From Lonnie Wheatley
Little Rock, AR — (October 27, 2012) — After two full nights of battle atop the high-banked, ¼-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval, the stage is set for Saturday night’s Championship slate of feature events at the 25th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.
Six drivers have already made their way into the $15,000-to-win, $2,500-to-start STN finale with the remaining 88 set to battle it out for the remaining 14 starting positions in the prestigious Sprint Car racing event.
Among those already in the STN finale are preliminary feature winners Jason Johnson of Eunice, LA, and Jack Dover of Springfield, NE, both of whom drove Roush Yates Ford-powered entries to victory lane with winning moves on the 24th of 25 laps. Johnson won the feature delayed by weather from Thursday to Friday, while Dover topped the scheduled Friday feature.
Also earning starting spots are prelim runner-ups Paul McMahan (Elk Grove, CA) and Justin Henderson (Sioux Falls, SD) along with third-place finishers Christopher Bell (Norman, OK) and Gary Wright (Hooks, TX).
Three of those drivers are past STN champions, including Johnson, McMahan and Wright, while a pair of Dixon Road U-Pull-It STN Rookie of the Year contenders, Bell and Henderson, are in the mix as well.
While Bell and Henderson are successfully testing STN waters for the first time, Wright is set to start a record 18th STN championship finale on Saturday night in what will be his final STN appearance before retirement. Tim Crawley, who starts fifth in Saturday’s First B Main, can match Wright at 18 with a top seven run in his semi.
While Wright is ready for his 18th STN final, it marks the seventh for Johnson, fourth for McMahan and second for Dover.
Those six drivers will battle it out the Dash for Cash to determine the alignment of the front three rows of the $79,175 main event. The Dash lineup will be determined by a Cheater’s Day style draw.
The balance of the 20-car feature field will be filled by the top seven finishers from the Twin “B” Mains. A 21st starting position is reserved for I-30 Speedway track champion Cody Gardner should he not race his way into the feature field, which would push the feature total alone to $81,675. Gardner is slated to start fifth in the First “D” Main.
Defending STN champion Sammy Swindell starts sixth in Saturday’s First “B” Main.
Saturday’s racing action fires off at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for Saturday’s card are just $25. For more information, contact the track at 501-455-4567.
Those unable to be on hand for all the action in person can still catch every lap live via Pay-Per-View. Just check www.shorttracknationals.com for details and pricing information.
The lineups…
Locked into “A” Main:
41-Jason Johnson, 53-Jack Dover, 01m-Paul McMahan, 82-Justin Henderson, 40b-Christopher Bell, 9w-Gary Wright.
First “B” Main (Top 7 Make Up Inside Rows 4-10 of “A” Main):
6t Tim Shaffer – 94 Jeff Swindell
3g Shane Stewart – 39c Travis Rilat
88 Tim Crawley – 1s Sammy Swindell
29 Brandon Hahn – 15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
28 Jonathan Cornell – 12h Jerrod Hull
12m Kyle McCutcheon – 22h Randy Hannagan
C Main 1 Transfer 1 – C Main 1 Transfer 2
C Main 1 Transfer 3 – C Main 1 Transfer 4
Second “B” Main (Top 7 Make Up Outside Rows 4-10 of “A” Main):
W20 Greg Wilson – 9jr Derek Hagar
39s Kevin Swindell – 99 Brady Bacon
21t Ray Allen Kulhanek – 6s Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
21b Brian Brown – 23s Seth Bergman
26m Marshall Skinner – 77x Wayne Johnson
1m Danny Lasoski – 23b Brian Bell
C Main 2 Transfer 1 – C Main 2 Transfer 2
C Main 2 Transfer 3 – C Main 2 Transfer 4
First “C” Main (Top 4 Advance to First “B” Main):
35 Jimmy Hurley – 46 Jan Howard
27 Andy Shouse – 4t Gary Taylor
14z Zach Pringle – 58w Wade Oliver
45x Johnny Herrera – 38 Rick Pringle
36b Jonathan Beason – 11m Justin Melton
3h Brandon Hanks – 11c Matt Covington
D Main 1 Transfer 1 – D Main 1 Transfer 2
D Main 1 Transfer 3 – D Main 1 Transfer 4
Second “C” Main (Top 4 Advance to Second “B” Main):
17b Ryan Bickett – 2 Dustin Morgan
14k Kyle Bellm – 49 Shawn Dancer
25 Blake Hahn – 47r Eric Riggins, Jr.
26s Jon Stinson – 39 Brad Bowden
3n Nate Van Haaften – 10 Terry Gray
48 Jake Martens – 17j Josh Baughman
D Main 2 Transfer 1 – D Main 2 Transfer 2
D Main 2 Transfer 3 – D Main 2 Transfer 4
First “D” Main (Top 4 Advance to First “C” Main):
93 Chris Sweeney – 5 Joe Bob Lee
64 Scotty Thiel – 21k Ryan Kitchen
17g Cody Gardner – 3r A.G. Rains
58f Gary Floyd – 21x Taylor Velasquez
17w Cole Wood – 1x Rickey Hood
16 Koty Adams – 33 Mark Huddleston
E Main Transfer 1 – E Main Transfer 3
E Main Transfer 5 – E Main Transfer 7
Second “D” Main (Top 4 Advance to Second “C” Main):
66x Aaron Reutzel – 18 Tony Bruce, Jr.
12d Dalton Davis – 21tx Brandon Schure
21w Wes Wofford – 0s Glenn Styres
4x Shawn Petersen – 47 Dale Howard
5k Jerry Kamer – 1h Nic Jenkins
76 John Ricketts – 9k Kyle Sager
E Main Transfer 2 – E Main Transfer 4
E Main Transfer 6 – E Main Transfer 8
“E” Main (Top 8 Advance to “D” Mains; 1,3,5,7 to First “D” Main, 2,4,6,8 to Second “D” Main):
01n Jeremy Newkirk – 74e Claud Estes
4j John James – 14m Jordon Mallett
2x Patrick Moore – X Charlie Louden
19 Klint Angelette – 9$ Kyle Clark
0m Andy McElhannon – 4s Tommy Snellgrove
44 Ronny Howard – 92h Richie Harris
57c Kyle Chady – 31g Johnny Gardner
66 Geoff Dodge – 09 Timmy Thrash
Lineups subject to change. For more information, contact the track at 501-455-4567.