Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 26, 2012) – Qualifying action at I-30 Speedway’s 25th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires wrapped up in grand style with Jack Dover riding the perilous rim of the high-banked, ¼-mile to victory in Friday night’s 25-lap qualifying feature event.
After chasing Gary Wright much of the way and then Justin Henderson, the Springfield, NE, shoe stayed committed to the cushion and rallied into the lead on the 24th circuit to take the win and a starting berth in Saturday’s $15,000-to-win, $2,500-to-start STN Championship finale aboard the Roush-Yates Ford-powered Home Pride No. 53.
The triumph was the second Roush Yates Ford score of the night, with Jason Johnson taking top honors in similar fashion on the 24th lap earlier in the evening to complete the initial qualifying event that got under way on Thursday.
While Dover earned a starting berth in just his second STN finale, Henderson earned runner-up honors in his first STN appearance while Wright locked himself into an STN record 18th finale with a third-place showing.
With Dover gridding the feature field inside row three, Wright led the way to the green flag after racking up the most points through heat and qualifying race action with Pennsylvania’s Tim Shaffer alongside.
“The Texan”, the only four-time winner of the Short Track Nationals, gunned into the lead at the outset in front of Shaffer and fourth-starter Danny Lasoski only to have the caution fly after three laps when Lasoski clipped an infield tire and came to a stop in turn two with race-ending front end woes.
Back under way, Dover rallied past Shaffer on the high side for second on the sixth lap and began pressuring the low-riding Wright for the point. Dover nearly pulled alongside at the midway point, but Wright slipped away and soon third-starter Justin Henderson moved in on Dover and then took over second in the Buffalo Wild Wings No. 82 on the 17th lap.
With traffic coming into play, Henderson charged past Wright for the lead two laps later on the 19th circuit with Dover racing into second a lap later before the caution flew for Wayne Johnson, who surrendered the fourth position when he slipped off the top of turn two and came to a stop.
Set for a five-lap dash to the stripe, Henderson worked low while Dover stuck to the top side of the track. Dover made it pay off, rallying into the lead on the backstretch on the 24th round and racing on to the checkered flag for his first I-30 score.
Henderson settled for second and is the second Dixon Road U-Pull-It STN Rookie of the Year contender to earn a starting berth along with Christopher Bell, while Wright raced into his first STN finale since claiming runner-up honors in 2008.
Right behind them, Brian Brown broke away from a race-long duel with defending race winner Sammy Swindell to claim fourth from the 15th starting position while Shaffer rounded out the top five.
Jeff Swindell claimed sixth, while eighth-starter Shane Stewart rebounded from early issues that found him near the tail of the field to snare seventh. Swindell slipped from fourth to eighth in the final handful of circuits, with Tim Crawley and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., completing the top ten.
Jon Stinson, Stenhouse, Jr., Wayne Johnson, Wright, Brown and Shaffer topped heat race action for the 50-car Friday qualifier, with Marshall Skinner, Danny Lasoski, Swindell, Stewart and Shaffer won the Qualifying races. Brown, Ryan Bickett and Andy Shouse won the “B” Mains.
A total of 94 cars took part in the qualifying portion of the 25th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires over the course of Thursday and Friday night. Action concludes with Saturday night’s STN Championship slate of feature events, which gets under way at 7:30 p.m.
25th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Friday Night Results:
Heat Races:
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 26s-Jon Stinson, 2. 47r-Eric Riggins, Jr., 3. 1m-Danny Lasoski, 4. 27-Andy Shouse, 5. 12m-Kyle McCutcheon, 6. 9k-Kyle Sager, 7. 01n-Jeremy Newkirk. DNS: 92h-Richie Harris.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 6s-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 26m-Marshall Skinner, 4. 25-Blake Hahn, 5. 3g-Shane Stewart, 6. 21tx-Brandon Schure, 7. 47-Dale Howard, 8. 14z-Zach Pringle, 9. 9$-Kyle Clark.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 2. 29-Brandon Hahn, 3. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 4. 12d-Dalton Davis, 5. 0s-Glenn Styres, 6. 5-Joe Bob Lee, 7. 4x-Shawn Petersen, 8. 44-Ronny Howard, 9. 31g-Johnny Gardner.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 9w-Gary Wright, 2. 17j-Josh Baughman, 3. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 4. 38-Rick Pringle, 5. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 6. 4s-Tommy Snellgrove, 7. 58f-Gary Floyd, 8. X-Charlie Louden.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 21b-Brian Brown, 2. 94-Jeff Swindell, 3. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 4. 1s-Sammy Swindell, 5. 3n-Nate Van Haaften, 6. 3r-A.G. Rains, 7. 4j-John James. DNS: 66x-Aaron Reutzel.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 6t-Tim Shaffer, 2. 82-Justin Henderson, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 39-Brad Bowden, 5. 1h-Nic Jenkins, 6. 48-Jake Martens, 7. 2x-Patrick Moore, 8. 14m-Jordon Mallett.
