Monday, May 28, 2018

McCarl Scores Sprint Invaders Win at 34 Raceway

West Burlington, IA (Sunday, May 27, 2018) - After reading the headline one might have thought it was Terry McCarl who was standing in victory lane at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa on Sunday, May 27th during the Sprint Invaders event. But that was not the case, it was his son Austin who actually picked up the win in Scott Bonar's #50 Sprint Car.

The 12 lap Mod Lite feature would take to the track first, with Phil Barrow and Wyatt Wilkerson drawing the front row. Wilkerson took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Mike Morrill, who started 4th, and Barrow. One lap later, lap 2, Morrill would slip under Wilkerson coming off turn 4 to take over the top spot. Morrill then pulled away from the field, and looked to be heading to an easy win. When the first and only caution of the event appeared on lap 11, as Barrow, who was running 6th, spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow and set up a one lap dash to the finish. On the restart Morrill jumped back out front, but had Wilkerson looking under him off the corners to try and get the win. But Morrill was able to hold him off to pick up the win. Wilkerson settled for 2nd, Joel Huggins started 6th and finished 3rd, Zack Foster finished 4th after starting in 8th, with R.J. Gonzales completing the top 5.

Up next was the 10 lap Mini Hauler Truck feature, with Ted Carlson and Jacob Ruble leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Ruble used his starting spot to his advantage by grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Lance Applegarth and Carlson. While Ruble set the pace out front, Drake Fenton, who started 7th, was working his way towards the front. On lap 4 Fenton was able to move into second, and then went to work on Ruble for the lead. Disaster would strike the top two Trucks on lap 5, as Fenton got under Ruble going into turn 1 and made contact with him. This would cause Ruble to spin and bring out the yellow, which sent both to the rear for the restart. John Helenthal inherited the lead on the restart, with Roger Brockett, who started 6th, and Applegarth close behind. Helenthal would go on to lead the final laps to claim the win. Fenton recovered from his involvement on the lap 5 caution to come back up to finish 2nd, Brockett was 3rd, Carlson was 4th, with Applegarth holding on for 5th.

Jason Ash and Brandon Housley drew the front row for the 12 lap IMCA Sport Compact feature, with Housley jumping out front to lead lap 1 over Larry Miller and Ash. The action up front was slowed for the first and only time on lap 2, as Randy Magnuson spun in turn 3 and collected Jerrod Nichols to bring out the yellow. On the restart Housley jumped back out front, with Miller working to hold off Brandon Reu, who started 7th, in the battle for second. While Miller and Reu battled for the runner up spot, Housley would start to pull away from the field. Reu was finally able to clear Miller for second on lap 7, but by then Housley had built up a straightaway lead. Without a caution to bunch the field back up there was no catching Housely, who went on to pick up the win. Reu settled for 2nd, Jake Dietrich finished 3rd after starting in 9th, Miller was 4th, with Kyle Boyd coming home in 5th after starting in 11th.

The final event to take to the track was the 30 lap Sprint Invaders, with Austin McCarl and Cody Wehrle leading the field to the green. McCarl took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Wehrle and Skylar Gee. Just as McCarl started to enter lapped traffic the first caution of the race appeared on lap 8 to slow the action. Robbie Price, who was running 4th, spun in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Damian Getchell spun in turn 1 to bring the yellow light back on. A second attempt of a restart resulted in another yellow, as Josh Schneiderman and McKenna Haase tangled in turn 2 to bring the yellow back out. The third restart saw McCarl jump back out front, with Wehrle and Gee close behind. McCarl then started to put some distance between himself and Wehrle, that was until he started to enter lapped traffic on lap 14. The heavy lapped traffic would allow Wehrle to close in on McCarl's back bumper on lap 20. McCarl was able to work thru the lapped traffic and hold off Wehrle to claim the win. Wehrle settled for 2nd, Mason Daniel started 6th and finished 3rd, Chris Martin passed 13 cars from his 17th place starting spot to come home in 4th, with Gee holding on for 5th.

Notes from 34: 26 Sprints signed in for the night, with 16 of those qualifying out of the heat races based on passing points. The other 4 cars to start the feature would come from the 10 car B Main....Jamie Ball was the final car in passing points to make it into the feature out of the heat races, which meant he started 16th. He then passed 9 cars to finish 7th....Brayden Gaylord finished 2nd in the B Main and then started the feature in 18th. He would pass 10 cars to come home in 10th....Robbie Price recovered from his spin on lap 8 to come back up to finish 9th....Jarrod Schneiderman finished 10th after starting in 15th....Allan Woods took the final transfer spot out of the B Main, and then started the feature in 20th. He would advance 8 spots to finish in 12th....Daniel Bergquist had motor troubles in hot laps that forced him to scratch for the night......Devon Rouse started the Mod Lite feature in 11th, as a result of loosing his air cleaner on the start of his heat race. He would pass 5 cars to come home in 6th......Cody Bowman started the Sport Compact feature in 14th and finished 7th....Mark Dennis had a flat tire in his heat race that forced him to start the feature in 18th. He would advance 10 spots to come home in 8th....Adam Christy and Matt Milligan had troubles in their heat races that forced them to scratch for the feature.

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