An impressive fireworks show entertained the fans before Saturday night's final race in Little Rock
10/1/22
I-30 Speedway
Little Rock, AR
Final Night
Short Track Nationals Finale
ASCS
87 cars
After hot laps, a celebration honoring the Clay Family on the frontstretch was an emotional one for all. Former and current drivers gathered to pay their respects to the Clay’s. The crowd was standing room only and a testament to their appreciation of the track.
The top two finishers in each Friday feature were locked into Saturday’s Dash and championship, Aaron Reutzel, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Jason Martin and Seth Bergman. The top two drivers in combined Friday and Saturday points joined them in the Dash. The next eight in points also locked into the feature.
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jeff West Jr. 24 (1) 2. Dylan Westbrook 47x (6*) 3. Bradyn Baker 71 (9) 4. Chance McCrary 13M (2) 5. Zach Pringle 91z (5) 6. Ernie Ainsworth 91A (4) 7. Gary Floyd 72P (8) 8. Ryan Bickett 17B (10) 9. Ted Kirkpatrick 63LK (3) 10. Pete Butler 29H (7)
8-lap heats used the passing point system to add to Friday driver totals. Veteran STN combatant Ainsworth did a 360 on the initial start and collected former champion, Pete Butler, who was wanting to partake for one last time. Ainsworth restarted at the tail. West led the distance. Westbrook was the prime mover, taking third from Pringle on lap two and second from McCrary on lap five. Baker also was a charger, gaining third, coming for the white flag.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Howard Moore 3 (1*) 2. Steve Russell JR1 (2) 3. Chad Jones 29 (3) 4. Tim Crawley 87 (5*) 5. Joey Schmidt 1s (6) 6. Eric Baldaccini 0 (8) 7. Wade Buttrey 48 (4) 8. Alex Lyles 17A (7) 9. Jamie Manley 132 (9) DNS – Bubba Jones 22J
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Dale Howard 47 (2) 2. Kyler Johnson 45x (4) 3. Gunner Ramey 21R (5) 4. Joseph Miller 30 (3) 5. Brandon Hanks 84 (7) 6. Joseph Poe Jr. 27J (8) 7. Chris Sweeney 93 (9) 8. Sam Wagner 73 (6) 9. Landon Crawley 187 (1)
Howard led wire to wire, winning by a quite a margin over K. Johnson. L. Crawley had some issues and then S. Wagner and he contacted in a battle for third, resulting in Wagner getting upside down. Both were done for the heat.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Wayne Johnson 2c (3*) 2. Kobe Simpson 21s (1) 3. Jordon Mallett 14 (7) 4. Christopher Townsend 6 (4) 5. Steven Howell 16 (2) 6. Scotty Milan 97 (9) 7. Ayden Gatewood 37 (6) 8. Carson Short 21x (8) 9. Tucker Boulton 74 (5)
Simpson led early over Powell and Townsend. On lap five, W. Johnson surged from fourth to second. Two laps later, Mallett shot from fifth to third. W. Johnson hit the high side of two and carried his momentum past Simpson for the win on the last lap.
Heat five (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jeremy Middleton 15J (2*) 2. Chase Howard 13 (1) 3. Derek Hagar 9JR (6) 4. Brad Bowden 4x (3) 5. Cody Gardner G6 (7) 6. Mark Smith 43M (9) 7. Chase Porter 2 (5) 8. Jason Long 19 (8) 9. Greg Merritt 12M (4)
Middleton led throughout over C. Howard. Hagar moved up to fourth right away. Merritt exited after smacking his right rear a lap in. On lap five, Hagar snagged third from Bowden.
