Media Contact: Eric Huenfeld
McCool Junction, NE (August 6th, 2015) – It’s been a year to remember for Jesse Stovall.
The Billings, Missouri driver has rampaged through the summertime months with the Lucas Oil MLRA, winning more features than anyone else on the series. Coming into Friday night’s opening round of the two-day ‘King of the Hill’ event at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska, Stovall had claimed six victories on the 2015 MLRA tour, including Monday’s night’s 50 lap $10,000 to win event at the Farley (IA) Speedway.
Friday evening, a front row starting spot and a little bit of luck helped Stovall to his seventh win in the last nine races, as he captured the 25 lap $2,000 to win main event, outrunning Jason Utter and Terry Phillips in the process.
Stovall started the race from the outside of the front row, along with Nebraska veteran Kyle Berck. At the drop of the green flag, Berck was able to pull away while Stovall settled into second. Berck held the lead for most of the race, despite having to weather several caution flags. But when the fifth of seven yellow flags flew on lap 21, Berck was be sidelined thanks to troubles under the hood of his machine. As the field slowed following an incident involving Jason O’Brien, Berck quickly pulled his vehicle to the infield, relinquishing the top spot to Stovall.
When the field took the green with four to go, the new look top five included Stovall, Utter, Phillips, Sunoco Rookie of the Year point leader RC Whitwell and local favorite Mike Wiarda. As the race resumed, Whitwell made a big move, powering past Phillips into the third spot. Soon after, Whitwell set his sights on Utter for second. Following a caution one lap later for Robbie Anderson’s stalled car, Whitwell and Utter went to war for the runner up spot, with the exchange becoming physical. The end result put Whitwell’s vehicle nose first against the turn two wall and brought out the final caution flag. Whitwell was sidelined for the night while Utter continued on.
On the restart with two laps remaining, a new challenger entered the fray in the form of another rookie, Jake O’Neil. The Arizona racer restarted the race in fifth and quickly pounced into the fourth spot and then challenged Phillips for third. Both Phillips and O’Neil exchanged slide jobs, with Phillips holding the edge for third as the checkered flag flew. Ahead of them, Stovall sailed on to claim his first ever win at Junction Motor Speedway while Utter held on for second spot. Bill Leighton Jr moved into the top five on the last lap, pushing past Wiarda during the race’s final circuit.
Junction Motor Speedway Contingency Awards 8/7/15
Andy’s Frozen Custard Victory Lane – Billy Moyer
Casey’s General Stores Hard Charger – Mike Stadel
DirtOnDirt.com Pole Winner – Kyle Berck
Hooker Harness 11th Place – Les Siebert
KRC Hard Luck – Tad Pospisil
RacingJunk.com Hard Luck – Tad Pospisil
Landrum Springs Race Winner – Jesse Stovall
Fast Track Photos – Jesse Stovall
Performance Bodies Performer of the Race – Jesse Stovall
RaceNote Crew Chief of the Race – Tony Rogers
Real Racing Wheels – Jason O’Brien
Sunoco Rookie of the Race – Jake O’Neil
Wehrs Machine – RC Whitwell
Lucas Cattle Company A Feature (25 laps): 1. Jesse Stovall 2. Jason Utter 3. Terry Phillips 4. Jake O’Neil (R) 5. Bill Leighton Jr 6. Mike Wiarda 7. JC Wyman 8. Dan Sheppard 9. Austin Siebert 10. Cliff Morrow 11. Les Siebert 12. Mike Stadel 13. RC Whitwell (R) 14. Micah Veleba 15. Kyle Berck 16. Robbie Andersen 17. Jason O’Brien 18. Matt Buller 19. Dean Moore 20. Tad Pospisil
Hoosier Racing Tires Heat #1 (Top Three Finishers 10 Laps): 1. Mike Wiarda 2. Kyle Berck 3. Jason O’Brien
RacingJunk.com Heat #2 (Top Three Finishers 10 Laps): 1. Terry Phillips 2. Jason Utter 3. Jesse Stovall
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