Casey Roderick, seen here from an earlier event, scored his second Southern Super Series Championship on Sunday at New Smyrna Speedway. Photo: Montgomery Motor Speedway
Casey Roderick had to wait an extra day to finish the defense of his Southern Super Series title.
As the series finale Hart to Heart 100 played out Sunday at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway, the 27-year-old Lawrenceville, Georgia, driver made offense his best defense, driving through the field to claim back-to-back Super Series championships – and another $10,000 in prize money.
“To be a back-to-back champion, it’s an accomplishment for sure,” Roderick said after finishing fourth. “There is a lot of tough competition out here, but we have the championship.
“That’s what we came here for.”
Choquette Grabs Another Win
Roderick wasn’t the only driver celebrating on the sun-soaked afternoon.
Florida native Jeff Choquette claimed his first Southern Super Series win of 2019 at New Smyrna’s inaugural Southern Super Series race, leading the final 85 laps of the 100-lap feature in his Jett Motorsports entry. Stephen Nasse finished second in a second Jett-prepared car, followed by Giovanni Bromante, Roderick and Anthony Sergi.
Choquette, who started fourth, passed Logan Bearden for the lead on lap 16 and drove away from all challengers. The 95-degree heat index proved to be his greatest competition.
Jeff Choquette celebrates in victory lane after winning Sunday’s Southern Super Series season finale at New Smyrna Speedway. Photo by Joe VanHoose
“You never know which one is going to be your last – I haven’t raced much this year,” explained Choquette in victory lane before catching his breath. “Woah – that was a hot one! I never thought when I was younger that I would be hot and worn out after one of these, but that’s the case.”
The heat caught drivers and race teams in the 24-car field off-guard. While initially slated for Saturday night, lingering rain from Tropical Storm Nestor pushed all track activity to Sunday. The abundant sunshine made for much looser track conditions than drivers had anticipated.
Championship Drive
Roderick started eighth, needing to finish 10th or better to secure the championship. But Roderick pitted during the first of three caution periods after Vincent Staggs spun down the frontstretch on lap 14.
“The car was just getting extremely free early,” Roderick said. “The stagger opened up on it, so we needed to come in and close it up.”
On the restart, Roderick was buried in 21st position. For a moment, the championship was out of his grasp.
But Roderick kept reaching. The late model veteran sliced through the field, even bouncing off a few cars as he charged forward. Even in the closing laps with the championship in-hand, Roderick used the treacherous outside line to move from seventh to fourth past Michael Atwell, George Gorham and Sergi.
“To come out of the pits and pass almost everyone under green, that was big for us,” Roderick said.
Sunday’s drive was in-character for Roderick. He didn’t hoist a first-place trophy on the Southern Super Series 10-race campaign, but he finished the season with five top-fives – including three second-place finishes – in the last six races.
Roderick kept turning in top-five finishes even as he had to change rides midseason, moving into Donnie Wilson’s No. 22 after Ronnie Sanders’ longtime No. 18 team folded.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of it and have guys like Ronnie Sanders and Donnie Wilson come together to support me,” Roderick said.
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Count former NASCAR team owner James Finch in Roderick’s corner, too – Phoenix Construction, Finch’s company, was the primary sponsor on Roderick’s car Sunday.
Georgia Drivers Look Ahead
Roderick hopes to parlay his Southern Super Series championship into a marquee win to close out the season. He plans to race at the upcoming All-American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and wrap up his season at the Snowball Derby.
Bubba Pollard, the Senoia, Georgia driver who has won more than a dozen races this year, will also factor into those late model crown jewels, as well as the Governor’s Cup back at New Smyrna in November. Pollard finished 12th Sunday in David Rogers’ No. 11 car.
Southern Super Series
New Smyrna Speedway – New Smyrna Beach, FL
Hart To Heart 100* – October 20, 2019
1. Jeff Choquette
2. Stephen Nasse
3. Giovanni Bromante
4. Casey Roderick
5. Anthony Sergi
6. George Gorham
7. Michael Atwell
8. Jesse Dutilly
9. Connor Okrzesik
10. Jeremy Pate
11. Logan Bearden
12. Bubba Pollard
13. Brandon Herbert
14. Rich Clouser
15. Brad May
16. Trey Bayne
17. Kyle Sieg
18. Daniel Keene, Jr.
19. Jake Crum
20. Todd Stone
21. Chris Staggs
22. Jett Noland
23. Colin Allman
24. Vincent Staggs
*Unofficial Race Results
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