I-30 Speedway
11/5/16
I-30 Speedway
Little Rock, AR
Short Track Nationals
63 cars
Showdown one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Dylan Westbrook 47x (2) 2. Parker Price-Miller 2 (4*) 3. Jordon Mallett 14m (5) 4. Jordan Thomas 79 (3) 5. Sheldon Haudenschild 31B (9) 6. Jonathan Cornell 28 (8) 7. Charlie Louden X (10) 8. Ernie Ainsworth 91A (6) 9. Matthew Bauldwin 43 (7) 10. Ronny Howard 44 (1)
10-lap Showdowns counted for double passing points. That total was added to a driver’s best qualifying night points. The top eight drivers in combined points joined the six already locked into the finale. Westbrook led Howard and Mallett early in the going. By lap five, Haudenschild had reached fifth. Price-Miller passed Thomas for third on lap six. With seven laps in, Ainsworth, who had moved into the top three, spun and collected Howard. The restart saw Westbrook lead Mallett, Price-Miller, Thomas and S. Haudenschild back to green. Price-Miller slid by Mallett for second, and secure enough points to make the finale.
Showdown two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Coleman Gulick 14 (4) 2. TJ Michael 8m (2) 3. Derek Hagar 9JR (10*) 4. Howard Moore 40 (7) 5. Tony Bruce Jr. 86 (8*) 6. Claud Estes III 74E (5) 7. Rick Pringle 38 (9) 8. Zach Pringle 8z (3) 9. CJ Hulsey 77c (6) 10. Robbie Standridge 17* (1)
It looked like Standridge may not start when smoke billowed from his machine before this one started. He would make the call on the pole, however. Gulick was the class of this field, taking the lead from fourth on the first lap, ahead of Michael and Standridge. Hulsey got over the berm with a lap complete, bringing the caution. Gulick led Michael, Standridge, Z. Pringle and Estes back to green. Hagar bounced into the top five at tha point. At the halfway mark, Standridge’s motor detonated and he rolled to a stop. Gulick led Michael, Z. Pringle, Hagar and Estes at that point. The order remained the same when Hulsey went up in smoke with three to go. After the restart, Z. Pringle and Michael came together in a racing deal that sidelined Pringle. Gulick pulled away easily the last three laps, while Hagar was the mover of the race.
Showdown three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Mark Smith M1 (8*) 2. Chad Kemenah 10H (10*) 3. AG Rains 3 (9) 4. Jake Bubak 9x (2) 5. Andy McElhannon 42 (4) 6. Alex Hill 77x (1) 7. Dakota Gaines D6 (3) 8. Joseph Miller 30 (7) 9. Jamie Ball 5J (5) 10. Jason Keith 10c (6)
Keith hit a rut and rolled in turn three on the first lap. He was uninjured. Bubak led early over Hill and M. Smith from row four. Smith worked his way under Hill on lap two for second. Kemenah charged from the tail to take third on lap five. Smith took the lead from Bubak on lap six. The lead pair came upon a spun Gaines. Bubak was collected and did all but get upside down after contact. Smith led Kemenah, Hill, Ball and McElhannon back to green. A Ball spin with two to go was the last slowdown. Rains used that restart to go from fifth to third. Bubak recovered from his mishap to finish fourth.
Showdown four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Aaron Reutzel 87 (2*) 2. Spencer Bayston 39 (6) 3. Max Stambaugh 5m (7) 4. Brandon Hinkle 21B (1) 5. Johnny Gardner 31G (9) 6. Kevin Hinkle 21 (4) 7. Jamey Mooney 69 (5) 8. Cody Gardner 88R (8) 9. Tommy Snellgrove 4 (3)
Reutzel led B. Hinkle, Bayston, and C. Gardner, up from row four early on. On lap three, C. Gardner stopped while running fourth. Reutzel led Bayston, B. Hinkle, Stambaugh and J. Garnder back to green. Stambaugh moved into third at that point, but two laps later, K. Hinkle got over the turn one berm to bring another yellow. Reutzel cruised to the finish from there.
Showdown five (started): 1. Jason Sides 7s (1) 2. Marshall Skinner 26 (6*) 3. Trey Starks 23 (7) 4. Joe B. Miller 51B (2) 5. Kevin Ramey 91 (4) 6. Andy Shouse 27 (9) 7. Joey Schmidt 1s (8) 8. Jeff Masson 15* (3) 9. Brandon Stevenson 29 (5)
Sides led the distance. Skinner took second from J. B. Miller on lap two, and Starks took third on lap six.
Showdown six (started): 1. Shane Stewart 88s (2*) 2. Brandon Long 2K (3) 3. Dustin Homan 10 (1) 4. Brad Bowden 59 (4) 5. Harli White 17w (6) 6. Shawn Dancer 49 (5) 7. Jeremy Middleton 15J (8) 8. Dale Wester 12w (7) 9. Dewayne White 10K (9)
Stewart dominated, winning by over a half lap in a non-stop race. Long came on late, grabbing third from Bowden on lap seven and second from Homan on the last lap.
