(Bill W) September 20, 2008 – West Burlington, Iowa's John Schulz is on a roll. The Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders' point leader picked up his second win in a row, and fourth overall with the series on Saturday night at the Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Illinois. With three series events remaining, John remains on top in a tight points race.
The high-banked Quad City 1/4 mile was racy, and was changing as the night went on. Pole-sitter Ryan Jamison looked like the man to beat early in the 25-lap feature as he hit the high side to an early lead, at times planting the right rear on the retaining wall. The start to the event was staggered drastically with a number of early cautions. Travis Porter and Matt Rogerson performed early 360 spins. Russ Hall was involved in a couple of early spins, and his cousing Dave Hall hit an infield tire. With six laps down, a tangle involving Jimmy Davies and Bart Andrews slowed things yet again.
Jamison led Schulz, Korey Weyant, Bobby Mincer and Jordan Goldesberry back to the lap seven restart. Rogerson worked his way from the tail back to the top ten before getting in another tangle...this time with rookie Ben Wagoner on lap 13. It would be the final slowdown, and it proved to be a stroke of luck for Schulz, who blasted by Jamison into the lead after the green flag fell.
Schulz had been battling with Weyant for the runner-up spot. "Korey was working me hard, and I was just kind of riding around," said the winner. "I told myself during the caution that the driver needs to get his elbows up. I thought the track would dry up a little more than it did. It was wide, and it was racy."
The top of the track proved to be tricky for many, and some just opted for the bottom. The leaders were up high, however, and as the race wore on, there were slidejobs aplenty. Jamison rode second and Mincer was third when the white flag flew. Mincer tried a slider in turn two, and made contact with Jamison, spinning him out and ending his night. It was also an unfortunate incident for Goldesberry, who was collected and eliminated from a sure top five finish.
Mincer would end up third after being nipped at the line by Weyant for second. "We just didn't have the forward bite we'd like to have tonight," said Bobby. "Ryan was going in up top, and I shot in the center. I lost sight of him and thought I had him cleared to hit the cushion coming out of two. He must of got a good bite on the top, and there wasn't room for both of us. It ended up bad, and I feel terrible for it."
The incident worked out for Weyant, who was strong all evening. "The car was pretty balanced on the top and bottom," said Korey. "We've been working on it all summer and we've been getting closer and closer. The track changed tremendously. The bottom went away in one corner, and stayed in the other. The cushion moved way up to the wall, so it was iffy on the last lap. We just tried to stay out of that mess on the last lap. I stayed low, just in case something happened, and it worked out for us."
Josh Schneiderman ended up fourth, and Matt Sutton was the hard-charger, moving from 15th to fifth. Matt Harms was sixth, followed by Wagoner, Tommy Rockwell, Jamison and Goldesberry, who was the last driver on the lead lap. Jamison, Weyant, and Mincer were heat winners, and Russ Hall picked up the B main win.
Weyant won a thrilling duel with Schulz in the Kevin Doty Tribute Shake-up Dash. On hand, were the late great Doty's father Bud, and Kevin Jr. Weyant's grandfather drove for Bud, making for a special moment.
The Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders have three shows remaining, with the next one occurring on Sunday, September 28, as part of the 25th Annual Tom Knowles Memorial!
"We've got three to go and we're in the thick of things," said Schulz. "That's all you can ask for."
Results
Ideal Ready Mix 25-lap A main Finish (started): 1. 2, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (4) 2. 99w, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (3) 3. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (5) 4. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (10) 5. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (15) 6. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL (12) 7. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (9) 8. 95, Tommy Rockwell, Springfield, IL (2) 9. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (1) 10. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (8) 11. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (11) 12. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (20) 13. 2s, Justin Springer, East Peoria, IL (19) 14. 7H, John Hall, Marion, IA (17) 15. 2x, Pat Moore, Moline, IL (14) 16. 22x, Bart Andrews, Muscatine, IA (13) 17. 29, Matt Rogerson, Burlington, IA (7) 18. 51, Dave Hall, Des Moines, IA (6) 19. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (16) 20. 31P, Travis Porter, Rock Island, IL (18) DNS - 41, Kip Anderson, Burlington, IA. Lap Leaders: Jamison 1-12, Schulz 13-25.
E.G. Staats & Company Heat Race #1 (8 laps, top five to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Ryan Jamison (1) 2. John Schulz (2) 3. Matt Rogerson (4) 4. Josh Schneiderman (5) 5. Bart Andrews (3) / 6. John Hall (6) 7. Travis Porter (7) 8. 93, Jamie Needham, Moline, IL (8) DNS - 2B, Dennis Bourdeau, Davenport, IA
Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #2 (8 laps, top five to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Bobby Mincer (5) 2. Dave Hall (2) 3. Jordan Goldesberry (3) 4. Jimmy Davies (1) 5. Pat Moore (6) / 6. Andy Huston (7) 7. 18A, Dan Avery, Burlington, IA (4) 8. Justin Springer (8)
Ideal Ready Mix Heat Race #3 (8 laps, top five to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Korey Weyant (2) 2. Tommy Rockwell (7) 3. Ben Wagoner (8) 4. Matt Harms (4) 5. Kip Anderson (1) / 6. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (3) 7. Russ Hall (5) 8. Matt Sutton (6)
Kevin Doty Tribute Shake-Up Dash (6 laps): 1. Korey Weyant (4) 2. John Schulz (2) 3. Bobby Mincer (3) 4. Dave Hall (1) 5. Ryan Jamison (5) 6. Tommy Rockwell (6)
Holtkamp’s Trailer Repair B main (12 laps, top six to A main): 1. Russ Hall (5) 2. Matt Sutton (8) 3. Travis Porter (4) 4. John Hall (1) 5. Andy Huston (2) 6. Justin Springer (7) / 7. Jamie Needham (6) 8. Dan Avery (4) DNS - Alan Zoutte, Dennis Bourdeau
Contingency Awards:
Hard Charger – Matt Sutton
The Brake Man – Russ Hall
Diversified Machine – Matt Sutton
M&W Aluminum Products – Matt Rogerson
Ultra Shield – Jordan Goldesberry
Hepfner Racing Products – Ryan Jamison
Saldana Racing Products – Josh Schneiderman
Rod End Supply – Matt Harms, Bobby Mincer
Velocity Wings - Andy Huston