Jett Noland Earns First “Bigley Memorial” Win Over Record Breaking Field
Bakersfield, CA – In a field that contained thousands of Super Late Model victories among its entrants, a teenage driver from the state of Florida battled his way to his first win in the division, in one of the biggest Super Late Model events in the country. Jett Noland earned the $30,000 prize in the Noland Roofing “Bill Bigley Sr. Memorial 128” presented by West Orange Roofing at Freedom Factory (FL) Saturday night, in the SRL National season finale. He beat an event record 44 teams, that made the trip to the former Desoto Speedway. He also beat a former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, in what could only be described as an emotional victory.
“It is real emotional”, Noland explained about his feelings, earning his first Super Late Model win in such a prestigious event! “I had Nick (Mansfield) working on my team, and I have known Nick the entire time I have been Super (Late Model) racing. That is who I started out with, so it is great to have our first win in the “Super” with Nick. I can’t thank him enough. It is real emotional for my family and everybody. They gave us a great racecar, and he gave us a great racecar, and I can’t thank Cohen Law Group and Noland Roofing for letting us come out here and do this race. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”
Jeremy Doss served notice that he would be a threat for the win by setting Fast Time over the 39 Super Late Models that survived to qualify. Doss earned a $4,000 bonus from Langford Lawn and Landscape for the accomplishment. The top-10 from qualifying redrew for position with two-time and defending “Bigley Memorial” race winner Michael Atwell drawing the pole. Noland would line up to his outside with Albert Francis, Johnny Sauter, Doss, and Ty Majeski making up the first half-dozen positions.
Atwell got the initial jump at the start and led the field on lap one. Sauter was the man on the move, as he broke into the top-two by lap six, moving to the rear bumper of Atwell by lap 10. On lap 12, Sauter moved under Atwell in Turns 1 and 2, emerging with the lead, as the field completed lap 13. The first yellow appeared on lap 26 for a stalled Colin Allman, with Doss and Noland behind Atwell in second. The restart saw Doss move under Atwell for the runner-up position with Majeski in tow. The second yellow flew on lap 39, for a three-car incident involving Francis, Daniel Webster, and two-time race winner Jesse Dutilly.
The restart found Doss slipping high in Turn 1, with Majeski and Noland gaining positions. But another yellow flew when contact from Michael Hinde found Atwell in the spin cycle in Turn 2, on lap 54. A separate incident found former winner Steve Dorer, Daniel Webster, and Dave Farrington Jr. collected in the Turn 3 infield. When the field re-took the green, Doss was trapped in the outside line, dropping to seventh, while Majeski followed in the tire tracks of Sauter.
After a quick yellow for a stalled TJ DeCaire, Sauter once again pulled out to a short lead over Majeski, after the restart. But Majeski began pressuring Sauter for the lead, poking the nose of his Ford Mustang to the inside of Sauter on lap 62 and making slight contact. The duo raced nose to tail and bumper to bumper until lap 73, when a caution for Dave Farrington Jr. and Granger Perra slowed the action.
Another restart found Sauter and Majeski out front with Noland battling with Luke Fenhaus for third. After contact, Noland got loose, losing the third position to Doss, as he held off Fenhaus. The yellow appeared once again however, as the dreaded “r” word reared its ugly head on lap 77. When the field went back to green, Doss was able to get under Majeski for the runner-up spot. But on lap 86, Majeski used a bump and run on Doss to retake the position, with Noland following into third. As Majeski tried to run down the leader, he got into the Turn 2 wall on lap 103, allowing Noland and Doss to close on his bumper. It took the duo only three laps to put the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series star back to fourth.
The final caution of the night fell on lap 110 for debris, setting up the deciding moment of the 8th Annual “Bigley Memorial”. Sauter got a good restart, as the field came to green for the final time. But Noland got a good run through the upper groove in Turns 1 & 2. Coming off the corner, Noland shot to the lead at the end of the back straight. Sauter tried his best to come back, but Noland was too strong over the last 18 lap green flag run.
On lap 128, Noland grabbed his first signature Super Late Model victory by half a second over Sauter. Jeremy Doss grabbed third over a recovering Michael Atwell. Anthony Sergi rounded out the top-five after winning the event in 2018 and 2020. The second five consisted of Derek Kraus, Michael Hinde, Luke Fenhaus, Ty Majeski, and Stephen Nasse.
Noland was happy to keep the winner’s trophy in Florida, as the fifth different driver to represent the Sunshine State in Victory Lane. After getting off to a slow start, and loosing several positions at the beginning of the race, Noland settled down, figured out the restarts, and drove his Super Late Model to Victory Lane.
