10/29/05
I-30 Speedway
Little Rock, AR
Short Track Nationals
86 cars
Heat one (started): 1. Wayne Johnson 14AJ (1) 2. Eric Schrock 86 (4) 3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 40R (10) 4. Hunter Schuerenberg 35 (8) 5. Kenny Taylor 66 (2) 6. Dusty Ballenger 2L (3) 7. Kevin Ramey 7m (9) 8. Joey Moughan 8H (7) 9. Nathan Benson 42 (6) 10. Jimmy Hurley 4H (5)
The top 32 in points from the 10 lap heats were inverted in the qualifiers the rest were sent to the last chance races. W. Johnson led throughout without being seriously challenged. Hurley spun on lap seven and then was black flagged on the restart. Stenhouse was fourth on the restart and quickly disposed of Taylor before setting his sights on Schrock. He came up just short of the position after a strong run. The two made contact coming for the checkers.
Heat two (started): 1. Chad Jones 40 (1) 2. Travis Rilat 29 (9) 3. Joey Montgomery 21c (7) 4. Jim Bowden 15B (3) 5. Robert Bell 71 (2) 6. Claud Estes III 74E (8) 7. Donny Howard 44D (10) 8. Raymond Stull 21R (5) 9. Eric Sandage 60 (6) 10. Cody Gardner 1G (4)
C. Jones led flag to flag despite a couple of stoppages. Sandage spun on lap two. Gardner exited under caution. The restart saw C. Jones leading Bowden, Stull, R. Bell and J. Montgomery. Rilat was the man on the move and started dueling with Stull for second on lap six. On the seventh go-around, Rilat appeared to drift up into Stull in turn one. The resulting contact snapped Stulls front-end and sent him airborn over turn two. Stull was not happy and tested how hard he could bounce his helmet of off the #29. The final three laps were not as eventful.
Heat three (started): 1. Darren Stewart 91 (5) 2. Tim Moss 29m (4) 3. Steven Tiner 87JR (9) 4. Scott Winters R19 (6) 5. Kent Lewis Jr. 21T (7) 6. Kent Buckley 1* (10) 7. Arlen Stewart 3s (1) 8. Andy Goin 77 (8) 9. Jerrod Hull 50 (2) 10. Ernie Ainsworth 94A (3)
Hull took the point early before Ainsworth contacted Moss and took a wild ride down the front stretch. He was uninjured, but done for the night. As Hull ran around the bottom, D. Stewart was on the move on the high side. He caught Hull on the final go-around. When Hull tried to get the lead back in turn four via a slide job, the two briefly hooked bumpers, with Hull being the loser and spinning out.
Heat four (started): 1. Toby Brown 61a (1) 2. Wade Oliver 0 (2) 3. Pete Butler 29H (8) 4. Jake Peters 57x (9) 5. Josh Baker 42s (3) 6. Brian Brown 21 (10) 7. Bryce Vowan 2m (6) 8. Lyle Howey III 55 (7) 9. Mark Huddleston 33 (5) 10. Don Young 11Y (4)
T. Brown led flag to flag despite a couple of cautions. The first came when B. Brown spun on lap four. The restart saw T. Brown leading Oliver, Baker, Vowan and a charging Butler. Four laps later, T. Brown and Oliver were dueling for the lead when D. Young went over turn two and retired. B. Brown hard surged back to fifth and was challenging Butler for third on the final lap when the two made contact and Browns front end went skyward. He saved his machine from disaster, but lost several spots in the process.
Heat five (started): 1. Garry Lee Maier 11x (3) 2. Justin Sturch 4T (9) 3. Brad Welborn 17w (2) 4. Clint Garner 40G (7) 5. AG Rains 3 (8) 6. Adam Mason B29 (4) 7. Robbie Standridge 12x (6) 8. Bill Brian Jr. 00 (1) 9. Chris Morgan 7c (10) 10. Sean Jones 5 (5)
Brian took the early lead, but quickly S. Jones spun. Maier took over the point on the restart. Morgan slowed on lap five bringing out another slowdown. On the restart, Mason and Morgan made contact in turn four and spun. Brian was slow to see the caution and launched over the right side of Standridges machine down the backstretch in an ugly crash. He was done for the night. Standridge was too, as he suffered right side flats. Maier led Welborn, Sturch, Garner and Rains back to green flag racing. Sturch moved into second to complete a nice run.
