By Bill W
Mark Funderburk photo
May 24, 2016 – Jerrod Hull and the Heartland Trailer Manufacturing/Neat Tire #12 notched their second feature win of the season on Sunday night at Quincy Raceways in Illinois. The Sikeston, Missouri driver picked up his 20th career victory with the MOWA series. The team will take this weekend off before rejoining the series in Indiana at Haubstadt on June 11.
After getting rained out in Pevely, Missouri on Saturday night, the MOWA series headed to Quincy on Sunday. “We hot lapped at 5:30, and the sun was in and out of the clouds,” says Jerrod. “The track was really nice all night long. There was never a hint of rubber. There were two lanes of racing all night. My hat’s off to those guys for a perfect track. They did a heck of a job. Qualifying was a decent run for us. We were third quick. Parker Price-Miller was quick time, and he drew a heads-up start for the heat races.”
Jerrod started outside of Price-Miller in the first heat. “The top was where you needed to start in the heat races,” he says. “We were able to get the jump up there and we led every lap. The car felt great. It was rolling really nice up there on the cushion. It was a fast, wide-open heat!”
His son would determine his fate as far as the feature invert. “Jett rolled the dice for us, and rolled a big eight,” says Jerrod. “I told him he was on fire! When it was all said and done, there was a car that didn’t fire, so we started sixth.”
Early on, Jerrod searched for something on the track. “The first two laps, we were running the bottom, and the car felt tight,” he says. “We got to fifth on the first lap, and we were struggling there. A caution came out, and I decided I needed to run somewhere else if I was going to make something happen.”
He did just that. “We went to the top,” says Jerrod. “We were a little tight up there, but we were able to pass a couple of cars within a couple of laps. We got to third and we were right there with first and second. It turned into a really good race.”
Jerrod’s Maxim chassis was rounding into form. “The further the race went on, the better we got,” he says. “The last six laps, we were really nice on both ends. I think we passed for second around lap 15. Joe B. Miller and I went back and forth and had a great battle. With about three laps to go, we got to some lapped traffic and I got around him on the top. We were able to hold on from there.”
It was a rewarding victory. “I was really comfortable in the car,” says Jerrod. “It was really nice, and everything came together well. It’s always fun to win races, but when you start back in sixth and work for it, you really enjoy those.”
(Mark Funderburk Racing Photo)