Sunday, May 19, 2019

Van Wyk Scores First Career SportMod Win at the Pepsi Scotland County Speedway

Memphis, MO (Friday, May 17, 2019) - Mother nature hasn't been to kind to the Midwest so far this season, as the Pepsi Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri has tried two other times to get their first race completed. But rains during both of those scheduled days would force them to cancel those events. Finally, on Friday May 17th all of the rains stayed north of the Iowa / Missouri border, which helped to draw 91 teams to the grounds for competition. The 14 lap Sport Compact feature was up first, with Ryan Lewis and Josh Barnes drawing the front row. Barnes took advantage of his draw to grab the lead on lap 1 over Jake Houston, who started 5th, and Barry Taft, who started 6th. While Barnes worked the bottom and middle grooves of the track, Houston tried the high side to get around Barnes for the top spot. Barnes was able to hold him off, that was until lap 4 when Houston used the momentum off the top of turn 4 to grab the lead. One lap later, lap 5, debris in turn 4 would bring out the yellow. On the restart Barnes went to the top coming out of turn 4 to get the lead back from Houston. Houston then tried to work under Barnes over the next lap, but Barnes was able to hold him off. That was until lap 8 when Houston was able to get under Barnes coming off turn 4 to take over the top spot. One lap later, lap 9, Barnes slowed to a stop in turn 4 to bring out the caution, and ended his run up front. On the restart Houston got into Brandon Reu, which cut down his right front tire. This would allow Reu to grab the lead over Taft and Isaiah Penton. Reu then held off a late challenge from Penton to claim the win. Penton settled for 2nd, Brandon Allison came from 8th to finish 3rd, Tyler Haring started 12th and finished 4th, with Taft slowing on the final lap and managing to cross the line in 5th. Abe Huls and Beau Taylor led the field to green in the 18 lap Stock Car feature, with Huls jumping out front to lead lap 1 over Taylor and Cayden Carter. Huls then started to pull away from the rest of the field, when the first of two cautions appeared on lap 6. Todd Reitzler spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Huls moved back out front, with Carter and John Oliver Jr., who started 7th, following close behind. Two laps later, lap 9, Michael Larsen slowed in turn 3 to bring out the final caution of the race. Huls once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Carter and Oliver Jr. close behind. Over the next 8 laps Carter tried to get under Huls coming off turn 4, but Huls was able to hold him off each lap. Then going into turn 3 on the final lap Carter was able to get up beside Huls, as the two raced side-by-side off turn 4. Carter would edge out Huls at the line by a nose to claim the win. Huls settled for a close 2nd, Oliver Jr. was 3rd, Derrick Agee started 11th and finished 4th, with Reitzler recovering from his spin on lap 6 to come back up to finish 5th. Up next was the 16 lap SportMod feature, with Daniel Fellows and Bobby Six drawing the front row. Six would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Fellows and young rookie Dylan Van Wyk. The action up front was slowed for the first and only time of the race on lap 5, as John M. Anderson and Corey Cooper spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Six jumped back out front, with Van Wyk and Brandon Dale following. Van Wyk went to the top of the track coming out of turn 2 to go three wide down the backstretch through lapped traffic, and then came out of turn 4 with the lead on lap 10. Brayton Carter, who started 8th, took the runner up spot late in the race, but wasn't able to challenge Van Wyk for the lead. As Van Wyk went on to score his first career SportMod feature win in his rookie season. Carter was 2nd, Six was 3rd, Logan Anderson was 4th, with Adam Birck coming from 10th to round out the top 5. Andrew Schroeder and Dugan Thye led the field to green in the 20 lap Modified feature, with Schroeder moving out front to lead lap 1 over Derrick Stewart and Thye. Stewart would stay in Schroeder's tire tracks over the next 5 laps, when the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 6. Debris in turn 4 would bring out the yellow. On the restart Schroeder jumped back out front, with Cayden Carter, who started 8th, over taking Stewart for the runner up spot. Carter then tried to work under Schroeder over the next 5 laps, with Schroeder holding him off each lap. That was until lap 13, when Carter got under Schroeder coming off turn 4 to take over the top spot. Carter then pulled away over the final laps to pick up the win, which was also his second win of the night after claiming the Stock Car feature win. Schroeder was 2nd, Stewart was 3rd, Zack VanderBeek finished 4th after starting in 11th, with Brandon Lennox coming from 13th to complete the top 5. The final feature to take to the track on the night was the 14 lap Hobby Stocks, with Dustin Griffiths and Derek Kirkland making up the front row. Griffiths took advantage of his draw to grab the lead on lap 1 over Josh Modde and Mike Kincaid. While Griffiths pulled away, Modde, Kincaid and Kirkland battled for the runner up spot. Kirkland was able to take over second on lap 3, and then went to work on chasing down Griffiths. But without a caution, there was no catching Griffiths. Who cruised to an easy win. Kirkland was 2nd, Modde, was 3rd, Kincaid was 4th, with Eric Knutson coming home in 5th. Notes from Memphis: 26 SportMods, 22 Modifieds, 18 Sport Compacts, 16 Stock Cars and 9 Hobby Stocks made up the 91 cars signed in on the night......William Michel started the Sport Compacts feature in 13th and would come up to finish 6th....Jaden DeLonjay arrived at the track just as the heats came to the track, so he would miss his heat. He then started 15th and would bring home a 8th place finish....Rachel Kile finished 9th after starting in 14th....Tanner Burton had troubles in his heat race and was a scratch from the feature......Tyler Moore finished the Stock Car feature in 7th after starting in 13th....Pete Stogdel started 14th and finished 8th......Casey Lancaster started the SportMod feature in 13th and then came up to finish 7th....Trent Brink finished 8th after starting in 17th....Jeff Frana started 20th and would come home in 9th....Ryan Harris started 19th and would finish in 10th....Tony Johnson came from 16th to finish in 11th....Levi Long started 18th and finished 12th....Corey Cooper, who started 24th, recovered from his involvement in the only caution on lap 5 to come back up to finish 14th....Daniel Fellows was battling inside the top 5 all race, but broke coming out of turn 4 on the final lap an was credited with 15th....Austen Becerra started 23rd and climbed up to 12th before the lap 5 caution. But would later pull off with over heating issues to end his night in 16th....Chris Archer finished 17th after starting in 23rd....Brandon Dale battled for the lead on lap 9. But would pull off a few laps later with troubles to end his night in 18th....David Snyder had troubles in his heat race and was a scratch from the feature......Kurt Kile started the Modified feature in 12th and then passed 6 cars to finish 6th....Jared Fuller broke in his race and then loaded up. They then drove right outside of the track to the shop to get another car, where he started 22nd in the feature. He then passed 12 cars to bring home a 10th place finish....Charles Baker started 20th and finished 11th....Bill Baker finished 12th after starting in 16th. The next event scheduled at the Pepsi Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri will be on Friday, June 14th. This coming Memorial Day weekend has plenty of racing action to take in. Let's just hope mother nature will co-operate!

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