Nick Neri Surges to Billy Joe Ingram Memorial 154 Victory at Auburndale

Nick Neri surged late to win the inaugural UARA National Billy Joe Ingram Memorial 154 at Auburndale Speedway on Saturday night.

Neri took the lead with seven laps to go, after a surprising turn of events. Michael Atwell led nearly 100 laps in the event, and appeared destined for his second UARA National victory of the season.

However, Atwell's place slowed in the closing laps with brake issues, with a small fire glowing from the right-front of his No. 14. That, timed with a late charge from Neri, allowed the latter to take the lead on lap 148 and snag the win.

No stranger to racing at Auburndale, Neri knew maintaining brakes over 154 laps would be a challenge, and that knowledge played to his advantage when it mattered most.

"The car was great all night," said Neri in victory lane. "That first half, I wanted to lead lap 54 to get that little bit of bonus on there. I wanted to make sure I got that, and then after that, it was a lot of riding and saving. There's a lot of guys that have issues with 50 laps here saving brakes, so I knew brakes were going to be a big issue."

Despite some contact late in the race impacting the handling of his car, Neri carried on and capitalized when Atwell slowed in the closing laps.

"At the end, the last couple of restarts, the toe got knocked out a little bit. It got a little tight on me. I was trying to save as much as I could to make a push there at the end. As soon as I started to go, I think his brakes started fading and it all just worked out for me in the end.

"I feel like we were pretty equal. He got me on one of the restarts, and after that, I felt like we were a little bit better in the center, a little bit better off. I didn't think I was going to be good enough to pass him unless there was something going wrong. It was just kind of waiting, maybe if I had brakes at the end if a caution came."

Atwell, the Rattler 250 winner at South Alabama Speedway earlier this year, salvaged a runner-up finish, fading brakes and all.

"You know, those last 10 laps, I didn't have any brakes," explained Atwell. "I was pumping them up as much as I could, but it gets to a point where it just starts pushing fluid. There's a parts failure somewhere where it's releasing fluid.

"We showed up yesterday and the car was not very good. The guys behind me worked their asses off to give me a good car. I can't thank them enough for all the help they give me for one goal, and that's to win. We came up one spot short tonight, so on to the next one."

Despite missing out on Saturday's win, his speed both at Auburndale and throughout the season give him confidence moving into the second half of the season.

"Going to the next race is just another race," said Atwell. "You forget about the past, obviously. I've got a lot of confidence. The car was good, and I now these guys behind me, the whole year, we've been good wherever we go, whether we start off terrible or start off good. We always get it there. We'll just go back to the next one with the same goal."

After setting fast time in qualifying, Daniel Webster accepted a last-to-first challenge. His bid for the win came up two spots short, as he rallied to a third-place finish.

"That was maximum effort," said Webster. "I just needed a caution. I don't know if I could have done anything with those two, but it would have been nice to try. It's hard to pass here against good cars. It took me too long to get clear of Cody [Stickler]. Once I did, those three are so far gone.

"All in all, I got ping-ponged and beat up a little bit, but last to third here without any major damage is solid."

Stephen Nasse finished fourth, with Wayne Smith rounding out the top five.

The next stop for UARA National is a return to Berlin Raceway for the TEKTON 250 Battle at Berlin on August 13.

Billy Joe Ingram 154 Unofficial Results