Short Track Nationals Night #1 Results and Stories

I-30 Speedway 11/3/16
 
I-30 Speedway
Little Rock, AR
 
Short Track Nationals Night #1
 
62 cars
 
Heat one (started): 1. Shawn Dancer 49 (2) 2. Parker Price-Miller 2 (1) 3. Mark Smith M1 (4) 4. Aaron Reutzel 87 (5) 5. Brandon Hinkle 21B (7) 6. Ronny Howard 44 (3) 7. Claud Estes III 74E (8) 8. Tommy Snellgrove 4 (6)
 
Heats were ten laps in distance.  The top 40 in passing points qualified for four Qualifiers with an invert of six spots in each.  Dancer led the distance in a race that saw the lead trio make a little contact with each other on the way.  The track was as good as we’ve seen it for the Short Track Nationals in some time.  Both ends lent multiple grooves, with holes in one and three adding some flavor as well.
 
Heat two (started): 1. Joey Schmidt 1s (1) 2. Rick Pringle 38 (2) 3. Tim Shaffer 49x (3) 4. Johnny Gardner 31G (7) 5. Dylan Westbrook 47x (8) 6. Kevin Hinkle 21 (6) 7. Dustin Homan 10 (5) 8. Joseph Miller 30 (4)
 
Schmidt led R. Pringle and J. Gardner (from 7th) at the completion of lap one.  At that point, Miller came to a stop on the frontstretch.  Shaffer used the restart to work by J. Gardner for the third spot after a slow start.  Homan exited early.
 
Heat three (started): 1. Sammy Swindell 3s (4) 2. Jeremy Middleton 15J (2) 3. Chad Kemenah 10H (8) 4. Kevin Ramey 91 (7) 5. Brandon Long 2K (6) 6. Robbie Standridge 17* (5) 7. Jason Keith 10c (1) 8. Tony Bruce Jr. 86 (3)
 
When Keith slowed with a flat right rear tire in turn four, Bruce couldn’t avoid him and tipped over after a hotly contested start.  Both were done.  Swindell narrowly avoided the mess and led Middleton and Standridge back to green.  Long jumped the berm and did all but get upside down on lap five, bringing another caution.  Kemenah completed a good run on the restart, getting by Standridge for third.
 
Heat four (started): 1. Ernie Ainsworth 91A (4) 2. Jason Johnson 41 (2) 3. Shane Stewart 88s (5) 4. Marshall Skinner 26 (6) 5. Andy McElhannon 42 (8) 6. Jake Bubak 9x (3) 7. Jonathan Cornell 28 (7) 8. Dakota Gaines D6 (1)
 
Gaines took a hard right into J. Johnson on the frontstretch when the green fell.  Both avoided further disaster, but Ainsworth sniped the lead ahead of J. Johnson, who recovered nicely, and Bubak.  Stewart worked by Bubak on lap five for third.  Skinner and McElhannon bested Bubak in some intense action in the late stages.

Howard Moore Heat five (started): 1. Tim Crawley 88 (7) 2. Zach Pringle 8z (3) 3. Howard Moore 40 (5) 4. Jordon Mallett 14m (8) 5. Dale Wester 12w (2) 6. CJ Hulsey 77c (1) 7. Coleman Gulick 14 (6) 8. Cody Gardner 88R (4)
 
In probably the most interesting heat of the night, contact from Wester sent Hulsey into a spin before a lap could be completed.  Z. Pringle inherited the pole, and took the early lead over Moore and Gulick.  With C. Gardner and Crawley (from 7th) entering the lead trio, a 4-wide entry into turn three saw only three make it to turn four.  Contact from Crawley sent C. Gardner limping to the infield with a broken front end.  Mallett spun on lap three, bringing a caution.  Z. Pringle led Moore, Gulick, Wester and Crawley back to green.  Gulick looked good on the cushion shooting into second, while Crawley took fourth.  Crawley would then snatch third from Moore on lap five.  A circuit later, Gulick was challenging for the lead on the high side of one when he smacked the wall hard on entry.  He would limp to the pits.  Crawley inherited second and shot by Z. Pringle for the lead on the restart.
 
