By Bill Blumer Jr.
For most drivers the feature would have been described as an, “improbable win.” Parker Jones “The Blue Mounds Bullet” isn’t most drivers. On a Sycamore Speedway surface that resembled a paved facility, the Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association cars crept carefully around the third-mile dirt track during their heats.
Each eight-lap heat can pretty much be described the same way. The pole sitter jumped to the lead as the rest of the field filed in behind. Anyone who dared to go so much as a groove above the lowest line was doomed, as Robby Wirth first proved and Alex Midkiff, Adam Taylor and Brian Strane Jr. would later learn during preliminary participation.
And then came the Lyco Manufacturing A-Main. The fastest cars were sprinkled throughout the field. The top two from the previous night at Kankakee County Speedway, Taylor and Jones, were starting in the back quarter of the field. At the drop of the green, pole sitter Kyle Stark took to the point as expected and unless there were several yellows, one could assume the veteran would put Harlan Kittleson’s “Red Duce” in Victory Lane.
Up front there was a brief effort by Midkiff to try a different line on Stark, as the first half of the field filed in. Cody Weisensel was one of the first to give a preview of the race to come as by the fifth circuit the Gallardo Roofing car was in the hunt for a top-five after starting fourteenth.
From the back of the pack others were trying the high line like Weisensel. The two most evident were Jones from fifteenth and Taylor from eighteenth.
The cushion was not tall and only a few feet from the wall. Nobody was banging it. Most seemed to hit the apex of the corner and take their momentum down the embankment to the straight. Jones and Taylor definitely had a rhythm.
Seven laps in, the only yellow of the night occurred. The restart saw Stark ahead of Midkiff and now Jones. Whether there was a yellow or not, it probably wasn’t going to matter as Jones had been closing the gap with each lap. It took a couple of circuits and on lap-twelve Jones passed Stark and sailed to the win.
Behind Jones there were entertaining battles throughout the field as cars were now trying new lines and routinely going three-wide. Taylor and Stark put on a show that would have had folks talking for days if it was for the win. They ended swapping slide-jobs and switching each other’s lines several times in the last five laps with Taylor beating Stark for second. Jace Sparks and Weisensel rounded out the top five.
Passing fourteen cars, Jones was the Spankins Motorsports Bob Tattersall Hard Charger. In his Victory Lane interview with Brian Roeker, Jones credited his Crew Chief Dewey (aka David Dewhurst) for calling the team. Dewhurst was ill and not at the race but watching on FloRacing and he suggested the line that took Jones to the win.
AWARDS
Rod End Supply Fast Time: Adam Taylor
Auto Meter Heat-1: Brian Peterson
Dave Jones Plumbing, HVAC, Fire Protection Heat-2: Harrison Kleven
Behling Racing Equipment Heat-3: Cody Weisensel
Schoenfeld Headers Invert Draw: Jace Sparks
Spankins Motorsports Rookie of the Race: Brian Strane Jr.
Rod End Supply Hard Luck Award: Nick Klein
Last Place Bonus in Loving Memory of Addison Dahlke: Mike Unger
There was no need for the Madison Extinguisher Service Last Chance Qualifier; Hoosier Racing Tire Heat-4; or the High Performance Lubricants B-Main.
UP NEXT, IT’S A BIG ONE, THE DAHLKE MEMORIAL
Sunday, May 18, the AFS Badger Midget Series will celebrate their home opener at Angell Park Speedway with the richest payday of the season, as they celebrate their 90th year as a sanctioning body. Here, as of press time, over $11,000 in addition to the regular BMARA purse, is on the line for the Dahlke Memorial. Many fans, teams and sponsors have already made donations to the purse. Extra money will be available throughout the field. There is still time for people to contribute to this prestigious event. Please see Badger’s Facebook page for how you can help.
A – Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Parker Jones[15]; 2. 5X-Adam Taylor[18]; 3. 2-Kyle Stark[1]; 4. 40-Jace Sparks[6]; 5. 20-Cody Weisensel[14]; 6. 20D-Derek Doerr[4]; 7. 53-Aaron Schuck[3]; 8. 7-Brian Peterson[8]; 9. 05-Alex Midkiff[2]; 10. 15C-RJ Corson[7]; 11. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[17]; 12. 4K-Charles Kunz[10]; 13. 8D-Miles Doherty[11]; 14. 22S-Brian Strane Jr[16]; 15. 11K-Robby Wirth[19]; 16. 29-Harrison Kleven[13]; 17. (DNF) 29K-Dan Kleven[12]; 18. (DNF) 17N-Nick Kilian[5]; 19. (DNF) 67U-Mike Unger[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Brian Peterson[3]; 2. 53-Aaron Schuck[5]; 3. 15C-RJ Corson[4]; 4. 17N-Nick Kilian[6]; 5. 29K-Dan Kleven[1]; 6. (DNS) 17K-Nicholas Klein
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 29-Harrison Kleven[1]; 2. 4K-Charles Kunz[3]; 3. 2-Kyle Stark[5]; 4. 41J-John Jones; 5. 40-Jace Sparks[6]; 6. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[2]; 7. 11K-Robby Wirth[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Cody Weisensel[1]; 2. 8D-Miles Doherty[2]; 3. 20D-Derek Doerr[6]; 4. 05-Alex Midkiff[5]; 5. 67U-Mike Unger[3]; 6. 22S-Brian Strane Jr[4]; 7. 5X-Adam Taylor[7]
Qualifying (100 Laps): 1. 5X-Adam Taylor, 00:15.197[19]; 2. 40-Jace Sparks, 00:15.396[15]; 3. 17N-Nick Kilian, 00:15.510[18]; 4. 20D-Derek Doerr, 00:15.584[8]; 5. 41-Parker Jones, 00:15.727[3]; 6. 53-Aaron Schuck, 00:15.741[13]; 7. 05-Alex Midkiff, 00:15.890[1]; 8. 2-Kyle Stark, 00:15.970[5]; 9. 15C-RJ Corson, 00:16.146[9]; 10. 22S-Brian Strane Jr, 00:16.147[11]; 11. 11K-Robby Wirth, 00:16.236[16]; 12. 7-Brian Peterson, 00:16.300[2]; 13. 67U-Mike Unger, 00:16.323[10]; 14. 4K-Charles Kunz, 00:16.370[4]; 15. 17K-Nicholas Klein, 00:16.463[12]; 16. 8D-Miles Doherty, 00:16.532[6]; 17. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 00:16.656[14]; 18. 29K-Dan Kleven, 00:20.007[21]; 19. (DQ) 20-Cody Weisensel, 00:15.507[17]; 20. (DNS) 29-Harrison Kleven; 21. (DNS) 41J-John Jones