🏁⚡️ Season 3 Round 2 Recap — Strawberry Wins Wild Three-Wide Finish To Take The Points Lead

Round 2 delivered a thriller at the line. Aidan Strawberry prevailed after a furious closing stretch in which he and Damian Ward swapped the lead multiple times. On the final trip through Turns 3 and 4 the pair made contact, and Joseph Grandy pounced to join them for a three-wide drag race to the checkers. Strawberry edged it at the stripe to bank the full 12 points for the win and take control of the championship.

The lap-leader column featured multiple names on the night, headlined by Strawberry and Ward as they traded control. Grandy’s late surge turned the finish into a photo-worthy three-abrest dash and delivered a high-value runner-up in his first start of the season. Ward came home third after animating the front race long. Behind them, Dustin Holloway and Trey Paseka executed clean, mistake-free runs to lock in fourth and fifth.

On raw speed, Ward set the fastest lap of the race with a 16.145 on Lap 4, underscoring how potent he was in clean air. The Hard Charger honors (using Start Class for grid positions) were shared in a three-way tie at +6: Parker Leek (14th → 8th), Doug Welch (16th → 10th), and Connor Mirabelli (17th → 11th). The toughest night among the classified finishers belonged to Jake Luffman, who slipped nine spots (6th → 15th). Jakob Stitzel’s sixth place marked his best finish of the season and jumped him four places in the standings—quietly one of the night’s biggest gains.

The championship picture tightened, then pivoted. With 12 points to win and one-point steps behind, Strawberry’s victory moves him to 24 points through two rounds (he also owns one season-long bonus for qualifying fast time). Kinser Lightner—Round 1 winner—finished seventh in this race and now sits second on 19 points (with one season-long bonus). Grandy’s debut P2 slots him third at 11, while Ward’s podium puts him level with Brett Grube at 10. Just a single point separates positions three through six, which means even a small qualifying gain—or a single overtake in the final laps—can shuffle multiple championship places next time out.

Context from Round 1 helps frame the momentum. Lightner went flag-to-flag there and still leaves Round 2 within one good night of retaking the lead. Grube and Brayden E. Carter (now sixth) maintained solid early-season efficiency, while Stitzel’s P6 suggests his trend line is pointed upward after a tougher opener. With plenty of races left, the combination of time-trial pace (for that one-point bonus) and late-race pass rate looks like the decisive axis through the middle third of the schedule.

RESULTS (Feature)

  1. Aidan Strawberry, 2) Joseph Grandy, 3) Damian Ward, 4) Dustin Holloway, 5) Trey Paseka, 6) Jakob Stitzel, 7) Kinser Lightner, 8) Parker Leek, 9) Austin Kennedy2, 10) Doug Welch, 11) Connor Mirabelli, 12) Collin Paulus, 13) James Roselli, 14) Cody Malley, 15) Jake Luffman, 16) Mark Toney2, 17) Tyler Alwardt

TOP 20 STANDINGS (after Round 2)

  1. Aidan Strawberry – 24 pts

  2. Kinser Lightner – 19 pts

  3. Joseph Grandy – 11 pts

  4. Brett Grube – 10 pts

  5. Damian Ward – 10 pts

  6. Brayden E Carter – 9 pts

  7. Dustin Holloway – 9 pts

  8. Trey Paseka – 8 pts

  9. Garrett Paull – 8 pts

  10. Jakob Stitzel – 8 pts

  11. James Richard2 – 7 pts

  12. JT Ferry – 6 pts

  13. James Roselli – 6 pts

  14. Parker Leek – 5 pts

  15. Austin Kennedy2 – 4 pts

  16. Jacob Smith7 – 4 pts

  17. Jordan Hutton – 3 pts

  18. Doug Welch – 3 pts

  19. Troy Dorion – 2 pts

  20. Connor Mirabelli – 2 pts

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