Heat six (started): 1. Max Stambaugh 5m (2) 2. Jamie Ball 5J (1) 3. Derek Hagar 9JR (4) 4. Spencer Bayston 39 (5) 5. Jordan Thomas 79 (3) 6. Forrest Sutherland 85 (6) 7. Terry McCarl 24 (7) 8. Trey Starks 23 (8)
 
Stambaugh led the distance in a mostly single-file non-stop affair.
 
Heat seven (started): 1. Andy Shouse 27 (4) 2. Charlie Loudon X (5) 3. Jason Sides 7s (3) 4. Joe B. Miller 51B (6) 5. Bard Bowden 59 (7) 6. Jamey Mooney 69 (1) 7. Jeff Masson 15* (2)
 
The front row of Masson and Mooney came together on the start, sending this one into a wincing trip into turn one.  Shouse emerged with the lead ahead of Louden and J.B. Miller.  Sides brought a fierce battle to Miller for third, eventually prevailing on lap six. 
 
Heat eight (started): 1. Brian Bell 23B (4) 2. Sheldon Haudenschild 31B (1) 3. Harli White 17w (5) 4. Alex Hill 77x (7) 5. Dewayne White 10K (3) 6. Matthew Bauldwin 43 (6) DQ (nose wing, crossed third) Brandon Stevenson 29 (2)
 
Haudenschild led Bell and Stevenson most of the way.  On the last lap, Bell pulled a slider on the leader in turn two and made it stick, stealing the win.  Stevenson crossed third, but was DQed for having his nose wing too far forward after the race.

Brandon Long Qualifier one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. J. Johnson (1*) 2. Crawley (6*) 3. Reutzel (9*) 4. Smith (7*) 5. Ramey (2) 6. Westbrook (8) 7. Long (10) 8. Stambaugh (4) 9. Bell (5) 10. Stewart (3)
 
The Qualifiers were 10 laps in distance and took the top 14 in combined passing points from the heat and the Qualifier to the A.  This was probably the most stout of the four.  Reutzel shot over the berm in turn one when the green flew and came to a stop before a lap was completed.  J. Johnson led Ramey and Bell in the early stages.  Bell overtook Ramey for second on lap three squeezing between him and the turn four wall.  Crawley went into third at the same time on the low side.  Stewart would slow with six laps in and retire.  J. Johnson led Bell, Crawley, Ramey and Reutzel back to green.  A lap in, Bell caught a rut and flipped in turn four.  J. Johnson kept his lead over Crawley, who was high point man for the night, while Reutzel completed his run back from the tail in third.
 
Qualifier two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Price-Miller (1*) 2. Hill (2*) 3. Moore 40 (3) 4. Swindell (6*) 5. Kemenah (5) 6. Bayston (9) 7. Cornell (10) 8. Hagar (7) 9. Schmidt (4) 10. McElhannon (8)
 
Price-Miller led Hill and Schmidt on lap one.  Schmidt spun in turn three while running second and collected a fourth running McElhannon.  Both were done.  Price-Miller continued to pull away, while Moore inherited third.  Swindell shot by Kemenah late for fourth.
 
Qualifier three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Ball (1*) 2. H. White (3*) 3. R. Pringle (2) 4. Ainsworth (6*) 5. Mallett (4) 6. Louden (5) 7. Shaffer (8) 8. Thomas (10) 9. Skinner (7) 10. B. Hinkle (9)
 
Ball led the distance.  H. White snatched third from R. Pringle on lap six.  Ainsworth looked strong, working by Mallett and Louden and coming just short at the line of R. Pringle for third.
 
Qualifier four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Haudenschild (1*) 2. Z. Pringle (4*) 3. Middleton (2) 4. Sides (8*) 5. Shouse (6*) 6. J.B. Miller (7) 7. Dancer (5) 8. J. Gardner (3) 9. D. White (10) 10. Bowden (9)
 
Haudenschild led green to checker.  Z. Pringle worked by Middleton for second with four to go.  Sides used a good patient start to work under Dancer and J. Gardner in turn four on lap one.
 
C main one (started): 1. Sutherland (2) 2. Standridge (3) 3. Bubak (7) / 4. Bruce (10) 5. Wester (1) 6. Howard (4) 7. J. Miller (8) 8. Masson (6) 9. Hulsey (5) 10. Keith (9) DNS – Gulick
 
The C mains were comprised of cars not making the Qualifiers.  The 10-lappers took the top three to the back of the B mains.  Sutherland led early over Wester and Standridge.  On lap seven, Standridge surged by Wester for second.  Things went smoothly until Hulsey flipped in turn one on the white flag lap.  He was o.k.  Sutherland maintained his lead on the restart, but Bubak used it to work by Wester to complete a good run for the final transfer after starting in row four.
 
