2018 SEASON - Empire State 450

Houston Makes History With Duel and 450 Sweep

It was a weekend to remember for debutante Dustin Houston and underdog team Last 2 First Racing as Dustin Houston completed the sweep, winning both the second duel race and the big race; The Empire State 450 in his first attempt.

The race was filled with attrition, as many cautions plagued the event. An early accident saw Grant Macintosh, Scott Strickland and Maki Nishikino fall victim on lap 12, with William Carmichael, Dallas Hammond and Dean Donohue falling out shortly after. Houston himself was involved in the first accident of the race, colliding with Nishikino avoiding the initial contact.

Cars fell out left and right with only 19 cars left after the halfway mark. The most notable accident, however, came on lap 53, when Ike Durbin, for the second year in a row, took a tumble in a very similar fashion to Casey Lester last year. Durbin ended up on top of All-Star winner Connor Swift in the accident, but thankfully both drivers, as well as Ross Carter and Bailey Bliss who were also in the accident, were okay.

The most controversial accident did not come until 17 laps to go as Kazuki Kazami, also known simply as Thanatos, drifted up into Jacob Eichholtz, who was set to win the race. This collected Casey Lester and Bradley Carlisle as well, who were set for top 5 runs. They had to settle for 12th and 13th instead.

The race, afterwards, came down to Dustin Houston, Mac Hanley and Spencer Libra. None of the three had been major factors in the race, but Houston simply had the best car at the end, and he came out victorious, with Hanley in 2nd and Last 2 First teammate Spencer Libra in 3rd.

Jacob Eichholtz, who led 45 of the 200 laps; the most of anybody on the day, had to settle for fourth, while debutante Honoka Kousaka rounded our the top 5; the first and only car one lap down.

Lacey Starling, Luke Forrester, Hanamaru Kunikida, Jack Kelley-Whitt and Marc McAllister were the only ones to finish the race, however McAllister did not register a top 10 as he was 7 laps down, and Ben Atkins blew his engine with 5 to go running one lap down, meaning he finishes ahead of McAllister.

"Oh my god, man, I can't believe this! Not a lot of people can say they won this thing in their first try, haha... It was a damn warzone out there, though." said winner Dustin Houston. "People dropping like flies. Last 2 First really did a great job getting our #57 tuned up during final practice, we felt pretty good all weekend, but it all just came together, and I'm proud of all these boys for getting it done."

"This race was an absolute disaster and they really need to look at this pack racing," said Mac Hanley, "I'm just happy we finished. The second place doesn't really mean anything when only 3 cars are competitive at the end. We had 42 cars at the beginning of the race! I think everyone had damage at the end... so silly."

"I'm fuckin' retiring now, this shit is enough to send anyone mad" said Marc McAllister, who was seen Naruto running to Bandori songs after the event. "I've done my time and I don't wanna die doing this shit. I'm out. Fuckin' BYE."

The next race will be at Watkins Glen.

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