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Concord, N.C. :: Saturday night at Concord Speedway may have seperated the contenders from the pretenders regarding the CARS Tour Super Late Model championship.

Five drivers entered the short track tricky triangle within striking distance but only one of them emerged totally satisfied. That was Raphael Lessard whom extended his advantage with career victory No. 2 on  Saturday while his cloest competitors each dealt with a variety of issues.

Lessard extended his lead from four points to 15 over Brandon Setzer and 25 over Quinn Houff. With only three races remaining, Lessard admitted to playing the ‘what if’ game regarding the season championship.

“We’re very excited,” Lessard said after the race. “I’m trying not to think about it — the points and stuff. I just want to think about doing my best and doing the job and the points will come to me. The guys work very hard, we’re all proud and I’m proud of them. This is amazing.”

Lessard already caught one lucky break when defending champion Cole Timm announced that he wouldn’t make the race on Saturday. His car was damaged last month at Orange County and just couldn’t get repaired in time.

Missing the race essentially eliminated Timm from back-to-back crowns.

And then there was Setzer, whom started on the row with Lessard due to a qualifying rain out but he didn’t stay there for long. The second generation driver quickly fell outside of the top-5 and pitted several times to try to find more speed.

He eventually had to settle for ninth in the limited 15-car field.

“We just weren’t good,” Setzer said. “I don’t know. I thought we were okay in practice. Not great. But good enough. We were terrible. We just couldn’t get the set-up figured out.”

He’s looking forward to next weekend at Southern National Motorsports Park, where he is the reigning champion of the track’s Thanksgiving Super Late Model classic. He has a feel for that track and believes it could spark a second half championship surge.

“I just look forward to getting back to someplace we know,” Setzer said. “I feel pretty confident there and about our ability to get that right. I know that place. It’s fast in my mind. It’s also a tire management race and those suit us. We don’t have the speed for a straight-up race so Southern National plays into our strengths.”

Quinn Houff finished third, which was good enough to close on Setzer, but not on Lessard. Here are the championship standings with only Southern National, Myrtle Beach and Hickory remaining.

  1. Lessard Ldr.
  2. Setzer -25
  3. Houff -25
  4. Timm -49

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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