Race 7 of the ITRL Truck Series was the longest race on the Season 7 calendar and after a grueling couple of hours of racing, Storm Patterson came out on top of the world. This win, his third on the season sees Storm Patterson break the three-way tie in all time Truck Series wins to stand alone on top of the history books!
JCOMM Motorsports Storm Patterson wheeled his #45 Layin Coin Podcast Silverado to the victory leading a race high 54 circuits after starting P4, his seventh in the Truck Series and twenty-third in ITRL history, both top of the history books! This win solidified Storm Patterson as the odds on favorite for potentially his second ITRL Truck Series Championship.
M&M Motorsports Dave Matson finished P2 while having a mostly quiet night, sneaking into the Championship Chase field after starting P7, finishing P5 in the stage as well as snagging the Fastest Lap of the Race. Shoulder Boys Racing's Brandon Pamatat rounded out the podium ending Ryan Dingler's podium streak at three, Pamatat led 8 laps throughout the race and avoided trouble en-route to a good finish. Although Badger Racing's Ryan Dingler did not secure a fourth straight podium, he did grab the pole for the race and led 15 circuits en-route to a P5 finish. Free Agent Jackson Allen came back from the ashes in surprising fashion, qualifying P2, leading 39 circuits and winning the stage. Controversy struck late in the race when Allen attempted to slow up the field just before the restart zone causing a massive chain reaction crash which saw the driver of the #91 Silverado penalized under Section 7.1 of the Truck Series Rulebook which relegated him to a P19 finish.
In a post race statement to league officials, Allen stated that the Race Director had moved on from being The Count to being more like Angel Hernandez due to quote "this league proves to be the good ol boys club, and the call has always been a strike against me.". Renowned baseball umpire Angel Hernandez threw out pit reporter Storm Patterson when approached for comment. It is yet to be seen if this is the last we will see of Jackson Allen in an ITRL fire suit.
JCOMM Motorsports stepped up further by scoring 169 points on the night, while Sippin Shine saw a minor slip with Josh Culley not making the race Monday night scoring 158 points. The Championship Chase field is set, 12 Drivers battle it out over the final five races to crown the newest ITRL Truck Series Champion!
The Top 5 Driver Ratings From Charlotte:
Storm Patterson - 122.5
Brandon Pamatat - 111.1
Matt Cherry - 109.5
Dave Matson - 104.7
Jackson Allen - 103.4
Next week the series heads to Kansas to kick off the Championship Chase, Broadcast as always from the ITRN on YouTube!