Tasker Phillips won his second Sprint Invaders feature in a row at 34 Raceway Friday (Ashley Zommerman Photo)
by Bill Wright
West Burlington, IA, August 16, 2024 – Tasker Phillips won for the second time this season at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa with the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders Friday night. After the race got off to an awkward and slow first seven laps, things got thrilling down the stretch and the Pleasantville, Iowa native netted $2,000 for his win.
Corbin Gurley bicycled and got all but upside down at the first try at green in the 25-lap feature. He rejoined the field after changing a flat left rear tire. Once Green, Tanner Gebhardt shot into the early lead ahead of Josh Schneiderman, Tasker Phillips, Terry McCarl and Colton Fisher. Four laps in, Jake Glasgow flipped hard down the backstretch. Chase Richards was also involved, but make repairs in the work area and continued. Glasgow exited the car under his own power.
Paul Nienhiser entered the top five on the restart, and passed McCarl on the low side to gain fourth on lap seven. Things became disjointed at that point, when Blaine Jamison spun, bringing caution. A third starting Phillips jumped the start on the next try at green and was moved back a spot. On the next try, Alex Vande Voort got into the wall entering the pits, bringing another red. He was o.k. At the same time, Fisher went to the work area to make repairs. The third try was not a charm, as a caution was coming out for Cam Sorrels when the third running Nienhiser flipped in turn four. He was uninjured.
The last 18 laps went green. Gebhardt, who had a damaged nose wing throughout, led Schneiderman, Phillips, McCarl and Dustin Selvage back to green. Miles Paulus quickly moved into the top five. Phillips and Schneiderman battled hard for second, exchanging the spot three times.
Gebhardt, with bad nose wing and all, entered lapped traffic on the seventeenth circuit in pursuit of his first ever Sprint Invaders win. Phillips had gotten by Schneiderman and was now focused on the lead. He shot a slider on Gebhardt and took the point on lap 19. Paulus was also on the move, taking third form Schneiderman with three to go, and passing Gebhardt for second on the following lap.
Phillips led the last few laps and won over Paulus, and Schneiderman, who moved by Gebhardt late. Hard-charger Dustin Selvage was fourth and Gebhardt finished fifth. McCarl, Tyler Lee, Garrett Benson, Sawyer Phillips and Chase Richards rounded out the top ten. Fisher, Tasker Phillips and Paulus won heats, and Schneiderman won the Dash. Chase Richards claimed the B main. Tyler Graves tipped over in the B main, but was uninjured.
“I respect this track,” said Phillips in Victory Lane. “You have to respect the walls here. Schneiderman gave me room…it wasn’t a whole lot of room, but he gave me enough to work with it. I was on the edge of my seat, but I’m glad we got it done. I have to thank this team. I don’t have a whole lot of time to work on the car with the farming, and I couldn’t get it done without them.”
“To be honest, we weren’t good in the Dash,” said Paulus. “We started all over, and changed bars, and changed all kinds of stuff. My buddy Angelo from Australia is here helping me, and that’s been a huge help. He got her dialed in. We stunk the first seven laps, and at the end, we were really good. It was narrow at the beginning and once it widened up, it got pretty dang racy.”
“We’re pretty disappointed really,” said Schneiderman of his third place run after starting on the pole. “We struggled the second half of the race. With about three to go, I about clobbered Tanner, because I had no brakes left. It’s part of racing. Lapped traffic made it interesting. I wasn’t going to give (Phillips) an inch. I love racing Tasker. He did a good job and made the moves when he needed to. We were able to get by him a couple times, but I couldn’t get by Tanner to save my life.”
The Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders head to Peoria Speedway, Saturday, August 17. For more information on the Sprint Invaders, visit www.SprintInvaders.net or visit us on Facebook.
Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders Results
Shottenkirk Automotive Group A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (4) 2. 98P, Miles Paulus, Marshall, MO (6) 3. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (1) 4. 6w, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (12) 5. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (2) 6. 99, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (5) 7. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (14) 8. 2B, Garrett Benson, Concordia, MO (11) 9. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (15) 10. 4, Chase Richards, Burlington, IA (17) 11. 31, McCain Richards, Burlington, IA (10) 12. 2, Chase Porter, St. Joseph, MO (9) 13. 51J, Blaine Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (19) 14. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (3) 15. 40, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (18) 16. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (7) 17. 57, Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO (20) 18. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (8) 19. 62, Jake Glasgow, Burlington, IA (16) 20. 12, Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN (13). Lap Leaders: Gebhardt 1-18, T. Phillips 19-25. KSE Hard-charger: Selvage.
Randall’s Performance Heat one (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Colton Fisher (2*) 2. Josh Schneiderman (4*) 3. McCain Richards (1*) 4. Chase Porter (6*) 5. Sawyer Phillips (5*) 6. Dustin Selvage (9*) 7. Cam Sorrels (3) 8. Cody Wehrle (8) 9. 4M, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (7)
Joshua Denning & Associates Heat two (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Tasker Phillips (2*) 2. Tanner Gebhardt (4*) 3. Alex Vande Voort (5*) 4. Tyler Lee (3*) 5. Jake Glasgow (6*) 6. Chase Richards (7) 7. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (8) 8. 88, Riley Scott, Quincy, IL (1)
Morning Sun Farm Implement Heat three (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Miles Paulus (1*) 2. Paul Nienhiser (2*) 3. Terry McCarl (5*) 4. Corbin Gurley (4*) 5. Garrett Benson (7*) 6. Blaine Jamison (3) 7. 71, Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA (6) 8. 25, Tyler Graves, Chariton, IA (8)
Agriland FS Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Josh Schneiderman (1) 2. Tanner Gebhardt (3) 3. Colton Fisher (2) 4. Tasker Phillips (5) 5. Terry McCarl (4) 6. Miles Paulus (6)
Golden Eagle Distributors Budweiser B main (started), 12 laps: 1. Chase Richards (1) 2. Cody Wehrle (8) 3. Blaine Jamison (2) 4. Cam Sorrels (5) / 5. Brandon Worthington (4) 6. Dustin Clark (3) 7. Mike Mayberry (9) 8. Riley Scott (6) 9. Tyler Graves (7)
Contingencies
King Racing Products – Garrett Benson
DMI – Jake Glasgow
Saldana Racing Products – Terry McCarl
BMRS – Colton Fisher