Kyle Kleiman was wondering how the Dirt City track was going to play out heading in the Pro 2 showdown. After winning round two at ERX, he was ready to go head-to-head with defending class champion Keegan Kincaid in Lena.
Mickey Thomas set fast time in qualifying but pulled a six for the invert. That put him in the third row next to Kincaid, and one row behind Kleiman. The slight separation was all Kleiman needed, as he got around the leaders quickly, and set the pace in what turned out to be an eventful Pro 2 race. Known as a closer, Kleiman lived up to the billing. He ran the fastest lap time on lap 11, a blistering 52.436 seconds. It gave him enough separation over Kincaid, who had to work his way through the crowd and didn’t get into the runner-up spot until lap seven, when he got around Thomas.
Zachery Kirchner took advantage of his front row starting position to run towards the front for the majority of the 12-lapper. After finishing outside of the top five in both ERX races, Kirchner found an extra gear late in the race, running his fastest two laps on the final two laps to finish third. Thomas was unable to finish after a mechanical issue dropped him out of the race.