From Bill Wright
QUINCY, Ill. (August 21, 2022) — Chase Randall kept his roll going with the Sprint Invaders Sunday night, when he won yet again at a track he had never seen. The Waco, Texas native swept the night at the Adams County Illinois Speedway in Quincy, taking home $2,000 in the process. It was Randall’s fifth win with the series this year.
Randall and Paul Nienhiser both started in row two of the 25-lap main event, and both wasted no time heading for the front. Nienhiser captured the early lead and set his groove on the cushion of the banked 1/3-mile bullring. Randall and pole-sitter Jake Griffin followed.
The leaders were quickly in lapped traffic on the sixth circuit. Most of the lappers raced on the bottom, while the leaders sailed up high. Nienhiser got his right rear above the turn three cushion and slowed a bit. Randall pounced on the opportunity and shot past for the lead on lap eight.
Aidan Zoutte tangled with Ryan Jamison to bring a caution twelve laps in. Randall led Nienhiser, Bret Tripplett, Cody Wehrle and Griffin back to green. Wehrle snatched third and Tanner Gebhardt moved in the top five before Wignall spun in turn three to bring the final caution.
The opportunity for clean air was not lost on Randall, who stretched his lead again. Behind him, Gebhardt and Wehrle battled for third, while Steven Russell, making his Sprint Invaders 2022 debut, had worked from the seventh row into the top five.
Randall and Nienhiser reached lapped traffic again with four to go, but a late slip over the turn two berm by Nienhiser sealed his sixth second place finish of the season. Wehrle used a late push to gain third, ahead of hard-charger Russell and Gebhardt. Tripplett, Colton Fisher, Jamison, Tyler Lee and Dugan Thye rounded out the top ten. It was a tough night for Dustin Clark, who shelled a driveline in hot laps. Russell sustained contact from another car in his heat, came to a stop, and collected Austin Archdale, who got upside down. Both would return for the feature.
“We’ve seen a lot of new racetracks,” said Randall in Victory Lane. “They’ve all turned out really nice. I’ve just had a blast up here (in the Midwest) this summer. I can’t thank my Dad (Jon) enough. It wouldn’t be possible without him. It was a really good race between Paul and me there. I was searching for the best line and I kind of found it on the bottom in one and two. The track was super-technical towards the end and the cushion got way over the banking. I fell off of it a couple times. I’m just glad we hung on and it was a good race with Paul.”
“I made a couple of bad corners there,” said Nienhiser of the treacherous cushion. “I can tell you exactly where and when they were. I think they ultimately cost me the race. I sacrificed the lead there to Chase, and I knew it was going to be hard to drive back by him unless he made a mistake. We both made plenty there in the middle to the end. I just couldn’t capitalize on them. It kind of stinks a little bit. We made gains on the car all night long. When we jumped to the early lead there, I thought we had what we needed. I think this one’s a little on me.”
“Quincy is a tough place for me,” said Wehrle. “For some reason, I’ve always had a tough time running the cushion in one and two. I don’t know what it is. Our car went away quite a bit on the bottom though after that caution. Paul and Randall running the top…I thought that’s where we needed to be. I got over the cushion and it had went away. I guess that made a little excitement. I couldn’t believe how quickly the cushion went away to be honest. I thought the curb that was there was there to stay. I think if I hadn’t have gotten over there, I may have had something for them. It’s always good to get on the podium though.”
Sprint Invaders Association
Quincy Raceways
Quincy, Illinois
Sunday, August, 21, 2022
Randalls Performance Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 9R-Chase Randall[5]
2. 50-Paul Nienhiser[4]
3. 11-Colton Fisher[2]
4. 35-Jamie Ball[1]
5. 14-Aidan Zoutte[7]
6. 1JR-Steven Russell[3]
7. 2A-Austin Archdale[6]
Josh Denning Associates Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 40C-Cody Wehrle[2]
2. 99-Bret Tripplett[7]
3. 51J-Ryan Jamison[1]
4. 21-Devin Wignall[3]
5. 4X-Chase Richards[4]
6. 02S-Josh Jones[5]
7. 7-Tyler Lee[6]
Mohrfeld Solar Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 0-Jake Griffin[1]
2. 81-Tanner Gebhardt[3]
3. 78-Dugan Thye[5]
4. 31-McCain Richards[4]
5. 28-Luke Verardi[2]
DNS: 16-Dustin Clark
Shottenkirk Automotive Group Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 9R-Chase Randall[1]
2. 50-Paul Nienhiser[4]
3. 99-Bret Tripplett[2]
4. 40C-Cody Wehrle[3]
5. 0-Jake Griffin[5]
6. 81-Tanner Gebhardt[6]
Howard Law A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 9R-Chase Randall[3]
2. 50-Paul Nienhiser[4]
3. 40C-Cody Wehrle[6]
4. 1JR-Steven Russell[13]
5. 81-Tanner Gebhardt[2]
6. 99-Bret Tripplett[5]
7. 11-Colton Fisher[8]
8. 51J-Ryan Jamison[9]
9. 7-Tyler Lee[16]
10. 78-Dugan Thye[7]
11. 35-Jamie Ball[12]
12. 0-Jake Griffin[1]
13. 2A-Austin Archdale[15]
14. 21-Devin Wignall[11]
15. 4X-Chase Richards[14]
16. 14-Aidan Zoutte[17]
17. 02S-Josh Jones[18]
18. 31-McCain Richards[10]