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JACKSON BLACKMON
VIRGINIA!
VIRgInIa InternatIonal
Raceway
BLACKMON
Blackmon ended up putting himself right at the front of the field in qualifying as he clocked a blazing
fast 1:42.731, placing him in second on the grid behind the championship leader. The South Carolina
native handled the first lap with veteran composure as he shot out to an early lead ahead of Smith and
Draik Beauchamp -- the three of them pulled a gap on the rest of the field and Blackmon was able to
command the pace from the lead for the first half of the race. As they continued to build a gap ahead
of their pursuers, Blackmon finally came under attack from Beauchamp on the eight lap and was
forced to concede the position. The draft battle started to heat up down the main straight away as the
three riders passed each other back and forth as Blackmon shot his way back to the lead with only a
couple of laps to go. On the penultimate lap, he was dropped down to third place and it seemed as if
Beauchamp and Smith were going to duke it out for the win, but he played the last lap to perfection and found a way to draft Smith to the line, finishing second place behind Beauchamp to earn his first career podium. On Sunday, Blackmon deployed the same tactic as he got out to the lead early on, except this time it was a two-way scrap between himself and Beauchamp.
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