Max Reeves took to a commanding victory in Race 5 of the Pro Late Model portion of the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway, winning by more than four seconds in the second straight, nearly clean and green 60 lap Pro Late Model feature.
With a seven-car invert setting the lineup, Gabriel Cassagrande jumped out front at the start and controlled the opening laps. Behind him, Reeves began his march forward.
By lap 15, Reeves had caught Cassagrande, but just as Reeves was making the pass, the race’s lone caution fell when Buddy Head and Jarrett Butcher tangled on the frontstretch.
On the restart, Reeves wasted no time. He powered past Cassagrande on the outside of Turn 1 to take control — from there, he led the final 45 laps uncontested enroute to victory.
The statement win was Reeves’ second victory of the World Series as he looks ahead to Thursday’s Hart to Heart 100.
“It means a lot just to get this one over our heads,” Reeves told FloRacing “I knew the car was fast enough. We had to put it up after the first night, ’cause all these guys wreck everything all night. It’s terrible. But I’m just thankful to my dad, Matt, my crew chief, Buggy — I’m just thankful to be here.”
After an illegal body modification stripped a Super and Pro Late Model win from him in the Red Eye a month ago, Max Reeves made sure there would be zero questions this time.
“You know, it’s cool to finally get one all week,” Reeves told FloRacing “We’ve struggled all week. We’ve got screwed over a few times. We got screwed over at the Red Eye, but we came back here without the illegal stuff and whooped them again. I think we whooped them worse this time. So we didn’t need none of that illegal stuff — still whooped them.”
Starting from pole, Gabriel Cassagrande continues to gain valuable experience on ovals. The Brazilian driver raced up front all night, recording his second runner-up finish in this year’s World Series.
Well, I think he was just quicker,” Cassagrande said on the FloRacing Broadcast “We tried everything we could, but it was just not enough. I’m pretty happy because, well, we started from the pole, after a bad qualifying, I knew I had a great car, but we missed something in qualifying, so I knew starting from a pole, I had the quick car to go gather in, but he was only faster.”
Night 1 winner Cole Robie brought his battered machine home third. With championship slipping away, his focus now shifts to scoring another victory tomorrow night.
“We had a good run tonight,” Robie told FloRacing “We were definitely loose on exit, so it was pretty hard to keep the car straight on exit, and it would be even harder to get under someone. So glad to get a 3rd out of it — we’re really focused on that big race tomorrow. We’ve been racing all week trying to get our car good for a long run for that race tomorrow, but, all we can do is hope and see what we can get out of it tomorrow.”
Points leader Vito Cancilla — who entered the night with a 34-point cushion over Cole Robie — kept his title rival in sight the entire night. Cancilla’s fourth-place run allowed him to maintain valuable points over Robie heading into the Pro Late Model finale.
World Series of Asphalt Pro Late Model Race 5
New Smyrna Speedway
February 11 2026
- Max Reeves
- Gabriel Cassagrande
- Cole Robie
- Vito Cancilla
- Brody Monahan
- Jayden Johnson
- John Bolen
- Ben Maier
- Mia Lovell
- Conner Jones
- Raphael Lessard
- Thomas Krasonis
- Gage Gilby
- William Roberge
- Jarrett Butcher
- Toro Rodriguez
- Will Robinson
- J.T. Chastain
- Ben Mack
- Wesley Slimp
- Derrick Kelley
- Eric St. Gelais
- Marco Gilbert
- Buddy Head
