Ryan Gustin and the No. 19R Gressel dirt late model team headed to the Park Jefferson (S.D.) Speedway on Friday and Saturday, May 29-30, for a Lucas Oil MLRA doubleheader. Opening night saw 'The Reaper' bounce back from a tough heat race to finish sixth in the main event and earn the Casey's General Stores Hard Charger. Mechaincal woes hampered the team on Saturday, leaving them with a 20th-place finish in the feature.
NIGHT #1 RECAP:
Jefferson, SD (May 29th, 2015) - The stars all somewhat aligned Friday and there was finally a reprieve from the rain. The Lucas Oil MLRA raced at Park Jefferson International Speedway in Jefferson, South Dakota. Reigning series champion Chad Simpson had a good start to the season and bolstered it Friday with a win. It was his first Lucas Oil MLRA sanctioned win since April, 2013.
Several different drivers held the second spot during the feature. Jesse Stovall had just enough left at the end to hold on to second and continue his recent strong performance.
Terry Phillips lead early until Simpson moved in front of him exiting turn two. Phillips regained the lead briefly once more, but ended third.
With only one yellow flag, for Scott Lewis, during the main event, lapped traffic was prevalent through much of the race. Stovall closed the gap on Simpson but never made a push back for the lead.
Chris Spieker and Rodney Sanders completed the top five. The evening's three heat races were won by Terry Phillips, Jesse Stovall and RC Whitwell. The 2nd Annual Carlson Clash wraps up Saturday with a $3,000 to win feature event.
Lucas Cattle Company A Feature (25 Laps): 1. Chad Simpson 2. Jesse Stovall 3. Terry Phillips 4. Chris Spieker 5. Rodney Sanders 6. Ryan Gustin 7. Stormy Scott 8. RC Whitwell 9. Jason Utter 10. JC Wyman 11. Kyle Berck 12. Dave Eckrich 13. Jason O'Brien 14. Jake O'Neil 15. Jeremy Payne 16. Mike Stadel 17. Dustin Walker 18. Austin Siebert 19. Mark Rose 20. Dan Shepherd 21. Michael Benson 22. Keegan Nordquist 23. Ben Sukup 24. Junior Coover 25. Scott Lewis 26. Gale Vogt 27. Rick Goth
HotRodProcessing.com B Feature (12 Laps): 1. Jason O'Brien 2. Jeremy Payne 3. Jake O'Neil 4. Dustin Walker 5. Ben Sukup 6. Mark Rose 7. Junior Coover 8. Dan Shepherd 9. Keegan Nordquist 10. John Hoefert 11. Rick Goth 12. Austin Siebert 13. Jesse Kroger
Hoosier Racing Tires Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Terry Phillips 2. Stormy Scott 3. Rodney Sanders 4. Kyle Berck 5. Mike Stadel 6. Jason O'Brien 7. Jesse Kroger 8. Mark Rose 9. John Hoefert 10. Rick Goth
RacingJunk.com Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. Jesse Stovall 2. Chad Simpson 3. Chris Spieker 4. Scott Lewis 5. JC Wyman 6. Dustin Walker 7. Jeremy Payne 8. Austin Siebert 9. Junion Coover 10. Dan Shepherd
G2 Gemini Apparel Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. RC Whitwell 2. Jason Utter 3. Ryan Gustin 4. Dave Eckrich 5. Gale Vogt 6. Michael Benson 7. Ben Sukup 8. Keegan Nordquist 9. Jake O'Neil 10. Jeff Kroger
NIGHT #2 RECAP:
Jefferson, SD (May 30th, 2015) - Jesse Stovall bettered his Friday Carlson Clash finishing position, by one spot, Saturday, at Park Jefferson International Speedway. He wired the field and was never seriously challenged in winning his 6th career Lucas Oil MLRA feature event.
Behind Stovall, Terry Phillips locked up second early. However, behind Phillips it was a complete free for all. With so many different fast lines on the speedway, drivers were able to maneuver where their particular car worked well and the racing was intense.
Kyle Berck made a host of changes during the afternoon to his Longhorn Chassis and advanced throughout the feature. Late in the running, he rolled to the bottom of Jason Utter and took control of third.
Utter, Rodney Sanders and Stormy Scott all raced in close quarters late. Utter had another good night running fourth. Rodney Sanders was the evening's Casey's General Stores Hard Charger with a 13 position gain to fifth.
Overall five drivers in the feature moved forward nine or more positions. Stovall's margin of victory was 3.179 seconds. The race was slowed by only one yellow. It was a single car caution thrown for Dan Shepherd. 13 cars finished on the lead lap, and 19 were running at the end.
The three qualifying heats were won by Jesse Stovall, Jason Utter and Stormy Scott.
Saturday's event at Park Jefferson International Speedway marked the 600th feature contested by the Lucas Oil MLRA. The first race took place on April 21, 1989, at the now closed Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee, Oklahoma. It was won by Larry Phillips.
Lucas Cattle Company A Feature (40 laps): 1. Jesse Stovall 2. Terry Phillips 3. Kyle Berck 4. Jason Utter 5. Rodney Sanders 6. Stormy Scott 7. RC Whitwell 8. Chad Simpson 9. Chris Spieker 10. Dave Eckrich 11. Jeremy Payne 12. Skip Frey 13. JC Wyman 14. Bill Leighton 15. Jake O'Neil 16. Austin Siebert 17. Jason O'Brien 18. Mike Stadel 19. Dustin Walker 20. Ryan Gustin 21. Mark Rose 22. Scott Lewis 23. Dan Shepherd 24. Junior Coover
HotRodProcessing.com B Feature (12 laps): 1. Chad Simpson 2. Rodney Sanders 3. RC Whitwell 4. Scott Lewis 5. Skip Frey 6. Dan Shepherd 7. Ben Sukup 8. Michael Benson 9. Gale Vogt 10. Junior Coover 11. John Hoefert 12. Mark Rose 13. Keegan Nordquist
Hoosier Racing Tires Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. Jesse Stovall 2. Terry Phillips 3. Mike Stadel 4. Kyle Berck 5. Jeremy Payne 6. Ryan Gustin 7. Rodney Sanders 8. Keegan Nordquist 9. Skip Frey 10. John Hoefert
RacingJunk.com Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. Jason Utter 2. Bill Leighton 3. Chris Spieker 4. JC Wyman 5. Jason O'Brien 6. Austin Siebert 7. RC Whitwell 8. Mark Rose 9. Ben Sukup 10. Junior Coover
G2 Gemini Apparel Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. Stormy Scott 2. Dustin Walker 3. Dave Eckrich 4. Jake O'Neil 5. Chad Simpson 6. Scott Lewis 7. Michael Benson 8. Dan Shepherd 9. Gale Vogt
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