(Photo Credit: Mike Spivey)
Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 23, 2014) – It came down to a matter of inches, as Brian Brown rallied from 14th to nip Aaron Reutzel at the line in Thursday night’s 27th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires 25-lap preliminary feature at I-30 Speedway.
The dramatic finish put an exclamation point on a vintage STN night in which emotions ran high, and on at least a couple of occasion, boiled over. And it was ‘only’ Thursday night.
Throughout the entirety of the race, it seemed almost a certainty that Clute, TX, racer Reutzel would nab his fourth win in as many tries atop the high-banked, ¼-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval in 2014.
But there was Grain Valley, Missouri’s Brian Brown, the beneficiary of a pair of late two-car tangles. And “Blackjack” cashed-in in a big way, rallying from third on the green-white-checkered restart to beat Reutzel to the stripe by a foot at most. Dalton Davis crossed the stripe third to lock into Saturday’s $15,000-to-win, $2,500-to-start STN championship finale as well.
“I really didn’t think there was any way we could pull that off as far back as we started,” the driver of the FVP/Casey’s General Stores No. 21 Maxim said in victory lane.
“We don’t usually do that well on quarter-miles, but my guys gave me a great car and it made me look half way decent tonight,” Brown said.
While Brown started the feature outside the seventh row, Reutzel outgunned pole starter Davis for the point at the drop of the green and paced the early rounds ahead of Davis and Brandon Hanks.
Just as Reutzel was reaching a gaggle of cars at the tail of the field, the race’s first caution flew after nine laps when Minnesota’s Ryan Bowers slipped off the top of turn one.
With open track, Reutzel took off in the BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X with Jerrod Hull battling past Hanks for third by the midway point.
Running ninth with 15 laps down and still only seventh with five to go, Brown’s fortunes turned for the good just as quickly as an apparent win came into question for Reutzel.
Brown gained a pair of positions to move up to fifth when Hanks and Kevin Swindell tangled in turn three while battling for fifth with two laps to go and then another pair to third when Hull and Tim Crawley got together in turn four, with the latter tangle resulting in an impromptu wrestling match much to the delight of the large crowd.
Set for a green-white-checkered run to the stripe, Brown rode the top of the track to perfection and precariously slipped the familiar No. 21 Sprint Car between Reutzel and the outer frontstretch wall in the mad dash to the line.
“I wasn’t sure if I should try to go through there and risk wrecking it or not, but then I was almost alongside him so I was committed,” Brown said after locking into his sixth career STN championship finale and first since 2010.
Inches away from a fourth consecutive I-30 triumph, Reutzel settled for second and locked into his second career STN finale and first since 2011. “I wanted to win, I was wanting to move up there but I knew I was a little too late.”
Memphis-area darkhorse contender Davis brought his No. 12d machine across the stripe third to make the cut for his first STN finale. It was his second third-place run in as many nights after also taking the final step of the podium in Wednesday STN Open.
Steering clear of the late race chaos, Conroe, TX, racer Ray Allen Kulhanek crossed the stripe fourth with Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Alex Sewell rounding out the top five.
I-30 regular Cody Gardner was sixth, with Ohio’s Shawn Dancer, New York’s Jason Barney, Tulsa’s Sean McClelland and South Dakota’s Eric Lutz completing the top ten.
Jeff Swindell, Kevin Swindell, Matthew Bauldwin, Channin Tankersley and Lance Moss topped heat race action for the 37-car field with Sewell, Reutzel, Gardner and McClelland winning the qualifying races.
Lutz and Barney won the 12-lap “B” Mains.
Klint Angelette’s weekend came to an early end when he sailed off the top of turn four and into the wilderness in the second heat race. The driver was uninjured although the car suffered heavy damage.
Tankersley went for a wild ride off turn two in the third qualifier after contact between fellow heat race winner Jeff Swindell and Ryan Bowers. While Tankersley was done, Swindell was disqualified for rough driving. Visibly upset with the call, Swindell missed the call for his “B” Main.
The second half of the 27th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by COMP Cams field will take to I-30 Speedway’s ¼-mile clay oval on Friday night to finish setting the stage for Saturday night’s slate of STN Championship action.
Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real
I-30 Speedway - Little Rock, Ark.
27th Short Track Nationals
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Car Count: 37
SpeedMart Heat Races (10 laps): Passing points determine Qualifier Lineup on a 6 car inversion.
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 94-Jeff Swindell[1]; 2. 99H-Jerrod Hull[4]; 3. 5-Eric Lutz[6]; 4. 87R-Aaron Reutzel[8]; 5. 93-Dustin Morgan[5]; 6. 74E-Claud Estes III[2]; 7. 10B-Mitch Brown[3]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 01-Kevin Swindell[2]; 2. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek[4]; 3. 199-Ryan Bowers[3]; 4. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[5]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman[7]; 6. 15J-Jeremy Middleton[6]; 7. (DNF) 13-Taylor Tidmore[1]; 8. (DNF) 19-Klint Angelette[8]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 43-Matthew Bauldwin[1]; 2. 7M-Chance Morton[2]; 3. 87B-Jason Barney[4]; 4. 21B-Brian Brown[3]; 5. 17G-Cody Gardner[5]; 6. 10M-Morgan Turpen[6]; 7. 9$-Kyle Clark[7]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 17T-Channin Tankersley[2]; 2. 3H-Brandon Hanks[1]; 3. 14Z-Zach Pringle[3]; 4. 88-Tim Crawley[6]; 5. 1M-Sean McClelland[4]; 6. 99J-Blake Jenkins[5]
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 23M-Lance Moss[1]; 2. 12D-Dalton Davis[7]; 3. 8-Alex Sewell[3]; 4. 49-Shawn Dancer[5]; 5. 4-Stevie Smith[2]; 6. (DNF) 21-Kevin Hinkle[4]; 7. (DNF) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]
Speedway Motors Qualifiers (10 laps): Top 14 in passing points to the A-Feature.
Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 8-Alex Sewell[2]; 2. 21B-Brian Brown[1]; 3. 12D-Dalton Davis[6]; 4. 87B-Jason Barney[3]; 5. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek[5]; 6. 4-Stevie Smith[7]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[9]; 8. 23M-Lance Moss[4]; 9. (DNF) 21-Kevin Hinkle[8]
Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 87R-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 2. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[2]; 3. 88-Tim Crawley[3]; 4. 93-Dustin Morgan[1]; 5. 01-Kevin Swindell[6]; 6. 5-Eric Lutz[5]; 7. 74E-Claud Estes III[8]; 8. 15J-Jeremy Middleton[7]; DNS 19-Klint Angelette
Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 17G-Cody Gardner[1]; 2. 49-Shawn Dancer[2]; 3. 17-Josh Baughman[8]; 4. 10M-Morgan Turpen[7]; 5. 199-Ryan Bowers[3]; 6. (DNF) 7M-Chance Morton[4]; 7. (DNF) 17T-Channin Tankersley[6]; DNS 13-Taylor Tidmore; 9. DQ 94-Jeff Swindell[5]
Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 1M-Sean McClelland[1]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[2]; 3. 3H-Brandon Hanks[4]; 4. 14Z-Zach Pringle[3]; 5. 99H-Jerrod Hull[6]; 6. 43-Matthew Bauldwin[5]; 7. 10B-Mitch Brown[9]; 8. 9$-Kyle Clark[8]; 9. (DNF) 99J-Blake Jenkins[7]
Smiley's Racing Products B-Features (12 Laps): Taking top 3 to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 5-Eric Lutz[2]; 2. 10M-Morgan Turpen[4]; 3. 17-Josh Baughman[1]; 4. 7M-Chance Morton[5]; 5. 10B-Mitch Brown[9]; 6. 4-Stevie Smith[7]; 7. 74E-Claud Estes III[8]; 8. 43-Matthew Bauldwin[3]; 9. 21-Kevin Hinkle[10]; DNS 94-Jeff Swindell; DNS 19-Klint Angelette
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 87B-Jason Barney[1]; 2. 14Z-Zach Pringle[2]; 3. 199-Ryan Bowers[4]; 4. 93-Dustin Morgan[5]; 5. 23M-Lance Moss[6]; 6. 15J-Jeremy Middleton[8]; 7. 99J-Blake Jenkins[10]; 8. (DNF) 9$-Kyle Clark[9]; DNS 17T-Channin Tankersley; DNS 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr; DNS 13-Taylor Tidmore
Protect the Harvest A-Feature (25 Laps):
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 21B-Brian Brown[14]; 2. 87R-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 3. 12D-Dalton Davis[1]; 4. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek[9]; 5. 8-Alex Sewell[3]; 6. 17G-Cody Gardner[12]; 7. 49-Shawn Dancer[8]; 8. 87B-Jason Barney[16]; 9. 1M-Sean McClelland[13]; 10. 5-Eric Lutz[15]; 11. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[7]; 12. 01-Kevin Swindell[5]; 13. 14Z-Zach Pringle[18]; 14. 10M-Morgan Turpen[17]; 15. 17-Josh Baughman[19]; 16. 199-Ryan Bowers[20]; 17. 3H-Brandon Hanks[4]; 18. (DNF) 99H-Jerrod Hull[6]; 19. (DNF) 88-Tim Crawley[10]; 20. (DNF) 23-Seth Bergman[11]
Lap Leaders: Aaron Reutzel 1-24; Brian Brown 25
KSE Hard Charger: Brian Brown +13
FSR Radiator High Point: Dalton Davis
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2014 A-Feature Winner(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. - 4. Brad Loyet - 3, Jeff Swindell - 3, Tony Bruce, Jr. - 3, Aaron Reutzel -3, Brian Brown - 3, Rico Abreu - 2, Christopher Bell - 2, Seth Bergman - 2, Wayne Johnson - 2, Derek Hagar - 2, Matt Covington - 2, Patrick Stasa - 1, Sammy Swindell - 1, Davey Heskin - 1, Tim Crawley - 1
2014 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Brad Loyet 3,740; 2. Jeff Swindell 3,704; 3. Johnny Herrera 3,689; 4. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 3,687; 5. Jason Johnson 3,668; 6. Seth Bergman 3,487; 7. Matt Covington 3,455; 8. Tony Bruce, Jr. 3,400; 9. Aaron Reutzel 3,199; 10. Blake Hahn 3,141;
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The 2014 season marks the twenty-third year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation. Anchored by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.
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- Bryan Hulbert on Oct 24, 2014
- Article Date: 10/24/2014