Heat six (started): 1. Mike Ward 88 (3) 2. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (1) 3. Lewis Jenkins Jr. 1J (10) 4. Ronny Howard 44 (4) 5. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (9) 6. Joe Young 12T (5) 7. Preston Peebles II 11P (6) 8. Scott Bolden 18c (2) 9. Bennie Chesteen 11T (7) 10. Travis Jenkins 4am (8)
Lightning Bolt Ward led throughout. Bolden brought out the only caution with a lap one stop. L. Jenkins was the show, hitting the high side to shoot forward seven spots.
Heat seven (started): 1. Tim Crawley 87 (1) 2. Nick Smith 15s (8) 3. Sean McClelland 1x (3) 4. Jan Howard 46 (4) 5. Josh Howard 45 (9) 6. Rick Pringle 38 (10) 7. Garry Bell 32 (2) 8. Josh Lofton 4x (7) 9. Scott Box 40x (5) 10. Wade Nygaard 9x (6)
Crawley led throughout. Nygaard was running fifth when he got over the top of turn two and flipped on lap four. Lofton slid over turn one, but didnt get upside down. Lofton received much bad luck over the three nights, ending up upside down on several occasions. A helmet was donated to him as a Hard Luck Award. Smith impressed for the second night in a row, looking equally strong on the top and bottom.
Heat eight (started): 1. Jesse Hockett 75 (3) 2. Dex Eaton 59 (4) 3. Chris Shirek 1s (2) 4. Stephen Chevallier 94c (10) 5. Louie Carufel 47x (5) 6. Marshall Skinner 26 (8) 7. Skip Wilson 65 (6) 8. Eric Lutz 5L (7) 9. Dale Howard 47 (1) 10. John Carney II 13m (9)
Da. Howard shot out to the early lead and held that spot until a lap six Carney spin. Skinner, who was running fourth was black-flagged on the restart for jumping. Da. Howard led Hockett, Eaton and Shirek back to green flag racing. Da. Howard was going strong until he got over the cushion in turn two and spun to a stop. The race checkered without him.
Last Chance Race #1 (started): 1. Ja. Howard (2) 2. Lewis (1) 3. Peebles (6) 4. Pringle (5) / 5. Estes (3) 6. Chesteen (9) 7. Bolden (7) 8. Do. Howard (4) 9. Benson (8) DNS Sandage, Ainsworth, Nygaard
The Last Chance Races were 10 laps and transferred the top four finishers to the tail of the qualifiers. Ja. Howard dominated with the only stoppage on lap two for Benson, who detonated his motor all over turn one.
Last Chance Race #2 (started): 1. Buckley (1) 2. Baker (3) 3. A. Stewart (5) 4. Gardner (8) / 5. Ballenger (4) 6. Chevallier (2) 7. Goin (6) 8. Box (9) 9. Lofton (7) 10. D. Young (10) DNS G. Bell, Carney
Buckley led flag to flag despite a lap five spin by Goin. Gardner is a youngster who impressed throughout the weekend. He moved up nicely into a transfer to a qualifier.
Last Chance Race #3 (started): 1. B. Brown (1) 2. Ramey (4) 3. Hull (9) 4. Taylor (2) / 5. Da. Howard (10) 6. Vowan (5) 7. Howey (7) 8. Carufel (3) 9. Wilson (6) 10. Lutz (8) DNS S. Jones
While staging, Da. Howard inexplicably ran over Lutz, breaking his front end. B. Brown was the class of the field and led every lap. Hull surged forward using all reaches of the track.
Last Chance Race #4 (started): 1. Skinner (3) 2. R. Howard (1) 3. J. Young (4) 4. Standridge (5) / 5. Moughan (6) 6. Hurley (8) 7. R. Bell (2) 8. T. Jenkins (9) 9. Huddleston (7) DNS Stull, Brian
R. Howard jumped out early before Skinner took over for good on lap two in a rare non-stop race.
Pack Dash for Cash (started, # of driver assigned): 1. Jason Johnson 41 (1, 14x) 2. Gary Wright 9 (4, 21P) 3. Tim Montgomery 01 (2, 9) 4. Kevin Swindell 1 (3, 01) 5. Shane Stewart 14x (6, 1) 6. Daryn Pittman 21P (5, 41)
J. Johnson led flag to flag and earned $500 for his victory. The draw for spots was interesting with the drawing driver assigning his number to someone else. S. Stewart gave an appreciative J. Johnson the one pill.