Heat six (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jack Wagner 77 (2) 2. Blake Jenkins 99 (4) 3. Slater Helt 22s (3) 4. Landon Britt 10 (1) 5. Marshall Skinner 26 (7) 6. Chad Frewaldt 17F (9) 7. Jamey Mooney 69 (6) 8. Dewayne White 10K (5) 9. Spencer Meredith 21 (8)
J. Wagner led flag to flag. Britt had an extremely slow start, but regathered up to fourth by lap two.
Heat seven (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Justin Sanders 39 (3*) 2. Alex Sewell 17 (1) 3. Riley Goodno 22 (2) 4. Lewis Jenkins Jr. 99L (4) 5. Josh McCord 85 (5) 6. Dylan Postier 10P (8) 7. Donny Howard 55 (6) 8. Kevin Hinkle 21K (9) 9. Chris Williams 63 (7)
Sewell led Goodno and Sanders early. Sanders passed Goodno for second on lap two and set his sights on the leader. His slid by Sewell in turn four on lap five and took the win.
Heat eight (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Garet Williamson 24w (8*) 2. Tony Bruce Jr. 12H (1) 3. Michael Day 91 (2) 4. Jerry Brey 17J (4) 5. Hayden Martin 67 (7) 6. Jace Park 87J (5) 7. Kade Morton 8M (6) 8. Todd Bradford 2T (3) 9. Rick Pringle 38 (9)
Bruce led Day and Bradford early. Williamson was fourth by lap two, took third from Bradford on lap three on the low side. He slid by Day in turn two on lap seven to take second, just before Rick Pringle flipped in turn four. He was o.k. Williamson used the green, white, checker finish to get by Bruce and win from row four.
Heat nine (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Matt Covington 95 (3) 2. Joe B. Miller 51B (4*) 3. Ryan Timms 5T (6*) 4. Blake Hahn 52 (9*) 5. Dusty Young 5L (2) 6. Colton Hardy 41 (7) 7. Ronny Howard 44 (5) 8. Bradley Fezard 938 (8) 9. Brandon Anderson 55B (1)
A broken steering gear sent Anderson over the turn two berm and out for the night. Covington would led it all the way, ahead of Joe B. Miller. Timms gained third from young on lap three, surrendered it on lap four and came back on the high side of turn two on lap seven to reclaim it.
D main one (started): 1. Park (4) 2. Poe (1) 3. Hinkle (5) / 4. R. Howard (3) 5. Meredith (7) 6. Buttrey (9) 7. Mooney (6) 8. Long (11) 9. Kirkpatrick (10) 10. Z. Pringle (2) DNS – Boulton, Anderson, B. Jones
8-lap D’s sent the top three to the C. Pringle grabbed the lead coming for the flagstand after lap one. He tried to clear Poe, but clipped him heading into turn one. That sent him into the wall and upside down. He was uninjured. Hinkle claimed the last transfer from R. Howard on lap six. Park made his winning pass on the last lap with a slider.
D main two (started): 1. Gatewood (2) 2. Howell (4) 3. Bradford (1) / 4. Lyles (5) 5. Fezard (6) 6. White (7) 7. Williams (9) 8. Floyd (3) 9. Butler (10) 10. Manley (11) 11. R. Pringle (8) DNS – Merritt
Gatewood led flag to flag. Powell nabbed second from Bradford on the low side of four on lap three. The only caution came for a spun Manley.
C main one (started): 1. Brey (3) 2. Ainsworth (1) 3. Baldaccini (5) / 4. Porter (4) 5. Park (12) 6. Hinkle (13) 7. Simpson (2) 8. D. Howard (8) 9. Poe (10) 10. Young (9) 11. Milan (6) 12. McCrary (11) 13. Morton (7) DNS – Jones, S. Wagner
10-lap C’s took the top three to the B’s. Ainsworth led early, but Brey passed him low in turn four on lap three to take the lead. Milan was able to pass Baldaccini for the third and final transfer, but that was negated when Young stopped on lap three. Milan spun in turn one on the restart, while McCrary made heavy contact with another car and retired.