“The first start I was a little antsy. I hadn’t been here before, obviously I hadn’t started here, so I didn’t know exactly where everything was going”, Noland recalled the beginning of the race. “After the first start I got everything under control, we went back a little bit, but we started getting better at those restarts. For the last few laps, I didn’t want to start on the outside for those last few cautions. But we ended up starting on the outside and it ended up helping us to win this race. It was a great deal, and I can’t be more thankful.”
Not surprisingly, Noland was happy with his weekend at Freedom Factory.
“I thought the weekend was great. It was nice learning the new track. I like the SRL Tour, they are great people and like a big family when you come down here and race with them. I can’t be more thankful for them putting on a great race for us to come here as well. We had a pretty good weekend as we were fast in practice, qualifying we were decent, and the race, we were pretty fast as well.”
Johnny Sauter led the most laps, pacing the field for 98 of 128 circuits Saturday night. But the Necedah, WI driver was disappointed with the runner-up position, and a little puzzled with the car’s reaction after the final restart.
“We led a lot of laps, we just didn’t lead the most important one”, Sauter recalled his race night. “After that (last) restart, I got in the gas coming off of two, and I know the car behind me had me kinda jacked up. I thought we just broke an axle. From then on, it was getting on the chip early on the straight away. I really don’t know what the deal is or if I’m just losing my mind. It just wasn’t the same (after the restart). It just didn’t work out.”
The 2016 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion was happy with the weekend overall, heading to a new track, and unloading with a good baseline setup.
“It was an awesome weekend”, Sauter began. “We unloaded really close with pretty much the same setup we ran at Opp (South Alabama Speedway) at the “Rattler” in March. That’s how we started here, and we just tweaked on it all weekend. We never had to wholesale (change) anything. We had good speed, qualified good, and just came up a little bit short.”
Jeremy Doss’ weekend was unspectacular to begin with. But on Saturday, the team hit its’ stride with Doss scoring the Fast Time Award and $4,000. He also had a strong “Bigley”, running as high as second, before ending the weekend in third. The 2018 Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series champion and 2023 Blizzard Series champion was just a little too tight to compete for the victory.
“I felt like the race was pretty good, we were just a little too tight rolling through the center, kinda having to park it there”, Doss explained. “That’s where I felt like we were lacking a little bit of speed. Everyone was so close, and I’d say we were half a tenth off from these guys. I just want to thank Bob Lyon’s whole family for giving us this opportunity to come race here. Cody Glick, Hamke Racecars, the entire team Earnest Performance, PFC Brakes, Michele Martin with Horsepower Project, and the whole team. It was a heckuva effort to get quick time and to run third was not a bad weekend at all. We were close, but close isn’t good enough.”
The weekend also included two “B-Main” events and a Non-Qualifiers race. Tim Sozio won the first “B-Main” with TJ DeCaire and Jared Irvin also transferring to the “A-Main”. The second “B-Main” was won by Chad Rutherford with Cody Krucker and Granger Perra transferring to the feature. Jeff Cote’ was the winner of the Non-Qualifiers race and $1,500.
The third season for the SRL National will begin with the “All-Star Showdown” at a West Coast showpiece, Irwindale Speedway (CA). The race will be a combination event with the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series and will feature another big payday for the series teams. Jacob Gomes will look to repeat his 2023 victory.
Feature Results:
- Jett Noland, 2. Johnny Sauter, 3. Jeremy Doss, 4. Michael Atwell, 5. Anthony Sergi, 6. Derek Kraus, 7. Michael Hinde, 8. Luke Fenhaus, 9. Ty Majeski, 10. Stephen Nasse, 11. Jonathan Guy, 12. Paul Shafer Jr., 13. Nick Neri, 14. Tim Sozio, 15. Steve Dorer, 16. Dylan Bigley, 17. Tony Elrod, 18. Dave Farrington Jr., 19. Granger Perra, 20. Jared Irvin, 21. Jeff Storm, 22. Jesse Dutilly, 23. TJ DeCaire, 24. Daniel Webster, 25. Albert Francis, 26. Derek Griffith, 27. Colin Allman, 28. Chad Rutherford, 29. Cody Krucker
Non-Qualifier Race:
- Jeff Cote’, 2. Bryton Horner, 3. Richard Elkins, 4. Chris McIntyre, 5. Dustin Dunn, 6. Patrick Staropoli, 7. Jim Brinkley Jr., 8. Rob Partelo, DNS. Tyler Tanner, DNS. Cody Strickler
