From Lonnie Wheatley
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (November 4, 2016) – Tim Shaffer snapped a victory drought dating back more than a year by wiring the field in Friday night’s 25-lap preliminary feature at the 29th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires atop the ¼-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval.
“The Steel City Outlaw” gunned into the lead at the outset and led all the way in the non-stop affair aboard the DR Racing/Rudzik Excavating No. 49x for his second career STN preliminary feature win.
While the past Knoxville Nationals champion from Aliquippa, PA, locked into his seventh career Short Track Nationals finale, Brian Bell and Terry McCarl both picked up starting berths in Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win finale as well by virtue of finishing second and third, respectively. It will be Bell’s first STN finale while McCarl is now two-for-two in making the cut at the event.
The trio joined Thursday’s top three finishers of Sammy Swindell, Tim Crawley and Jason Johnson as the half dozen drivers among the 64-car field locked into Saturday’s finale. The remaining 58 will battle it out for the remaining 14 starting positions in the $2,000-to-start finale.
While McCarl led the field to the green flag in Friday’s main event, Shaffer pounced into the early lead at the drop of the green flag with fifth-starter Bell needing just two laps to move the FSR Racing Products No. 23 into second.
Shaffer reached traffic within nine laps and spent the remainder of the race negotiating lapped cars as Memphis’ Bell tried to chase him down.
Bell closed in on several occasions, only to have Shaffer deny his advances as he raced to his first win since an All Star Circuit of Champions triumph at Ohio’s Fremont Speedway on September 18 of 2015.
Runner-up honors were sufficient for Bell, as he held off a last-lap advance from Altoona, Iowa’s McCarl in the Country Builders No. 24.
Bouncing back from a Thursday night flip in similar fashion to Bell, two-time STN champion Tony Bruce, Jr., raced to a fourth-place finish with Derek Hagar picking up four positions in the early going to round out the top five.
Shane Stewart was sixth with Pennsylvania’s Mark Smith, local shoe Zach Pringle, Ohio’s Chad Kemenah and Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller completing the top ten.
Jonathan Cornell, Aaron Reutzel, McCarl, A.G. Rains, Bruce, Jr., Claud Estes, Sheldon Haudenschild and Zach Pringle captured heat race wins among Friday’s field of 59 with Stewart, Marshall Skinner, Shaffer and Parker Price-Miller winning the qualifiers.
Jordan Thomas and Tommy Snellgrove scored “C” Main wins with Jason Sides and Trey Starks winning the “B” Mains.
The 29th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tries wraps up with Saturday night’ STN championship slate of events that goes green at 8:00 p.m.
The Saturday night slate will include six STN Saturday Night Showdowns that award double finishing/passing points added to preliminary night point totals. The top eight in total points will advance to positions seven through 14 of the main event, with the next 24 going to two “B” Mains and the balance going to three “C” Mains. The top three finishers will advance in “C” and “B” Main action.
The six locked in drivers will set the lineup of the front three rows in the Pack’s Dash for Cash, while the first three non-transfers from each “C” Main will mix it up in the Inaugural “Red Shirt Dash” in Honor of Lanny Edwards.
29th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Friday Night Results:
Heat Races (Top 40 in Finishing/Passing Points to Qualifying Races; Balance to Two “C” Mains):
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 2. 47x-Dylan Westbrook, 3. 26-Marshall Skinner, 4. 9x-Jake Bubak, 5. 77c-C.J. Hulsey, 6. 12w-Dale Wester, 7. 69-Jamey Mooney, 8. 10k-Dewayne White.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 3. 7s-Jason Sides, 4. 88r-Cody Gardner, 5. 38-Rick Pringle, 6. 17w-Harli White, 7. 1s-Joey Schmidt. DNS: 43-Matthew Bauldwin.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 24-Terry McCarl, 2. D6-Dakota Gaines, 3. 23b-Brian Bell, 4. 5J-Jamie Ball, 5. 79-Jordan Thomas, 6. 21b-Brandon Hinkle, 7. 44-Ronny Howard, 8. 77x-Alex Hill.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 3-A.G. Rains, 2. 23s-Trey Starks, 3. 40-Howard Moore, 4. 10c-Jason Keith, 5. 49-Shawn Dancer, 6. X-Charlie Louden, 7. 4-Tommy Snellgrove.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 86-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 10h-Chad Kemenah, 3. 14-Coleman Gulick, 4. M1-Mark Smith, 5. 9jr-Derek Hagar, 6. 27-Andy Shouse, 7. 21-Kevin Hinkle.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 74e-Claud Estes, 2. 5m-Max Stambaugh, 3. 39-Spencer Bayston, 4. 15J-Jeremy Middleton, 5. 59-Brad Bowden, 6. 2k-Brandon Long, 7. 29-Brandon Stevenson.
Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. 31b-Sheldon Haudenschild, 2. 14m-Jordon Mallett, 3. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 4. 51b-Joe B. Miller, 5. 8m-T.J. Michael, 6. 10-Dustin Homan, 7. 31g-Johnny Gardner.
Eighth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 8z-Zach Pringle, 2. 17*-Robbie Standridge, 3. 88s-Shane Stewart, 4. 91s-Kevin Ramey, 5. 41-Andy McElhannon, 6. 15*-Jeff Masson, 7. 30-Joseph Miller.
Qualifying Races – Top 14 in Combined Passing/Finishing Points to “A” Feature; Balance to “B” Mains
First Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 88s-Shane Stewart, 2. 86-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 23b-Brian Bell, 4. 14-Coleman Gulick, 5. 8z-Zach Pringle, 6. 5m-Max Stambaugh, 7. 40-Howard Moore, 8. 42-Andy McElhannon, 9. 91s-Kevin Ramey, 10. D6-Dakota Gaines.
Second Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 26-Marshall Skinner, 2. 14m-Jordon Mallett, 3. 24-Terry McCarl, 4. 47x-Dylan Westbrook, 5. 7s-Jason Sides, 6. 39-Spencer Bayston, 7. 74e-Claud Estes, 8. 8m-T.J. Michael, 9. 2k-Brandon Long, 10. 77c-C.J. Hulsey.
Third Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 2. 17*-Robbie Standridge, 3. 9jr-Derek Hagar, 4. 10c-Jason Keith, 5. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 6. 3-A.G. Rains, 7. 88r-Cody Gardner, 8. 31b-Sheldon Haudenschild, 9. 5J-Jamie Ball, 10. 49-Shawn Dancer.
Fourth Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 2. 10h-Chad Kemenah, 3. M1-Mark Smith, 4. 51b-Joe B. Miller, 5. 9x-Jake Bubak, 6. 23s-Trey Starks, 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 8. 15J-Jeremy Middleton, 9. 59-Brad Bowden. DNS: 38-Rick Pringle.
“C” Features – Top 3 from Each Advance to Corresponding “B” Feature
First “C” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 79-Jordan Thomas, 2. 27-Andy Shouse, 3. 69-Jamey Mooney, 4. 1s-Joey Schmidt, 5. 43-Matthew Bauldwin, 6.21b-Brandon Hinkle, 7. 77x-Alex Hill, 8. 29-Brandon Stevenson, 9. X-Charlie Louden. DNS: 17w-Harli White.
Second “C” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, 2. 44-Ronny Howard, 3. 12w-Dale Wester, 4. 31g-Johnny Gardner, 5. 10k-Dewayne White, 6. 30-Joseph Miller, 7. 21-Kevin Hinkle, 8. 15*-Jeff Masson, 9. 10-Dustin Homan.
“B” Features – Top 3 from Each Advance to “A” Feature
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7s-Jason Sides, 2. 47x-Dylan Westbrook, 3. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 5. 51b-Joe B. Miller, 6. 40-Howard Moore, 7. 8m-T.J. Michael, 8. 88r-Cody Gardner, 9. 5J-Jamie Ball, 10. 27-Andy Shouse, 11. 49-Shawn Dancer, 12. 74e-Claud Estes, 13. 79-Jordan Thomas, 14. D6-Dakota Gaines, 15. 69-Jamey Mooney, 16. 77c-C.J. Hulsey.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 23s-Trey Starks, 2. 10c-Jason Keith, 3. 39-Spencer Bayston, 4. 31b-Sheldon Haudenschild, 5. 3-A.G. Rains, 6. 42-Andy McElhannon, 7. 9x-Jake Bubak, 8. 5m-Max Stambaugh, 9. 91s-Kevin Ramey, 10. 59-Brad Bowden, 11. 44-Ronny Howard, 12. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, 13. 2k-Brandon Long, 14. 12w-Dale Wester. DNS: 15J-Jeremy Middleton, 38-Rick Pringle.
