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Matt Craig and Raphael Lessard split a pair of CARS Super Late Model twin features on Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Craig enjoyed an impressive weekend, also winning the PASS South Super Late Model race at Caraway, made his way to Victory Lane in the first CARS Super race of the rain-delayed event.

The turning point of the race for Craig was on Lap 63 when Rapahel Lessard and Brandon Setzer made contact for second with the reigning PASS South champion just behind them. That moved Craig to second for the ensuing restart.

He got the jump on the outside line on Fogleman but couldn’t maintain the lead. However, Craig was able to stay behind Fogleman and passed him in the final laps. That was the second CARS SLM victory of the season for Craig’s No. 54 team.

“The 99 (Lessard) and 6 (Setzer) spun out and gave us a good gift and let us catch up,” said Craig. “That got us on the front row to restart beside Tate. We took him over on the outside and just tried to set sail, but he was really good.

“What an amazing night, a win last night and a win tonight.”

  1. Matt Craig
  2. Tate Fogleman
  3. Lucas Jones
  4. Raphael Lessard
  5. Brandon Setzer
  6. Nolan Pope
  7. Mike Speeney
  8. Jeff Batten
  9. Tyler Church
  10. Kodie Conner
  11. Cole Rouse
  12. Christian Eckes
  13. Trevor Noles

Twin No. 2

In the second 75-lap twin, Craig took the lead at te start but couldn’t hold off Lessard who contended despite the damage sustained from the first race.

Lessard caught and moved under Craig on Lap 34 and held off Craig despite two late-race cautions. Fogleman caught Lessard with 15 laps to go but couldn’t complete the pass despite heavy contact between the two.

The reigning CARS Tour Super Late champion crossed the line first over Cole Rouse and Fogleman.

“We got some damage in the first race and I can’t thank everyone enough at David Gilliland Racing,” Lessard said. “They worked very hard to fix the car between the races and we came back and it was like a brand new car.

“I knew something was wrong. At the end it was even worse, but I can’t thank everyone enough. Toyota, my parents, for making this possible.”

  1. Raphael Lessard
  2. Cole Rouse
  3. Tate Fogleman
  4. Brandon Setzer
  5. Lucas Jones
  6. Matt Craig
  7. Kodie Conner
  8. Jeff Batten
  9. Tyler Church
  10. Mike Speeney
  11. Nolan Pope
  12. Christian Eckes
  13. Trevor Noles

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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