4/16/2004
by Rustin Nelson
Sprint Invaders
Lee County Speedway, Donnellson, IA
30 cars
The top 4 were locked into the A-main, while the top 2 locked themselves in to the 6-lap shake-up dash
Heat 1) 1. 7x Larry Ball Jr. (2) 2. 50 Manny Rockhold (1) 3. 10 Brent Antill (4) 4. 5H Tyson Hart (7) / 5. 25 Nick Eastin (5) 6. 126 Stacy Alexander (8) 7. 3 Matt Sutton (6) 8. 16s Donnie Steward (3)
On the initial start, Donnie Steward (who was sporting a new green paint scheme... which looked great... for a while!) got over a right rear in turn 2, and rode out a rough one. He barreled on top of the guardrail, but luckily emerged unhurt. He was done for the evening though. Larry Ball Jr. assumed command on the restart and held off Rockhold, who was the hired gun aboard the Rich DeReu #50. Antill was aboard the #10 usually piloted by Columbia, Missouri’s Mike Trent. He’s apparently seeking to get into Knoxville’s ToC via that ride. Tyson Hart, the defending Sprint Invaders champ, made a solid charge to nab a transfer spot.
Heat 2) 1. 51J Ryan Jamison (1) 2. 45 Matt Rogerson (5) 3. 9 Jeff Nehring (2) 4. 15 Bobby Mincer (7) / 5. 2 John Shultz (3) 6. 35 Brian Hetrick (6) 7. 14 Tony Daniels (4)
Jamison dominated this one. Flyin’ Ryan has a silver paint scheme for this year, commemorating his 25th year in racing. Congrats go to Ryan for his resilience in the rough & tumble racing game. Mincer was impressive in coming from the tail. He worked his way into 4th on lap 4. Rogerson also looked very strong, grabbing 2nd on lap 6, earning himself a spot in the dash later on.
Heat 3) 1. 54 Brett Mather (2) 2. 83 Josh Higday (5) 3. 10x Brad Barickman (4) 4. 16 Mark Knapp (1) / 5. 4B Scott Boles (6) 6. 20 Steve Walsh (7) 7. 97x Dustin Whiting (3)
Brett Mather sped to the early lead, and blew the field to bits & pieces. Out of the orange #1, Whiting exited the track in his new ride on lap 2. Higday bided his time until he blew by both Barickman and Knapp in turn 2 of the 4th circuit. The latter two were dicing around on the bottom and middle, before Higday put it on the fence and passed them both. The top-3 in this event will all be competing at Knoxville in 2004 (Higday in the 410 class). Walsh is the new shoe for the KIDD program at Knoxville as well.
Heat 4) 1. D1 Jesse Giannetto (2) 2. 36 Justin Newberry (4) 3. 53H Matt Harms (3) 4. 99 Jimmy Davies (1) / 5. 49 Josh Schneidermann (6) 6. 4G Justin Parrish (5) 7. 1 Jason Ditzworth (7)
Giannetto put a hurtin’ the field in this one. Parrish & Ditzworth didn’t turn the final circuit as the Bulldawg placed them a lap down. ‘Newbs’ grabbed the runner-up spot, and held off Harms’ challenges. Ditzworth is a graduate of the hobby stock class, and watching his progress in a machine much faster (and more volatile!) will be fun.
B-Main) 1. Eastin (1) 2. Schultz (2) 3. Alexander (5) 4. Sutton (9) / 5. Boles (3) 6. Hetrick (6) 7. Walsh (7) 8. Ditzworth (11) 9. Parrish (8) 10. Schneidermann (4) 11. Daniels (10)
Eastin led the distance in this one. Schneidermann kissed the wall in turns 1 & 2 on lap 2, then pulled to a stop. He would restart. On lap 7, Ditzworth spun in turn 2, which nullified Schultz’s bid for the lead. Schultz seemed content with the runner-up spot the remaining distance. Alexander (in a new blue paint scheme) and Sutton both dialed it in to get transfer spots.
Shake-up Dash) 1. Ball Jr. (1) 2. Giannetto (4) 3. Rockhold (5) 4. Rogerson (6) 5. Mather (3) 6. Higday (7) 7. Newberry (8) 8. Jamison (2)
Jamison had a flat right rear tire seemingly at the time the green flag dropped. He had slowed from the very start, and exited on lap 2. Ball Jr. took the lead, but Giannetto was quickly picking off cars and on his bumper. Giannetto dove under him in turn 3 on the final pair of turns, but didn’t close the door and let Ball Jr. whistle by on the outside.
A-Main) 1. Giannetto (2) 2. Rockhold (3) 3. Mather (5) 4. Hart (13) 5. Jamison (8) 6. Higday (6) 7. Schultz (18) 8. Ball Jr. (1) 9. Antill (9) 10. Mincer (14) 11. Davies (16) 12. Newberry (7) 13. Barickman (11) 14. Harms (12) 15. Knapp (15) 16. Rogerson (4) 17. Eastin (17) 18. Nehring (10) 19. Sutton (20) 20. Alexander (19)
Ball Jr. jumped the initial start (although I’m sure he felt that Giannetto just didn’t take off), and was promptly sent to the rear of the field. No warning, just sent to the tail. The Sprint Invaders, and flagmen in general, can do whatever they want – as a fan though, I want to see consistency... and hope that in the future (the rest of the year) they treat everybody the way they did Ball Jr.
Anyhow, upon the 2nd start, Eastin spun in turn 2 and collected Alexander. Alexander was finished. Giannetto put his sprinter on cruise control, and checked out until he reached heavy lapped traffic. Rockhold and Mather (who had an infatuation with banging off the turn 2 guardrail!) began to reel him in at this point. Schultz, who will be running Knoxville’s tough weekly program this year, was charging like a mad man from the tail. He avoided a major disaster on the back chute more than once or twice. Giannetto’s lost groove was remedied on lap 8 when Ball Jr. slowed in turn 4, causing Jeff Nehring to spin. The leaders barely avoided the mishap. Ball Jr. kept going and retained his spot, while Nehring broke some front-end components and headed pitside. Giannetto led Rockhold, Mather, Jamison, and Rogerson at this point. Tyson Hart had charged up to 7th, and Schultz to 8th. Giannetto welcomed the open track on the restart, and left Rockhold and Mather behind. Schultz rocketed up to 6th, and set his sights on the top-5. Mincer slowed the action on the 17th circuit when he spun in turn 1. Rogerson had an ill-sounding motor, and exited the track just prior to the restart. He was running a very strong race in 4rd place when the misfortune occurred. Jamison slipped by Mather for an instant, but Mather dive-bombed into turn 3 to grab the bronze back. Tyson Hart found a sliver of rubber (and added traction) in the final circuits and surged up to 4th, while Schultz saw air pressure leave his right rear and kill his chances of a top-5 run. Even with a mere 3 PSI left in the right rear, the Deuce Motorsports chauffeur earned the hard-charger honor for his 7th place effort. Nobody could touch Giannetto though, and he grabbed the $1,000 prize.