PARK CITY, Kan. -- Thomas Tillison Jr. and Ryan Gustin were the big winners as the 2014 season opener for the NCRA Modified Series kicked off with the 2nd Annual Spring Scramble at the 81 Speedway in Park City.
This unique format climaxed an eventful two-day show which saw two sets of heat races on Friday night and twin 25-five lap “A” features paying $2,500 to win on Saturday night.
The first 25-five lap feature saw outside front row starter Tillison get the jump on Gustin entering turn 1 to take the lead. Tillison ran the top of the 3/8-mile dirt oval while Gustin’s preferred line was down low. Three-time and defending NCRA champion Marc Hurd, John Allen and rookie Chris Pitts chased early with the leader holding a five-car-length lead.
Gustin was beginning to reel in the leader on lap 9 when the first of three caution flags fell on when Josh Lanterman came to a stop at the top of turn 2 with a flat right rear tire.
On the restart, Tillison took off and remained in the lead while Allen and Brian Franz made their way past Gustin into positions second and third with Gustin falling to fourth. Tillison built a 15-car-length advantage at the race's midway point over Allen before the second caution flag fell when Jason McGehee spun at the bottom of turn 4.
One lap after the restart, the final caution flew when Ross Shipman, Casey McClaseky and “D” feature transfer Joe Adams got together in turn 3.
The final double-file restart saw Allen poke the front of his car underneath Tillison entering turn 1 but Tillison held the advantage, and by lap 17 opened a half-stretch lead. He approached lapped traffic with just two laps to go but Allen was unable to capitalize allowing Tillison to go on to his second career NCRA victory.
Allen settled for second while Gustin got back around Franz late to take home third. Brenden Gemmill worked his way up from his seventeenth starting position to round out the top five.
The second 25-five lap feature saw Pitts and McClaskey start on the front row with McClaskey getting by Pitts to take the lead exiting turn 2. Pitts, fourth-starting Jason McGehee, Joshua Everhart and Don Hodge gave chase. Everhart would make his way up into the second position on lap five while back up front, McClaskey would open up a 10-car-length lead.
Behind the front-runners, all eyes were on Tillison as he began to work his way up through the field, and by lap 7 had worked his way up into the seventh position. However his run and luck would come to an abrupt end as he got into a tangle with Bill Siemers and Ross Shipman at the bottom of turns 3-4 to bring out the only caution of the feature.
On the double-file restart it was McClaskey, Everhart and thirteenth starting Tanner Mullens your top 3 and they made it that way heading into the backstretch exiting turn two. Mullens got the better end of the deal and took the lead entering turns three and four.
Behind them, 20th-starting Gustin had made his way up through field and on lap 10 took over the third position. “The Reaper” made his way past Everhart for the runner-up position and by lap 15 began pressuring Mullens for the lead. He would take over the lead using the high side entering turn 1 and quickly pulled away from the field.
Gustin would not be challenged the rest of the way and would go on to take the $2,500 victory in what will be his final modified event until October as he will be focusing on his late model ride. Mullens settled for an impressive second-place finish while 21st-starting Allen worked his way up through the field for a strong third-place finish. Everhart came home fourth while 18th-starting Gemmill rounded out the top 5.
RESULTS
NCRA Modifieds
81 Speedway, Park City, Kan.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
D Feature: 1. Robbie Simmons, 2. Gene Weaver, 3. Cecil Dymond, 4. Mike Lawrence, 5. Greg Burt, 6. Grant Junghans, 7. Johnny Whitmore, 8. Rodney Chaffin, 9. Gary Kilbourn, 10. Chris Purkey, DNS. Richie Wilson, Richard Wilson.
C Feature: 1. Dan Powers, 2. Tyler Shearbod, 3. Jon Thompson, 4. Kirby Robe 5. A.J. Brochu, 6. Casey McClaskey, 7. Gene Weaver, 8. Joe Adams, 9. Briar Oelkers, 10. Dean Brungardt, 11. Dustin Johnson, 12. Robbie Simmons, 13. Cecil Dymond, 14. Grant Junghans, 15. Johnny Whitmore, 16. Greg Burt, 17. Rodney Chaffin, 18. Mike Lawrence, 19. Gary Kilbourn, DNS. Justin Rexwinkle.
B Feature: 1. Jason McGehee, 2. Tanner Mullens, 3. Brenden Gemmill, 4. Paden Phillips, 5. Dan Powers, 6. Casey McClaskey, 7. Jon Thompson, 8. Joe Adams, 9. Kirby Robe, 10. Gene Weaver, 11. A.J. Brochu, 12. Jason Hilliard, 13. Justin Moler, 14. Briar Oelkers, 15. Dean Brungardt, 16. Culyer Calkin, 17. Tyler Davis, 18. Tyler Shearbod, 19. Jimmie Hobbs, DNS. Van Gemmill.
1st A Feature: 1. Thomas Tillison, 2. John Allen, 3. Ryan Gustin, 4. Brian Franz, 5. Brenden Gemmill, 6. Marc Hurd, 7. Gene Weaver, 8. Paden Phillips, 9. Stephen Muilenburg, 10. Tanner Mullins, 11. Dustin Belcher, 12. Bill Siemers, 13. Nic Baalman, 14. Dan Powers, 15. Josh Lanterman, 16. Jon Thompson, 17. Joshua Everhart, 18. Tanner Mullens, 19. Jason McGehee, 20. Don Hodge, 21. Casey McClaskey, 22. Chris Pitts, 23. Joe Adams, 24. Ross Shipman.
2nd A Feature: 1. Ryan Gustin, 2. Tanner Mullens, 3. John Allen, 4. Joshua Everhart, 5. Brenden Gemmill 6. Jason McGehee, 7. Stephen Muilenburg, 8. Gene Weaver, 9. Paden Phillips, 10. Casey McClaskey, 11. Dan Powers, 12. Brian Franz, 13. Jon Thompson, 14. Josh Lanterman, 15. Marc Hurd, 16. Dustin Belcher, 17. Nic Baalman, 18. Bill Siemers, 19. Kirby Robe, 20. Chris Pitts, 21. Don Hodge, 22. Thomas Tillison, Jr., 23. Ross Shipman, 24. Joe Adams.
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