The South of the Border Showdown finale saw the same two drivers duke it out for the win Saturday night at Lake View Motor Speedway This time the roles were reversed, with Andrew Buff getting the best of Friday night winner Nick Guererri to score the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified main event win.
The Latham, NY driver led all 51 laps in the finale Saturday night, while a flurry of drivers behind him suffered misfortune. Willie Milliken, Kevin Root and Ajay Potrezbowski Jr all gave Buff serious challenges during the event, but would all fall by the wayside by the end of the race.
It would be an emotional win for the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park Co-Champion after the recent loss of his grandfather.
“First, this is all for my grandfather that I lost two weeks ago due to an illness. He was dedicated to everything for us. He was here with us and we performed for him.”
The race would play into Buff’s hands. His competitors could catch him during long runs, but several cautions slowed the pace in the middle stages of the event. The cautions helped him stay in front of the field and hold on for the $3,000 payday.
“This is awesome. We went with the right tire choices with the cautions coming out,” Buff said on the Speed51.TV broadcast. “It really paid off.”
It was also the second straight night he and his brother both finished on the podium, as Justin Buff added another third-place run. He did so after coming from deep in the field, using the multiple cautions to his advantage.
“It was definitely a long race, I was getting tired there. With starting 20th I definitely had to work for it, we broke a rear axle in time trials and that set me back the whole night,” the younger Duff said. “We never gave up and I got another podium.”
Nick Guererri nearly pulled the weekend sweep after working from his 10th starting spot. Just as Buff did one night ago, the New Yorker also put himself in position to possibly steal a win, but ultimately ran out of time.
“It was tough, it was rubbered up and everyone was fighting for the same spot. He was good in the middle and could roll a little bit better than I could, I was a little bit tight,” said Guererri. “I don’t know what I could’ve done, maybe loosened it up a little bit and get through there a little freer.”
Zachary Payne and Tyler Corcoran rounded out the top-five.
A replay of the South of the Border Showdown will be available soon on Speed51.TV.
-Story by: Koty Geyer, Speed51 National Correspondent – Twitter: @kgeyer3
-Photo Credit: Speed51 / Will Bellamy
South of the Border Showdown Unofficial Results
January 30, 2021 – Lake View Motor Speedway (SC)
| 1 | 92 | Andrew Buff |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 25G | Nick Guererri |
| 3 | 42 | Justin Buff |
| 4 | 7Z | Zachary Payne |
| 5 | 64 | Tyler Corcoran |
| 6 | 19C | Brandon Carvey |
| 7 | 61 | Johnny Scarbrough |
| 8 | 1 | Robert Delormier |
| 9 | 26M | Willie Milliken |
| 10 | 79 | Jeffrey Prentice |
| 11 | 31B | Ryan Dolbear |
| 12 | 410 | Mike Fowler |
| 13 | 17z | Seth Zacharias |
| 14 | 22B | Mike Bruno |
| 15 | 34 | Kevin Root |
| 16 | 72NY | Ajay Potrezbowski Jr. |
| 17 | 36 | Tyler Murray |
| 18 | 20x | Kevin Ridley |
| 19 | 01R | Robert Gage |
| 20 | 72NY | Ajay Potrezbowski Sr. |
| 21 | 8 | Alan Fink |
| 22 | 38 | Zach Sobotka |
| 23 | 4 | Emmett Waldron |
| 24 | 78 | Grant Hilfiger |
