St. Charles resident Tim Ludke entered Sycamore Speedway’s Sept. 15 Late Models season finale with a 17-point lead on his nearest challenger for the circuit title.

One racer can pick up as many as 19 points on another in a given week. Barring the cruelest of disasters, Ludke knew Somonauk’s Jordan Jackowiak could not play the ultimate game of leapfrog.

“If I had done absolutely nothing and if he had set fast time [in qualifying], won the heat and won the feature, I’d have been in trouble,” Ludke said. “It was nice that by the time the heat races were done, I had sewn it up.”