Cocopah, AZ — (January 7, 2016) — Mother Nature made her own plans for the midweek race during the 2nd annual Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown.
Weather postponed the third round of the five-race series at Cocopah Speedway one day until Wednesday, when another brief shower in the middle of the program resulted in an ultra-fast surface for the 43 competitors who battled for the $5,000 top prize on the elbows-up track.
Shane Stewart hustled past his car owner, NASCAR star Kyle Larson, on Lap 25 en route to his first career victory at the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown.
“I’m just glad Mother Nature cooperated a little bit,” said Stewart, who won by more than seven seconds and lapped up to eighth place. “I’m very happy we were able to get the race in. It’s always a pleasure racing Kyle. He’s so darn good that he’s almost like racing Donny (Schatz) honestly. He sets such a strong pace.
“Everything worked out good for me. Sometimes it’s not always good to be leading. When he dropped down there and hit that hole I had a pretty good run on him and when he got sideways we were able to sneak by.”
The pass was the peak of a wild feature, which began with Larson quickly powering into the lead from his pole position. While Stewart was able to remain within striking distance, Larson hit traffic on Lap 4 and had lapped up to 14th place before the first caution of the race on Lap 12 for Terry McCarl.
Stewart, who restarted with two lapped cars between him and Larson, got by one lapped car before the second-and-final caution on Lap 14 for Seth Bergman.
Stewart quickly maneuvered by the lapped car and slowly reeled Larson back in. The duo entered traffic on Lap 20 and Stewart nearly crashed in turn two on the ensuing lap. However, he saved his car and position before once again closing the gap on Larson.
Meanwhile, traffic was thick and most of the lapped cars remained on the bottom groove, which forced Larson to run the tricky cushion several lanes up the track. Larson hit a hole and bobbled exiting turn two with six laps remaining and Stewart was there to capitalize.
While Stewart zipped around him and took the lead, Larson spun completely sideways and came down the track toward the infield as his fellow competitors dodged him at more than 100 miles per hour.
“Thankfully we still finished second,” he said. “I all but spun out or turned over off (turn) two there. I was pointed at the field and could see Tasker Phillips coming at me. I must have missed him by a foot. (I’m) just disappointed, but glad I didn’t get hit there.”
Larson held on to the runner-up position, which propelled him into the lead of the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown championship standings.
Meanwhile, Jason Solwold put together another consistent night. He finished third – more than seven seconds behind Larson and 14 behind Stewart – to advance to second in the event standings.
“We kind of set up to run the bottom,” Solwold said. “We were a little too snug to run the top. Those guys kinda got checked out there. We got into lapped traffic and I was just about the same speed as everyone else was in dirty air. All in all, we had a pretty good night.”
Daryn Pittman recorded a fourth-place result with D.J. Netto placing fifth.
Craig Dollansky ended sixth, Aaron Reutzel seventh, Joey Saldana eighth, Bryan Clauson ninth and Greg Hodnett rounded out the top 10.
Larson, Logan Forler, McCarl, Steve Kinser and Rico Abreu each won a heat race with Stewart, Dollansky, Bergman, Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Austin McCarl each claiming a qualifier. Dale Blaney and Ryan Smith scored B Main victories.
NOTES : Tasker Phillips was awarded $500 from Here 2 Wire, Inc., and a $75 certificate from TiLUBE Motorsport Lubricants for being the Hard Charger Award winner. … Sam Hafertepe Jr. received $150 from Ron’s Lawn Service in Sharpsville, Pa., for being the first non-qualifier in the first B Main. … Henry Van Dam and Brian Brown captured $100 each from Carlile Transportation in Anchorage, Alaska, for placing sixth in a B Main. … Danny Lasoski earned a $50 certificate from TiLUBE Motorsport Lubricants for being the first non-qualifier in the second B Main. … Here 2 Wire, Inc., also donated $650 to the purse.
JAN. 6 RESULTS –
Heat Race 1 (8 laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson (2); 2. 7-Paul McMahan (1); 3. 83-Joey Saldana (5); 4. 41s-Dominic Scelzi (4); 5. 81w-Danny Wood (3); 6. 21-Robbie Price (6); 7. 33v-Henry Van Dam (8); 8. 49-Tanner Thorson (9); 9. 1m-Jim Moughan Jr. (7).