“A” Feature – Top 3 Finishers Locked into Saturday night’s $15,000 to win STN Finale.
A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. 49x-Tim Shaffer (2), 2. 23b-Brian Bell (5), 3. 24-Terry McCarl (1), 4. 86-Tony Bruce, Jr. (4), 5. 9jr-Derek Hagar (9), 6. 88s-Shane Stewart (3), 7. M1-Mark Smith (11), 8. 8z-Zach Pringle (6), 9. 10h-Chad Kemenah (7), 10. 2-Parker Price-Miller (10), 11. 17*-Robbie Standridge (13), 12. 7s-Jason Sides (15), 13. 23s-Trey Starks (16), 14. 26-Marshall Skinner (8), 15. 14-Coleman Gulick (14), 16. 28-Jonathan Cornell (19), 17. 10c-Jason Keith (18), 18. 47x-Dylan Westbrook (17), 19. 39-Spencer Bayston (20), 20. 14m-Jordon Mallett (12).
Lap Leaders: Tim Shaffer 1-25.
29th Annual Preliminary Night STN Points (Best of the Two Preliminary Nights – Lock-Ins not included in point totals):
1. 86-Tony Bruce, Jr. 506
2. 88s-Shane Stewart 503
3. 8z-Zach Pringle 501.0
4. 87-Aaron Reutzel 496.0
5. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth 496.0
6. 9jr-Derek Hagar 489.0
7. 10h-Chad Kemenah 486.0
8. 17w-Harli White 482.0
9. m1-Mark Smith 478.0
10. 2-Parker Price-Miller 471.5
11. 31b-Sheldon Haudenschild 467.5
12. 26-Marshall Skinner 461.0
13. 7s-Jason Sides 457.0
14. 17*-Robbie Standridge 456.5
15. 27-Andy Shouse 452.0
16. 40-Howard Moore 446.0
17. 5J-Jamie Ball 443.5
18. 23s-Trey Starks 442.0
19. 14-Coleman Gulick 438.0
20. 39-Spencer Bayston 432.0
21. 77x-Alex Hill 431.0
22. 28-Jonathan Cornell 429.0
23. 47x-Dylan Westbrook 426.0
24. 15J-Jeremy Middleton 425.5
25. 14m-Jordon Mallett 420.5
26. 10c-Jason Keith 418.0
27. 3-A.G. Rains 408.0
28. X-Charlie Louden 403.5
29. 51b-Joe B. Miller 398.0
30. 38-Rick Pringle 393.5
31. 9x-Jake Bubak 388.0
32. 49-Shawn Dancer 380.0
33. 91s-Kevin Ramey 373.5
34. 5m-Max Stambaugh 366.5
35. 88r-Cody Gardner 358.0
36. 42-Andy McElhannon 357.0
37. 2k-Brandon Long 354.0
38. 8m-T.J. Michael 353.0
39. 74e-Claud Estes 352.0
40. 79-Jordan Thomas 338.0
41. 31g-Johnny Gardner 333.5
42. 1s-Joey Schmidt 324.5
43. 59-Brad Bowden 324.0
44. 85-Forrest Sutherland 321.5
45. d6-Dakota Gaines 315.0
46. 10k-Dewayne White 310.0
47. 21b-Brandon Hinkle 309.5
48. 77c-C.J. Hulsey 300.0
49. 44-Ronny Howard 299.0
50. 43-Matthew Bauldwin 297.5
51. 12w-Dale Wester 294.0
52. 4-Tommy Snellgrove 292.0
53. 21-Kevin Hinkle 277.5
54. 10-Dustin Homan 275.5
55. 69-Jamey Mooney 274.0
56. 29-Brandon Stevenson 267.0
57. 15*-Jeff Masson 263.0
58. 30-Joseph Miller 261.5