RESULTS: Roderick Paces Final Friday Practice for Inaugural ASA Event

Sunshine State 200 weekend began with two rounds of practice for the ASA STARS National Tour Super Late Models.

Late Models

by Zach Evans on Mar 11, 2023

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hero image for RESULTS: Roderick Paces Final Friday Practice for Inaugural ASA Event

The Sunshine State 200 weekend kicked off Friday night with practice for the ASA STARS National Tour Super Late Model competitors, with plenty of familiar names topping the charts during the two rounds of the evening.

Matt Craig paced the first practice of the evening, while Casey Roderick was fastest in the second and final round of practice Friday. Roderick's time of 16.625 seconds was the quickest of the night.

Roderick, a three-time Blizzard Series champion, is coming off a strong showing at New Smyrna Speedway's World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing where he won the Super Late Model championship.

Fellow multi-time Blizzard Series champion Bubba Pollard was second-fastest, followed by 2017 Snowball Derby polesitter Preston Peltier, defending Snowball Derby champion Derek Thorn and 2022 Five Flags Speedway Outlaws champion Timothy Watson.

The evening was largely uneventful, but the first round of practice did close with Billy VanMeter collecting the outside wall in turn three.

“I caught a slow car in the wrong place, got in the marbles," said VanMeter. "I was on new tires, I don’t think I was fully aired up pressure-wise. It went straight in the fence. I tried to hit the brake and slow it down.

“It was a mistake on my part. I should have let him go, backed out of it more."

VanMeter unloaded a backup car and took part in the second round of practice.

The ASA STARS National Tour kicks off from Five Flags Speedway with a 200-lap feature for Super Late Models Saturday night. The event will also feature Five Flags Speedway's Faith Chapel Outlaws. The Sunshine State 200 is scheduled to start at 7:30 PM CT / 8:30 PM ET.