Jack Thomas won his first Sprint Invaders feature Saturday in West Burlington, Iowa
by Bill Wright
West Burlington, IA, June 20, 2026 – Sixteen-year-old Jack Thomas has been fast this season with the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders, but Saturday night, he also proved he has what it takes to win as he topped the field at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. The Bates City, Missouri driver topped another sixteen-year-old in Evan Semerad, who posted a career best second place finish with the Sprint Invaders. Cole Schroeder, at the ripe old age of 20, rounded out the podium.
Thomas started outside row one of the 25-lap main event, and led early over pole-sitter and series’ point leader, Sawyer Phillips, Cody Wehrle, Semerad and Joey Moughan. Moughan used the low side on the well groomed 3/8-mile surface to move up to fourth on lap two.
Four laps in, Nathan Murders flipped on the frontstretch to bring the red. He was uninjured. Thomas led Phillips, Wehrle, Moughan and Semerad back to green. Schroeder worked into the top five on the restart, but Semerad battled back by on lap six.
The final caution came out for a stopped McCain Richards seven laps in. Semerad worked under Moughan for fourth on the restart and then used the same groove to take third from Wehrle on lap nine. Schroeder worked back into the top five and shot by Wehrle for fourth on lap 12.
Phillips briefly shot by Thomas for the lead, but Thomas was able to maintain coming back to the line. By lap 16, Semerad had the momentum to get under Phillips for the second spot. Thomas was into lapped traffic on the seventeenth circuit.
Schroeder went by Phillips for third with six to go. Chase Brown, who started in row seven had moved into the top five and took the fourth spot from Wehrle with three laps to go.
Thomas won by about a straightaway, to gain his first ever win with the Sprint Invaders, and in a 360 sprint car. Semerad came home second, ahead of Schroeder, the hard-charger Brown and Phillips. Wehrle, Moughan, Alex Vande Voort, Cole Mincer and Cam Sorrels rounded out the top ten. Thomas, Riley Scott and Semerad were the heat winners and Wehrle won the Dash.
“We started the year off kind of rough,” said Thomas in Victory Lane, celebrating his first 360 sprint car win. “We tore a lot of stuff up, but here recently, we’ve gotten into a groove. We’ve been doing pretty decent, so I’m trying to keep that up. When I came down the backstretch, I saw Sawyer’s crew chief tell him to go to the bottom down there. I figured there was something I needed to do and I couldn’t really tell out front. I tried it coming off of four, and it did better. So I kept doing that, and then I finally figured out how to run there. It worked out for us.”
“I started the feature out on the top,” said Semerad about his first second place finish in a 360. “I found the bottom there and just stayed there the rest of the race. We were able to get by a few cars there on the bottom, and that really worked well. The car was working well. In traffic. Once I got to them, I had to move around a bit. It was a little difficult then.”
“I wish I could have eliminated a few mistakes to get up there further, but it is what It is,” said Schroeder. “That’s racing. It definitely felt better down there (the low side), I just should have moved around a little more throughout lapped traffic. I was able to carry speed a little better on the low side. I’m happy that (Phillips and Wehrle) drove respectfully and kept it clean. It was fun.”
The Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders next head to the Benton County Speedway bullring in Vinton, Iowa on Sunday, July 5. For more information on the Sprint Invaders, visit www.SprintInvaders.net or visit us on Facebook.
Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders Results
Collision Center of West Burlington A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 63, Jack Thomas, Bates City, MO (2) 2. 59, Evan Semerad, Malcolm, NE (3) 3. 3, Cole Schroeder, Bozeman, MT (8) 4. 55, Chase Brown, Yutan, NE (13) 5. 7s, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (4) 6. 40, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (1) 7. 99, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (5) 8. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (10) 9. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (11) 10. 57, Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO (9) 11. 88, Riley Scott, Quincy, IL (6) 12. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (18) 13. W28, Alan Woods, Brisbane, QLD, Aust. (20) 14. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (15) 15. 7B, Nick Guernsey, West Burlington, IA (21) 16. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (12) 17. 31, McCain Richards, Burlington, IA (16) 18. 9L, Lincoln Martin, Monmouth, IL (19) 19. 11x, Jaden Alexander, Knoxville, IA (17) 20. 17, Nate Parks, Burlington, IA (14) 21. 71, Nathan Murders, Burlington, IA (7) DNS – 25Y, Brett Yeager, Coal Valley, IL, 11T, Dugan Thye, Burlington, IA . Lap Leader: Thomas 1-25. KSE Hard-charger: Brown.
Heat one (started), 8 laps: 1. Jack Thomas (2) 2. Nathan Murders (1) 3. Cole Schroeder (3) 4. Alex Vande Voort (5) 5. Chase Brown (6) 6. Jaden Alexander (4) 7. Tasker Phillips (7) 8. Alan Woods (8)
Dennis Woodworth, Attorney at Law Heat two (started), 8 laps: 1. Riley Scott (1) 2. Joey Moughan (2) 3. Cam Sorrels (3) 4. Cole Mincer (5) 5. Nate Parks (6) 6. Nick Guernsey (4) 7. Brett Yeager (7) DNS – Dugan Thye
Morning Sun Farm Implement Heat three (started), 8 laps: 1. Evan Semerad (2) 2. Cody Wehrle (3) 3. Sawyer Phillips (6) 4. Ryan Jamison (4) 5. Dustin Clark (1) 6. McCain Richards (5) 7. Lincoln Martin (7)
Agriland FS Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Cody Wehrle (2) 2. Jack Thomas (4) 3. Evan Semerad (3) 4. Sawyer Phillips (1) 5. Joey Moughan (6) 6. Riley Scott (5)
Contingencies
Hoosier Right Rear Tire: Tasker Phillips
55 Gallons of VP Racing Fuel: Riley Scott
DMI: 3 Way Motorsports
King Racing: Jimmy Davies
BR Motorsports: Alex Vande Voort
BMRS: MJ Racing
Rod End Supply: Andy Huston, Brad Martin, Nate Parks