Heat Race 2 (8 laps): 1. 2l-Logan Forler (1); 2. 1a-Jacob Allen (2); 3. 1b-Dale Blaney (4); 4. 2-Shane Stewart (6); 5. 99-Skylar Gee (3); 6. 3c-Craig Dollansky (8); 7. 4s-Michael Kofoid (5); 8. 97-Parker Price-Miller (9); 9. 55t-Trey Starks (7).
Heat Race 3 (8 laps): 1. 24-Terry McCarl (1); 2. 55-Aaron Reutzel (2); 3. 9k-Daryn Pittman (4); 4. 121-Greg Hodnett (5); 5. 17a-Austin McCarl (3); 6. 23-Seth Bergman (6); 7. 68-Chase Johnson (8); 8. 1g-Christopher Bell (7); 9. 33-Danny Lasoski (9).
Heat Race 4 (8 laps): 1. 11-Steve Kinser (3); 2. 41-Jason Johnson (1); 3. 18-Jason Solwold (6); 4. 17w-Bryan Clauson (5); 5. 7t-Tasker Phillips (4); 6. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (8); 7. 21b-Brian Brown (7); 8. 1s-Logan Schuchart (2).
Heat Race 5 (8 laps): 1. 24r-Rico Abreu (1); 2. 88n-D.J. Netto (2); 3. 9-Ryan Smith (6); 4. 2c-Wayne Johnson (4); 5. 17b-Bill Balog (8); 6. 6g-Bryan Gossel (3); 7. 11c-Roger Crockett (7); 8. 45x-Johnny Herrera (5).
Qualifier 1 (10 laps): 1. 2-Shane Stewart (3); 2. 7t-Tasker Phillips (1); 3. 2c-Wayne Johnson (2); 4. 7-Paul McMahan (4); 5. 24r-Rico Abreu (5); 6. 11-Steve Kinser (6); 7. 68-Chase Johnson (7); 8. 1m-Jim Moughan Jr. (9); 9. 97-Parker Price-Miller (8).
Qualifier 2 (10 laps): 1. 3c-Craig Dollansky (2); 2. 21-Robbie Price (1); 3. 57-Kyle Larson (6); 4. 83-Joey Saldana (5); 5. 41-Jason Johnson (4); 6. 17b-Bill Balog (3); 7. 4s-Michael Kofoid (8); 8. 6g-Bryan Gossel (7); 9. 55t-Trey Starks (9).
Qualifier 3 (10 laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman (1); 2. 81w-Danny Wood (2); 3. 121-Greg Hodnett (3); 4. 1b-Dale Blaney (4); 5. 1a-Jacob Allen (5); 6. 9-Ryan Smith (6); 7. 21b-Brian Brown (7); 8. 1g-Christopher Bell (8); 9. 1s-Logan Schuchart (9).
Qualifier 4 (10 laps): 1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1); 2. 17w-Bryan Clauson (3); 3. 9k-Daryn Pittman (4); 4. 55-Aaron Reutzel (5); 5. 2l-Logan Forler (6); 6. 99-Skylar Gee (2); 7. 11c-Roger Crockett (7); 8. 45x-Johnny Herrera (8).
Qualifier 5 (10 laps): 1. 17a-Austin McCarl (2); 2. 18-Jason Solwold (4); 3. 88n-D.J. Netto (5); 4. 33-Danny Lasoski (8); 5. 24-Terry McCarl (6); 6. 49-Tanner Thorson (7); 7. 41s-Dominic Scelzi (3); 8. 33v-Henry Van Dam (1).
B Main 1 (15 laps/4 transfer): 1. 1b-Dale Blaney (1); 2. 1a-Jacob Allen (2); 3. 41-Jason Johnson (4); 4. 7t-Tasker Phillips (5); 5. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3); 6. 33v-Henry Van Dam (11); 7. 49-Tanner Thorson (8); 8. 1m-Jim Moughan Jr. (13); 9. 4s-Michael Kofoid (9); 10. 15b-Bill Balog (6); 11. 41s-Dominic Scelzi (DNS); 12. 11c-Roger Crockett (DNS); 13. 97-Parker Price-Miller (DNS); 14. 1s-Logan Schuchart (DNS).
