Shawn Hook holds off Jacob Loesch by 0.100 seconds after last-lap contact with Trenton Wilken, ending a run of four C-Open runner-up finishes
| Pos | Driver | Car | # | Started | Laps | Interval | Inc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shawn Hook | 88 | 5 | 88 | -00.000 | 8 | |
| 2 | Jacob Loesch | 51 | 6 | 88 | -00.100 | 6 | |
| 3 | Trenton Wilken | 23 | 2 | 88 | -00.175 | 12 | |
| 4 | Anthony Lee Abernathy | 3 | 14 | 88 | -00.331 | 8 | |
| 5 | Christian Barnes2 | 27 | 3 | 88 | -00.492 | 0 | |
| 6 | Chris Etchepare | 99 | 15 | 88 | -00.601 | 12 | |
| 7 | Zack Domer | 014 | 11 | 88 | -00.762 | 4 | |
| 8 | Connor E Cunningham | 84 | 9 | 88 | -00.866 | 2 | |
| 9 | Adam Ramsey | 97 | 7 | 88 | -00.994 | 2 | |
| 10 | Michael L Patrick | 81 | 29 | 88 | -01.130 | 2 | |
| 11 | Austin Craven | 31 | 13 | 88 | -01.233 | 6 | |
| 12 | James Beard | 25 | 12 | 88 | -01.426 | 4 | |
| 13 | Dana Shepard | 44 | 20 | 88 | -01.443 | 10 | |
| 14 | Richard Wilson Jr | 28 | 24 | 88 | -01.715 | 0 | |
| 15 | Russell Marciniak | 12 | 30 | 88 | -02.097 | 4 | |
| 16 | Bryson Rupe | 2 | 22 | 88 | -02.177 | 10 | |
| 17 | Corey Powell4 | 13 | 27 | 88 | -02.692 | 0 | |
| 18 | Joseph Essenberg | 10 | 19 | 88 | -03.069 | 8 | |
| 19 | Gary May | 9 | 18 | 88 | -03.230 | 0 | |
| 20 | Gerrad Essenberg | 4 | 26 | 88 | -03.694 | 14 | |
| 21 | Shane Hatfield | 8 | 28 | 88 | -03.866 | 8 | |
| 22 | Harold Tucker III | 79 | 23 | 87 | -1 L | 6 | |
| 23 | Rick Thompson | 76 | 8 | 80 | -8 L | 10 | |
| 24 | John Williams | 57 | 10 | 75 | -13 L | 12 | |
| 25 | Chris Cornett | 83 | 4 | 71 | -17 L | 4 | |
| 26 | Joe Konen | 72 | 16 | 62 | -26 L | 0 | |
| 27 | Ethan A Thompson | 98 | 1 | 60 | -28 L | 4 | |
| 28 | Mike McCoy Sr | 26 | 31 | 26 | -62 L | 2 | |
| 29 | Sean Kiser | 52 | 17 | 16 | -72 L | 9 | |
| 30 | Robert T Burke | 22 | 21 | 16 | -72 L | 4 | |
| 31 | Marc Andre Ciccariello | 89 | 25 | 9 | -79 L | 4 |
"Story of the season, right? When I need them to come out, they don't come out, and then when I don't need them to come out, they do. But I think today was the opposite finally." -- Shawn Hook
Shawn Hook crossed the finish line at Pocono Raceway sideways, with his rear bumper swinging around and the field closing in behind him. It was still good enough for his first MLSR C-Open Series win.
Hook beat Jacob Loesch by 0.100 seconds on Tuesday night in the second race of the C-Open Chase. Trenton Wilken finished third, Anthony Lee Abernathy fourth and Phoenix winner Christian Barnes fifth. Scheduled for 85 laps, the race went 88 after a string of late cautions.
Hook came to Pocono with four C-Open runner-up finishes this season, at Texas, Kansas, World Wide Technology Raceway and Charlotte, plus a third at Phoenix a week ago.
