(Bill W) August 19, 2011, Jacksonville, IL – During Illinois Sprint Week, Jerrod Hull made a late race pass to take victory from Danny Smith at Jacksonville Speedway. On Friday night, Smith wasn’t giving anyone any chances to pass him as he racked up his second Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series win of the year.
Jimmy Hurley, who won the Dash, led from the pole position in the early going of the 25-lap main event. Fellow front row starter, Hull and Smith followed. Smith’s car was operating well early on and he snuck below Hull for second on the eighth circuit.
By the halfway point, he was in a battle with Hurley for the lead in heavy lapped traffic. Hull was third, ahead of Mike Hess and Bret Tripplett. The lead pair raced side by side on lap fourteen, and Smith took the lead the next time around. He went on to maneuver traffic low and high to pull away from the field.
The first twenty laps went non-stop before Tiffany Wyzard stopped on the frontstretch, and Jordan Goldesberry spun in turn two. Hull passed Hurley for second on the restart, only to have Hurley return the favor on the next lap. Smith was never challenged with clean track in front of him.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Smith from Victory Lane. “It was a great track to race on.”
“I want to thank all the fans here for helping me last year,” said Smith, who received financial support while he was out with a broken back. “It really lifted my spirits. My buddy Mike was in a car accident during the Nationals. He’s from here in town, and he’s in a hospital in Des Moines. This one is for him too.”
“As the race went on, we got looser,” said Hurley who finished second. “We should have tightened it a little more. The racecar worked anywhere. Obviously, we weren’t as good as Danny and we probably weren’t as good as Jerrod either.”
“We didn’t have anything for Danny,” said the third place Hull. “We were tight from the beginning. We pulled the wing back and got by Jimmy on the last restart, but we were still way too tight. We’ll take the third and go and run somewhere else.”
Hess was fifth ahead of Tripplett. Robbie Standridge, JC Bland, Korey Weyant, Brett Samonds and hard-charger, AJ Bruns rounded out the top ten. Hull, Smith and Hess won heats, while Ben Wagoner took the B main.
The next action for the Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series will be with the Interstate Racing Association at LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle, Illinois, Sunday night, August 21. The Bill Waite Jr. Memorial will pay $3,000 to win.
Results
A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 4, Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (3) 2. 35, Jimmy Hurley, Springfield, IL (1) 3. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (2) 4. 51, Mike Hess, Springfield, IL (4) 5. 22, Bret Tripplett, Lincoln, IL (7) 6. 23, Robbie Standridge, Springfield, IL (10) 7. 98, JC Bland, Springfield, IL (6) 8. 83, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (11) 9. 47, Brett Samonds, Springfield, IL (5) 10. 44, AJ Bruns, Lincoln, IL (18) 11. 1m, Jim Moughan Jr., Springfield, IL (8) 12. 14, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (9) 13. 77u, Chris Urish, Elkhart, IL (17) 14. 28, Justin Springer, Pekin, IL (13) 15. 10s, Jeremy Standridge, Springfield, IL (14) 16. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (12) 17. 5, Tiffany Wyzard, Williamsville, IL (16) 18. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (15). Lap Leaders: Hurley 1-14, Smith 15-25. HRP Hard-Charger: Bruns.
Super Shox Heat one (started, *qualified for feature), 10 laps: 1. Jerrod Hull (2*) 2. Brett Samonds (5*) 3. Robbie Standridge (4*) 4. Bret Tripplett (8*) 5. Justin Springer (7*) 6. 53H, Matt Harms, Lacon, IL (1) 7. Chris Urish (3) 8. AJ Bruns (6)
Racebumpers Heat two (started, *qualified for feature), 10 laps; 1. Danny Smith (4*) 2. Joey Moughan (1*) 3. JC Bland (6*) 4. Jim Moughan Jr. (7*) 5. 52F, Logan Faucon, Elkhart, IL (2) 6. Ben Wagoner (8) 7. 6B, Andy Baugh, Mason City, IL (5) 8. 05, Paul Patterson, Virden, IL (5)
HRP Heat three (started, *qualified for feature), 10 laps; 1. Mike Hess (2*) 2. Jimmy Hurley (7*) 3. Korey Weyant (4*) 4. Jordan Goldesberry (5*) 5. Jeremy Standridge (6*) 6. Tiffany Wyzard (8) 7. 44x, Mark Siciliano, Springfield, IL (1) 8. 90, Patrick Budde, Bartelso, IL (3)
Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Jimmy Hurley (2) 2. Jerrod Hull (1) 3. Danny Smith (4) 4. Mike Hess (3) 5. Brett Samonds (6) 6. JC Bland (5)
Kreitz Oval Track Products B main (started), 12 laps: 1. Ben Wagoner (1) 2. Tiffany Wyzard (2) 3. Chris Urish (6) 4. AJ Bruns (8) / 5. Matt Harms (4) 6. Andy Baugh (5) 7. Logan Faucon (3) 8. Mark Siciliano (7) 9. Paul Patterson (9) 10. Patrick Budde (10).