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Kyle Hall Splits Twin 50's and Captures Two Top Fives
Returning to Southern National Raceway Park, site of Kyle Hall first two wins of the season, the young phenomenon came back determined to continue his steak by making it 3 in a row.
After Hall and his crew made their first practice run, all were satisfied by the overall response of the car. "The guys pretty much picked up where we left it the previous week," Hall said. "Other than being a little bit tight, the car's perfect."
Hall's 69 Chevrolet crew only had to make minor adjustments to dial the car in perfectly. With four new Hoosier tires, Hall gave a valiant effort to capture his first pole of the season. However, the 69 car was edged out by a mere .02 seconds and settled for a second place qualifying position.
Due to a 4-car invert, Hall started the first 50 lap race in 3rd place. A determined Hall took the green and flew to the front in only 5 laps. A few laps later, the 99 car of Corey Strickland got under Hall, challenging him for the lead. Hall raced Strickland on the outside for about 4 laps until Strickland finally got the lead.
As the race progressed, Hall closed the gap, stuck the nose of the 69 under Strickland's rear bumper, and waited for the right time to make his move. With two laps to go, Hall was harassing Strickland's bumper, challenging for the lead. On the final lap at the last turn, Hall unintentionally got into the back of Strickland. The bump caused the 99 to spin, and Hall took the checker and the win.
Although this was Hall's third win in a row, he didn't consider it as one. "I didn't mean to get into the back of Corey like that," Hall said. "I hate to win races that way."
Because Hall won the first race, and due to a 5-car invert, he started 5th for the second 50-lap race. When Hall got the green, he realized that his motor had lost power. Fighting a poor motor, Hall managed to steal the 4th spot and attempted to work his way toward the third place car.
However, Hall's motor kept getting worse and he cold never make it around the 3rd place car and finished 4th and another top 5 finish.
