(Bill W) May 25, 2008 – John Schulz was awarded a feature win after apparent winner, Josh Higday, failed a technical inspection following the 25-lap Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders feature event Sunday night at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. The win was worth $1,200 to Schulz, who trailed Higday for the duration of the feature.
Schulz and Higday made up row one for the main event, with Higday getting an early jump. The track lent two racing grooves, but built a sizable cushion in turn one. Matt Sutton hit it wrong and tumbled into a wild set of flips over the turn one berm on the second go-around. Fortunately, he was uninjured.
Higday led Shulz, Ryan Jamison and Rager Phillips, who won the shake-up dash, back to green flag racing. The defending Knoxville 360 track champion entered lapped traffic a few laps later, with Schulz in tow. The pair weaved through lapped traffic with relative ease as Jamison and Phillips tried to keep them in their sights. At the halfway point, disaster struck for Phillips, who jumped the cushion in turn two and flipped four times. He was also unhurt, but left with a bent racecar.
The remaining twelve laps went non-stop with Higday holding onto the lead despite a couple of challenges from Schulz in traffic. Schulz was in a familiar spot chasing the leader in traffic, as he chased winner Matt Rogerson in the April season opener at 34. “It was just about the same as the opener (chasing the leader),” said Schulz. “We had a great racecar and were able to close in on Josh in the end. We just couldn’t quite get him.”
As the race wore on, conditions dried a bit, something that helped Shulz, who scored his second win in as many years at the 34 Raceway. “That helped us by freeing the car up a bit,” he said. “We just had to be careful in lapped traffic and I think we were. Even though we’re not running every week this year, we’re staying sharp, and the guys are staying after it. I will too.”
Jamison would end up in second after the disqualification. “It was definitely our best finish yet this year,” he said. “I was happy with what we did. It’s tough when you have good cars like that (Higday and Schulz) starting in front of you. The line was pretty much on top and they were both right there. You had to hope for traffic or a failure on there part, and that didn’t happen. It wasn’t too bad for the old man!”
Russ Hall finished third, up from a tenth starting spot. Bobby Mincer earned hard-charger honors by moving forward eight spots to fourth, and Matt Harms ran a solid fifth. Rogerson was sixth, and Jordan Goldesberry, Josh Schneiderman, Joey Moughan and Austin McCarl completed the top ten.
McCarl took his first career win in a sprint car by winning his heat race. Other heat winners included Sutton, Rogerson and Jamison. Nick Eastin took his second Sprint Invaders B main in a row. Seventeen year old, Mark Shirshekan took a wild ride down the frontstretch in the third heat race. He was uninjured.
Results
Ideal Ready Mix 25-lap A main Finish (started): 1.2, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (1) 2. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (3) 3. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (10) 4. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (12) 5. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL (8) 6. 29, Matt Rogerson, Burlington, IA (7) 7. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (11) 8. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (13) 9. 8H, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (15) 10. 17, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (4) 11. 3x, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (16) 12. 9x, Bart Andrews, Muscatine, IA (18) 13. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA (19) 14. 99w, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (9) 15. 9, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (6) 16. 35, Brian Hetrick, Stronghurst, IL (20) 17. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (14) 18. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (5) 19. 22x, Nick Eastin, West Burlington, IA (17) 20. DQ – 24, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (2). Lap Leader: Higday 1-25.
Staats Awards Heat Race #1 (8 laps, top four to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Matt Sutton (1) 2. Rager Phillips (6) 3. Korey Weyant (3) 4. Josh Schneiderman (5) / 5. Donnie Steward (7) 6. 36, Justin Newberry, Burlington, IA (8) 7. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (2) 8. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (4)
Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #2 (8 laps, top four to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Austin McCarl (2) 2. John Schulz (4) 3. Russ Hall (7) 4. Jerrod Hull (5) / 5. Bart Andrews (1) 6. Nick Eastin (6) 7. Brian Hetrick (3) 8. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (8)
Midland Performance Heat Race #3 (8 laps, top four to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Matt Rogerson (1) 2. Josh Higday (7) 3. Jordan Goldesberry (5) 4. Joey Moughan (6) / 5. 18A, Dan Avery, Burlington, IA (6) 6. 3/, Mark Shirshekan, Farmington, MO (2) 7. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (3) DNS – 93, Jamie Needham, Moline, IL
Fastway Fabrication Heat Race #4 (8 laps, top four to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Ryan Jamison (6) 2. Matt Harms (2) 3. Bobby Mincer (5) 4. Nate Van Haaften (3) / 5. 0, Nick Guernsey, Burlington, IA (1) 6. 38, Seth Wilke, Burlington, IA (7) 7. 23, Kevin Hetrick, Gladstone, IL (4)
Heartland Harley Davidson-Buell Shake-Up Dash (6 laps): 1. Rager Phillips (2) 2. John Schulz (1) 3. Josh Higday (6) 4. Ryan Jamison (3) 5. Austin McCarl (4) 6. Matt Sutton (5) 7. Matt Rogerson (8) 8. Matt Harms (7)
Holtkamp’s Trailer Repair B main (started): 1. Nick Eastin (6) 2. Bart Andrews (2) 3. Donnie Steward (1) 4. Brian Hetrick (9) / 5. Justin Newberry (5) 6. Seth Wilke (7) 7. Jarrod Schneiderman (12) 8. Andy Huston (8) 9. Dan Avery (3) 10. Nick Guernsey (4) 11. Jimmy Davies (11) 12. Kevin Hetrick (10) DNS – Mark Shirshekan, Jon Agan, Jamie Needham
Contingency Awards:
Hard Charger – Bobby Mincer
The Brake Man – Austin McCarl
Diversified Machine – Rager Phillips
M&W Aluminum Products – Bart Andrews
Ultra Shield – Korey Weyant
Saldana Racing Products – Josh Schneiderman
Rod End Supply – Ryan Jamison, Jerrod Hull