By Kyle Larson
WINCHESTER, Ind. (July 4, 2014) – Continuing his recent hot streak, Jo Jo Helberg earned his fourth consecutive Sprint Car victory and second straight with the King of the Wing Sprint Car Shoot Out at Winchester (IN) Speedway on Friday, July 4.
In a daring move, Helberg passed Troy DeCaire on the final lap to earn the victory with Kyle Edwards finishing in third position. Fourth went to five-time Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints Champion Jason Blonde with Aaron Pierce rounding out the top five.
“I didn’t know about being conservative or running hard with 40 laps at Winchester. When the opportunities came, I took them,” said race winner Jo Jo Helberg. “I thought the lead would be the safest place to be. Troy (DeCaire) stuck a nose underneath me one time, and gave me a wakeup call to pick it up. When he made that last move, I was caught in lapped traffic. Unfortunately I got held up and fell to second and knew I had it run it wide open to win. I was going to make the pass or hit the fence and was willing to take that chance. I really wanted to win at Winchester. We are going to work on the car tonight and get ready for Grundy County.”
After a feature inversion of the top six qualifiers, Jason Blonde and Garrett Green led the starting field to the green flag with Blonde getting the jump and pacing the opening lap. On the second go-round Green drove underneath Blonde for the race lead as DeCaire, Edwards and Helberg followed.
DeCaire was able to advance to second position with Helberg soon following climbing to third position with Edwards in fourth and Blonde fifth in the running order. On the fifth circuit, Billy Wease spun in turn 4. Just prior to the caution, Helberg snuck by DeCaire to grab the runner-up spot.
When racing action resumed, Green retained the lead but had Helberg all over him. After several attempts to take over the lead, Helberg then took command of the field on lap nine. Green then dropped off the pace and headed to the pit area with DeCaire up to second and Edwards running in third.
DeCaire and Edwards began to close on the leading machine of Helberg as fourth through sixth was Pierce, Blonde and Davey Hamilton Jr.
As Helberg and DeCaire battled hard for position, DeCaire was unable to complete the inside pass for the lead. He then regrouped and made an incredible pass in turn 3 to take the lead with about three circuits remaining as Helberg got held up in lapped traffic.
Once Helberg cleared the lapped machines he began to close on DeCaire and the duo was running on the extreme limit the final two circuits. On the last lap Helberg didn’t lift and was able to get around DeCaire for the thrilling victory. Kyle Edwards completed the podium with Blonde and Pierce filling out the top five.
In preliminary action, heat race victories went to DeCaire, Pierce and Helberg. During Hamilton Trucking Qualifying, Jo Jo Helberg bested the 20-car field with a quick time of 13.926 seconds at 135.379 mph.
The King of the Wing Sprint Car Shoot Out is back in action at Grundy County (IL) Speedway on Saturday, July 5.
For More information on the King of the Wing Sprint Car Shoot Out, visit www.kingofthewing.net. For more series information on the Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints, visit www.SuperSprints.com.