The Super Late Model East Regional Series heads to a marquee stop for Race 2 at The Motor Speedway, and the numbers say this place doesn’t leave much room for “hanging around.” In the entire ICL Super Late Model history at Charlotte, there have been only four events—but they’ve produced a clear trend: when someone gets control of the race, they tend to dominate it.

A quick look back: Season 1 at Charlotte (Series Race 2)

Charlotte was one of the biggest “statement” races of Season 1. Colton Zimmer started 5th and powered his way to the win, scoring 12 points for the victory while leading 34 laps. Behind him, Jonathan McGuire took 2nd (11 points) and quietly showed elite pace—McGuire logged the race’s quickest lap at 14.887, even though he never got the top spot. Jaxson Reitzler finished 3rd (10 points) with a clean run, while Brandon Holtmeier converted the fast-time bonus point into a bigger haul; Holtmeier started P1, led 1 lap, finished 4th on track, and ended up with 10 total points thanks to that +1 qualifying point.

Charlotte’s -time headline: 4 races, 4 different winners

With only four Super Late Model events run here, the winner list is still short—but it’s also perfectly split: four races, four winners. The names etched into Charlotte history so far are:

  • Austin Hunter7

  • Ryan Hodge

  • Colton Zimmer

  • Nathan R Waddell

Even more telling is how those wins happened. Each of those winners logged an average finish of 1.0 at Charlotte in the all-time stats, and each posted an enormous share of laps led—Hunter7 (100% laps led), Zimmer (97%), Hodge (88%), Waddell (83%). The takeaway is simple: at Charlotte, winning has typically meant controlling the race, not just snatching it at the end.

Drivers to watch if they show up

If you’re building a shortlist based on history at this specific track, Zimmer is the obvious centerpiece. His all-time Charlotte line is brutal: 1 start, 1 win, and an average position gain of +4.0, matching what we saw in Season 1 when he climbed from 5th to 1st. Ryan Hodge is also one to keep an eye on whenever he’s in the room—his Charlotte stat line includes a pole (100% pole rate) and a win, showing that qualifying up front can still be the cleanest path to victory here.

Right behind that “winner tier,” a few performance markers jump off the page. Jonathan McGuire is the only driver shown with multiple Charlotte starts (2), and while he hasn’t won here yet, he’s been consistently in the mix with a 100% Top-10 rate at the track and a notable 10 fast laps logged across his runs. If he’s on the entry list, his history suggests he’s a factor for points and pace.

Passing is possible—but you’ll have to earn it

Despite the “dominators win” trend, Charlotte has still produced some eye-opening forward movers. The biggest example in the all-time numbers is Preston Rigsby, who posted an average position change of +8.0 at the track—proof that drivers can slice forward when the car is right and the decisions are clean. Zimmer’s +4.0 average gain also supports that storyline: you don’t have to start on the front row to contend, but you do need to be decisive because the leaders historically don’t give much away once they’re out front.

The points angle that matters

With the East Regional format paying 12 points to win (then one less per position) and 1 bonus point for qualifying fast time, Charlotte is another chance for someone to create separation the same way we saw in the opener: that single bonus point can turn a “normal” points gap into a bigger one, especially this early with five races still after Charlotte. Last season at this very track, Holtmeier’s fast-time point was the difference between a standard fourth-place points day and a much stronger total. Expect the qualifying effort to matter just as much as race pace again.

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