BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 9) – The third time was a charm and then some for Jamie Colwell.
The Wisconsin hotshoe topped Friday’s last-chance qualifying feature for Stock Cars and will start from the front of the outside row in the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Cenex main event on Saturday.
He’d wrecked in the Wednesday qualifier, then started 19th and finished seventh in the Thursday feature at Boone Speedway.
“This will be the first time I’ve ever started on the front row at Super Nationals,” said Colwell, the 2005 runner-up. “The car has run really good all week. We only had seven races on it before we came to Boone and it’s been a lot of fun to drive.”
Texan J.C. Howell Jr. started on the pole next to Colwell and wound up chasing him to the checkers.
Colwell led all 20 laps in a contest that ran green through midway, bringing Howell along as they inched away from the rest of the 24-car field.
Both picked up speed before and following the final caution of the contest on lap 17. Finishing next and also advancing to Saturday’s outside row were 2009 champion Donavon Smith, Jay Schmidt, Jeff Mueller, Jason Ward, hard charger Jake Masters, Kyle Vanover, Justin Temeyer and Steve Meyer.
Masters had started 22nd. Temeyer originally nosed out Meyer for the final transfer; both moved up one spot due to a disqualification in post-race tech.
Meyer rolled his Super Nationals ride on Wednesday, then had mechanical problems in his backup car Thursday. He was second in his heat and started dead last in the Friday field.
Schmidt will make his career 10th appearance in the big dance, Temeyer his seventh, Colwell his sixth, Smith his fifth straight and Mueller his fourth.
Meyer and Ward are two-time qualifiers while Howell, Masters and Vanover are all in for the first time.
Last chance qualifier – 1. Jamie Colwell, Kaukauna, Wis.; 2. J.C. Howell Jr., Mabank, Texas; 3. Donavon Smith, Lake City; 4. Jay Schmidt, Tama; 5. Jeff Mueller, New London; 6. Jason Ward, Sioux City; 7. Jake Masters, Graettinger; 8. Kyle Vanover, Beatrice, Neb.; 9. Justin Temeyer, Independence; 10. Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 11. Kenneth Hansen, Audubon; 12. Ryan Cook, New London; 13. Travis Prochaska, Iowa Falls; 14. Kenneth Tietz, Belle Plaine, Minn.; 15. Kevin Opheim, Mason City; 16. Jeff Turner, Kaufman, Texas; 17. Wyatt Olson, Des Lacs, N.D.; 18. Jerry Gifford, Boone; 19. Jim Larson, Rushmore, Minn.; 20. Jason Batt, Harker Heights, Texas; 21. Ned Kalis, Wells, Minn.; 22. Keith White, Little River Academy, Texas; 23. Mark Haglund, Webster City; 24. John Heinz, Green Bay, Wis.