Story By: BEN SHELTON / ROBERTS MOTORSPORTS – DUBUQUE, IA – Garrett Alberson’s breakout season continued over the weekend with a pair of first-career wins aboard his Bill’s Sport Shop / Mesilla Valley Transportation / Roberts Motorsports No. 58 Lucas Oil Products / Roemer Machine & Welding / Longhorn Chassis / Clements Racing Engine Super Late Model.
First, he made his debut voyage to Victory Lane with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals on Friday night at Farmer City Raceway, which was worth $10,000.
“I knew with (Shannon) Babb and those guys right there, it was gonna be tough,” Alberson said in Victory Lane. “I had a hard right-rear (tire), so I think I was a little better making momentum. (The crew was) signaling me down, but I knew I wasn’t that great at launching (off the corners on the inside) so I needed to kind of keep my speed up, keep that right-rear hot. So I kind of made a little hybrid line there at the end to kind of get it done.”
One night later he raced to his first-career Northern Allstars Late Model Series victory, which rewarded him with $6,200 at Florence Speedway.
“I definitely was worried there with so many cautions and Spencer (Hughes) is a really good racer, there’s a lot of good racers here,” Alberson commented after the race. “I didn’t do a very good job on that last restart, I let myself get out of rhythm and I about cost us there, I think. Big thanks to (crew chief) R.C. (Whitwell) and (wife) Dani for helping me find the line over (in turns one and two), I was not doing a great job there early. We have so many great supporters of this team, and I’m thankful to be able to take them to Victory Lane.”
The week started with Garrett Alberson making a one-stop visit with the World of Outlaw Case Late Model Series. He joined a 27-car field at Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway on Monday afternoon for the $10,000-to-win Storm Shield Shootout.
Finishing fifth in his heat race, Alberson started the 40-lap feature from the seventh-row and was an early retiree on lap 24.
After a few days at the shop to regroup, Alberson returned to the racetrack on Friday evening at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway to compete with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals.
With 34 Late Models checked in, Alberson followed up quick time with a heat race victory to earn a front-row starting position in the 40-lap main event. Taking the top spot from the drop of the green flag, Garrett led flag-to-flag and dominated the feature to secure the $10,000 payday. Alberson outran Shannon Babb and Tanner English to earn his first-career Hell Tour triumph.
Making the long haul to Florence Speedway (Union, Ky.) overnight, Garrett Alberson checked in with the Northern Allstars Late Model Series on Saturday.
Laying down the quickest lap out of 31 Super Late Models, Alberson won his heat race and charged from fourth-to-first in the evening’s dash. Starting the 40-lap feature from the pole, Garrett held off some early charges from Spencer Hughes to notch his second victory of the weekend. Garrett marked off his first-career NALMS triumph and collected the $5,000 winner’s check. He received an extra $1,000 for his victory in the dash as well as a $200 bonus for setting fast time in qualifications.
Garrett returns to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) trail this weekend with a pair of Ohio events. Action opens on Friday at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park with the $20,000-to-win Independence 50 before shifting to Muskingum County Speedway (Zanesville, Ohio) on Saturday for the $20,000-to-win Freedom 60.
Alberson currently sits seventh in the latest LOLMDS points.