Qualifying Races – Top 14 in Combined Passing/Finishing Points to “A” Feature; Balance to “B” Mains
First Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 26m-Marshall Skinner, 2. 9w-Gary Wright, 3. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 4. 25-Blake Hahn, 5. 3n-Nate Van Haaften, 6. 39-Brad Bowden, 7. 3r-A.G. Rains, 8. 1h-Nic Jenkins, 9. 4j-John James, 10. 31g-Johnny Gardner.
Second Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 1m-Danny Lasoski, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 4. 29-Brandon Hahn, 5. 47r-Eric Riggins, Jr., 6. 12d-Dalton Davis, 7. 58f-Gary Floyd, 8. 01n-Jeremy Newkirk, 9. 44-Ronny Howard. DNS: 2x-Patrick Moore.
Third Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 1s-Sammy Swindell, 2. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 3. 38-Rick Pringle, 4. 94-Jeff Swindell, 5. 14z-Zach Pringle, 6. 26s-Jon Stinson, 7. 21tx-Brandon Schure, 8. 17j-Josh Baughman, 9. 9$-Kyle Clark, 10. 9k-Kyle Sager.
Fourth Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 3g-Shane Stewart, 2. 12m-Kyle McCutcheon, 3. 82-Justin Henderson, 4. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 5. 5-Joe Bob Lee, 6. 21b-Brian Brown, 7. 66x-Aaron Reutzel, 8. X-Charlie Louden, 9. 47-Dale Howard. DNS: 4s-Tommy Snellgrove.
Fifth Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 6t-Tim Shaffer, 2. 88-Tim Crawley, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 6s-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 5. 48-Jake Martens, 6. 0s-Glenn Styres, 7. 4x-Shawn Petersen, 8. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 9. 14m-Jordon Mallett. DNS: 92h-Richie Harris.
“B” Features – Top 2 from Each Advance to “A” Feature
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 21b-Brian Brown, 2. 12m-Kyle McCutcheon, 3. 38-Rick Pringle, 4. 25-Blake Hahn, 5. 21tx-Brandon Schure, 6. 48-Jake Martens, 7. 12d-Dalton Davis, 8. 9k-Kyle Sager, 9. 2x-Patrick Moore, 10. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 11. 44-Ronny Howard. DNS: 01n-Jeremy Newkirk.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 2. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 3. 47r-Eric Riggins, Jr., 4. 47-Dale Howard, 5. 17j-Josh Baughman, 6. 3n-Nate Van Haaften, 7. 3r-A.G. Rains, 8. 14m-Jordon Mallett, 9. 0s-Glenn Styres, 10. X-Charlie Louden, 11. 1h-Nic Jenkins, 12. 31g-Johnny Gardner.
Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 27-Andy Shouse, 2. 14z-Zach Pringle, 3. 66x-Aaron Reutzel, 4. 26s-Jon Stinson, 5. 39-Brad Bowden, 6. 5-Joe Bob Lee, 7. 4x-Shawn Petersen, 8. 58f-Gary Floyd, 9. 9$-Kyle Clark, 10. 4j-John James, 11. 92h-Richie Harris. DNS: 4s-Tommy Snellgrove.
“A” Feature – Top 3 Finishers Locked into Saturday night’s $15,000 to win STN Finale.
A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. 53-Jack Dover (5), 2. 82-Justin Henderson (3), 3. 9w-Gary Wright (1), 4. 21b-Brian Brown (15), 5. 6t-Tim Shaffer (2), 6. 94-Jeff Swindell (7), 7. 3g-Shane Stewart (8), 8. 1s-Sammy Swindell (14), 9. 88-Tim Crawley (11), 10. 6s-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (12), 11. 12m-Kyle McCutcheon (18), 12. 29-Brandon Hahn (6), 13. 26m-Marshall Skinner (13), 14. 14z-Zach Pringle (20), 15. 12h-Jerrod Hull (10), 16. 77x-Wayne Johnson (9), 17. 17b-Ryan Bickett (16), 18. 14k-Kyle Bellm (19), 19. 27-Andy Shouse (17), 20. 1m-Danny Lasoski (4).
Lap Leaders: Gary Wright 1-18, Justin Henderson 19-23, Jack Dover 24-25.