By Lonnie Wheatley
EAGLE, Neb. (June 11, 2011) – A full-time Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National title contender in 2010, Springfield, Nebraska’s Jack Dover has just made spot starts in National action thus far in 2011.
The 21-year-old made the most of his latest start, racing into the lead on the 28th of 30 laps to win Saturday night’s Eagle Nationals atop the 1/3-mile Eagle Raceway clay oval in front of a vocal home-track crowd. Dover pocketed $6,000 for his fifth career ASCS National triumph and first of this year.
Reeling in race-long leader Jordan Boston in the waning laps, Dover was handed the lead when Boston looped it exiting turn four on the 28th round. Boston kept his mount under power and salvaged a third-place finish in his first career ASCS National feature start behind Dover and runner-up Johnny Herrera.
“I think I would have got by him (Boston) anyway, but you never can tell,” Dover explained in victory lane.
After winning his heat race in impressive fashion, Boston drew the pole of the main event with Washington’s Seth Bergman alongside. The pair raced wheel-to-wheel over the initial pair of circuits in front of fourth-starter Dover before Boston finally established command.
With Boston cruising out front, Dover finally made his way past Bergman for second on the 20th circuit, just moments for the race’s third and final caution flag flew when Logan Forler came to a stop in turn four after slapping the retaining wall with his right rear tire.
With a pair of lapped cars separating Boston from Dover on the restart, including the leader’s father Mike Boston, Boston jumped out to a strong lead. Dover wasted little time disposing of the lappers though, and with a handful of laps remaining he began to reel in the leader.
Dover had closed in on Boston’s tailtank entering turn three on the 28th lap and was poised to make a bid for the lead. He never had to though, as Boston got caught in the middle of the track trying to work traffic, got too loose and did a quick 360-degree spin on the low side exiting turn four.
Dover dashed on to the stripe unabated aboard the Shaver-powered Thorpe’s Body Shop/Homepride Roofing No. 53 Eagle, with Herrera making a charge from sixth to second over the final half of the race aboard the Wesmar-powered Champion Oil No. 45x Maxim.
Boston salvaged a podium finish by crossing the stripe third in the No. 4 entry, with Bergman posting his top Lucas Oil Sprint Car finish of the year by taking fourth in the Petersen Motorsports Wesmar-powered Superior Marine No. 23 Eagle.
Brady Bacon cracked ASCS National top five for the second time this year by rounding out the top five in the Wesmar-powered Fatheadz Eyewear No. 99 Triple X, with Shane Stewart posting Hard Charger honors by racing from 23rd to sixth after using his second provisional of the year.
Pulling double duty as racer and promoter for the night, Tony Bruce, Jr., raced from 18th to seventh in the main event, with Danny Wood, Scott Winters and Gary Wright completing the top ten.
The feature was red-flagged after four laps when defending Lucas Oil Sprint Car champion Jason Johnson flipped in turn four. Johnson was uninjured but done for the night. Five laps later, another caution flew for a turn two tangle that eliminated John Klabunde, Wayne Johnson and Doug Lovegrove from competition.
Third-place finisher Boston was one of six drivers making a first career Lucas Oil ASCS National feature start on Saturday, with others including Trevor Grossenbacher (13th), Bryan Gossel (17th), Tyler Drueke (18th), John Klabunde (21st) and Lovegrove (23rd).
Wood, Forler, J. Boston, Winters and Herrera topped heat race action for the 42-car field, with Aaron Reutzel and Bruce, Jr., winning the 12-lap “B” Mains.
Jeff Osborn flipped getting into turn one on the second lap of the night’s fourth heat race and then turned over again in turn two after two “B” Main laps. He was uninjured both times.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
Eagle Nationals
Eagle Raceway – Eagle, NE
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to Two “B” Main):
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 81-Danny Wood, 2. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 3. 38-Wayne Johnson, 4. 9-Gary Wright, 5. 88-Tim Crawley, 6. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. 41-Jason Johnson, 8. 2-Dustin Morgan, 9. 18r-Ryan Roberts.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 2L-Logan Forler, 2. 23-Seth Bergman, 3. 28x-Ken Klabunde, 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel,, 5. X29-Roger Sluka, 6. 14g-Gene Ackland, 7. 82-Jason Danley, 8. 2a-Randy Hibbs, 9. 3z-Zach Davis.
