun,” Noles said after the night of racing. “This was my first time in one of these things. I’m used to the left-hander, Super Late Model racing.”

While the first race could have left a sour taste in Noles’ mouth, rallying to finish the night strong gave Noles a boost of confidence for the Jamie Yelton-prepared Late Model effort moving forward.

“I just wish we could have done a little better in the first race, not had to start in the rear in the second race,” said Noles.  “That motor kind of killed us in the first race. But we’ll be back. I can’t thank Noles Cabinets, Jamie Yelton, and Fat Head Racing enough.”

The Late Model appearance came at a track where Noles has plenty of experience and success. A native of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, roughly an hour from Southern National, Noles considers the 0.400-mile facility his home track.

Noles won a Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model event at Southern National in November of 2014, holding off Christopher Bell to win that 200-lap event. Southern National is also the site of Noles’ best finish in the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Super Late Model Tour, finishing fourth in this year’s season opener.

“It was a lot of fun,” Noles said about the Late Model start at Lucama. “I love these guys here, love to come racing down here. I love Kenly, it’s my home track.”

Despite the strong run – and having fun – Noles’ focus remains on Super Late Model racing. He does hope to run the Late Model Stock car when time allows, particularly for big races. Short-term, the team is focused on going to Martinsville Speedway for Late Model Stock racing’s crown jewel event in October.

“It’s just going to be here-and-there,” Noles said of his Late Model schedule. “We are wanting to run Martinsville. That’s what our game plan is for now. We’re just coming here to shake down the car tonight. We have a good car. I’m just ready to keep racing. I love racing, I love these guys and racing around. I’m just fortunate.”

Zach Evans is in his second season covering short track racing, A 2012 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Evans is a proud alumnus of The Daily Tar Heel, the school's award-winning independent student newspaper.

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