On a hot Sunday afternoon at New Smyrna Speedway (FL), no one was hotter than Jeff Choquette.
The Florida driver dominated the Hart to Heart 100, closing out the 2019 Southern Super Series in victory lane after burning up the competition in a rare appearance for the racer this year.
“You never know when it’s going to be your last,” said Choquette. “I haven’t raced a lot this year. That was a hot one. I never thought when I was younger that I’d be hot and wore out, but that’s the case.”
Telling of the toasty conditions on a day which saw temperatures in the high 80s, a small fire erupted underneath the rear of Choquette’s car after he pulled into victory lane. Still, he noted that it was also a hot day for crew members on his Jett Motorsports team.
“I can’t thank Jett Motorsports and all those guys enough. I’ve got an AC unit in my helmet and they’re standing out there in the heat, so they’re the ones really enduring it.”
Stephen Nasse, fresh off a Winchester 400 triumph, finished second in another Jett Motorsports entry. Nasse also lamented the warm weather, quickly taking a seat on the ground after climbing out of his car on the frontstretch.
“It was miserable out there,” said Nasse. “With it being as hot as it is outside, and me and Choquette had something hotter than usual inside the car today. He was complaining about his feet burning up. It was overall hotter in my car today. I’ve been doing this a long time and I don’t fall out of the seat too often, but I was almost there.”
Giovanni Bromante started seventh during the Southern Super Series top-eight redraw, but raced his way into a podium spot. The strong run gives the New York racer confidence before returning to New Smyrna on November 8-9 for the Governor’s Cup.
“It was super-hot the whole time,” said Bromante. “ACR gave me such a great car to get me through this hot weather. Jeff and Stephen had a great car. I’m really excited for the Governor’s Cup.”
While Bromante had charged to third late in the race, he did not think he had the short-run speed to challenge the top two if there had been a late caution.
“Everybody really had short run speed when we had the cautions. When they had cautions they could get me on the outside. We had a great long run car, we just didn’t have the short runs.”
With a fourth-place finish, Casey Roderick secured the 2019 Southern Super Series championship. Stay tuned to Speed51 for more on Roderick’s championship performance, backing up his 2018 series title.
Unofficial Results – Hart to Heart 100
Pos#Driver19CJeff Choquette251NStephen Nasse381Giovanni Bromante422RCasey Roderick520Anthony Sergi603George Gorham751AMichael Atwell830Jesse Dutilly914Connor Okrzesik1021PJeremy Pate1166Logan Bearden1211Bubba Pollard1322HBrandon Herbert1438Rich Clouser159MBrad May1621BTrey Bayne1739Kyle Sieg185Daniel Keene, Jr.1901CJake Crum201XTodd Stone2156Chris Staggs2250Jett Noland2367Colin Allman2401SVincent Staggs
-Story by: Zach Evans, Speed51.com Southeast Editor – Twitter: @ztevans
-Photo credit: Speed51photos.com