C main one (started): 1. J. Gardner (1) 2. McElhannon (3) 3. Dancer (2) 4. Bowden (4) / 5. Estes (5) 6. B. Hinkle (6) 7. Homan (7) 8. Wester (9) 9. Stevenson (13) 10. Bauldwin (10) 11. Howard (12) 12. K. Hinkle (8) 13. Snellgrove (11)
10-lap C mains took the top four to the tail of the B mains. This one was led by J. Gardner, Dancer, McElhannon and Bowden early. K. Hinkle spun with four down to bring a caution. The only change in the top four came with three to go when McElhannon passed Dancer for second.
C main two (started): 1. Ramey (1) 2. Thomas (3) 3. Keith (2) 4. Gaines (5) / 5. Schmidt (4) 6. D. White (6) 7. J. Miller (8) 8. Masson (9) 9. Mooney (7) DNS – Standridge, C. Gardner, Hulsey
This one went non-stop with Ramey out front. Keith settled into second but was over taken on lap four by Thomas. Gaines gained the final transfer from Schmidt on lap three.
Dash (started): 1. Tim Crawley 88 (2) 2. Tim Shaffer 49x (1) 3. Sammy Swindell 3s (5) 4. Jason Johnson 41 (3) 5. Terry McCarl 24 (4) 6. Brian Bell 23B (6)
Crawley led the 6-lap distance for drivers locked into the finale. Swindell picked off third from J. Johnson on the first lap. Shaffer stayed with the leader the entire way but fell short.
Red Shirt Dash (started): 1. Estes (2) 2. Homan (3) 3. Schmidt (1) 4. D. White (4) 5. J. Miller (6) 6. B. Hinkle (5)
This 6-lap Dash was held in honor of Lanny Edwards and featured the top six non-qualifiers in the C main. Estes earned $500 for leading the distance, while everyone else claimed $100. Homan took second from Schmidt at the halfway point.
B main one (started): 1. Gulick (1) 2. Sides (2) 3. Haudenschild (3) / 4. H. White (4) 5. Moore (5) 6. Z. Pringle (7) 7. Stambaugh (8) 8. Shouse (6) 9. McElhannon (14) 10. J. B. Miller (9) 11. Bubak (11) 12. Louden (10) 13. Dancer (15) 14. Bowden (16) 15. Ball (12) 16. J. Gardner (13)
12-lap B’s transferred the top three to the back of the feature. Gulick, Sides and Haudenschild stayed in their order for the distance, and separated themselves noticeably from the rest of the pack.
B main two (started): 1. Starks (2) 2. Bayston (1) 3. Ainsworth (6) / 4. Westbrook (3) 5. Rains (3) 6. Cornell (7) 7. Mallett (5) 8. Middleton (8) 9. Keith (15) 10. Michael (11) 11. Ramey (13) 12. Long (9) 13. Hill (10) 14. R. Pringle (12) 15. Thomas (14) 16. Gaines (16)
Starks led Bayston, Ainsworth and Rains in the early going. The red would fly one lap in when Thomas spun in turn two and collected Gaines, who could not avoid him and turned over. He was unhurt. The lead quartet remained the same until R. Pringle spun late. Nothing changed amongst the lead three, though Westbrook made a late run on the cushion. It was close, but no cigar.
A main (started): 1. Swindell (3) 2. Shaffer (2) 3. J. Johnson (4) 4. Crawley (1) 5. Bell (6) 6. Smith (8) 7. Kemenah (7) 8. Hagar (9) 9. Starks (16) 10. Bayston (18) 11. Stewart (10) 12. Bruce (13) 13. Gulick (15) 14. Price-Miller (14) 15. Haudenschild (19) 16. Reutzel (11) 17. McCarl (5) 18. Sides (17) 19. Skinner (12) 20. Ainsworth (20) 21. Rains (21, prov.)
Rains received a track provisional as track champ. Shaffer led early in the 40-lapper over Crawley and J. Johnson. Gulick shot over the turn three berm one lap in to bring caution. Swindell shot by Johnson for third on the restart. The next time around, he would best Crawley for second. Skinner was sideways in turn three with five laps down to bring another yellow. Shaffer led Swindell, Crawley, Johnson and Bell at that point. The order remained the same when Reutzel got over the top of turn three bringing another slowdown. Around lap 13, Sammy took the lead from Shaffer and pulled away slowly. The groove around the bottom was too good to leave by now and Bell was trying to hold off McCarl for fifth. He would drive into the #24, breaking McCarl’s front-end and bringing the final caution with about 10 to go. Swindell pulled away from there to win his fourth STN title. This one was worth $15,000 plus lap money. Bayston, who drove for Kevin Swindell was the hard-charger.