(Bill W) There was bound to be a repeat winner eventually at the Morgan County Speedway. When it finally happened, it was no surprise who it was! Jerrod Hull became the first two-time winner in eight appearances by the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders at the Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois on Friday night.
The Sikeston, Missouri driver led all 25 laps to record his 12th career Sprint Invaders win (1st all-time). The ¼ mile banked oval was heavy from recent rains, but it did not affect Hull and his Avenger chassis/Automotive Machine powered/Scott Bonar wrenched #12 sprint car. Slicing through traffic, Hull's final margin of victory was over a straightaway on second place finisher Bobby Mincer.
Chris Urish led an initial green flag start that was called back for a stalled Jimmy Davies. Hull, who started on the pole beside the Elkhart, Illinois driver, took advantage of his second chance. "The first start, I was loose getting into turn one," said Hull. "We pulled the wing back about 2 ½ inches, and that made all the difference in the world on the second start."
Urish, who has been competing without a wing at the track on Friday nights, was gracious about the second start. "I shared my tricks a little early on that first start," said Urish. "Jerrod is too good of a driver to make the same mistake twice."
Matt Rogerson, who won the Sprint Invaders opener at 34 Raceway, took second from Urish and applied pressure to Hull early on. He made a couple of bids for the point on laps five and six, before spinning into the infield on lap seven. Mincer gained from Rogerson's misfortune and had moved up into fourth for the restart. "I was trying to be patient, but not to patient to where I was falling behind," said Mincer. "The car felt good after the heat race, and we didn't make many changes."
Mincer continued his advance and dueled with Urish for the runner-up spot for several laps. "I was catching him, and I could tell I was a little faster," said Mincer. "But on the quarter-mile, it's tough. Finally in turn one, I saw a small opening and had to go for it. Fortunately, it worked out for us." The move put Mincer in second, but he wasn't going to catch Hull.
The leader had built a sizable lead, but was still worried a bit, as the last 19 laps went green to checker. "Later on, the track got a little slicker," said Hull. "I had to move the wing back a bit. When I got into lapped traffic, I started worrying about the wing a bit and slowed down." Worry not Jarrod, you're a winner again!
Urish held on to third, followed by Russ Hall and Bret Tripplett. Impressive 17 year old sprint car rookie Mark Shirshekan was sixth, while KSE Hard-charger Korey Weyant, Ryan Jamison, Matt Harms and Rogerson completed the top ten.
The Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders will return to action on Sunday, May 25 at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa!
Results
Ideal Ready Mix 25-lap A main Finish (started): 1.12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (1) 2. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (9) 3. 83, Chris Urish, Elkhart, IL (2) 4. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (7) 5. 22, Bret Tripplett, Middletown, IL (10) 6. 3/, Mark Shirshekan, Farmington, MO (5) 7. 99w, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (17) 8. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (14) 9. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL (15) 10. 29, Matt Rogerson, Burlington, IA (3) 11. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (4) 12. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (12) 13. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (18) 14. 12x, Robbie Standridge, Springfield, IL (8) 15. 18A, Dan Avery, Burlington, IA (16) 16. 2, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (6) 17. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (13) 18. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (11). Lap Leader: Hull 1-25.
Staats Awards Heat Race #1 (8 laps, top two to Dash): 1. Mark Shirshekan (4) 2. John Schulz (5) 3. Russ Hall (1) 4. Bret Tripplett (3) 5. Jordan Goldesberry (2) 6. Dan Avery (6)
Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #2 (8 laps, top two to Dash): 1. Chris Urish (2) 2. Jerrod Hull (3) 3. Robbie Standridge (4) 4. Jimmy Davies (1) 5. Ryan Jamison (6) 6. Korey Weyant (5)
Midland Performance/Fastway Fabrication Heat Race #3 (8 laps, top two to Dash): 1. Matt Rogerson (2) 2. Josh Schneiderman (4) 3. Bobby Mincer (1) 4. Matt Sutton (3) 5. Matt Harms (5) 6. Andy Huston (6)
Modern Welding of Burlington Shake-Up Dash (6 laps): 1. Josh Schneiderman (1) 2. Mark Shirshekan (2) 3. John Schulz (3) 4. Jerrod Hull (5) 5. Chris Urish (6) 6. Matt Rogerson (4)
Contingency Awards:
KSE Products Hard Charger – Korey Weyant
The Brake Man – Jordan Goldesberry
Diversified Machine – Jimmy Davies
M&W Aluminum Products – Andy Huston
Ultra Shield – Matt Rogerson
Saldana Racing Products – Dan Avery
Rod End Supply – Matt Harms, John Schulz
Hepfner Racing Products – Matt Sutton