Thomas Kennedy Stays Sizzling at Park Jefferson Speedway.
The Carpetland Nebraska 360 Sprint Cars presented by Malvern Bank took their tour north to Park Jefferson Speedway in Jefferson, South Dakota. The north vs. south shootout brought 38 cars to the track and was co-sanctioned with the Midwest Sprint Touring Series making this the 2nd stop and 3rd race for our series.
The pole sitter for heat race #1 was Dylan Peterson of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and alongside of him was Jason Martin of Lincoln, Nebraska. Jason Martin was able to take the lead out of turn one. Jody Rosenboom from the 6th palace starting spot had moved to 3rd in 1 lap. Martin stretched his lead to half a straightaway by lap 4. Rosenboom was on the hunt for second place runner John Lambertz as he gained momentum down the backstretch on each lap. Jason martin took a full front stretch win over John Lambertz. Third was John Lambertz followed by Jody Rosenboom and Austin Johnson.
Jack Dover was your pole sitter for heat race #2. Jack is also the winner of the last 3 Nebraska 360 Sprint Car Series held at Park Jefferson. Dover got a great start to begin the race as he took the lead down the backstretch. Lee Grosz jumped from 4th to second going into turn 2 on lap #1. Dover maintained his lead by lap 4 followed by Grosz, Stuart Snyder, and Jordan Boston. On lap #6 the yellow was brought out as Nunda, South Dakota’s Cody Hansen came to a stop on the backstretch with smoke coming from the rear of the car. Jack Dover continued his dominance on the restart getting another great start as Boston started putting the heat on 3rd place running Snyder. Boston was able to make the move around Snyder on lap 8 getting by Snyder. Jack Dover was able to take a half a straightaway win over Lee Grosz followed by Jordan Boston, Stuart Snyder and Carson McCarl
Hull, Iowa;s Justin Jacobsma was to be the pole sitter but ended up in the pits before the green flag putting Brant O’Banion on the pole for heat race #3. It was the Oklahoma native of Blake Hahn who took the lead with Seth Brahmer in tow. Cody Ledger began his chase in 3rd place on 2nd place running Brahmer as he inched closer and closer in turns 3 and 4 on Brahmer. It was Blake Hahn who took the win over Brahmer, Ledger, O’Banion, and Dusty Ballenger.
T.J. Artz of Lincoln Nebraska and Derek Anderson of Spirit Lake, Iowa made up the front row of the 4th and final heat race of the evening. Anderson got a great jump to take the lead as Ryan Roberts moved from 5th to second on lap #2. Roberts was able to take over the lead on lap 3 but Thomas Kennedy took that away on lap 4. Kennedy, all the way from Canada, won the first two Nebraska 360 events two weeks ago at I-80 Speedway. The yellow came out on lap 9 as Jordan Martens spun in turns 3 and 4. Thomas Kennedy brought the field back to green as Ryan Bickett and Ryan Roberts put on a show for 2nd. The yellow was brought out again for Martens as he spun in turns 3 and 4. Thomas Kennedy remained on a mission to take the win followed by Ryan Roberts, Ryan Bickett, Tommy Barber, and T.J. Artz
The first B Feature starting lineup had Stuart Snyder on the pole along side of Austin Johnson for 12 laps. It was Snyder who rocketed to the lead on the green flag with Johnson in 2nd and John Klabunde in 3rd. John Klabunde was able to take the 2nd spot from Klabunde on lap #8. Stuart Snyder took the win followed by John Klabunde and Austin Johnson.
The 2nd B feature put Bobby Becket and Kevin Flowers on the front row for 12 laps. Bobby Becker had problems on the start falling back to 7th but Kevin Flowers was able to take the lead in turn 1. T.J. Artz maintained the 2nd spot followed by Renn Weber. Jordan Martens was able to get by Renn Weber for 3rd place as he began a hunt for 2nd placing running Artz. The red flag came as Jordan Martens went for a wild ride in turns 1 and turn flipping violently as it looked like something broke in the right front steering. The car took a violent right turn and went tumbling off of the track. Jordan was able to get out of the car and he appeared to be ok. The restart Renn Webber was able to get by Artz and take the win. Second was T.J. Artz, Kevin Flowers, Isaac Schreurs, and Bobby Becker.
The 25 lap Carpetland Nebraska 360 Sprint Series presented by Malvern Bank A feature front row consisted of Dusty Ballenger and Jason Martin. Dusty Ballenger got a great start to take the green but Jason Martin took over the lead in turn 1. A great battle for 3rd was had by Lee Grosz and Ryan Bickett. Thomas Kennedy from the 8th starting spot had moved to 4th in two laps. On lap 5 Dusty Ballinger had problems and pulled his car to the infield. Jason Martin, with a straightaway lead over Kennedy was dwindling down as a very fast Kennedy had caught Martin in lapped traffic. Kennedy maneuvered his way through traffic to gather a 10 car length lead over Martin by lap 10. Third was Lee Grosz who caught Jason Martin as Martin got loose in turn 4 with a hard challenging Blake Hahn in tow. Half way through, Kennedy had a half a lap lead over Martin and the battle was for second as Grosz took over that spot with 11 togo. Hahn used the high side to get by Martin in turn 4 with 9 togo. Grosz and Hahn put on a great display of driving through traffic for the second spot in the remaining 5 laps with Hahn securing the spot to the finish. The Canadian who dominated the Bugeater Bash at I-80 Speedway two weeks ago, put on another dominating performance to win the A feature. Second was Blake Hahn, Lee Grosz, Jason Martin and Ryan Bickett.
Thomas Kennedy picked up the Speedway Motors $200 hard charger award.
The Electrical Systems Engineering podium draw had Jason Martin bring home an extra $300.
Speedway Motors presented by Malvern Bank A Feature Finish (25 laps)
Thomas Kennedy
Blake Hahn
Lee Grosz
Jason Martin
Ryan Bickett
Ryan Roberts
Seth Brahmer
Jordan Boston
Jack Dover
Cody Ledger
Jody Rosenboom
Stu Snyder
Carson McCarl
John Lambert
Tommy Barber
Blain Petersen
T.J. Artz
John Klabunde
Renn Weber
Dusty Ballenger
The next stop on our tour take us back to I-80 Speedway for the Bobby Parker memorial on May 5th. Gates open at 5:30 and racing begins at 7:15.
For our schedule, please visit www.nebraska360sprintseries.com and visit our Facebook page to stay up to date on live results as they happen.
- Dennis Parker on Apr 23, 2017
- Article Date: 4/23/2017 by Travis Johnson