Qualifier #1 (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Schuerenberg (3*) 2. Jo. Howard (1) 3. Stenhouse (7*) 4. Schrock (5*) 5. Ja. Howard (9*) 6. Ward (6) 7. Rilat (8) 8. Pringle (12) 9. T. Brown (4) 10. Winters (2) 11. Lewis (10) 12. Peebles (11)
The 12 lap Qualifiers transferred the top 12 in passing points (combined with heat points) to the main event. The top two in points from the three days who didnt make the main event (B. Brown and Ja. Howard) were added to the tail of the event. Jo. Howard led early. On lap seven, Peebles spun and collected T. Brown. The restart saw Jo. Howard leading Schuerenberg, Stenhouse, Ja. Howard and Ward. Two laps later, Schuerenberg slid under Jo. Howard for the win. Schrock was one of the rare ones to test the cushion, and he was rewarded when he shot by Ja. Howard on the final lap for fourth and a trip to the A.
Qualifier #2 (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Shirek (1*) 2. Crawley (4*) 3. Hockett (6*) 4. C. Jones (5) 5. L. Jenkins (7*) 6. Oliver (3) 7. Welborn (2) 8. Sturch (8) 9. Gardner (12) 10. Baker (10) 11. A. Stewart (11) 12. Buckley (9)
Shirek led flag to flag in the non-stop event. Crawley and Hockett battled hard, with Crawley earning second on the final circuit.
Qualifier #3 (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Rains (1) 2. Butler (6*) 3. Bruce (3) 4. B. Brown (9*) 5. D. Stewart (8*) 6. Ramey (10) 7. Hafertepe (2) 8. Tiner (7) 9. Eaton (4) 10. Taylor (12) 11. J. Montgomery (5) 12. Hull (11)
Rains led the distance. Eaton spun on lap eight while running fifth. Ramey and Hull made contact in avoiding the spinning car, and Hull ended up tipping over turn one. He was uninjured. The restart saw Rains ahead of Bruce, J. Montgomery, Butler and B. Brown. Butler came on lap for second, while B. Brown and J. Montgomery got together in the final corner with the 21c getting the worse end, spinning out.
Qualifier #4 (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Smith (8*) 2. McClelland (2) 3. Skinner (9*) 4. W. Johnson (6*) 5. Peters (4) 6. Maier (7) 7. Bowden (1) 8. J. Young (11) 9. Standridge (12) 10. R. Howard (10) 11. Garner (3) 12. Moss (5)
McClelland shot out to a lead before Bowden tagged Garner from behind, sending him spinning. The incident collected an innocent W. Johnson, who had to restart at the rear. Smith was fourth on the restart, but wasted little time in moving forward, using all parts of the raceway. He passed McClelland on the last circuit in dramatic fashion for the victory. Skinner was impressive in moving up from the back, earning himself a trip to the main event.
A main (started): 1. T. Montgomery (3) 2. Swindell (4) 3. Pittman (6) 4. J. Johnson (1) 5. Stenhouse (8) 6. Wright (2) 7. S. Stewart (5) 8. Hockett (10) 9. D. Stewart (13) 10. Smith (7) 11. Crawley (12) 12. Butler (9) 13. B. Brown (19) 14. W. Johnson (17) 15. Skinner (16) 16. L. Jenkins (14) 17. Ja. Howard (20) 18. Schuerenberg (11) 19. Shirek (15) 20. Schrock (18)
The 40 lapper saw a dry-slick surface for the racers. J. Johnson shot out to lead from his starting spot on the pole. Soon Swindell was in the hunt and the two exchanged the lead several times, while putting on a clinic in driving. Swindell took the lead briefly on laps six and seven, but took over solidly on lap nine. T. Montgomery moved by J. Johnson into second on lap 11 and on lap 14, he shot around young Swindell to take over for good. Schuerenberg stopped on lap 16, bringing a caution. T. Montgomery led Swindell, J. Johnson, Pittman and Wright back to green flag racing. Swindell, Pittman and J. Johnson were exchanging positions with all holding second at some point before a lap 31 caution for Schrock slowed the action. Stenhouse had moved into sixth and shot by Wright to get into the top five on the restart. He had nothing for the lead four, however. The win was worth $16,000 to T. Montgomery.