From Lonnie Wheatley
Dodge City, KS — (July 25, 2014) — Jared Kern survived a last-lap bid from Zach Blurton among others in heavy traffic to win Friday night’s 25-lap United Rebel Sprint Series feature atop the 3/8-mile Dodge City Raceway Park clay oval that headlined First Responders Night.
Pole starter Kern outgunned Kaden Taylor for the point at the drop of the green flag and fought off a challenge eight laps in from Koby Walters to retain command when the first of two cautions appeared after ten laps for Jake Bubak’s turn one spin.
With Kern out front, Luke Cranston and Zach Blurton made quick work of Walters to move up to second and third, respectively, before the next caution appeared three laps later for a Jeremy Huish spin in turn four.
Kern took off once again on the restart with Cranston trying the top side of the track, only to open the door for Blurton to scoot by on the bottom into second.
Approaching traffic as the final laps clicked off, Blurton and Cranston closed in on Kern’s tailtank as the white flag flew. Kern disposed of one lapped car then moved up the track coming off of turn four for the final time, with Blurton trying to squeeze by underneath to make it the second last-corner win in as many URSS events at DCRP.
Kern held on by a car-length to take the win ahead of Blurton with Cranston and Steven Richardson a close third and fourth in the last-lap scramble. “I was getting close to those lapped cars, I was kind of trying to time it where I wouldn’t get to them before the race was over,” Kern explained in victory lane after becoming the 11th different winner in the last 12 URSS events at DCRP. “I knew someone was back there but I didn’t have any idea how close they were.”
Gavin Stout charged from 17th to round out the top five ahead of Brian Herbert and Jed Werner, with points leader Bubak rebounding from his early spin to salvage an eighth-place finish. Kevin Schramek and Kris Moore completed the top ten.
Stout also earned the Keizer Aluminum Wheels Hard Charger award charging from 17th to 5th.
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 2j-Zach Blurton, 2. 97-Brian Herbert, 3. 33-Koby Walters, 4. 007k-Jared Kern, 5. 11-Keefe Hemel, 6. 1x-Cody Lampe, 7. 18-Brandon Sprott.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 9x-Jake Bubak, 2. 95-Gavin Stout, 3. 49-Kris Moore, 4. 77-Cody Caldwell, 5. 4s-Kevin Schramek, 6. 88j-Jeremy Huish.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 20-Luke Cranston, 2. 16k-Kaden Taylor, 3. 0-Steven Richardson, 4. 50-Jed Werner, 5. 911-Rick Salem, 6. 51r-Ross Essenburg.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 007k-Jared Kern, 2. 2j-Zach Blurton, 3. 20-Luke Cranston, 4. 0-Steven Richardson, 5. 95-Gavin Stout, 6. 97-Brian Herbert, 7. 50-Jed Werner, 8. 9x-Jake Bubak, 9. 4s-Kevin Schramek, 10. 49-Kris Moore, 11. 77-Cody Caldwell, 12. 911-Rick Salem, 13. 33-Koby Walters, 14. 51r-Ross Essenburg, 15. 88j-Jeremy Huish, 16. 16k-Kaden Taylor, 17. 1x-Cody Lampe. DNS: 11-Keefe Hemel, 18-Brandon Sprott.
Lap Leaders: Jared Kern 1-2