"Finally able to break through here in this series and get a win," Hook said. "I feel like this is the series I've been the most competitive in and just haven't been able to break through."
He did it on the day he had his wisdom teeth removed. "I got my wisdom teeth removed today at like 8 in the morning," Hook said.
A rough start
Ethan A Thompson started on the pole beside Wilken. Before the field finished the opening lap, Austin Craven caught a long slide in the No. 31, the trucks behind him checked up, and Dana Shepard's No. 44 spun into the wall off Turn 2.
On the next restart, Marc Andre Ciccariello got tight and hit the wall, and his No. 89 collected Russell Marciniak and Wilken, who had pitted under the first caution and was restarting near the back. A third caution came for a crash in the back involving both Essenbergs, Robert T Burke and Sean Kiser.
Hook led on worn tires
Connor E Cunningham and Abernathy stayed out when the leaders pitted and restarted on the front row. Hook was the first driver back on four tires and worked his way forward, then stayed out with Zack Domer when Adam Ramsey spun and brought out a caution.
Hook led the restart and pulled away by more than a second. His plan was to save a set of tires and wait for more cautions, and they didn't come in time. As his tires faded, Wilken and Barnes ran him down, and Hook and Domer pitted early, several laps off the cycle the rest of the leaders were on.
"It's kind of a helpless feeling," Hook said, "because I think the strategy there was trying to save a set, banking on more cautions, and we just didn't get them until later in the race."
Barnes, Wilken and Cunningham traded the lead through the middle of the race. Just after the green-flag stops, Bryson Rupe spun and collected Ethan Thompson, who had led 17 laps and set the fastest lap of the race, a 54.339 on Lap 23. Thompson finished 27th.
That caution let Hook and Domer pit and get back on the same strategy as the leaders, though Hook restarted deep in the field. He drove back into the top five in a handful of laps before he and Chris Etchepare tangled heading into Turn 3. Etchepare spun, bringing out the caution with 25 laps to go.
The late cautions
Hook used his last set of tires on that stop. Domer took a quick stop without tires and led the restart, but Cunningham and then Barnes went by him. Wilken passed Cunningham and was taking the lead from Barnes with 11 laps to go when Harold Tucker III and John Williams touched and Williams went into the wall.
Barnes and Hook stayed out while the rest of the leaders pitted for tires, which put them on the front row on old rubber.
Hook cleared Barnes off Turn 1 on the restart before Rick Thompson spun and Chris Cornett's truck was wrecked behind them. Rupe and James Beard crashed right after the next restart. Hook stayed in front, and Loesch moved up to second.
The last lap
Wilken passed Loesch on the final restart and caught Hook's bumper with two laps left. On the last lap, Wilken made his move through Turn 2, got to Hook's bumper into Turn 3 and moved him up the track. They banged doors off the corner, and Hook was turned sideways on the frontstretch but slid across the line first.
Wilken hit the brakes rather than drive through Hook at the line, and Loesch shot past both of them on the bottom for second.
"I didn't mean to wreck him at the end," Wilken said. "Slammed on my brakes. I didn't want to win the race that way."
Hook led a race-high 26 laps. Cunningham led 24 and finished eighth. Etchepare recovered from his spin to finish sixth, Domer was seventh, Ramsey ninth and Michael L Patrick 10th from 29th on the grid.
The C-Open Chase moves to Martinsville Speedway on Tuesday, October 27, followed by the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Driver of the race: Shawn Hook: Hook led a race-high 26 laps, recovered from an off-sequence strategy and a restart deep in the field, and held on through last-lap contact for his first C-Open win.
Fastest lap: Ethan A Thompson: Thompson turned a 54.339-second lap on Lap 23, the fastest of the race. Rick Thompson's 54.398 was next.
Best drive: Michael L Patrick: Patrick started 29th and finished 10th, a 19-position gain and the biggest climb in the field.
Hard luck: Ethan A Thompson: Thompson won the pole, led 17 laps and ran the fastest lap, then was collected when Bryson Rupe spun just after the green-flag stops. He finished 27th, 28 laps down.