C main two (started): 1. B. Jenkins (1) 2. Schmidt (7) 3. West (3) / 4. Townsend (6) 5. Frewaldt (5) 6. Gatewood (10) 7. Bickett (9) 8. Howell (11) 9. Bradford (12) 10. Sweeney (8) 11. Short (2) 12. Joseph Miller (4) DNS – Day, H. Martin, L. Crawley
Short led it early and appeared to be heading toward the win. Schmidt claimed fourth from Townsend on lap three. With just two to go, Short went up in smoke and exited, handing the top three transfers to B. Jenkins, Schmidt, who snagged second in the last corner, and West.
Dash (started): 1. Aaron Reutzel 8 (3) 2. Westbrook (2) 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (6) 4. Seth Bergman 23 (4) 5. Sanders (1) 6. Jason Martin 36 (5)
Sanders seemingly had it in the bag. Reutzel slid in front of Westbrook in turn four on lap two to take second. Coming for the white flag, Sanders suffered and flat right front tire, limping to the finish. Reutzel inherited the lead, the win and the $600 paycheck.
B main one (started): 1. D. Howard (1) 2. Gardner (9) 3. Russell (4) / 4. Postier (6) 5. Bruce (3) 6. Baker (5) 7. L. Jenkins (10) 8. Helt (7) 9. Ainsworth (14) 10. Brey (13) 11. Baldaccini (15) 12. Hanks (12) 13. C. Howard (8) 14. Skinner (11) 15. K. Johnson (2)
12-lap B’s took the top three to the main event. K. Johnson led early and did a spin through the infield on lap two that was negated when Skinner spun. K. Johnson would get upside down on that restart, however. He was uninjured. D. Howard assumed the lead ahead of Russell, Bruce and Postier. Postier would race hard with Bruce and take the last transfer spot with four to go. Gardner closed late, however, taking the final transfer from Postier on lap nine and then passed Russell in the final corner for second.
B main two (started): 1. Hagar (1) 2. Mallett (6) 3. Covington (2) / 4. Hardy (5) 5. Sewell (4) 6. Smith (8) 7. Goodno (7) 8. Bowden (9) 9. West (14) 10. Ramey (10) 11. B. Jenkins (12) 12. J. Wagner (3) 13. McCord (11) 14. Schmidt (13) DNS – Britt
A yard sale in turn one started things when J. Wagner spun, collecting McCord, Ramey and Schmidt, who launched down the banking and into the pit tires, sending him upside down. He was unhurt. Hagar led early over Covington, Sewell and Goodno. Covington took the point from Hagar on lap three low in turn two. McCord spun on lap four. Covington led Hagar, Sewell and Hardy back to green. Mallett claimed fourth on the restart. Hagar reclaimed the lead for good at the halfway point, and Mallett moved into third. Mallett then stormed by an ill-handling Covington on the last lap for second.
A main (started): 1. Hafertepe (3) 2. Reutzel (1) 3. Sanderson (5) 4. Bergman (4) 5. Hahn (10) 6. Westbrook (2) 7. W. Johnson (8) 8. J. Martin (6) 9. Hagar (16) 10. Williamson (9) 11. T. Crawley (13) 12. Covington (20) 13. D. Howard (15) 14. Mallett (18) 15. Joe B. Miller (14) 16. Moore (12) 17. Russell (19) 18. Gardner (17) 19. Middleton (11) 20. Timms (7)
The 41-lapper saw Reutzel take an early advantage on Hafertepe and Bergman. Westbrook took third from Bergman early as those two would race hard several laps for the spot that Bergman reclaimed on a lap five restart for a flat left rear tire for Gardner. Sanders worked his way by Westbrook for fourth on lap eight, shortly before Timms came to a stop with suspension issues after testing the turn three cushion. Sanders roared by Bergman for third on that restart, while Westbrook and Hahn dueled with Bergman in the middle stages. Reutzel was into lapped traffic on lap 17, and Hafertepe reeled him in and pounced for the lead a circuit later in traffic. The two were in a league of their own from that point. Reutzel reeled in the leader, and made some contact with Hafertepe’s rear end with about seven to go. That damaged his nose wing and he never seriously contested from there. The win was worth $15,041 for Hafertepe and it was his second at the STN (2020). Covington was the hard-charger.