Gavan Boschele's Patience Pays Off for Clyde Hart Memorial Victory

Happy early birthday, Gavan Boschele.

One day shy of his 17th birthday, Boschele won the ASA STARS National Tour Clyde Hart Memorial 200 at New Smyrna Speedway, arguably the biggest win of his racing career to date.

Boschele inherited the lead on lap 172 after contact between Ty Majeski and Colby Howard as they battled for the top spot. Majeski backed into the outside wall in turns one and two, while Howard was penalized by ASA STARS officials for his involvement in the accident.

Boschele held off William Sawalich on the ensuing restart, leading the rest of the way for the pivotal win. In a 200-lap race slowed 16 times by cautions, patience was key for the young driver.

"Just a lot of patience," said Boschele. "I knew we had a fast car. We kind of screwed ourselves there coming in to pit early. I just kept my head in it, listened to Dennis and James and all the boys back in the pits, and they were right.

"I was just trying to keep smart. I knew we had a really fast race car. It was getting physical towards the end, so I just kept my head in it and kept smart. I can't thank the guys enough. I'm just the lucky guy who gets to drive it."

Coincidentally, one of the race's earlier cautions featured Sawalich and Cory Hall, who went on to finish second and third. Sawalich was running in the third position but fighting an ill-handling race car due to a tire losing air pressure when he spun from contact with Hall.

That forced Sawalich to go off-schedule from most of the competition in terms of tire changes, but the former All American 400 winner persevered for a runner-up finish.

"We had a left-rear start to go down, so that's what was wrong," said Sawalich. "Unfortunate, but we had really good speed on way older tires than everybody else. I'm proud of that. The Rackley WAR guys did a great job all week. I'm proud to work with them and can't thank them enough."

Hall still held himself accountable for the contact with Sawalich on what was an eventful night for the Canadian driver, including a spin of his own on lap 82. Nevertheless, the winner of Sunday's World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing Super Late Model feature rebounded for a third-place finish.

"We tried to give it away multiple times, myself included. I apologize to the 62 for the contact there that sent him around. It put us in a hole. Then we got tagged and ended up scuffing the tires, and we had to pit to put tires on it. It ended up working out to where we were able to drive up through the field. We just didn't get to adjust on it."

Majeski unofficially led 68 laps and claimed the stage two victory, putting him in position to contend for the victory in the final 50 laps. However, his car's performance suffered in the closing laps after missing the stagger on his final set of race tires.

That allowed Howard to close the gap before their incident on lap 172, ending Majeski's race 28 laps shy of the finish and dashing both drivers' chances to win.

-Photo credit: Jason Reasin

“We kind of missed the stagger on that last run," said Majeski. "It’s kind of our own fault to be slow enough to be running with Colby Howard. It’s a bummer. These tires, we’re not accustomed to them very much. We just missed the stagger and were in a vulnerable spot there. You get racing with people like Colby Howard, stuff like that happens."

George Phillips finished fourth, with Stephen Nasse rounding out the top five after qualifying 31st. Just behind Nasse was Christopher Bell, who qualified 30th in his return to pavement Super Late Model competition for the first time since 2017. Bell only received a handful of shakedown laps prior to Tuesday's qualifying session, but proved up to the task in his drive to a top-10 finish.

Gabe Sommers, Derek Griffith, Bubba Pollard and Spencer Davis rounded out the top 10.

The next event for the ASA STARS National Tour is scheduled for Sunday, March 23 at Five Flags Speedway. The ASA STARS National Tour Sunshine State 200 is part of an action-packed three-day weekend at the Pensacola, Florida half-mile, including the ARCA Menards Series East, Vores Compact Touring Series and many of Five Flags' local divisions.

-Featured photo credit: Jason Reasin

Clyde Hart Memorial 200 Unofficial Results