RLR SK MODIFIED SERIES S13 R8 Recap

27 February 2025
Red Light Racing | Season 13 | Round 8
Skitter Creek SK Modified Series | USA International Speedway

On Thursday, February 27th, Red Light Racing’s Modifieds roared into USA International Speedway for Round 8 of Season 13. Eric Stout of Six Flags Racing entered the night with a commanding 32-point lead in the championship and wasted no time proving why, securing the pole position to kick things off.

The early laps saw multiple cautions, which played into Stout’s favor, helping him manage tire wear while keeping control at the front. AJ Hamel took full advantage of the restarts, quickly climbing into third place and setting his sights on the leaders. On a lap 13 restart, Hamel made an aggressive move to the inside of Kenny Allen, just as contact between Allen and Stout sent the points leader into trouble. Seizing the moment, Hamel shot past them both to take the lead under caution.

When racing resumed on lap 18, Stout—despite holding onto second—was visibly struggling with his damaged car, quickly falling down the running order. Allen held firm in second while Brian Bianchi advanced to third. As the race settled into a long green-flag stretch, Allen, Hamel, and Jeff Aho broke away from the pack, building a strong 2.5-second lead on the field. Aho, showing strong pace, made his move past Allen for second, setting his sights on Hamel at the front.

A caution in the second half of the race erased the leaders’ gap, shuffling the order as Aho inherited the lead while Hamel was knocked back to fifth. Brandon Feeney took over second place, but Allen quickly worked his way to the inside on the restart, sticking to Aho’s bumper to regain second before another caution halted the action. Restarting on the outside, Allen fought hard to challenge Aho but had to settle back into second as Hamel continued his charge forward, reclaiming third after passing Feeney.

Allen pulled off a perfectly executed crossover move on Aho to take the race lead, but Hamel wasn’t far behind. Anticipating more cautions, Hamel turned up the aggression, relentlessly pressuring Allen for the top spot. With 20 laps remaining, Hamel saw his chance, diving to the inside of Allen and making it stick. From there, he built a small but crucial gap, defending the lead through the closing laps to take his first win of the season.

Despite the early setback, Stout managed to grind out an eighth-place finish, extending his points lead to 41 over Rex Hoyle. Red Light Racing now turns its focus to South Boston Speedway next Thursday, March 6th. Catch all the action live at 7:55 PM ET, exclusively on the Virtual Grip Network!