Connor Hall prevailed over Landon Shane Huffman in the Hickory Fall Brawl at Hickory Motor Speedway in his first start with Jr. Motorsports.
Connor Hall and Landon S. Huffman battle for the lead at the Hickory Fall Brawl 2025.
Hall led the majority of the laps and was briefly challenged about a quarter of the way through the race by Max Reaves and Michael Bumgarner but following the halfway break, Hall took command and stayed in charge until Huffman closed in on him with about 25 laps to go. He then stalked Hall for about 15 laps when he made his move with about 10 laps to go. It looked like Huffman was going to be able to pass Hall, but Chase Burrow had an issue and came to a stop in turn four, which brought out the caution and allowed Hall to revert back to the lead.
On the ensuing restart Huffman gave Hall the bumper and pushed him up the track coming out of turn four nearly tearing his own quarter panel off. However, Hall fought back on the outside and kept Huffman at bay and took full command of the lead on lap 195.
Connor Hall and Landon S. Huffman battle for the lead at the Hickory Fall Brawl 2025.
Huffman then pursued Hall through turns three and four and made his move with a big run coming out of turn 2 on lap 197. He dove underneath Hall in turn 3 and slid Hall up the track as the two banged doors. Huffman would clear Hall coming out of turn 2.
Hall would not be denied as he gave Huffman a big piece of his bumper through turns 3 and 4 and down down the front stretch. The contact allowed Hall to get underneath Huffman through the corner, but Huffman powered back down the backstretch, but Hall made his front bumper stick to Huffman’s rear like glue. Hall then gave Huffman two shots as they went into turn 3 and it sent Huffman up the track and allowed Hall to get underneath and motor past him.
As Hall was passing Huffman, Tristan McKee made contact with Reaves racing for third and send Reaves into a tail spin. As Reaves attempted to come down out of Turn 4 and finish the race pandemonium ensued as multiple cars ended up suffering significant damage.
🏁 Wild finish to the Fall Brawl at @hickoryspeedway! @connorhallweb wins it with a last lap pass in his @JRMotorsports debut! pic.twitter.com/tXTLn6umFW
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) November 10, 2024
Following the race, Hall said, “For one, I knew the 28 was coming. I think with just the motor packages like differences. Obviously, they had a little bit more longevity than we did. I don’t know if I got excited and burnt it up a little bit, but they were definitely coming and made things interesting with 10 to go.”
“But that caution actually really helped us at the end,” Hall continued. “It just gave us enough time to cool things down and kind of have a fight at it. I think if we wouldn’t have had that yellow, I think he would have probably ended up with it.”
Connor Hall via FloRacing.com
As for Huffman, he said, “I knew I shouldn’t have cleared him. I knew what he was going to do. He cleared himself up on me and he wasn’t really clear. I had a run on him and that’s why I got up under him. And it kind of carried itself off into 3. I shouldn’t have cleared him.”
He then questioned, “I don’t really know why the race ended. I don’t think it was meant to. The pace car pulled on the race track. So they knew it wasn’t over and then they go after and end it. So I don’t really know what the deal was there.”
“We should have won,” he added. “I think I got my rears too hot. I did all I could feel like. Obviously, not because I should be over there.”
Landon S. Huffman via FloRacing.com
What do you make of the battle for the finish and the chaos that happened behind the leaders?
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