C main two (started): 1. McCarl (4) 2. Bauldwin (2) 3. C. Gardner (10) / 4. Starks (7) 5. Estes (3) 6. Homan (6) 7. Stevenson (8) 8. K. Hinkle (1) 9. Mooney (5) 10. Gaines (9) DNS – Snellgrove
 
Bauldwin led McCarl and Homan early.  Estes dispatched Homan for third on the lap two.  McCarl, who got stronger as the night went on, worked over Bauldwin for the lead on lap six.  Starks would get to the final transfer when he shot by Estes on lap seven.  C. Gardner, who started last, was up to challenge Starks on lap nine.  He rubbed Starks in turn four to take the final transfer spot.  Starks showed his displeasure with the move after the checkers.
 
B main one (started): 1. Bayston (4) 2. Kemenah (1) 3. Shaffer (8) / 4. Louden (3) 5. J.B. Miller (6) 6. Skinner (11) 7. Hagar (9) 8. R. Pringle (2) 9. Ramey (5) 10. Sutherland (14) 11. Long (7) 12. Standridge (15) 13. B. Hinkle (13) 14. Bubak (16) 15. Schmidt (10) 16. McElhannon (12)
 
12-lap B mains would transfer the top three to the back of the feature.  Schmidt would get sideways and over the turn two ledge.  McElhannon corrected to avoid him and flipped.  His second encounter of the night with Schmidt resulted in a brief meeting.  Kemenah would grab the early lead over Louden and Bayston.  Bayston, driving for Kevin Swindell, hit the cushion to take second from Loudon on lap two.  He stalked Kemenah before shooting around him for the point on lap seven.  Shaffer would run a strong race from outside row four to pass Louden with three to go for the final transfer, sending a pair of multi-time All Stars champs to the feature.
 
B main two (started): 1. H. Moore (1) 2. Middleton (2) 3. Cornell (8) / 4. Westbrook (4) 5. Bell (6) 6. Mallett (3) 7. Dancer (5) 8. Stewart (11) 9. McCarl (14) 10. Thomas (10) 11. Stambaugh (7) 12. C. Gardner (16) 13. J. Gardner (9) 14. D. White (12) 15. Bowden (13) 16. Bauldwin (15)
 
Moore led this non-stop event early over Middleton and Mallett.  The lead trio stayed the same before Cornell worked his way up from eighth to work by Mallett on lap 11 for the final transfer.  There was some contact in turn one that resulted in Mallett finishing with a flat left front tire.

Sammy Swindell A main (started): 1. Swindell (2) 2. Crawley (1) 3. J. Johnson (7) 4. Z. Pringle (4) 5. Reutzel (5) 6. Ainsworth (3) 7. H. White (6) 8. Shaffer (19) 9. Price-Miller (9) 10. Haudenschild (11) 11. Sides (14) 12. Bayston (15) 13. Moore (16) 14. Shouse (8) 15. Cornell (20) 16. Ball (10) 17. Middleton (18) 18. Hill (12) 19. Kemenah (17) 20. Smith (13)
 
With the track in perfect conditions, Crawley led the 25-lapper early over Swindell and Z. Pringle.  Ball spun with a lap completed in what would prove to be the only caution.  Crawley had dominated all night and looked strong out front.  Swindell was securely in second, but the battled was on in the middle stages for the third and final lock-in position for Saturday night’s finale.  J. Johnson, Z. Pringle and Reutzel went at it, with J. Johnson winning out.  Swindell reeled in Crawley and got by to take the point in traffic on lap 12.  Swindell proceeded as an explosion of sparks from his brakes hit on every lap in turns one and three.  J. Johnson was gaining speed and passed Crawley with five laps to go.  His momentum carried him closer and closer to the leader.  On the last lap he dove under Swindell and a lapped car in turn one, however, he spun, doing a complete 360.  Though he lost second to Crawley in the process, he joined the lead pair, all locked into Saturday’s finale.  All three have tasted victory as a champion of the Short Track Nationals.  Shaffer bears watching on Friday, as he earned hard-charger honors, going from 19th to eighth.