Ron Silk Holds Off Jake Lutz for Maynard Troyer Classic Victory

After a hard-fought battle with Jake Lutz, Ron Silk tallied his first career Race of Champions (RoC) Modified Series victory in the Maynard Troyer Classic V at Spencer Speedway Friday.

Making just his fifth career start with the series, Silk took the lead on a lap 21 restart and held off Lutz in the closing laps for the win.

"It was pretty intense there," said Silk in victory lane. "He gave me everything I had to hold him off. I'm just really excited to win the Maynard Troyer Memorial. He was a legend of our sport. It's cool that this is the first RoC race I've won. I'm just really happy we came and got to be a part of it, and pumped with the outcome."

Silk was fighting two battles in the final circuits of the 60-lap race. Not only was he trying to hold off a quick Jake Lutz, but also his rear brakes were brightly glowing red. In the end, Silk had just enough race car and brake life to stay in front.

"It was pretty tight the whole race. I was trying to put some rear brake into it to try to help it make it turn. It didn't really do much other than almost start a fire. The car was really good. I think Jake in the 14 was slightly better than us. He made that one mistake on the restart and we were able to get the track position on him. I'm glad we could hold on.

"I think [Jake]'s a really good driver. Not a lot of experience, so hopefully, he doesn't get too much better," Silk joked. "They have great equipment. It was good to hold him off."

Zane Zeiner finished third, with Paulie Hartwig, III and Jack Ely rounding out the top five.

There was a lengthy delay for clean-up on lap 37, when Matt Hirschman suffered a dramatic mechanical failure that created a large fire on his No. 60 entry.

Following the Maynard Troyer Classic V, the RoC Sportsman Modifieds closed out the night with a 36-lap feature. Kevin Timmerman scored the victory ahead of Eddie Hawkins and Mike Leaty.

"It feels good," said Timmerman in victory lane. "Whenever you start from the pole, you've got to win. Otherwise, it feels like you just gave it up. We had a good car tonight, so we'll take it."

With the win, Timmerman now holds a 29-point advantage over Jacob Christman in the series points standings with three races remaining on the schedule.

"It's going to be a battle," said Timmerman. "I never really think about the points until the last week. You've got to figure out what you've got to do then. Just try to do these consistent, stay up front finishes."

Joey VanLare won in the 602 Sportman Modifieds in the first feature event of the evening, finishing ahead of Jeana Dietz and John Sippel.

-Photo credit: MoJo Photos/Race of Champions

Unofficial Results - Maynard Troyer Classic V