(Bill W) April 17, 2010 - Jerrod Hull ran away with his 13th career feature win with the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders on Saturday night, April 16 at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. The win tied him atop the all-time series wins mark with Kaley Gharst, and was worth $1,200.
The "360 Sprint Challenge" was staged to encourage three drivers to go to the tail of the special 34-lap race to possibly double their money with a top three finish. Several fans donated a total of $207 to the cause as well, with proceeds unclaimed going to the Sprint Invaders Benevolent Society.
Hull passed on his opportunity to go to the tail, but later regretted it a bit. "The way the track was after the dash (when the challenges were made), I thought it would be a one-lane deal," he says. "I've got to give a ton of credit to the people who prepared this track."
One driver took the challenge. That was Johnny Anderson, but an illness overcame him before the event and he had to scratch, leaving no takers. Ryan Jamison shot out to an early lead in the 20-car main event. He aimed for the tacky middle through the first three circuits to hold off Hull.
Matt Sutton ran in the top five, but spun on lap three, setting up a restart. Two more tries were needed. On the first, Ben Wagoner, Donnie Steward, Andy Huston and Jayson Ditsworth tangled, ending their night. On the second, Mike Hess, who restarted eighth (up from 16th), spun on the top of turn three.
The third time was a charm and Hull waited a lap to make his winning move. From there he just cruised, lapping all but the top five. "(Crew Chief) Scott Bonar told me this car would be perfect coming out here," said Hull. "He was right. It couldn't have been any better.
Jamison held down second for the remaining distance. "Jerrod was in another zone," he said. "We were just a second place car and that was all there was to it. We had a few slides with him on some restarts, but really that's all we had for him. We left it a bit loose and conservative, but we'll take second."
Jim Moughan Jr. nailed down third after battles with both Kaley Gharst, who suffered late from a power steering leak, and Jon Agan. "I was sick probably four days with the flu and I didn't eat much," said Moughan. "I had the car way too tight, and it was hard to drive for 34 laps. Once the fuel burned off and the track got slicker, we moved the wing back. I had the car off to be honest, but there's a strong field here and we'll take third."
Two red flags marred the event. Justin Newberry flipped end over end off turn one, and Seth Wilke jumped the cushion in turn four and rode out a heavy ride on lap 25. Gharst, Hull, Jim Moughan Jr. and Joey Moughan won heat events. Mike Hess won the B main, while Hull copped the Shake-Up Dash.
The Sprint Invaders will be back in action on Friday, April 23 at the Shepp's Speedway in Alexander, Illinois.
Results
Ideal Ready Mix 34-lap A main Finish (started): 1. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (4) 2. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (1) 3. 1m, Jim Moughan Jr., Springfield, IL (3) 4. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (6) 5. 4A, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (9) 6. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (18) 7. 10, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (8) 8. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (15) 9. 18, Mike Hess, Springfield, IL (16) 10. 80x, CJ Houseman, Norwalk, IA (20) 11. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (14) 12. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (7) 13. 38, Seth Wilke, Burlington, IA (17) 14. 8H, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (2) 15. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (5) 16. 36, Justin Newberry, West Burlington, IA (19) 17. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA (11) 18. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (12) 19. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (10) 20. 1, Jayson Ditsworth, Gladstone, IL (13). DNS - 7A, Johnny Anderson, Indianola, IA. Lap Leader: Ryan Jamison 1-4; Jerrod Hull 5-34. Hard Charger: Bobby Mincer.
Golden Eagle Distributors - Budweiser of Burlington Heat Race #1 (8 laps, top four to feature, top two to Dash): 1. Kaley Gharst (2) 2. Jimmy Davies (1) 3. Josh Higday 10 (4) 4. Andy Huston (7) / 5. Seth Wilke (5) 6. 7, Nick Guernsey, Burlington, IA (6) 7. 4, Mike Williams, Knoxville, IA (8) 8. Bobby Mincer (3)
Cole Implement of Media, IL Heat Race #2 (8 laps, top four to feature, top two to Dash): 1. Matt Sutton (2) 2. Jerrod Hull (1) 3. Jon Agan (6) 4. Jason Ditsworth (3) / 5. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (7) 6. 99w, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (4) 7. 53H, Matt Harms, Chillicothe, IL (5) 8. 61J, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (8)
Huston Land Improvement of Roseville, IL Heat Race #3 (8 laps, top four to feature, top two to Dash): 1. Jim Moughan Jr. (2) 2. Ryan Jamison (6) 3. Ben Wagoner (1) 4. Jarrod Schneiderman (4) / 5. Justin Newberry (3) 6. Mike Hess (5) 7. CJ Houseman (7)
Cen-Pe-Co Lubricants Heat Race #4 (8 laps, top four to feature, top two to Dash): 1. Joey Moughan (6) 2. Johnny Anderson (4) 3. Donnie Steward (5) 4. Joe Beaver (3) / 5. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (2) 6. 9x, Bart Andrews, Muscatine, IA (1) 7. 2, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (7)
Fastway Fabrication/Jamison Rubber Shake-Up Dash (6 laps): 1. Jerrod Hull (2) 2. Matt Sutton (4) 3. Johnny Anderson (1) 4. Ryan Jamison (6) 5. Joey Moughan (3) 6. Jim Moughan Jr. (8) 7. Kaley Gharst (7) 8. Jimmy Davies (5)
Holtkamp Truck & Trailer Repair B Main (12 laps, top five to feature): 1. Mike Hess (7) 2. Seth Wilke (1) 3. Bobby Mincer (13) 4. Justin Newberry (3) 5. CJ Houseman (11) / 6. Korey Weyant (6) 7. Bart Andrews (8) 8. Nick Guernsey (5) 9. Matt Harms (10) 10. John Schulz (12) 11. Daniel Bergquest (14) 12. Mike Williams (9) 13. Jordan Goldesberry (2) DQ - Justin Parrish (4, Muffler)