Aho All the Way: Jeff Aho Dominates at Hickory

by Tim Corder

📊 Race Stats at a Glance

🏆 Winner: Jeff Aho (101 Laps Led)
🥈 2nd Place: Bradley Stefane (1 Lap Led)
🥉 3rd Place: Chad Alcares (2 Laps Led)
⏱️ Fastest Lap: Chad Alcares – 14.306 sec (Lap 4)
🚦 Pole Position: Jeff Aho – 14.096 sec
🔁 Leaders: 3 | Lead Changes: 4
🚨 Cautions: 4 (16 Laps)
🧼 Clean Machine (0 Incidents): Jeff Aho, Chad Alcares, Ethan Troutman, Bob Higgins
🔼 Hard Charger: Andrew Lewis (+10 spots, started 18th, finished 8th)

Simply looking at the stat sheet for this week’s Red Light Racing Skitter Creek SK Mod Series appearance at Hickory Motor Speedway, one might think it was a runaway, dominant performance by Jeff Aho. Aho sat on the pole and won the race after leading 101 of the event’s green–white–checker–extended 104 laps. It was a dominating performance, yes; however, Bradley Stefane and Chad Alcares ensured Aho’s night wasn’t a runaway.

Qualifying Recap

Jeff Aho showed from the very first lap of qualifying that he was the man to beat. Aho laid down a blistering 14.096-second lap to take the pole on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid. Chad Alcares lined up alongside Aho on the outside pole. Ethan Troutman, Josh Buckley, and Patrick Stout rounded out the top five in qualifying, all within 0.07 seconds of Aho.

Race Breakdown

Chad Alcares lined up alongside Aho on the front row and briefly grabbed the top spot in the early going, leading two laps and setting the fastest lap of the race at 14.306 seconds on lap 4. Bradley Stefane methodically worked his way forward from 10th on the grid to battle Aho and Alcares for the win.

The last 10 laps of the race were especially entertaining for those in attendance. A gaggle of ten cars at the tail end of the lead lap were battling each other as the leaders caught them. It was a veritable traffic jam that set up Aho and Stefane to fight for the lead. Alcares was about to join the fray when Eric Stout spun with three laps remaining, bringing out the caution and ensuring the event would have at least one attempt at a green–white–checker finish. Stout’s spin gathered Brian Neff, Patrick Stout, Josh Buckley, and Glenn Jamieson.

When the green came back out, Stefane fought hard on the outside of Aho, leading the penultimate lap and almost clearing Aho in turn 3. Aho, though, fought back hard on the inside, the two making slight contact in turn 4 before Aho edged out Stefane for the checkered flag. The margin of victory was just 0.07 seconds. The top five finishers were Aho, Stefane, Alcares, Troutman, and Josh Buckley.

It was an uncharacteristically challenging night for championship leader Eric Stout. The self-spin in the closing laps was his second of the race, the first happening at lap 44. After qualifying in ninth, Stout would finish 19th.

Four of the event’s 21 drivers received Clean Machine honors after having garnered no incident points: Jeff Aho, Chad Alcares, Ethan Troutman, and Bob Higgins. Andrew Lewis was the Hard Charger of the race, picking up 10 spots from his 18th-place starting spot to finish 8th.

Championship Update

Despite Eric Stout’s rough race, his lead at the top of the standings remains intact, but Jeff Aho’s perfect night vaults him two spots into a tie for second with Ethan Troutman, just 24 points behind.

Chad Alcares climbs to fourth, while Rob Higgins slips two positions to fifth. Joshua Buckley’s top-five finish bumps him up two spots to sixth. Further back, Bruce Pearson, Patrick Stout, and Andrew Lewis each gained ground, while Chris Haizlip endured the biggest drop, sliding three spots to 22nd.

Next Week’s Teaser

From the short-track bullring at Hickory, the series now heads to Irwindale Speedway for the 11th race of the season. Be sure to check out all the action on Virtual Grip Network!