The first three races went win, win, second. The fourth was looking like another runner-up finish until motor ills sidelined Jerrod Hull last Saturday night at the Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois. The Sikeston, Missouri driver was running second with a few laps to go when he broke a rocker arm in the power plant. Jerrod will be taking this week off of his racing while son Jett competes.
One streak that did continue was Jerrod’s undefeated streak in heat races. This time, he started fourth. “Things started out well,” he says. “We were really nice in the heat race. We were able to get the lead coming out of turn four on the first lap. We felt really good with that.”
He would draw a starting spot outside of row one for the Dash. “The bottom was the place to be,” says Jerrod. “There was some moisture down there and (Hunter) Schuerenberg was on the pole. He did a good job getting the jump and getting to the top about eight or ten car lengths ahead of me right away. The car was nice and we ended up second.”
That would mean another starting spot outside row one for the main event. “We made a few changes for the feature,” says Jerrod. “It was the same situation on the start. Hunter got the jump. He settled in there about two-thirds of the way up the track. It was gut-slick all the way to the top. We knew it was going to take rubber, it was just a matter of when.”
Jerrod was able to search the track. “We were actually able to find the rubber first,” he says. “Running second, I was able to move around the track a little more and we found it. We got close to him and had a shot. That’s when the caution came out. I’m sure his crew told him about (the rubber) there during the yellow. He moved down there on the restart, and it was pretty much follow the leader.”
It looked like a second place finish at that point. “There were about four laps to go and we were in heavy lapped traffic,” says Jerrod. “He was going to have to mess up for me to do anything with him. Coming out of turn two, the motor went flat. We ended up breaking a rocker arm. We had to pull it in. That’s the way it goes!”
Jerrod is hoping the damage isn’t too severe. “That being our good 410, we didn’t want to hurt it,” he says. “It was the first night on it since being freshened. We took it back to the motor builder, and we’re hoping the lifters are still moving. We’ll find out the extent of it in the next two or three days. Fortunately, there isn’t much going on with our racing this weekend, so we have a little time to get things straightened out.”
Jerrod and the #12 team would like to thank: Midland Performance, Super Shox, Sebastian Sand Blasting & Powder Coating, Inc., Chuck’s Small Engines, Don Hamilton, HRP, Lighthouse Christian Center, Rockstar Graphics, King Racing Products, DMI, KSE Performance Products, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld, Automotive Machine, Maxim and Heartland Trailer Manufacturing.
- administrator on Apr 24, 2015
- Article Date: 4/21/2015