From J&J
McKENZIE, TN – J&J Auto Racing drivers continued their strong season in Sprint car action across the country. Mark Dobmeier won his 18th Sprint car feature event of the season on Saturday, while a pair of J&J drivers, Eric Riggins, Jr., and Morgan Turpen, swept the USCS event in North Carolina. Two-time defending All-Star champion Tim Shaffer earned the Ohio region championship for the All-Stars on Saturday night.
IRA – Dodge County Fairgrounds
Mark Dobmeier and the Dave Lunstra/Dobmeier Motorsports team have had another fantastic season winning races all across the Midwest. The team added a victory over the IRA on Saturday night when he drove the No. 13L J&J past Brooke Tatnell late in the 30-lap Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series Dick Witt Checkered Classic / Thiel Memorial at Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, Wisc.
Dobmeier started eighth after pacing the 31-car field in qualifying. He passed fellow J&J runner Mike Kertscher (No. 80 J&J) for second and then made a three-wide pass for the lead. Once in front, he raced away from Tatnell to score his first career IRA victory in his first visit to the half-mile dirt oval.
Kertscher finished third to give J&J two podium finishes in the season finale for IRA.
USCS RACING
A pair of rising stars in the Sprint car ranks were winners in last Saturday’s United Sprint Car Series twin feature “Flip Flop 40” at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, N.C. Eric Riggins, Jr., won his second USCS triumph of 2011 by racing to victory in the first 20-lap main event. Morgan Turpen drove the No. 80 J&J to victory from ninth in the second 20-lap main event.
Riggins raced the No. 47 J&J to victory after the 16 year-old started on the outside of row one. Riggins followed fellow J&J racer, Johnny Bridges (No. 07 J&J) for the first 14 laps. The teenager took command with six laps remaining and worked lapped traffic to perfection.
Riggins led six J&J cars to the finish line. Bridges would hold on for second ahead of Terry Gray (No. 10 J&J), Matt Linder (No. 1x J&J), Lance Moss (No. 23 J&J) and Turpen (No. 80 J&J) was sixth.
For the second 20-lap race, the lineup was inverted from the starting grid of race one. Turpen started ninth and moved into second with five laps remaining. The 18-year-old took the lead on lap 17 and during the same lap Riggins, who started last moved into third. A late caution gave Riggins a final shot at Turpen, but the leader wasn’t to be denied and pulled away to earn her second USCS feature win of 2011.
Riggins was second and Matt Linder was third to give J&J another podium sweep.
ALL-STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS
Tim Shaffer and the CH Motorsports team clinched their second All-Star title of 2011 following Saturday night’s race at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
It looked like Shaffer was on his way to winning Saturday’s 30-lap feature event. While leading on lap 23 aboard the Janet Holbrook/Aaron Call owned CH Motorsports No. 83 Kistler-powered J&J, Shaffer wasn’t able to avoid the crash by the lapped car of Rob Chaney. He was able to rejoin the field following the crash and race back to finish seventh.
Shaffer and the CH Motorsports team previously collected $10,000 for winning the All-Stars’ Great Plaines Region points title and on Saturday picked up $20,000 for earning the All Star Circuit of Champion’s Ohio Region. Shaffer continues to lead the National standings and is hoping to make it three straight titles.
David Gravel finished fourth in Saturday’s feature event driving the DDR No. 89g J&J.
Other J&J news makers….Tommy Worley, Jr., won the Sprint main event at St. Francois County Raceway in Farmington, Mo., on Sept. 24. The victory came in Alan Barton’s No. 7AB J&J and this past weekend, he finished second in the annual Queen’s Royale event.