10/24/03
I-30 Speedway Little Rock, AR Short Track Nationals Night #2
40 cars
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Pete Butler 29 (6*) 2. Ryan Coniam 6c (4*) 3. Zach Chappell 50z (5*) 4. Lyle Howey III 55H (8*) 5. Rick Pringle 38 (7) 6. Mark Huddleston 33H (1) 7. Glenn Passmore 69 (3) DQ – Josh Baker 33 (2)
Ten lap heats were lined up by draw and the features were set based on passing points with the top 14 making the A. Baker looked strong as he led from start to finish, but was DQed for not stopping at the scales. Butler languished in fourth for most of the race before making a late charge past Pringle, Howey, Chappell and Coniam. Passmore was running fourth until he exited on lap eight.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Ernie Ainsworth 8 (1*) 2. Wade Oliver 90 (2*) 3. Jerrod Hull 50 (4) 4. Dale Howard 47 (7) 5. Skip Wilson 65 (8) 6. Kenny Conrad 9c (6) 7. Wally Henson 6H (3) 8. Henry Gustavus Jr. 78 (5)
Gustavus flipped and collected Howard and Conrad before a lap could be complete. Howard and Conrad restarted at the tail. Henson was set up too tight on the heavy surface and exited on lap three. Ainsworth led the mostly single file race the entire distance.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Brian Bell 23 (3*) 2. Derek Drown 26 (2*) 3. Toby Brown 61a (4) 4. Chris Morgan 7c (1) 5. Jeff Leach 17 (5) 6. Skip Andrews 5P (8) 7. Dusty Zomer 1z (6) 8. Billy Alley 22 (7)
Alley shot past four cars high in turns one and two on the first circuit. He entered three and four high as well but lost control and shot across the pack in turn four. Alley smacked Zomer, taking him out of competition. Brown was also collected, but restarted at the tail. He would recover for third after a last lap pass of Morgan. On lap two, Brown and Andrews came together bringing out caution lights. The restart saw Drown leading Morgan, Bell, and Leach. It took three laps for Bell to overtake Morgan, and then Drown. He pulled away to an impressive win.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Garry Lee Maier 11x (3*) 2. Darren Stewart 91 (2*) 3. Kevin Ramey 39 (5*) 4. Ricky Stenhouse 40R (1) 5. Lewis Jenkins Jr. 1 (7) 6. Eric Winnet 6 (4) 7. Ray Lee Goodwin 2D (8) DNS – JD Johnson 98 (6)
Goodwin was piloting the 2D normally driven by Mitchell Moore. His heat came to a quick end when he rammed the tires and broke the front end when the green fell. Maier forced his way under Stenhouse for the early lead. Stenhouse’s education continued when Stewart got by next. Winnet spun from the tail on lap five bringing out caution. Ramey worked his way into third in impressive fashion to earn a transfer spot.
Heat five (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Tim Crawley 77 (3*) 2. Gary Wright 9 (7*) 3. Wayne Johnson 01 (5*) 4. Steven Tiner 40x (4) 5. Robert Bell 71 (1) 6. Rob Jenkins 1x (6) 7. DJ Masner D1 (2) 8. Brandon Corn 74 (8)
This stout heat was entertaining. Crawley slid under Bell for the early advantage. The Californian Tiner, was driving Shorty Chambliss’s car and spun on lap two. Crawley led Johnson, Bell, Wright and R. Jenkins back to the green flag. Wright went to work, getting by Bell and picking apart Johnson on the racey surface. Tiner would recover to nail down fourth from Bell on the last lap. Look for R. Bell to take off the wing and tackle Manzanita and Perris in the next couple weeks.
B main one (started): 1. Passmore (9) 2. Brown (2) 3. Hull (1) / 4. Masner (11) 5. Stenhouse (4) 6. Pringle (3) 7. Winnet (8) 8. Huddleston (7) 9. Andrews (6) 10. Baker (13) 11. L. Jenkins (5) 12. Zomer (10) DNS – Alley (12)
Hull took the early lead until Zomer spun and collected Baker on lap two. Hull led Brown, Stenhouse, Pringle and L. Jenkins back to green. The next six laps of the 12 lapper saw the best action of the night. Brown and Hull exchanged the lead six times, while Stenhouse and L. Jenkins went tooth and nail in striking distance of the leaders. It came to a halt when L. Jenkins performed an ill-fated slide job on Stenhouse that left the youngster over the turn two berm. Stenhouse restarted at the rear after L. Jenkins was disqualified for rough driving. Now Brown led Hull, Masner, Passmore and Winnet back to green. Passmore took off, using the low side to his advantage and beat Brown by a few feet after taking the lead with two to go. Stenhouse recovered to nail down fifth, but only three would transfer on.
B main two (started): 1. D. Howard (1) 2. Morgan (3) 3. Henson (7) / 4. R. Jenkins (8) 5. R. Bell (6) 6. Corn (12) 7. Leach (9) 8. Conrad (5) 9. Wilson (2) 10. Tiner (4) 11. Goodwin (10) 12. JD Johnson (11) DNS – Gustavus
Howard led the distance. JD Johnson exited on lap two. Goodwin brought out cautions with spins on lap two and eight. Tiner exited on lap eight. Henson came late and entered a battle with Morgan for second. Howard and Wilson came together on the lap eight restart, sending Wilson pitside after running second most of the race. Conrad was running fourth on the white flag lap, but spun on a drying track in turn three.
A main (started): 1. Wright (2) 2. Maier (4) 3. Crawley (5) 4. Ainsworth (6) 5. Chappell (8) 6. Drown (11) 7. Ramey (13) 8. Passmore (15) 9. W. Johnson (14) 10. Brown (17) 11. Hull (19) 12. Coniam (7) 13. Oliver (10) 14. Stewart (12) 15. B. Bell (3) 16. D. Howard (16) 17. Henson (20) 18. Morgan (18) 19. Butler (1) 20. Howey (9)
Butler took himself out of contention on lap one when he went over the berm in three and four. Wright streaked out to an early lead before fourth running B. Bell spun on lap two. The restart saw Wright leading Crawley, Maier, Ainsworth, and Howey. It was D. Stewart’s turn to spin over the berm and come to rest on the front chute on lap three. Coniam spun to collect Oliver at the same time. All would restart at the rear. The reace went three more laps before Howey struck the infield tires while running a strong fifth on lap six. Now Wright lead Crawley, Maier, Ainsworth and Chappell. The next eight circuits of the 25 lapper went non-stop with Wright holding off Crawley and Maier. Henson flipped on lap 14 bringing red. Lap 16 saw Maier get by Crawley for second. A blanket could be thrown over the leaders. Crawley took the lead using rubber laid on the track in turns one and two on lap 23. The pass was negated, however, by a yellow brought for contact between Stewart and B. Bell. Wright assumed the lead again and would never relinquish it. Maier hounded Crawley over the last three steps and went through the middle of turns three and four to capture second and the final transfer into Saturday’s main event with a breath taking last corner pass. All cars other than the locked in Shane Stewart, Tim Montgomery, Wright and Maier will redraw and start a totally new program on Saturday night.