Red Light Racing S14 Martinsville

by Lowell Jewell

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 14 Race 3
Martinsville Speedway

June 5, 2025
by Tim Corder

Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modifieds roared into historic Martinsville Speedway for its third race of Season 14. The race played out in three phases. Phase 1 saw the caution flag waving often as the drivers worked their way into a rhythm. Phase 2 saw a long green flag run with much of the field running in single file. In Phase 3 the flagman re-entered the chat with frequent appearances. Phase 3 also saw some of the best racing of the event. Ultimately, it was pole sitter Chad Alcares who took home the victory. Brian Bianchi moved up from 10^th on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid to finish second. Eric Stout fought hard all day, often on the outside line, to complete the podium after starting on the outside pole. Josh Buckley finished in 4^th after starting in 8^th and Bradley Stefane rounded out the top five finishers improving on his 16^th place starting position.

Alcares claimed the pole with a 19.080 second qualifying lap. Stout was just 0.1 seconds slower than Alcares in claiming the outside pole. Ken Allen, last week’s winner Ethan Troutman, and Jeff Aho started in 3^rd – 5^th place, all within 0.15 seconds of Alcares’ qualifying time.

The caution flag waved 7 times resulting in 28 of the event’s 100 laps being run behind the pace car. The event started slowly with two cautions within the first 13 laps. Then, a long green flag run of 50 laps saw Alcares lead the whole run. The caution started waving again on lap 63 and would come out regularly for the rest of the event. Some outstanding battles were held on the restarts, especially at the front of the field. Alcares and E Stout put on a clinic for tight, tough, but clean racing, usually with Alcares on the inside line and E Stout on the outside. In total, Chad Alcares led 90 of the 100 laps. Eric Stout led the other 10 laps that Alcares did not.

Bruce Pearson picked up the most spots during the race. He finished 8^th after starting in the 22^nd spot. In addition to winning the race, the poll, and leading the most laps, Alcares also set the fastest lap during the race. He turned his 93^rd lap in just 19.247 seconds. Only three drivers completed the race without incident points: Alcares, E Stout, and Stefane.

Ethan Troutman came into the event with the early championship lead. Despite what was likely a disappointing 18^th place run, Troutman keeps the lead in the early standings. Eric Stout is just 3 points behind Troutman. Fred Leclair, Chad Alcares, and Brian Bianchi complete the top five in the point standings.

The fourth race of the season will be run at Thompson Speedway. The green flag will drop at 7:55 PM Eastern on June 19th. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.