URSS photo
From URSS
The curtains came down on the URSS 2015 season at Dodge City Raceway Park with Turpin, Oklahoma’s Taylor Velasquez topping the Sprint Car portion of the Jerry Soderberg Memorial Championship for the second year in a row.
While Velasquez wired the field in the 30-lap URSS feature it was Colorado’s Jake Bubak claiming his 3rd URSS National Championship in a row with his 5th place finish.
For Velasquez, the triumph in the non-stop 30-lapper marked his first victory of the year aboard the Fronk Oil Co./Piper Trucking No. 21x.
“In nine years in the big Sprint Cars, this has been by far the worst,” a relieved Velasquez commented afterward. “It feels good to finish with a win.”
Starting third, Velasquez needed less than a lap to dispose of front row starters Darren Bowman and Kris Moore for the lead and set sail.
The 24-year-old held nearly a straightaway lead over Kris Moore and Zac Taylor by the time traffic came into play after eight laps, with Taylor and J.D. Johnson slipping around Moore for second and third, respectively, by the tenth lap.
Johnson slid past Taylor for second by the 13th lap with the duo closing in on the leader by the lap 20 mark when Velasquez abandoned the cushion in turns three and four to dabble with the bottom.
Velasquez slipped away once again and cruised on to the checkered flag to secure the win.
“There was actually a little rubber at the bottom of four, I felt like we were going pretty good but you never can tell for sure out front,” Velasquez explained.
In his wake, the battle was on for runner-up honors between Johnson and Taylor with Zach Blurton and Jake Bubak entering the mix over the final ten circuits.
Blurton, who worked the low line relentlessly while the leaders stuck to the cushion through the first half of the race, ultimately emerged with runner-up honors just ahead of Johnson with Taylor and Bubak rounding out the top five. Blurton’s second place finish secured his first URSS Championship as he won the Kansas Regional Championship.
Koby Walters crossed the stripe sixth with Ty Williams, Adam Trimble, Luke Cranston and Brian Herbert completing the top ten.
Bubak, Taylor, Bowman, Walters and Johnson topped heat race action for the 37-car field with Herbert and Jordan Randles winning the “B” Main. The red flag flew on three separate occasions in heat race action for tumbles by Josh Gilcrease, Keefe Hemel and Jeremy Huish. All drivers were okay with Hemel and Huish returning for more action.
Ty Williams earned the Keizer Aluminum Wheels Hard Charger award moving up from his 14th starting position to claim 7th.
Results:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 9x-Jake Bubak, 2. 44-Clint Schubert, 3. 007-Jordan Randles, 4. 28-Tracey Hill, 5. 1x-Cody Lampe, 6. 4s-Kevin Schramek, 7. 10-Jordan Knight, 8. 18-Brandon Sprott.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 86-Zac Taylor, 2. 34-Adam Trimble, 3. 20-Luke Cranston, 4. 74-Ken Lutters, 5. 9-John Webster, 6. 6-Kaden Taylor, 7. 72-Ray Seemann, 8. 19-Josh Gilcrease.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 9b-Darren Bowman, 2. 97-Brian Herbert, 3. 17x-Craig Jecha, 4. 9d-Lance Davis, 5. 7r-Beau Ricke, 6. 83-Austin McLean, 7. 11-Keefe Hemel.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 33-Koby Walters, 2. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 3. 2j-Zach Blurton, 4. 11k-Tyler Knight, 5. 51r-Ross Essenberg, 6. 3-Ryan Walters, 7. 67-Damien Cain.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 98-J.D. Johnson, 2. 50-Jed Werner, 3. 49-Kris Moore, 4. 911-Ty Williams, 5. 22T-Mike Taylor, 6. 5-Mark Bensenberg, 7. 88j-Jeremy Huish.
First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 97-Brian Herbert, 2. 20-Luke Cranston, 3. 44-Clint Schubert, 4. 88j-Jeremy Huish, 5. 17x-Craig Jecha, 6. 28-Tracey Hill, 7. 7r-Beau Ricke, 8. 11-Keefe Hemel, 9. 1x-Cody Lampe, 10. 3-Ryan Walters, 11. 4s-Kevin Schramek, 12. 22T-Mike Taylor, 13. 10-Jordan Knight. DNS: 19-Josh Gilcrease.
Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 007-Jordan Randles, 2. 911-Ty Williams, 3. 11k-Tyler Knight, 4. 72-Ray Seemann, 5. 72-Ray Seemann, 6. 9d-Lance Davis, 7. 83-Austin McLean, 8. 9-Jason Webster, 9. 51r-Ross Essenberg, 10. 18-Brandon Sprott, 11. 6-Kaden Taylor, 12. 5-Mark Bensenberg, 13. 67-Damien Cain.
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 2. 2j-Zach Blurton, 3. 98-J.D. Johnson, 4. 86-Zac Taylor, 5. 9x-Jake Bubak, 6. 33-Kob Walters, 7. 911-Ty Williams, 8. 34-Adam Trimble, 9. 20-Luke Cranston, 10. 97-Brian Herbert, 11. 11k-Tyler Knight, 12. 50-Jed Werner, 13. 49-Kris Miller, 14. 88j-Jeremy Huish, 15. 007-Jordan Randles, 16. 17x-Craig Jecha, 17. 74-Ken Lutters, 18. 44-Clint Schubert, 19. 9b-Darren Bowman, 20. 72-Ray Seemann.