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Jerrod Hull – Solid Speedweek!
(Bill W) July 29, 2015 – Three podium finishes in four nights highlighted MOWA Illinois Speedweek for Jerrod Hull and the Heartland Trailer Manufacturing #12 team. The Sikeston, Missouri driver pulled off a second place finish at Jacksonville Speedway Sunday, and third place runs at Quincy Raceways Thursday and Tri-City Speedway in Granite City Friday. Jerrod and his family will spend next week relaxing on vacation before getting back to racing action.
The week started in Quincy. “We had been struggling with the other car,” says Jerrod. “Our draw wasn’t good at Quincy (starting seventh in the heat), but we were able to get up to fourth. That was good enough to start ninth in the feature.”
Jerrod would work his way through the field. “We gained a couple spots, then a car would fall out,” he says. “We were just kind of hanging there, and not going to go very far. But some guys were running the bottom, and some were running the top. There was some moisture thrown up from the bottom in the middle of the track. They had a caution with eight or nine to go, and we started running the middle. We went from sixth and took second from Cory Bruns there briefly. By the time I got there, the middle kind of went away and I dropped back to the bottom behind him and finished third. With the way the night started and how we’d been running, we were tickled with that.”
Jerrod started inside row two in his heat race Friday in Granite City. “We weren’t the best,” he says. “We passed for second at one point, but fell back to third again. We just weren’t really good.”
He would start in row six in the main event. “We were struggling in the feature,” says Jerrod. “I wasn’t comfortable and we were running 11th or 12th when the caution came out midway through the race. I had kind of slid through the middle of the track when the caution came out. I felt a little rubber. I decided I was going to run through the middle and keep it smooth. The car took off and we were passing two cars a lap. We were up to third before I knew it. I wanted (Brady) Bacon and (Brad) Loyet to stay up top two more laps and we would have had them, but they came down right when I got to them. We ended up third, but that saved the night and put us on the podium.”
The team was looking forward to Macon Speedway on Saturday night. “Macon is one of Scott (Bonar) and my favorite places,” says Jerrod. “We were able to draw the pole and win the heat race. Everything was going well. We ran third in the Dash.”
Jerrod started the feature third on the 1/5-mile oval. “We just weren’t very good,” he says. “I got passed for fourth, and then I got passed for fifth. Another car got sideways and we got into him. Paul Nienhiser got in the back of me. It was one of those deals on a short track. We had to go to the back, and we came back to twelfth. We just weren’t very good after that. We bent some things.”
That called for another car. “After Macon, Jarrod Schneiderman actually went to Midland Performance in Burlington and brought us the old car,” says Jerrod. “We put the motor in it Sunday morning. My hat’s off to Jarrod for doing that for us.”
Sunday at Jacksonville started well. “We drew great,” says Jerrod. “We were able to win the heat again. The track was really rough, but my hat’s off to Jacksonville. They were able to get the race in when I thought there was no way.”
Jerrod would run third in the Dash, setting him up inside row two for the feature. “We fell back to fourth on the start,” he says. “I was able to get back to third. Joey (Moughan) and Parker Price-Miller had got about a straightaway on us there. We got in lapped traffic and I was feeling pretty good. The track was hard to pass, but we were reeling them in. Parker Price-Miller got caught in a crash and that took him out. We lined up behind Joey, but after the restart, the harder I drove the car, the worse I was. I just settled down and made some good laps. We finished second. Three podiums in four nights was a good week for us.”
The four-time and defending MOWA champion, wasn’t planning on defending his title, but that may happen after all. “We didn’t start the year chasing points at all, but we gained a lot this week on the leader,” says Jerrod. “I’m not sure how many points we’re out, but we’re not that far even after missing a race. All in all, it was a good week. We got four nights of racing in without a rainout, which is amazing this year!”
Jerrod and the #12 team would like to thank: Midland Performance, Super Shox, Sebastian Sand Blasting & Powder Coating, Inc., Chuck’s Small Engines, Don Hamilton, HRP, Lighthouse Christian Center, Rockstar Graphics, King Racing Products, DMI, KSE Performance Products, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld, Automotive Machine, Maxim and Heartland Trailer Manufacturing.
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