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Springfield, IL August 23, 2011-Decatur’s Dave Crawley, Jr. started seventh and hunted down leader Wes O’Dell on the sixteenth lap to post his first ever one mile dirt track win in the 18th Sportman National event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on August 21.
Five time winner O’Dell managed to hang on for second barely holding off 12 year old Richard Craven of Joliet who finished a strong third. Ashland’s Shannon Eskew was fourth with Ken Fustin fifth.
O’Dell, of Springfield, got the jump on Craven at the start as fellow five time winner Dennis Vandermeersch dropped out on the second lap. The race was slowed by five caution flags, the most serious at the end when Wade Wiseman and Mike Pickering tangled going into turn one and Pickering hit the wall nearly head on. Neither driver was hurt and the yellow flag and checker were displayed at the same time.
LINEUP AND RESULTS FOR FEATURE EVENT: 18th Sportsman Nationals 8/21/11 Ill State Fair
DISTANCE: 20 miles                             TIME: No time                              SPEED: Yellow flag                Â
P    NO      DRIVER-CAR                                                                                                       Laps     StLimeup
1     C25     Dave Crawley, Jr/Lawson’s Chevrolet                                                                20         87
2     87       Wes O’Dell/Auto Recyclers Chevrolet                                                               20         12
3     12       Richard Craven/AWG Chevrolet                                                                        20         22x
4     11e     Shannon Eskew/Modern Paving Chevrolet                                                        20         25
5     8k       Ken Fustin/REMAX Chevrolet                                                                             20         9
6     11       Rick Roedel/Touchstone Energy Chevrolet                                                        20         11
7     V8       Jim Farley III/Jim’s Towing Chevrolet                                                                20         C25
8     X52     Bob Sidener/Attitude Custom Paint Chevrolet                                                  20         11e
9     33       Bill Berghaus/Berghaus Racing Chevy                                                               19         X52
10   42       Travis Wallbaum/Wallbaum Chevrolet                                                             19         08
11   08       Brian Dasenbrock/A&C Sea Cruises Chevy                                                        19         8k
12   9         Mike Pickering/Dingostand Pontiac                                                                   19         07
13   104     Wade Wiseman/K&K Chevrolet                                                                         19         8j
14   8j        Lance Johnson//Johnson Trucking Chevy                                                           19         15
15   22x     Darrell Dick/BSharp-DaBar Chevy                                                                     16         V8
16   22       Tim Dick/Illini Overhead Door Chevy                                                                12         33
17   D9       Danny Smith/Boxseat Products Chevrolet                                                         11         D9
18   22j      Tony ClintonMeineke Chevrolet                                                                        10         1
19   1         Steve Stevenson/El Flanagan Chevy                                                                   10         52
20   07       Phil Moreland/Dunn’s-State Farm Chevrolet                                                    5           22
21   7s        Ethan Schnapp/O’Connor Drywall Chevy                                                           2           B99
22   52       David Streitmatter/RJ Motorsports Chevy                                                         2           7s
23   B99     Tim Bedinger/Bedinger Racing Chevy                                                               2           5c
24   87s      David Shain/Williams Street Rods Chevrolet                                                     1           104
25   25       Dennis Vandermeersch/Jim’s Towing-Midwest Brick Chevrolet                      1           87s
26   5c       Al Crawley/Donnelly Automotive Machine Chevrolet                                       0           22j
27   15       Rick Lowe/Patrick Heating & Cooling Chevrolet                                               0           42
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LAP LEADERS: 1-15 O’Dell, 16-20 Crawley
Yellow Lights:Â Lap 3 52 and 33 spun in tirn 1, 52 caught fire; Lap 5 07 blew engine in turn 3; Lap 10
1 slowed in turn 4; lap 16 22x hit turn 1 wall, lap 20 9 and 104 hit turn 1 wall.