5/6/05
by Rustin Nelson
Jacksonville, IL
Sprint Invaders
30 cars
Original plans were to head to the Show Me State and Ozark country for the WoOs first appearance there. Plans were abruptly altered and mended upon the discovery of the rude reality that certain promoters have no intentions of allowing the racing media to speak the good word to the racing masses, and heaven forbid lure some more fans to their speed plant. We werent about to waste the beautiful weather, and headed east across the Mighty Miss for some Sprint Invader action. We knew we would be wanted there, and Earl & Co. greeted us with open arms.
In only his third whirl in a sprint, Glasgow went whirling in turn four during hotlaps after he tasted the concrete. He would not return. Moughans motor was having its share of problems in his flight, which they would chase all night long.
Heat 1) 1. D1 Jesse Giannetto (1) 2. 2 John Schulz (5) 3. 66 Ryan Bunton (2) 4. 77u Chris Urish (6) / 5. 9 Rager Phillips (3) 6. 49 Josh Schneiderman (7) 7. 36 Justin Newberry (4) 8. 19 Lucas Glagow (8) DNS - Glasgow
Giannetto led every lap, although Schulz and Urish made nice runs to get into transfers. Schulz nailed down second (and a berth into the dash) with the laps winding down in the eight-lapper.
Heat 2) 1. 14P Randy Plath (1) 2. 5h Bobby Hawks (6) 3. 99w Korey Weyant (3) 4. 35 Brian Hetrick (2) / 5. 4c Bubba Altig (7) 6. 22 Kirk Tripplett (5) 7. 4G Justin Parrish (4) 8. 31p Travis Porter (8)
Plath took the lead and held it, while the veteran Hawks flexed his muscle behind. Hawks steered the 5h between Parrish and Tripplett at the drop of the green to get fourth by turn one. He would tire of following suit on the bottom and shoot to the cushion to get second and earn a trip to the dash.
Heat 3) 1. 45 Matt Rogerson (1) 2. 50 Jerrod Hull (2) 3. 4x Joey Montgomery (5) 4. 1 Jason Ditsworth (3) / 5. 99 Jimmy Davies (4) 6. 1A Brent Antill (6) 7. 15 Bobby Mincer (7)
Rogerson commanded from the pole. Antill would slow to a stop on lap two and bring out a caution. Hull could not get around Rogerson, while Montgomery driving the Adams Racing #4 slid into third with two to go.
Heat 4) 1. 20 Stevie Walsh (2) 2. 3 Matt Sutton (3) 3. 8H Joey Moughan (4) 4. 51J Ryan Jamison (6) / 5. 25 Nick Eastin (7) 6. 53 Dave Anderson (1) 7. 3G Lance Gullo (5)
Gullo mustve picked up a piece of debris enroute to the racing surface as he had a flat right rear before the flagman thought about grabbing the green. He would hobble off. Eastin got extremely loose in turn two and whipped it sideways, collecting Anderson who tumbled into the infield, ending his night. Walsh led every lap in the convincing win for the New Zealand youngster.
Shake-up Dash) 1. Giannetto (1) 2. Hawks (6) 3. Schulz (5) 4. Hull (7) 5. Plath (2) 6. Sutton (8) 7. Walsh (4) 8. Rogerson (3)
Giannetto hugged the bottom groove of the track and jumped to the point. Rogerson was working his tail off trying to get by him by repeated flirting with the tires that separate the racing surface from the infield. Hawks and Schulz were locked in a good battle for third for the better part of the six-lapper, with Hull lurking not far behind. Disaster struck for Rogerson with one lap to go. The tires finally bit back, sending him spinning in turn two. He would not finish and got credit for last. Giannetto brough it home, and pulled the #2 pill, starting him 2nd in the A and giving Sutton the pole.
B-Main) 1. Phillips (1) 2. Altig (2) 3. Davies (3) 4. Gullo (12) / 5. Antill (7) 6. Tripplett (6) 7. Schneiderman (5) 8. Parrish (10) 9. Newberry (9) 10. Eastin (4) 11. Mincer (11) 12. Porter (13) 13. Anderson (8) 14. Glasgow (14) DNS Anderson, Glasgow
Phillips jumped to the lead, with Eastin closing in behind him. Eastin got by him briefly, but the pass was negated for a skirmish in turn four. Schneiderman got sideways and shot from the high side to the low side. Mincer can in no way, shape, or form shake his bad luck in Invader action thus far, and was collected by young Josh. Mincer knocked the front end out of his car, while Porter (with equally horrible luck) ran over him sending him tumbling down the front chute. Mincer and Porter would not restart, while Schneiderman tagged the tail. Eastin continued to work the cushion on the restart in his pursuit of Phillips, who was running a clean line along the bottom. With laps winding down, Phillips made the orange #9 as wide as possible, making it tough on Eastin to get by. With only a lap or two remaining, Eastin pulled even coming down the front chute. He dramatically hopped the right rear of the Phillips machine however, and Jacksonville Speedways push-off lane that runs between the front straightaway and fence was the only saving grace for Quick Nick. He still flew off the racing surface in a blur, ending the solid run he had going. Phillips had clear sailing and picked up the win.
A-Main) 1. Hull (5) 2. Urish (13) 3. Montgomery (11) 4. Sutton (1) 5. Schulz (4) 6. Giannetto (2) 7. Jamison (16) 8. Davies (19) 9. Weyant (10) 10. Plath (6) 11. Walsh (7) 12. Hawks (3) 13. Ditsworth (15) 14. Phillips (17) 15. Bunton (9) 16. Moughan (12) 17. Altig (18) 18. Gullo (20) 19. Rogerson (8) 20. Hetrick (14)
Rogerson shot through the infield of turn one at the onset, kicking up a cloud of dust and flattening his left front tire. Hetrick spun to the infield as well. Both would be done, effectively ending Rogersons run at a third win in a row. Sutton assumed command, but action was halted on the second circuit when Gullo made significant contact and knocked out his front end. Sutton led Hawks, Giannetto, Hull, and Schulz at this time. Moughan and Urish were on the charge from mid-pack. One more lap would be logged when Bunton slowed in turn one to a stop, collecting Phillips, who spun. Moughan ducked off the track at this time with apparent mechanical ills. It was a tough break for the 3rd generation shoe from Springfield, as he was staring down the top five. Hull had worked his way up to the runner-up position, and would overtake Sutton shortly after the restart. Lap six brought yet another stoppage as Phillips caught the wall in three & four and flipped. Bunton tagged Phillips when he landed and spun to a stop. Both were done. Hawks (in 2nd) had a flat left rear, which would prove to be his undoing. Another couple laps were run before Ditsworth spun in turn two. He retired. Hawks was clinging to 2nd even though his left rear was fixing to fly to pieces. Urish had slammed the cushion early to get by a gaggle of cars, and was now sitting in fourth. Montgomery also utilized the high side to work his way up to sixth. The final stoppage of the enduro occurred on lap thirteen when Walsh spun in turn two. Hawks left rear shredded at this time and he exited. The final laps were run by the only eleven left circling the high-banked quarter. Urish had nothing for Hull, and Hull cruised to another Jacksonville victory. Urish was the hard-charger disposing of eleven cars to get to his runner-up position. Montgomery ended his great run with a podium as well.