final championship points.
 
The team used the practice sessions to work on long runs on old tires. The approach helped prepare the team for the long runs expected during the course of the race. In practice, the car was tight in the center of the corner so crew chief Matt Dalton went to work freeing up the #42, adjusting throughout both practice sessions. By the end of the second session the car was very close to where Sam needed it for the race.

In qualifying, Sam was 25th to qualify. He struggled on his first lap as the tire pressure began to build. By the second lap the pressures were up and the car rotated much better in turn 1 and 2 but was still a bit tight in 3 and 4. Sam's last lap was 15.89 placing him in 15th starting position.

When the green flag dropped for the 150 lap feature, Sam quickly moved past the #2 car through the first corner. He then caught the bumper of the #48 car heading down the backstretch. The race ran under green conditions for several laps as Sam the #48 and the #2 exchanged positions on the track. On lap 15 the #48 lost control exiting turn 4 and slammed the inside wall just in front of Sam. He was able to avoid the carnage but the #74 was not, and got collected in the mess. Sam's spotter (David West) had successfully guided him to the high side of the track and avoided the two car crash.

When the field went back to racing, Sam held his spot for several laps in 11th until another multiple car crash involving the #9 and the #27 in the middle of turn three and four. Once again Sam, and his spotter, threaded the needle between two spinning cars, and advanced two positions his way to 9th. On the restart the team elected to take the lower line on the cone restart. The decision was probably a little too conservative, as several other cars that Sam had already passed took the high line. At the re-start several cars backed up on the inside line allowing cars on the outside to make up ground.

As the field settled down, after a couple of laps, Sam had slipped a couple of positions back to 11th. By lap 100,Sam was fighting a loose condition on corner entry but was still competitive with the field and running on the lead lap. Several cars that were still in the race had slowed due to wreck damage or handling woes and were effecting the lead lap cars. Almost every circuit by lap 125 to the end of the race, Sam was met with a back marker (usually in the corner) that made it very difficult to gain ground. Sam was running 14th on the lead lap when a late race caution flew setting up a green/white checkered finish.

On the final restart, Sam powered the car between two cars on the exit of turn two and held the middle line on a 3 wide race to the checkered flag. After a long night behind the wheel, Sam crossed the finish line 13th , still on the lead lap.

Sam Hunt's finish last Saturday night will officially place him in 11th place in championship points at South Boston Speedway for the 2011 race season. During the course of the 2011 at South Boston, seventy nine different Late Model Drivers competed at the track. The National Points Champion, Phillip Morris, won the South Boston track championship while Sam finished one place behind Peyton Sellers (10th) and one place ahead of last year's track champion Justin Johnson (12th).
 
Sam's Post Race Comments:

"It was fun out there tonight! The car got loose as the race wore on but, we were able to stay in the mix. Almost every lap there was some type of action whether I was moving forward or backwards. The cone re-start cost me at least a couple of positions. I continued to take the low line rather than jumping to the top. Then I decided to jump to the top and it backfired."

"All things considered, it was a really good time. The team worked really hard throughout the day to prepare me, and the car, and once again they did a great job. These guys work their butt off and I can't thank them enough. I want to also thank FDJ Motorsports and especially Matt Dalton for all the effort he put forward this year."