Article written by Patrick Connell and Marty Cmejla

Patrick Connell was able to take home his first win of 2024 in MC Motorsports Series competition at Talladega Superspeedway for ASPHALT MEDIA Race 1 on May 17th, 2024.  In a race with virtual fans on the edge of their seats, experiencing the vast action and crazy crashes, Patrick Connell, piloting the No. 67 Peters' Boyz Texas BBQ Ford F-150 for MC Motorsports, owned by CEO Marty Cmejla, edged out the competition in a last-lap battle for the checkered flag, with team owner pushing him "until the engine was to blow out" for a victory, as EVERY TRUCK behind wrecked.

The race started with a bang, as several drivers tangled in a turn three incident on one of the opening laps. Patrick Connell, however, managed to avoid the chaos and settled into the top five ten on. Throughout the race's first half, it was all about putting yourself in a good spot in the pack. Marty Cmejla wrecked out in the first crash, after getting turned by a 10.00 driver-score #89 of Marcus Wisniewski. He had 4 minutes of optional repairs.

But the real fireworks began on a restart with 13 laps to go. A big pile up in Turn 3 bunched up the field, setting the stage for this restart. On the restart, Patrick Connell made an uncommon move for himself to the outside lane to slot himself behind team owner Marty Cmejla, in the #88 MC Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado. He would work with his team owner to get to the front of the field. Cmejla slid into the bottom with about 5 laps to go, and when Connell cleared him, he went down. Cmejla was full force pushing.

With two laps to go, Patrick Connell was "getting the biggest pushes of his career", nearly getting out of control multiple times. Cmejla was "fully committed" and telling Connell to hold his line. 

"I didn't even realize it was that close to the end. At that point I thought it was still 10 laps to go. I clenched everything once Cmejla said it was the white flag," said Connell, after the race, in an exclusive interview with us.

The virtual crowd roared as the full pack of cars came into the tri-oval, with Connell edging Levi Lipe on the outside. But, behind them, Cory Liles turned Marty Cmejla trying to go for the win, and Cmejla and Liles came up the track, wrecking literally every SINGLE truck, except Connell, who would cruise to a well-executed team victory.

"This doesn't feel real that I won," Patrick said in his interview with ASPHALT MEDIA owner Robbie Devore. Connell prior to this win had only 1 win, in a Pro 2 Lite truck, only leading 1 lap, where the two leaders wrecked each other on the final corner going for the win, for Connell to sneak by. This was his first race with MC Motorsports in ASPHALT MEDIA.

Patrick Connell's victory is a huge boost for his ASPHALT MEDIA career. Connell comes off of a month-and-a-half break, practically, and this is only the beginning for a potential new career resurgance. 

After the race, Marty Cmejla would start 38th in the 2024 Indiana 500 hoping for a solid race. But, on about Lap 50, James Bomar wrecked in front of Cmejla, when Cmejla was running 36th, and they both fielded an exit from the race. As a result, Cmejla went to Patrick Connell's house, where they celebrated with watermelon and victory celebration and him twirling water on top of Cmejla's car.