Dustin Selvage cashed $2,000 for his Sprint Invaders win at 34 Raceway Saturday (D&M Photography)
(Bill W) Donnellson, IA, August 17, 2019 – For the second night in a row, a veteran scored their first win in several years with the Sprint Invaders. At 34 Raceway’s “Racing Towards a Cure” Night Saturday, it was Dustin Selvage’s turn. The Indianola, Iowa resident earned $2,000 for his first victory with the series since 2013. It was his fourth both at 34 Raceway and with the series in his career and came aboard Jarrod Schneiderman’s #88 entry. Friday night, Kaley Gharst had scored his first Sprint Invaders win since 2012 with his victory at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
The 3/8-mile oval proved to be a tacky one. After a missing man formation honoring the late Brian Hetrick during the pace laps, Josh Schneiderman led early in the 25-lapper, ahead of Selvage and Paul Nienhiser. He was in traffic by lap five, and escaped disaster when he jumped the cushion in turn two.
Nienhiser won his heat easily and then dominated the Dash. In the feature, he started sixth and was past Selvage for second by lap seven. He reeled in Schneiderman, and when the leader hesitated in traffic, he roared around the outside to lead lap ten.
A lap later, disaster struck. Nienhiser jumped the turn one cushion and got sideways, performing a series of flips. He walked away under his own power.
Schneiderman inherited the lead ahead of Selvage, Chris Martin, Carson McCarl and Brayden Gaylord. Schneiderman was back in lapped traffic with nine laps to go. Selvage was staying with the leader, and when Schneiderman checked up behind a lapped car in turn two on lap 17, he pounced and took the point.
Selvage was able to maintain his advantage the last eight laps to pick up the win. Martin used a last lap pass to gain second, ahead of Schneiderman, McCarl and Gaylord. Gharst, Daniel Bergquist, Cody Wehrle, Josh Higday and John Schulz rounded out the top ten. Selvage and Martin joined Nienhiser as heat race winners.
“I felt really bad last night,” said Selvage, who tipped his car over in Donnellson. “Jarrod gave us a good car, and I just ran out of talent there in that feature. We had some work to do today, but it all panned out. I can’t believe we’re standing here. I decided to be a car owner at Knoxville this year (for Craig Dollansky), and became a Dad last Fall. But Jarrod called me…just two buddies having fun and we parked it tonight! The way the track was, it was tough to pass and we got to lapped traffic really quick. It doesn’t mean we were faster than Josh. He just got put in a bad position behind a lapped car. That’s all it took. I think this is my fourth win at Burlington, but it’s by far the best one.”
“I felt like we were a little snug early on,” said Martin. “As the fuel load went away, and the track got a tad slicker, we went better. We definitely figured out a lot of stuff with about twelve to go. I wish we would have had about five more laps. A big congrats to Dustin. Not many people can just hop back in a car and win, you know. I’ve won a few around here, and I know it takes a lot of mental and physical effort. Congrats to him.”
“I think we had the car to beat,” said Schneiderman. “One lapped car kind of killed our momentum. It allowed Dustin to get by. At the end of the race, I was just trying too hard trying to get back to Dustin and the 44 got by us. This track has had a lot of highs and lows for me. Ultimately, we enjoy coming here. We can’t seem to get our season going. We can’t seem to catch a break, but we’re keeping our heads held high. We’ve got good racecars and we’ll finish in front one of these nights.”
Though Gharst missed out on a $1,000 bonus for sweeping both features during the weekend, Carson McCarl benefited by being the driver scoring the most points. He was awarded $500 from Storm Steel for his feat. Third through sixth place earned an extra $100 from Storm Steel, and Schulz earned an extra $100 for being the hard-charger. The purse had already been bolstered, courtesy of Shottenkirk.com.
The Sprint Invaders return to 34 Raceway Friday, August 30. The event will be co-sanctioned with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series. For more information on the Sprint Invaders, visit www.SprintInvaders.com.
Sprint Invaders A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 88, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (2) 2. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (3) 3. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (1) 4. 17A, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (4) 5. 13, Brayden Gaylord, Wever, IA (5) 6. 78, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (9) 7. 9, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (10) 8. 40c, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (7) 9. 35, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (11) 10. 99, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (15) 11. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (12) 12. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (13) 13. 29w, Wyatt Wilkerson, Morning Sun, IA (8) 14. 50P, Harold Pohren, Lowell, IA (14) 15. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (18) 16. 69, Justin Buchholz, Davenport, IA (19) 17. 01, Travis Spence, Stronghurst, IL (21) 18. 83, Kurt Mueller, Reynolds, IL (20) 19. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (16) 20. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (6) 21. 51J, Matt Krieger, Burlington, IA (17) DNS – 76, Brad Comegys, Bondurant, IA. Lap Leaders: Schneiderman 1-9, Nienhiser 10, Schneiderman 11-16, Selvage 17-25. KSE Hard-charger: Schulz.
Randall’s Performance Heat one (started), 8 laps: 1. Dustin Selvage (2) 2. Josh Schneiderman (4) 3. Cody Wehrle (1) 4. Daniel Bergquist (3) 5. Tanner Gebhardt (7) 6. Ryan Leavitt (6) 7. Justin Buchholz (5) 8. Travis Spence (8)
CenPeCo Lubricants Heat two (started), 8 laps: 1. Paul Nienhiser (2) 2. Brayden Gaylord (1) 3. Wyatt Wilkerson (4) 4. Josh Higday (5) 5. Harold Pohren (6) 6. Matt Krieger (3) DNS – Brad Comegys
Heat three (started), 8 laps: 1. Chris Martin (2) 2. Carson McCarl (1) 3. Kaley Gharst (6) 4. Jamie Ball (3) 5. John Schulz (5) 6. Colton Fisher (7) 7. Kurt Mueller (4)
Budweiser King of Beers – Golden Eagle Distributors Shake-up Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Paul Nienhiser (4) 2. Josh Schneiderman (1) 3. Dustin Selvage (3) 4. Chris Martin (2) 5. Carson McCarl (6) 6. Brayden Gaylord (5)
Contingencies
Storm Steel $500 High Point Bonus – Carson McCarl
Pyrotec – Justin Buchholz
Saldana Racing Products – Tanner Gebhardt
Kreitz Oval Track Products – Cody Wehrle