By David Smith Jr.
– July 23, 2011 – Jetmore, Kansas – It took him a while to get untracked but Jason Martin finally put it all together to claim his first victory of the season with the National Championship Racing Association of Park City, Kansas presented by Smiley’s Racing Products sprint car division as he claimed the victory Saturday night at the Great American Dirt Track in Jetmore, Kansas.
Current series point’s leader C.J. Johnson of Quinter, Kansas was to start on the pole for the twenty-five lap feature but fuel problems aboard the familiar #45x sent him pit side for repair. Johnson’s crew got the problems sorted out but would be relegated to the tail of the field which put Taylor Velasquez on the pole with Martin along his outside.
The start of the feature saw Martin, aboard his familiar #36 Martin Motorsports/Maxim chassis sprinter, take the spot with Velasquez giving chase. Former five-time series champion Garry Lee Maier, who started third, disposed of Velasquez for the runner up position and set his sights on the leader. .
Maier started to reel in the leader and towards the half way point in the race before the caution flag fell for a Ty Williams spin in between turns three and four,
The restart saw Martin and Maier battle for the lead with both drivers trading slide jobs which eventually led to Martin keeping command of the lead.
Lapped traffic first appeared with five laps to go but Maier could get no less than five car lengths from the leader’s bumper allowing Martin to pick up the victory, his first on the tour for the 2011 season and first since September of last year, also coming at the speedway.
“I knew the outside would be the place to be tonight, “said Martin. “We have been fast all year but have just had a lot of dumb things happen. We’ve broke motors and bolts that holds brake pads in rear calipers, it’s just nice for everything to work out in our favor for a change.”
Maier held on for second while Johnson came back from restarting at the tail of the field to come home third. Mike Peters came from his tenth starting position to come home fourth while Jeremy Campbell brought the Danny King #E85 sprinter to a fifth place finish.
Heat races for the sixteen car field were won by Maier and Velasquez.
The next event for the NCRA of Park City, Kansas presented by Smiley’s Racing Products sprint car division will be held on Saturday night, August 20th for their annual stop at Mid-Nebraska Speedway in Doniphan, Nebraska.
For more information on the 41st anniversary season for the National Championship Racing Association of Park City, Kansas presented by Smiley’s Racing Products, find them at their new online address www.racencra.com or call the series office (316) 755-1781.
The series would like to take this time to thank their sprint car partners and sponsors for the 2011 race season:
Park City, Kansas, Smiley’s Racing Products, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels
Contingency Sponsors: Saldana Racing Products, The Brake Man
1st Heat: 1) Garry Lee Maier 2) C.J. Johnson 3) Jeremy Campbell 4) Brian Hebert 5) Zack Blurton 6) Jesse Fraizer 7) Steven Richardson 8) Ty Williams
2nd Heat: 1) Tyler Velasquez 2) Jason Martin 3) Kris Miller 4) Luke Cranston 5) Mike Peters 6) A.J. Selenke 7) Patrick Stasa 8) Jeff Stasa
A Feature: 1) Jason Martin 2) Garry Lee Maier 3) C.J. Johnson 4) Mike Peters 5) Jeremy Campbell 6) Taylor Velasquez 7) Kris Miller 8) Patrick Stasa 9) Jesse Fraizer 10) Steve Richardson 11) Alan Herbert 12) Luke Cranston 13) Ty Williams 14) Jeff Stasa 15) Zach Blurton 16) A.J. Selenke