West Burlington, IA (Saturday, April 11, 2015) - Saturday night at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa would be a night of first for the National Sprint League (NSL). As 2015 is the inaugural season for the NSL, with 34 Raceway being the first event on the schedule.
Who would be the first driver to set quick time for the NSL? Who would be the first driver to win the first heat race? Who would be the first driver to win a B Main? Who would be the first driver to draw the pole for the A Main? And last but not least, who would be the first driver to win an A Main? All the answers to those questions were answered after the final checkered flag was waved at the end of the nights events.
The first event for the NSL drew 40 drivers from 13 states, including Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Colorado, Australia, South Dakota, California, North Dakota, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Indiana. Those 40 drivers would take to the 3/8 mile oval for time trials. Each driver was given 2 laps, with the quickest time used to determine where they would start in one of the four heat races. Danny Lasoski of Dover, Missouri end up quickest overall, with a time of 12.455.
Following time trials was the 4 heat races, with the top 5 out of those heat races earning a spot in the first NSL A Main. The heat races would be lined up with the top 24 in times inverted into the first three rows, with the remainder of the field lined up straight up by times starting in the fourh rows of the heat races.
Heat race number 1 went to Brooke Tatnell. He was followed by Jordan Goldesberry, Austin Johnson, Brian Brown and Davey Heskin. Sammy Swindell would pick up the win in heat race 2. He was followed by Lynton Jeffrey, Jake Blackhurst, Wayne Johnson, and Bill Balog. Heat race 3 went to Terry McCarl. He was followed by Kaley Gharst, Mark Dobmeier, Steve Kinser and Brad Loyet. Dusty Zomer would pick up the win in heat race 4. He was followed by A.J. Bruns, Ian Madsen, Danny Lasoski, and Bryan Clauson.
After the completion of the four heat races the top 8 drivers in passing points who qualified into the A Main, would redraw to determine where they would start in the first four rows of that A Main. Bryan Clauson would be the lucky driver to draw the pole, with Wayne Johnson drawing the outside front row starting spot. Now with the first 20 drivers set for the A Main, it was time to determine who would get the final four spots. The 16 car B Main was picked up by Tim Kaeding. He was followed across the line by Paul Nienhiser, Tasker Phillips and Josh Schneiderman.
With all the qualifying events ran it was time to go feature racing. The 15 lap IMCA SportMod feature was the first to take to the track, with Bobby Six and Austen Becerra drawing the front row for the event. But just as the green flag was waved the caution light would come on, as Bobby Anders and Travis Hartman spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Brandon Ruffcorn spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. The third attempt of a start saw Becerra jump out front on lap 1 over Joey Gower and Matt Petrzelka. Just after the completion of lap 1 Bobby Anders would spin off turn 1 to bring out the caution. On the restart Becerra moved back out front over Gower and Brett Timmerman, who started 5th. Becerra, who was working the top of the track, then worked to hold off Gower, who was using the bottom of the track, for the top spot over the next 11 laps. But disaster would strike Becerra on the completion of lap 11, when he got turned into the wall in turn 4 and collected fourth place runner Tony Dunker, who started 9th, to bring out the caution. Gower would inherit the lead on the restart and then held off Timmerman over the final 4 laps to pick up the win. Timmerman settled for 2nd, Sean Wyett came from 7th to finish in 3rd, Dakota Simmons started 11th and finished 4th, with Scott Boles coming from 10th to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 12 lap IMRA Midget feature, with Mitchell Davis and Robert Bell leading the field to the green flag. But it was third place starter Patrick Bruns who grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Davis and Robert Ray, who started 6th. The action was slowed for only one time, as Johnny Murdock came to a stop off turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Bruns jumped back out front, with Davis and Ray battling for the runner up spot. Ray would over take Davis for second on lap 3 and then went to work on Bruns for the top spot. But Bruns was able to hold off Ray over the final laps to claim the win. Ray was 2nd, Davis was 3rd, Bell was 4th, with AJ Johnson, yes the same one who races an IMCA Modified in the area, in his first start in a Midget started 7th and finished 5th.
Bryan Clauson and Wayne Johnson led the field to the drop of the green flag in the NSL 25 lap feature, with Johnson taking advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Clauson and Terry McCarl. McCarl would use the top of the track off turn 4 to power around both Johnson and Clauson for the top spot. The action was slowed for the first of two cautions on lap 3, when Brooke Tatnell spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart McCarl moved back out front over Johnson and Clauson. McCarl then started to pull away from the field, even though he started entering lapped traffic by lap 10. Just when everyone thought there was no catching McCarl on this night, disaster would strike him on lap 17. While trying to lap by a car, McCarl would make contact and do a complete 360 spin in turn 2 and kept going. But he would fall back to 3rd behind new leader Johnson, who at the time was battling Clauson for the runner up spot. The final caution of the event would fly on lap 18, when Davey Heskin spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Johnson jumped out front, with Clauson and McCarl battling for the second spot. McCarl would over take Clauson for second on lap 21 and then went to work on Johnson for the top spot. But despite McCarl's last lap attempt Johnson was able to hold on to pick up the first NSL A Main win and the $3,000 top prize to go with it. McCarl settled for 2nd, Brad Loyet came from 9th to finish in 3rd, Clauson held on for 4th, with Tim Kaeding passing 10 cars from his 15th place starting spot to come home in 5th.
The final feature to take to the track was the 12 lap 4 Cylinders, with Ryan Walker and Ron Kibbe drawing the front row for the event. Walker would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Michael Grossman and Kibbe. Walker then held on to the top spot until lap 3 when Grossman slipped by to grab the lead away. While Grossman started to pull away from the field, Walker and Kibbe had a battle going for second. With the help of no cautions there was no catching Grossman, as he pulled away to claim the win. Walker won the battle for 2nd, Kibbe was 3rd, Larry Miller was 4th, with Steven Struck rounding out the top 5.
Notes from 34: 40 NSL Sprints, 22 4 Cylinders, 13 SportMods, and 13 IMRA Midgets made up the 88 cars signed in on the history making night. Plus a great crowd of fans in the grandstands turned out to take part in the first ever NSL event.....Brandon Ruffcorn, who spun to bring out the second caution in the SportMod feature, worked his way back up to finish 6th....Tom Lathrop started 12th and finished 8th....Travis Hartman, who started 13th and was involved in the first caution, came from the rear to finish in 9th....Bobby Anders, who was also involved in the first caution, had worked his way back up to 6th before exiting the track on lap 11 with troubles to end his night in 12th......Dillon Morley and Aaron Schuck had troubles in their heat races that forced them to scratch from the Midget feature......Danny Lasoski started the NSL feature in 8th and finished 6th....Mark Dobmeier started 13th and finished 10th....Bill Balog came from 14th to finish in 11th....Dusty Zomer started 16th and finished 14th....Jake Blackhurst started 17th and finished 15th....Lynton Jeffrey came from 21st to finish 16th......Jeffrey DeLonjay started the 4 Cylinder feature in 10th and finished 7th....Kimberly Abbott came from 12th to finish in 9th....Cody Washburne started 16th and finished 12th....Levi Heath came from 19th to finish in 14th....Colton Keck passed 7 cars from his 22nd place starting spot to come home in 15th.
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