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 4-Jordan Boston, 2. 28-Jeff Swindell, 3. 53-Jack Dover, 4. 77-John Klabunde, 5. 36-Jason Martin, 6. 17-Gage Dorr, 7. 0-Zach Chappell, 8. 57-Shane Stewart.
Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 24b-Scott Winters, 2. 12-Tyler Drueke, 3. 4j-Lee Grosz, 4. 91-Mitchell Moore, 5. 21x-Ryan Kitchen, 6. 6-Nick Bryan, 7. 76-Jay Russell, 8. 0x-Jeff Osborn.
Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 3. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher, 4. 99-Brady Bacon, 5. 51-Mike Boston, 6. 8-John Carney II, 7. 71-Tige Jensen, 8. 10-Justin Jacobsma.
“B” Mains (Top 3 from each Advance to “A” Main):
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 51-Mike Boston, 3. 91-Mitchell Moore, 4. 8-John Carney II, 5. 28x-Ken Klabunde, 6. 14g-Gene Ackland, 7. 0-Zach Chappell, 8. 2-Dustin Morgan, 9. 3z-Zach Davis, 10. 6-Nick Bryan, 11. 21x-Ryan Kitchen, 12. 0x-Jeff Osborn. DNS: 71-Tige Jensen.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 88-Tim Crawley, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 57-Shane Stewart, 5. 4j-Lee Grosz, 6. 17-Gage Dorr, 7. 36-Jason Martin, 8. 82-Jason Danley, 9. 18r-Ryan Roberts, 10. 10-Justin Jacobsma, 11. 2a-Randy Hibbs, 12. X29-Roger Sluka. DNS: 76-Jay Russell.
Eagle Nationals “A” Main:
“A” Feature (35 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 3. 4-Jordan Boston, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 99-Brady Bacon, 6. 57-Shane Stewart, 7. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 8. 81-Danny Wood, 9. 24b-Scott Winters, 10. 9-Gary Wright, 11. 0-Zach Chappell, 12. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher, 14. 28-Jeff Swindell, 15. 51-Mike Boston, 16. 88-Tim Crawley, 17. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 18. 12-Tyler Drueke, 19. 2L-Logan Forler, 20. 91-Mitchell Moore, 21. 77-John Klabunde, 22. 38-Wayne Johnson, 23. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 24. 41-Jason Johnson.
Lap Leaders: Jordan Boston 1-27, Jack Dover 28-30.
Note: Shane Stewart and Zach Chappell both utilized provisionals to start the main event. It was the second of the year for Stewart and third of the year for Chappell. Chappell has no provisionals remaining until the mid-season provisional is awarded to teams that have competed in 100% of all events.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Shane Stewart 1,300, 2. Johnny Herrera 1,214, 3. Jeff Swindell 1,147, 4. Tim Crawley 1,130, 5. Gary Wright 1,116, 6. Brady Bacon 1,085, 7. Seth Bergman 1,066, 8. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,017, 9. Aaron Reutzel 1,012, 10. Zach Chappell 939, 11. Logan Forler 887, 12. Dustin Morgan 877, 13. Jason Johnson 754, 14. Danny Wood 674, 15. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 544.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Owner Points (Top 15): 1. Jason Johnson Racing #41 – 1,306, 2. Paul Silva #57 – 1,300, 3. Herrera/Main #45x – 1,214, 4. Swindell Group #28 – 1,147, 5. Mike Ward #88 – 1,130, 6. Bacon/Tel-Star #99 – 1,085, 7. Petersen Motorsports #23 1,066, 8. Bruce Racing #18 – 1,017, 9. Kenny Reutzel #87 – 1,012, 10. Randy Washburn #0 – 939, 11. Steve Forler #2L – 887, 12. M&M Motorsports #2 – 877, 13. Cooper/Sperry #01/51 – 872, 14. Danny Wood #81 – 674, 15. Sam Hafertepe #15 – 544.
Speedway Motors ASCS Midwest Points (Top Ten): 1. Jack Dover 648, 2. Wayne Johnson 645, 3. Brian Brown 584, 4. Lee Grosz 567, 5. Ryan Roberts 524, 6. Jordan Boston 515, 7. Bryan Gossel 466, 8. Jason Danley 453, 9. Don Droud, Jr. 452, 10. (tie) Ryan Anderson and Justyn Cox 424.