By Shawn Brouse
Mechanicsburg – After a near 19-year absence, TJ Stutts of Liverpool returned to victory lane at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night in the 25-lap Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint car feature.
Stutts claimed $5,500 for his first 410 sprint win at the track since August 26, 2005.
In the 30-lap USAC Sprint Eastern Storm main event, Kevin Thomas Jr. of Cullman, Alabama, pulled off a last corner pass of race-long leader Briggs Danner to upset for the win.
Tony Jackson started second in the 410 sprint car feature and took the lead at the start over Jarrett Cavalet.
Sixth starter Stutts came to second on the fifth lap.
Stutts worked on Cavalett until the 11th circuit when he was finally able to overtake him for the second spot and begin running down Jackson.
In his rookie season, Jackson was running a clean race on the cushion with the lead while Stutts made all of his time using the low side in the corners.
Jackson saw a half-second lead evaporate on the 17th tour when the first caution flag of the race appeared.
Stutts applied regular pressure to Jackson when action resumed and stalked him around the bottom, at times getting his nose alongside Jackson only to see the rookie surge back ahead.
But as the pair raced to the stripe on the 20th tour, Stutts was finally able to muscle by coming out of turn four to net control just before the red flag unfurled for a four-car tangle in the third turn.
Aaron Bollinger backed into the outside fence before collecting Bryn Gohn, Kody Hartlaub and Jeff Halligan.
Jackson gave it the old college try on the restart but Stutts was not to be denied his second career oval 410 checkers, taking the win by 2.967 seconds.
Jackson settled for a career-best second followed by Steve Buckwalter, Austin Bishop and a career-best for Cavalet.
Sixth through 10th went to PA Dyno Hard Charger Freddie Rahmer, Troy Wagaman Jr., Justin Whittall, Devon Borden and Chad Trout.
Heats went to Cavalet and Jackson.
Second starter Briggs Danner blasted into control when the green flag fell on the USAC main event and was never heeded throughout the wingless war.
Danner entered the rear of the field on lap 12, chased by Mitchel Moles and Thomas.
Danner withstood restarts on laps 12, 20 and 23 to maintain the lead although Thomas did muscle by Moles with six laps to go.
But Danner had clear sailing ahead of Thomas and was headed for the victory when with a lap and a half to go his car began sputtering, running low on fuel.
With that Danner began pitching his car in the turns and the straights to keep fuel flowing while also trying to keep the car’s momentum up.
And his antics got him all the way to the fourth corner with the checkered flag in sight when the fuel finally gave out, allowing Thomas to Zip by for the upset win along with Moles as Danner slowed under the white flag in third.
Thomas’ win was worth $6,000.
Brady Bacon and Justin Grant rounded out the top five finishers.
Sixth through 10th went to CJ Leary, Robert Ballou, Daison Pursley, Chase Stockon and Kyle Cummins.
Heats went to Bacon, Charles Davis Jr. and Jake Swanson.
Logan Seavey set fast time with a lap of 19.659 seconds.
Feature Finishes:
6/14/24
410 sprints, 25 laps: 1. TJ Stutts, 2. Tony Jackson, 3. Steve Buckwalter, 4. Austin Bishop, 5. Jarrett Cavalet, 6. Freddie Rahmer, 7. Troy Wagaman Jr., 8. Justin Whittall, 9. Devon Borden, 10. Chad Trout, 11. Lucas Wolfe, 12. Cameron Smith, 13. Kyle Moody, 14. Aaron Bollinger, 15. Bryn Gohn, 16. Kody Hartlaub, 17. Jeff Halligan, 18. Brent Shearer
DNS: Dave Grube
USAC 410 sprints, 30 laps: 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Mitchel Moles, 3. Briggs Danner, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Justin Grant, 6. C.J. Leary , 7. Robert Ballou , 8. Daison Pursley , 9. Chase Stockon , 10. Kyle Cummins , 11. Alex Bright , 12. Jake Swanson , 13. Charles Davis Jr. , 14. Matt Westfall 15. Steven Drevicki 16. Carson Garrett , 17. Tom Harris , 18. Logan Seavey, 19. Hunter Maddox , 20. Korbyn Hayslett , 21. Joey Amantea 22. Ricky Lewis , 23. Carmen Perigo