(Bill W) August 20, 2011 – Matt Sutton and Ben Wagoner topped features on the "Night of the Twins" at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa Saturday night. The Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders event saw 26 sprinters tow in to compete in twin 20-lap feature events.
In the first feature of the night, 17 year old Blake Nimee paced the field for three laps. Sutton, from Macomb, Illinois moved up from his third row starting spot to pass Bobby Mincer for second, and then grab the lead completing lap four.
Mincer worked past Nimee on lap seven for second, but a caution for a spun Tasker Phillips neagated the move. Mincer was able to repeat the pass on the restart, but Sutton was in a league of his own. As Sutton maneuvered through traffic, Shake-up Dash winner, Jarrod Schneiderman was moving forward, passing Nimee for third.
With one lap to go, Beaver spun bringing out a caution. The restart gave Jarrod Schneiderman the chance he needed and he rode momentum off the cushion to finish second to Sutton, while current point leader, Mincer finished third. Josh Schneiderman was fourth ahead of hard-charger, Kaley Gharst.
"Chris (McGraw) really had this thing operating," said Sutton of the GRIT Motorsports #3 from Victory Lane. "This is a great place to race, and the track is in great shape. I think we can repeat this in the second feature."
With the cars on the lead lap inverted for the second feature, Sutton would post outside of row six. Pole-sitter, Ryan Jamison led the first three laps, but Wagoner, from Emden, Illinois, shot around him on the cushion to lead lap four.
Wagoner pulled away in similar fashion as Sutton, but suffered far more caution periods in the process. CJ Houseman was running third on lap five when he spun in turn two. At the halfway point, Wagoner led Jamison, Gharst, Kevin Hetrick and Jayson Ditsworth, with a 305 under the hood.
Five laps later, Andy Huston spun bringing caution. A lap after that, Hetrick and Jarrod Schneiderman came together in turn one. Hetrick retired pitside in his first night with a 360 under the hood. The restart saw Wagoner leading a ferocious battle for second between Jamison, Gharst and Mincer.
A final caution came for Nimee, who suffered a flat right rear tire. The leaders saw no changes over the final three laps. Wagoner took his fourth career Sprint Invaders win ahead of Jamison, Gharst, Mincer, Sutton and hard-charger, Tyler Groenendyk, who exited the first feature while running sixth.
"I finally got a win at Burlington," said a happy Wagoner in Victory Lane. "This one has definitely been a long time coming!"
Josh Schneiderman, Mincer and Sutton won heat races. Jamison won the B main. Justin Parrish tangled with Huston to start the first feature and was done for the night. Justin Newberry replaced him in the second feature.
The date at Jacksonville Speedway next Friday, August 26, has been moved to Friday, September 9. The next action for the Sprint Invaders will be Sunday, September 4 at the Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Illinois.
Results
Ideal Ready Mix A main #1 (started), 20 laps: 1. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (5) 2. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (4) 3. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (2) 4. 2, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (3) 5. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (14) 6. 97, Blake Nimee, Oswego, IL (1) 7. 80x, CJ Houseman, Des Moines, IA (6) 8. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (9) 9. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (15) 10. 1, Jayson Ditsworth, Gladstone, IL (10) 11. 53K, Kevin Hetrick, Gladstone, IL (18) 12. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (16) 13. 9x, Bart Andrews, Fort Madison, IA (11) 14. 68, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (13) 15. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (20) 16. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (12) 17. 10, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (8) 18. 22, Bret Tripplett, Lincoln, IL (7) 19. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (17) 20. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (19). Lap Leaders: Nimee 1-3, Sutton 4-20. KSE Hard-charger: Gharst.
Ideal Ready Mix A main #2 (started), 20 laps: 1. Ben Wagoner (4) 2. Ryan Jamison (1) 3. Kaley Gharst (8) 4. Bobby Mincer (10) 5. Matt Sutton (12) 6. Tyler Groenendyk (17) 7. Jimmy Davies (5) 8. Joe Beaver (16) 9. CJ Houseman (6) 10. Jarrod Schneiderman (11) 11. Bret Tripplett (18) 12. Andy Huston (19) 13. Tasker Phillips (15) 14. Bart Andrews (13) 15. 36, Justin Newberry, West Burlington, IA (20) 16. Mike Houseman Jr. (14) 17. Blake Nimee (7) 18. Kevin Hetrick (2) 19. Jayson Ditsworth (3) 20. Josh Schneiderman (9). Lap Leaders: Jamison 1-3, Wagoner 4-20. Hard-charger: Groenendyk.
Golden Eagle Distributing – Budweiser Heat one (started), 8 laps: 1. Josh Schneiderman (1) 2. CJ Houseman (3) 3. Bret Tripplett (5) 4. Jayson Ditsworth (2) 5. Mike Houseman Jr. (4) / 6. Kevin Hetrick (7) 7. Justin Newberry (6) 8. 7, Dustin Whiting, Burlington, IA (8) DNS – Tasker Phillips
Huston Land Improvement Heat two (started), 8 laps: 1. Bobby Mincer (1) 2. Blake Nimee (4) 3. Tyler Groenendyk (6) 4. Bart Andrews (3) 5. Kaley Gharst (7) / 6. Ryan Jamison (5) 7. Andy Huston (8) 8. 18, Jami Lusher, Pekin, IL (2) 9. 17, Shane Quam, Gladstone, IL (9)
CenPeCo Lubricants Heat three (started), 8 laps: 1. Matt Sutton (4) 2. Jarrod Schneiderman (8) 3. Jimmy Davies (1) 4. Joe Beaver (2) 5. Ben Wagoner (7) / 6. 10T, Tim Moore, Rock Island, IL (5) 7. Justin Parrish (6) 8. 1st, John Greenwood, Woodward, IA (3)
Fastway Fabrication/Jamison Rubber Shake-up Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Jarrod Schneiderman (3) 2. Matt Sutton (5) 3. CJ Houseman (1) 4. Blake Nimee (2) 5. Bobby Mincer (4) 6. Josh Schneiderman (6)
Holtkamp's Truck and Trailer Repair B main (started), 12 laps: 1. Ryan Jamison (2) 2. Justin Parrish (6) 3. Kevin Hetrick (1) 4. Andy Huston (5) 5. Tasker Phillips (11) / 6. Justin Newberry (4) 7. Tim Moore (3) 8. Dustin Whiting (7) 9. John Greenwood (9) 10. Jami Lusher (8) 11. Shane Quam (10)
Contingencies
Brakeman – Joe Beaver
Super Shox – Justin Parrish
Rod End Supply – Andy Huston, Kevin Hetrick
Competition Suspension – Tyler Groenendyk
Saldana Racing Products – Ben Wagoner
Keizer Wheels – Bret Tripplett