Park Jefferson Speedway Jefferson, South Dakota (May 23, 2020)— It has been a long 258 days since the last green flag flew for the series on September 8, 2019. Covid-19 restrictions have made the drivers anxious and itching to get behind the wheel of their winged sprint cars as many of the midwest tracks remain shut down forcing the 2020 season from even starting. Forty-six drivers signed in to Park Jefferson Speedway in a co-sanctioned event, with the Midwest Sprint Touring Series, kicking off the 2020 season. Five heat races, transferring 3 drivers to the A, 2 “B” features and the 18 lap “A” main were on tap for the evening.
The show belonged to Jack Dover of Springfield, Nebraska who led every lap of the 18 lap feature. “I’m just excited I won! I can finally afford to get a haircut! There was no strategy and it was all teamwork and I was watching that whole race and 1st place is the worst spot when it comes to lapped traffic. A big thanks to my guys because we were able to win! Right now we don’t know if we will follow the whole tour and may just race wherever we want. We will take it as it comes. I just want to thank my sponsors Carpetland, Backlund Plumbing, Midwest Motorsports, Certified Transmission, and Liquid Trucking.”
It was Springfield, Nebraska’s, Jack Dover, sat on the pole for the 18 lap A feature with Kaleb Johnson from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to his outside. When the green flag flew, Dover jumped to the lead as third place starter, Chris Martin, tucked into second as Johnson fell to third. Dover began to “check out” by lap 3 as he put 12 cars on second running Martin. The red flag flew on that same lap as Tasker Phillips ended up on his lid on the outside of turns 1 and 2. He was ok. The top 5 were Jack Dover, Chris Martin, Kaleb Johnson, Jason Martin, and Lee Grosz.
On the restart, Dover got a great start as Jason Martin jumped to the bottom of turn 1 to take over third from Kaleb Johnson. Jason Martin began his quest for second running, Chris Martin, but with 5 laps down, Dover extended his lead to a full straightaway as the two “Martins” battled. At the halfway point, Dover maintained his lead over Chris Martin, Jason Martin, Kaleb Johnson, and Lee Grosz. With 8 laps togo, Sawyer Phillips and Wade Nygaard collected each other, in turn 2, as both cars came to a stop on their wings. Both drivers were ok. With 8 laps togo, Jack Dover was the race leader over Chris Martin, Jason Martin, Kaleb Johnson, and Lee Grosz.
Dover resumed where he left off as he got another great start to bring the field to the green. The battle for third began to heat up as Kaleb Johnson put a lot of heat on Jason Martin but couldn’t ever get by him. Meanwhile with 5 laps togo, Dover had a half a straightaway lead over Chris Martin with Jason Martin 3 cars back running third. Dover had a straightaway lead over Chris Martin, on the final lap, and took the checkers taking home $1500. Chris Martin finished second followed by Jason Martin, Kaleb Johnson, and Lee Grosz.
Heat Race #1 Results (8 Laps)
Kaleb Johnson
John Klabunde
Wade Nygaard
Eric Lutz
Brendan Mullen
Elliot Amdahl
Kevin Ingle
Travis Reber
Ryan Leavitt
Boyd Peterson (DNF)
Heat Race #2 Results (8 Laps)
Kyle Offill
Cody Ledger
Lee Grosz
Matt Juhl
Casey Friedrichson
6. Seth Brahmer
7. Chris Schmelzle
8. Nathan Mills
9. Jody Rosenboom (DNS)
Heat Race #3 Results (8 Laps)
Chris Martin
Stuart Snyder
Ryan Bickett
Christian Bowman
Monty Ferrera
David Ekern
Mike Kay
Riley Goodno (DNS)
Heat Race #4 Results (8 Laps)
Jack Dover
Sawyer Phillips
Brant O’Banion
Shayle Bade
Justin Jacobsma
Brandon Halverson
Rich Cerveny
Brad Comegys
Heat Race #5 Results (8 Laps)
Jason Martin
Tasker Phillips
Joey Danley
Carter Chevalier
Brandon Stevenson
Robbie Price (DNF)
Scott Broty (DNS)
B Feature #1 Results (10 Laps)
Matt Juhl
Brendan Mullen
Robbie Price
Justin Jacobsma
Jody Rosenboom
Christian Bowman
Brandon Stevenson
Casey Friedrichson
Ryan Leavitt
Nathan Mills
Brad Comegys (DNF)
Mike Kay (DNF)
Brandon Halverson (DNS)
B Feature #2 Results (10 Laps)
Seth Brahmer
Elliot Amdahl
Chris Schmelzle
Kevin Ingle
Travis Reber
Monty Ferriera
Carter Chevalier
Rich Cerveny
Boyd Peterson
Joey Danley (DNF)
Scott Broty (DNS)
David Ekern (DNS)
A Feature Results (18 Laps)
Jack Dover
Chris Martin
Jason Martin
Kaleb Johnson
Lee Grosz
Kyle Offill
Robbie Price
Ryan Bickett
Cody Ledger
Brant O’Banion
Matt Juhl
Stuart Snyder
Brendan Mullen
John Klabunde
Chris Schmelzle
Shayle Bade
Elliot Amdahl
Sawyer Phillips (DNF)
Wade Nygaard (DNF)
Tasker Phillips (DNF)
Seth Brahmer (DNF)
Eric Lutz (DNF)
Points (As of May 23, 2020)
Pos Driver Points Gap
1 Jack Dover 150 -
2 Chris Martin 142 8
3 Jason Martin 135 15
4 Kaleb Johnson 130 20
5 Lee Grosz 125 25
6 Kyle Olfill 122 28
7 Robbie Price 119 31
8 Ryan Bickett 116 34
9 Cody Ledger 113 37
10 Brant O’Banion 110 40
As of now, there has not been a determination to when our next race will be due to Covid-19 restrictions. Tentatively we are set to return to action at Junction Motor Speedway on June 6 in McCool Junction, Nebraska. On Monday May 23, we will support the Midwest Sprint Touring Series show at Park Jefferson Speedway for the South Dakota Sprint Car Nationals paying $3000 to win! This is will be a non points race for the series. Tickets are available are www.parkjeffersonspeedway.com.
To stay up to date on news and information with the series, please visit our website or find on us on Facebook at “Carpetland Nebraska 360 Sprint Series presented by Malvern Bank.
- Travis Johnson on May 24, 2020
- Article Date: 5/24/2020 by Travis Johnson