NEWTON, Iowa — First victories aren’t supposed to be easy. And after several near misses, Matt Carter knows that first-hand. So, when the opportunity arose for Carter to pick up his first Hooters Pro Cup win, he took it.
Carter, driver of the No. 26n Travis Carter Motorsports Ford, lost the lead to Jay Fogleman with one lap to go, battled back on the white-flag lap, bounced off Fogleman in turn three and went on to win the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Soy Biodiesel 225 at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night by .225 second.
“I don’t think I lifted that last lap,” said Carter, who took home $12,000 for the win. “I was about wide open through turns one and two, and I know I didn’t crack the throttle in turns three and four. We bumped a little and beat him back to the flag.”
If not for a late-race caution, the last-lap duel probably wouldn’t have materialized.
Carter, who took the lead on lap 206, had built a comfortable lead with just two laps remaining. The caution bunched the field for a green-white-checkered finish, and Fogleman pounced on the restart.
The contact between Carter and Fogleman allowed Trevor Bayne to slip into second at that finish. And Bayne’s charge was nearly as exciting as the lead duel. Bayne, driver of the No. 29s Aaron’s/DEI Chevrolet, pitted with 25 laps remaining and charged from 22nd to second at the finish.
Mike Garvey also pitted late in the race and rallied to finish fourth. Garvey led 17 laps early. Caleb Holman completed the top five. Point-leader Gary St. Amant was swept into an accident late and finished 24th.
The finish:
(Driver, car, laps completed, money won): 1. Matt Carter, Ford, 229, $12,000; 2. Trevor Bayne, Chevrolet, 229, $6,500; 3. Jay Fogleman, Ford, 229, $6,000; 4. Mike Garvey, Ford, 229, $5,500; 5. Calem Holman, Chevrolet, 229, $5,000; 6. Bobby Gill, Ford, 229, $3,500; 7. Johnny Rumley, Chevrolet, 229, $4,000; 8. Woody Howard, Chevrolet, 229, $2,800; 9. Clay Jones, Chevrolet, 229, $2,600; 10. Shane Wallace, Ford, 229, $2,400; 11. Mark McFarland, Chevrolet, 229, $2,200; 12. Chase Pistone, Chevrolet, 229, $2,100; 13. Jeff Agnew, Ford, 229, $2,500; 14. John Gibson, Ford, 229, $1,900; 15. Richard Boswell, Chevrolet, 229, $1,800; 16. Eric Corbett, Ford, 229, $1,700; 17. Brandon Ward, Ford, 229, $1,700; 18. Frank Deiny, Jr., Ford, 229, $1,700; 19. A.J. Frank, Chevrolet, 229, $1,700; 20. Matt Nesbitt, Ford, 229, $1,700; 21. Shelby Howard, Chevrolet, 229, $1,600; 22. Kirk Leone, Ford, 229, $1,600; 23. James Buescher, Chevrolet, 229, $1,600; 24. Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, 229, $1,600; 25. Joey Coulter, Ford, 227, $1,600; 26. Jody Lavender, Ford, 226, $1,600; 27. Tom Hessert, Chevrolet, 225, $1,600; 28. Dusty Williams, Ford, 224, $1,600; 29. Gary Helton, Chevrolet, 213, $1,600; 30. Matt Hawkins, Ford, 212, $1,600; 31. Bill Plemons, Jr., Ford, 158, $1,600; 32. Ray Love, Jr., Chevrolet, 69, $1,600; 33. Mike Herman, Jr., Chevrolet, 43, $1,600; 34. Michael Ritch, Ford, 25, $1,600; 35. Benny Gordon, Ford, 18, $1,600; 36. Derek Kale, Chevrolet, 4, $1,600.