(Bill W) West Burlington, IA, May 28, 2017 – When all was said and done Sunday night at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, Ryan Jamison was awarded his seventh career Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders win. Chris Martin, who crossed first after a wild and entertaining feature event, was disqualified for mounting the wrong tire on his sprinter before putting on a great drive. The win was Jamison’s third with the series at the 3/8-mile oval.
Jamie Ball shot out to the early lead in the 30-lap feature on a track that yielded multiple grooves. Martin shot by Josh Schneiderman on lap three into second and chased the leader. By the fifth lap, the leaders were entering heavy lapped traffic.
Ball worked through it well, and Martin was threading the needle at times too, while brothers Josh and Jarrod Schneiderman ran third and fourth. Jarrod would stick his nose by Josh to take third briefly on lap 12, but his older brother would take off and secure the third position at that point.
As the race wore on, the leaders were making hair-raising moves to navigate traffic as the event appeared to be headed for a non-stop result. On lap 20, Martin closed in on Ball and shot across his nose in turn two. Martin went over the cushion and Ball ducked under him, retaining the lead.
Martin would make another attempt with Ball using his momentum on the high side of two to carry the lead. On lap 26, however, Ball got a little high in turn four and Martin pounced on the opportunity at the lead. When Ball got into turn two, he went above the berm and spun several times trying to keep his #5J under power. Third running Josh Schneiderman got off the throttle and slid sideways. He was struck by his brother Jarrod, who continued on. Josh retired with a broken front end.
The only caution period of the event shook things up considerably. Martin now led Jarrod Schneiderman, Jamison, Jon Agan, Cody Wehrle and Ball, who assumed the last running spot on the lead lap. Agan would pass Jamison on the high side, but slowed behind Schneiderman when taking a shot at second. Jamison used the low side to shoot by both for second, a move that would prove to be a winning one.
Martin pulled away to the checkers, though post-race inspection showed he had a Hoosier H (hard) right rear tire on rather than the required Hoosier Medium. Though the tire was arguably less effective on the racing surface, rules required the disqualification. Jamison was awarded the win ahead of Agan, Jarrod Schneiderman, Ball and Wehrle. Daniel Bergquist, Harold Pohren, Justin Buchholz, Damian Getchell and Hunter Lane rounded out the top ten.
Sawyer Phillips, who won his heat, tagged the wall hard in the Shake-up Dash, ending his night. He was uninjured. Ball and Martin won the other heats, and Martin also won the Dash. Bergquist won the B main.
Before his disqualification, Martin was excited in Victory Lane. “It was definitely a race to the end!” he said. “Jamie Ball is a good friend. I knew we were about the same speed, so I knew if I made a move, it had to be in traffic. We were in lapped traffic all but about five laps. He navigated it really well. It was fun.”
“I was sitting pretty good before the restart,” said Jamison. “Agan got a little wild in front of me, and I snuck by both of them. I set the car up to be a lot tighter before they worked the track. I left it the way it was. I ran the bottom religiously. I was coming off great. It’s a hell of a thing to win a race like this, but we’ll take it. I feel for their (Martin’s) team, but rules are rules.”
“We’ll take second for sure,” said Agan. “We started mid-pack, and we were too tight early on. So we were slow getting going. As the race went on, we got going good. We were able to capitalize on the yellow a little bit and we’ll definitely take it the way the year has been. We had a good restart, I just thought the guy in second was going to the top, and I pinned myself underneath him. That ended up being the difference in us getting a win.
The next action for the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders will be Thursday, July 13 at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa. For more information on the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders, visit www.SprintInvaders.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
- administrator on May 30, 2017
- Article Date: 5/29/2017