B Main 2 (15 laps/4 transfer): 1. 9-Ryan Smith (1); 2. Seth Bergman (2); 3. 2c-Wayne Johnson (3); 4. 81w-Danny Wood (4); 5. 33-Danny Lasoski (6); 6. 21b-Brian Brown (9); 7. 68-Chase Johnson (8); 8. 21-Robbie Price (5); 9. 45x-Johnny Herrera (12); 10. 99-Skylar Gee (7); 11. 6g-Bryan Gossel (12); 12. 1g-Christopher Bell (11); 13. 55t-Trey Starks (DNS).
A Main (30 laps): 1. 2-Shane Stewart (2); 2. 57-Kyle Larson (1); 3. 18-Jason Solwold (3); 4. 9k-Daryn Pittman (5); 5. 88n-D.J. Netto (4); 6. 3c-Craig Dollansky (7); 7. 55-Aaron Reutzel (9); 8. 83-Joey Saldana (8); 9. 17w-Bryan Clauson (6); 10. 121-Greg Hodnett (16); 11. 24r-Rico Abreu (14); 12. 1b-Dale Blaney (17); 13. 11-Steve Kinser (12); 14. 2l-Logan Forler (10); 15. 7-Paul McMahan (15); 16. 7t-Tasker Phillips (23); 17. 41-Jason Johnson (21); 18. 17a-Austin McCarl (13); 19. 23-Seth Bergman (20); 20. 24-Terry McCarl (11); 21. 81w-Danny Wood (24); 22. 9-Ryan Smith (18); 23. 1a-Jacob Allen (19); 24. 2c-Wayne Johnson (22).
(Top 30 in passing and finishing points in the heat races were inverted in the qualifiers. The top 16 in passing and finishing points following the qualifiers locked into the A Main.)
UNOFFICIAL POINTS AFTER NIGHT 3 –
.1. 57-Kyle Larson 561; 2. 18-Jason Solwold 551; 3. 2-Shane Stewart 550; 4. 1b-Dale Blaney 543; T5. 9k-Daryn Pittman 520; T5. 83-Joey Saldana 520; 7. 88n-D.J. Netto 497; 8. 121 Greg Hodnett 495; 9. 3c-Craig Dollansky 488; 10. 24-Terry McCarl 481; 11. 33-Danny Lasoski 474; 12. 11-Steve Kinser 467; 13. 41-Jason Johnson 448; 14. 1g-Christopher Bell 437; 15. 7-Paul McMahan 427; T16. 24r-Rico Abreu 420; T16. 23-Seth Bergman 420; 18. 7t-Tasker Phillips 418; 19. 9-Ryan Smith 413; 20. 2l-Logan Forler 408; 21. 17b-Bill Balog 401; 22. 21b-Brian Brown 399; 23. 17a-Austin McCarl 396; 24. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 390; 25. 49-Tanner Thorson 381; 26. 68-Chase Johnson 376; 27. 81w-Danny Wood 375; 28. 2c-Wayne Johnson 368; 29. 21-Robbie Price 352; 30. 45x-Johnny Herrera 343; 31. 11c-Roger Crockett 342; T32. 33v-Henry Van Dam 340; T32. 4s-Michael Kofoid 340; 34. 6g-Bryan Gossel 338; 35. 55-Aaron Reutzel 337; 36. 99-Skylar Gee 330; 37. 1a-Jacob Allen 299; 38. 5h-Willie Croft 266; 39. 41s-Dominic Scelzi 260; 40. 97-Parker Price-Miller 247; 41. 55t-Trey Starks 233; 42. 1-Justin Henderson 202; 43. 26-Bud Kaeding 184; 44. 17w-Bryan Clauson 169; 45. 1s-Logan Schuchart 166; 46. 1m-Jim Moughan Jr. 134; 47. 9r-Reece Goetz 2.