Tonight Matt Kocher leads the star studded field of comeptitors in round 9 of the Coach’s Corner Pro Late Model Series. The battle for the final spots in the chase are heating up and the drivers are anxious and nervous! How will the field fair tonight at Stafford?
Eddie’s Meat Market 125: Watch Now
Kocher Dominates IRP for Fourth Victory
Last night, the Upstate Racing League Coach’s Corner Pro Late Model Series headed to the hoosier state for 100 laps of action at the Lucas Oil Raceway for the Coach’s Corner 100. Rex Hoyle would lead the field to the green flag after picking up the Rumar Vinyl Creations Pole Award. Defending champion and leader in the Art’s Barber Shop Points Standings Matt Kocher would start to Rex’s inside.
The field would be slowed on the initial start for a jingle involving the number 24 piloted by Shawn Cool. On the restart Kocher would go to work again on the inside, and use a slide job to take the lead from Rex. Unfortunately for Rex, his night would take a turn for the worse after contact between him and the 88 of Jake Watson would send him hard into the inside barrier. The race would be slowed six additional times, as passing was difficult and the quarters were close with guys trying to get all they could on each restart.
Ultimately, it would not matter up front. Matt Kocher would never relinquish the lead again, fending off charges from AJ Hamel, Brian Rogers Motorsports Rookie of the Year Points Leader and Rookie of the Race Kris Stump, and eventually Stefan Marinak. Kocher would go on to pick up his fourth win in seven races, extending his points lead and flexing his muscle. Marinak would rally and use the restarts to fight his way to second, followed by Stump, Jake Watson who recovered beautifully from claiming the lap 8 incident, and AJ Hamel in the top five. Matt Kocher was the Beth’s Colorful Creations Clean Driver and Wayne MacDuff III was the Hard Charger on the evening, rallying from 21st to 10th.
After seven races, it’s all Matt Kocher in the Art’s Barber Shop Points Standings. Kocher leads Justin MacDuff by 44 points with three regular season races remaining. In the Brian Rogers Motorsports Rookie of the Year Standings, Kris Stump leads Blake Near by 12 points. The Chase cutoff has intensified! With many of his rivals for the final transfer spot having issues, “The Bossman” Al Smith Jr. has moved into the 10th and final Chase position by just 7 points over Rex Hoyle. Blake Near currently sits in 9th place, only 8 points ahead of Rex. Behind Rex is Dillon Canova, who entered IRP in the final transfer spot. Dillon sits 11 points outside the Chase, followed by a pair of Zero9 drivers in Will Drevicky and Guillaume Fortin who sit 20 and 28 points outside the Chase respectively.
In two weeks, the series will head to the Oxford Plains Speedway for the Eddie’s Meat Market 125. Coverage will begin on January 3rd at 9PM EST, with Kelly Dahl, Roger Muth, and KR Stolfus bringing you all the close quarters action. On behalf of Al Smith Jr., the Driver’s Council, and the Admin Team, we hope everybody has a happy and safe holiday season! See you in 2019!
Upstate Racing League Coach’s Corner Pro Late Model Series – Coach’s Corner 100 – Official Results: 1. MATT KOCHER, 2. Stefan Marinak, 3. Kris Stump, 4. Jake Watson, 5. AJ Hamel, 6. Justin MacDuff, 7. Guillaume Fortin, 8. Brian Rogers Jr., 9. Andy Lambert, 10. Wayne MacDuff III, 11. James McIntyre Jr., 12. Paul Henley, 13. Douglas Wysocki, 14. John Mignacca, 15. Al Smith Jr., 16. Doug Wysocki, 17. Jeremy Carpenter, 18. Shawn Cool, 19. Rex Hoyle, 20. Will Drevicky, 21. Blake Near, 22. Josh Mayeu, 23. Brad Carpenter, 24. Mike Holtsclaw, 25. Dillon Canova, 26. Alex Orians
DNQ: Thomas Mitteer II, Bryan Hacker, Danny Dubuque, Matt Roll, AJ Childs, Jeremy Watkins
Coach’s Corner 100: Watch Live
Kocher Wins Again, at USA
Last week, the Upstate Racing League Coach’s Corner Pro Late Model Series headed to Lakeland, Florida’s USA International Raceway for race six on the schedule, the NHR 100. Matt Kocher entered the event as the leader in the Art’s Barber Shop Points Standings, and he would start his night out strong by winning the Rumar Vinyl Creations Pole Award.
Kocher would dominate the entire event. Second place starter Jake Watson fell back to third on the initial start, but would eventually work his way by Shawn “Rocket Fuel” Cool to take over second. Jake was able to run Matt down but could never get a run. Matt would fend off the field on four restarts, and on the second to last restart Shawn Cool would be able to get by Jake and hold him off to bring home a runner up finish. Matt Kocher grabbed his third win in six attempts, followed by Cool, Watson, AJ Hamel, and Brian Rogers Motorsports Rookie of the Race Will Drevicky in the top five. Kocher was the Beth’s Colorful Creations Clean Driver Award winner and Stefan Marinak was the Hard Charger (22nd to 7th).
The next race on the schedule is the makeup event at Lucas Oil Raceway, the Coach’s Corner 100. Coverage begins on MaxSpeedTV at 9 PM EST, with Roger Muth, Kelly Dahl, and KR Stolfus working hard to bring you all the action!
Upstate Racing League Coach’s Corner Pro Late Model Series – NHR 100 – Official Results: 1. MATT KOCHER, 2. Shawn Cool, 3. Jake Watson, 4. AJ Hamel, 5. Will Drevicky, 6. Justin MacDuff, 7. Steph Marinak, 8. Blake Near, 9. Rex Hoyle, 10. Guillaume Fortin, 11. Dillon Canova, 12. Brian Rogers Jr., 13. Brad Carpenter, 14. Al Smith Jr., 15. Paul Henley, 16. Josh Mayeu, 17. Danny Dubuque, 18. Thomas Mitteer II, 19. Mike Holtsclaw, 20. Jeremy Carpenter, 21. Jeremy Watkins, 22. Matt Roll, 23. John Mignacca, 24. Brett Bartels, 25. AJ Childs, 26. Bryan Hacker
DNQ: Andy Lambert, Doug Wysocki, Jay Dubuque, James McIntyre Jr., Jason Mcclatchie