(Bill W) September 11, 2011 – Jerrod Hull became the first three-time winner in the inaugural season for the Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series presented by the Midwest Open Wheel Association on Sunday night at the Peoria Speedway by winning its Sprint Car Showdown. The Sikeston, Missouri driver also won the Dash and copped $2,100, thanks to an extra $100 thrown in by Chuck's Small Engine Repair in Peoria.
Due to his heat win, Hull started on the pole of the 25-lap main event and shot out to an early lead, utilizing the high side of turns one and two and the low side of turns three and four on the banked ¼-mile oval. Jimmy Hurley gave chase early on from outside of row two, while Dustin Barks, who was utilizing a 360 engine, hung tough in third.
With nine laps down, Ben Wagoner spun and collected JC Bland, bringing out the first caution of the event. Hull led Hurley, Barks, Mike Hess and Robbie Standridge back to green, but contact between Jeremy Standridge, Joey Moughan and Ryan Jamison eliminated Moughan from the race before another lap could be completed.
Barks struggled with the lapped car of Andy Baugh once the race went green again and at the halfway point, made contact with the backmarker and spun. He restarted at the tail. Robbie Standridge gained third, while a wild race for fourth went to Bret Tripplett over AJ Bruns.
The final caution came with sixteen laps down. Matt Harms spun, setting up a nine lap dash to the final checkers that saw Hull ahead of Hurley, Robbie Standridge, Bruns and Tripplett. Robbie Standridge grabbed second after the restart, but had nothing for Hull, who extended his point lead with the series.
"We planned on running the top of one and two, but it was kind of hard to run," said Hull in Victory Lane. "It was choppy up there. I was kind of keeping my eye out for someone to show their nose. I saw Robbie, and I pulled the wing back and hit the bottom the rest of the race. I'd like to thank Scott Bonar the crew chief, and Alan and Roger have been helping us out and doing a good job too."
Robbie Standridge settled for second and is third in points. "I think we may have had too much fuel in it," he said. "Once we burned it off, we finally got going. Jimmy slipped up, but I couldn't catch Jerrod. We're starting to get it together again."
Hurley was third and remained second in the point race. "We were o.k. on the top. We were a little loose. We'll take this. It's another decent points night. We want to keep the momentum going."
AJ Bruns was fourth, ahead of Tripplett. Jeremy Standridge, Hess, hard-charger Korey Weyant, Wagoner and Chris Urish rounded out the top ten. Heats were won by Hess, Barks, Hurley and Robbie Standridge. Ryan Jamison won the $300 bonus for the highest finishing 360. Cory Bruns took the wildest ride of the night when he left the joint after the checkers in his heat race. He was uninjured. Critter Malone won heat one easily, but lost his muffler and was disqualified. Thirty-one cars were in the field.
The Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series next hits the track Saturday night, September 17, at the Tom Knowles Memorial on the high banks of the Spoon River Speedway south of Canton, Illinois.
Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series Main Event (started), 25 laps: 1. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (1) 2. 23, Robbie Standridge, Springfield, IL (5) 3. 35, Jimmy Hurley, Springfield, IL (4) 4. 44, AJ Bruns, Lincoln, IL (8) 5. 22, Bret Tripplett, Springfield, IL (10) 6. 10s, Jeremy Standridge, Springfield, IL (6) 7. 51, Mike Hess, Springfield, IL (3) 8. 83, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (15) 9. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (14) 10. 77u, Chris Urish, Elkhart, IL (11) 11. 67, Bubba Altig, Mechanicsburg, IL (17) 12. 53H, Matt Harms, Lacon, IL (16) 13. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (7) 14. 22B, Dustin Barks, Farmington, MO (2) 15. 6B, Andy Baugh, Mason City, IL (18) 16. 96, Nathan Charron, Lincoln, IL (9) 17. 14, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (12) 18. 98, JC Bland, Springfield, IL (13). Lap Leader: Hull 1-25. Bulldog/DMI Hard Charger: Weyant.
Super Shox Heat one (started, *qualified for feature, 10 laps): 1. Mike Hess (5*) 2. Bret Tripplett (3*) 3. 7B, Kenny Bragg, Knoxville, IL (1) 4. Nathan Charron (8*) 5. 42, Cory Bruns, Lincoln, IL (4) 6. Bubba Altig (6) 7. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (7) DQ (muffler, crossed 1st) – 7, Critter Malone, Speedway, IN
RaceBumpers Heat two (started, *qualified for feature, 10 laps): 1. Dustin Barks (1*) 2. Chris Urish (3*) 3. AJ Bruns (6*) 4. Joey Moughan (7*) 5. Korey Weyant (4) 6. Matt Harms (5) 7. 14H, Kenny Haynes, Bourbonnais, IL (8) 8. 95, Tommy Rockwell, Towanda, IL (2)
GPC Race Products Heat three (started, *qualified for feature, 10 laps): 1. Jimmy Hurley (5*) 2. Jerrod Hull (8*) 3. Ben Wagoner (5*) 4. JC Bland (7*) 5. Andy Baugh (2) 6. 5H, Patrick Haynes, Bradley, IL (4) 7. 1m, Jim Moughan Jr., Springfield, IL (6) 8. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (1)
Heat four (started, qualified for feature, 10 laps): 1. Robbie Standridge (4*) 2. Jeremy Standridge (5*) 3. Ryan Jamison (7*) 4. 28, Justin Springer, Pekin, IL (3) 5. 10P, Doc Probst, Janesville, WI (6) 6. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (2) 7. 52F, Logan Faucon, Elkhart, IL (1)
Kreitz Oval Track Products B Main one (started, top two to A, 12 laps): 1. Korey Weyant (3) 2. Bubba Altig (4) / 3. Kenny Haynes (5) 4. Critter Malone (8) 5. Bob Weuve (6) 6. Doc Probst (2) 7. Kenny Bragg (1) 8. Jim Moughan Jr. (7) DNS – Jordan Goldesberry
Kreitz Oval Track Products B Main two (started, top two to A, 12 laps): 1. Matt Harms (2) 2. Andy Baugh (3) / 3. Justin Springer (1) 4. Tommy Rockwell (6) 5. Logan Faucon (7) 6. Patrick Haynes (5) 7. Jimmy Davies (4) DNS – Cory Bruns