Steve Robblee needed to only take a green flag at Flamboro Speedway to capture his second Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup presented by Benson Auto Parts championship.  He did that, and much more in the final round of the series.

The night started off with qualifying, and Josh Wood set the fastest time on the session, with Shawn McGlynn second, Dave Connelly third, with fourth going to Jay Doerr, making just his second attempt in the series.  Robblee almost didn’t make the green, as he hit the wall in qualifying, bending two rims and a right front shock.

When the green dropped on the first 50-lapper Wood took command of the race, leading the opening laps easily before Doerr and Robblee started putting pressure on Josh.  On lap 21, Wood slid high out of four and the duo struck, taking first and second. 

Doerr led Robblee until lap 40 when he had to head to the infield with the bottom of his car on fire.  This would turn the lead over to Robblee, with Doerr being done for the night.  Wood tried to pressure Robblee, but had to be very careful to protect second spot from pressure in the form of Brennan Didero and Matt Robblee.  Wood would hold them off for second in the final 10 laps, while Steve Robblee went on to capture his seventh feature win of the 14 that make up the campaign.  Didero would hold off Matt Robblee for fourth, with Cole Weber founding out the top-five.

Robblee spoke about winning the race, and locking up his second series championship, “I messed up in qualifying and hit the wall, but we were able to get the car back together.  It feels good to win another Sportsman championship.  I think there are some pretty good teams running this series.”

For Robblee in addition to his second Lucas Oil Sportsman Title, he was also able to capture his ninth Delaware Speedway Late Model crown, the JBM Leasing Triple Crown of events at Delaware, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Ontario Championship and currently sits fifth in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series National Championship.  He reflected on his banner campaign, “We had a lot of luck this year, and had good cars.  I think it’s pretty neat that we were able to do all that and finish in the top-five against guys from all over North America that race professionally.  We just do it for fun.”

The field would start straight up for the second 50-lapper, putting Steve on the pole, but his run to his first sweep of the season would come to a halt on lap nine when the transmission went on his car.  Wood took over and paced the field without any competition until the halfway point of the race when Weber shuffled Didero out of line for second along with Matt Robblee and started to shave the gap that Wood had established.

Weber reeled in Wood, and a lap 41 yellow would put Weber alongside of Wood for the restart, but Josh was able to hold serve on the restart.  The yellow flew again on lap 44 giving Weber one more crack and it, and after a thrilling battle, Weber took control.  Shawn McGlynn fought back from a spin earlier in the event to finish second, with Wood holding on to finish third.  Didero and Brown rounded out the top-five.

Matt Robblee was able to hold onto second in the point standings, by just three markers over Didero.  Connelly finished fourth, with rookie Weber in fifth.

By Jamie Maudsley of the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup