Dover Dazzles in Second STN
Prelim!
Lonnie
Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 26, 2012) – Qualifying
action at I-30 Speedway’s 25th Annual COMP Cams Short Track
Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires wrapped up in grand style with Jack Dover
riding the perilous rim of the high-banked, ¼-mile to victory in Friday night’s
25-lap qualifying feature event.
After
chasing Gary Wright much of the way and then Justin Henderson, the Springfield,
NE, shoe stayed committed to the cushion and rallied into the lead on the 24th
circuit to take the win and a starting berth in Saturday’s $15,000-to-win,
$2,500-to-start STN Championship finale aboard the Roush-Yates Ford-powered
Home Pride No. 53.
The
triumph was the second Roush Yates Ford score of the night, with Jason Johnson
taking top honors in similar fashion on the 24th lap earlier in the
evening to complete the initial qualifying event that got under way on
Thursday.
While
Dover earned a starting berth in just his second STN finale, Henderson earned
runner-up honors in his first STN appearance while Wright locked himself into
an STN record 18th finale with a third-place showing.
With
Dover gridding the feature field inside row three, Wright led the way to the
green flag after racking up the most points through heat and qualifying race
action with Pennsylvania’s Tim Shaffer alongside.
“The
Texan”, the only four-time winner of the Short Track Nationals, gunned into the
lead at the outset in front of Shaffer and fourth-starter Danny Lasoski only to
have the caution fly after three laps when Lasoski clipped an infield tire and
came to a stop in turn two with race-ending front end woes.
Back
under way, Dover rallied past Shaffer on the high side for second on the sixth
lap and began pressuring the low-riding Wright for the point.Dover nearly pulled alongside at the midway
point, but Wright slipped away and soon third-starter Justin Henderson moved in
on Dover and then took over second in the Buffalo Wild Wings No. 82 on the 17th
lap.
With
traffic coming into play, Henderson charged past Wright for the lead two laps
later on the 19th circuit with Dover racing into second a lap later
before the caution flew for Wayne Johnson, who surrendered the fourth position
when he slipped off the top of turn two and came to a stop.
Set
for a five-lap dash to the stripe, Henderson worked low while Dover stuck to
the top side of the track.Dover made it
pay off, rallying into the lead on the backstretch on the 24th round
and racing on to the checkered flag for his first I-30 score.
Henderson
settled for second and is the second Dixon Road U-Pull-It STN Rookie of the
Year contender to earn a starting berth along with Christopher Bell, while
Wright raced into his first STN finale since claiming runner-up honors in 2008.
Right
behind them, Brian Brown broke away from a race-long duel with defending race
winner Sammy Swindell to claim fourth from the 15th starting position
while Shaffer rounded out the top five.
Jeff
Swindell claimed sixth, while eighth-starter Shane Stewart rebounded from early
issues that found him near the tail of the field to snare seventh.Swindell slipped from fourth to eighth in the
final handful of circuits, with Tim Crawley and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.,
completing the top ten.
Jon
Stinson, Stenhouse, Jr., Wayne Johnson, Wright, Brown and Shaffer topped heat
race action for the 50-car Friday qualifier, with Marshall Skinner, Danny
Lasoski, Swindell, Stewart and Shaffer won the Qualifying races.Brown, Ryan Bickett and Andy Shouse won the
“B” Mains.
A
total of 94 cars took part in the qualifying portion of the 25th
Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires over the
course of Thursday and Friday night.Action concludes with Saturday night’s STN Championship slate of feature
events, which gets under way at 7:30 p.m.
25th
Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Friday
Night Results:
Heat
Races:
First Heat
(10 Laps):1. 26s-Jon Stinson, 2.
47r-Eric Riggins, Jr., 3. 1m-Danny Lasoski, 4. 27-Andy Shouse, 5. 12m-Kyle
McCutcheon, 6. 9k-Kyle Sager, 7. 01n-Jeremy Newkirk. DNS: 92h-Richie Harris.
Second Heat
(10 Laps):1. 6s-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.,
2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 26m-Marshall Skinner, 4. 25-Blake Hahn, 5. 3g-Shane
Stewart, 6. 21tx-Brandon Schure, 7. 47-Dale Howard, 8. 14z-Zach Pringle, 9.
9$-Kyle Clark.
Third Heat
(10 Laps):1. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 2.
29-Brandon Hahn, 3. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 4. 12d-Dalton Davis, 5. 0s-Glenn Styres,
6. 5-Joe Bob Lee, 7. 4x-Shawn Petersen, 8. 44-Ronny Howard, 9. 31g-Johnny
Gardner.
Fourth Heat
(10 Laps):1. 9w-Gary Wright, 2. 17j-Josh
Baughman, 3. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 4. 38-Rick Pringle, 5. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 6.
4s-Tommy Snellgrove, 7. 58f-Gary Floyd, 8. X-Charlie Louden.
Fifth Heat
(10 Laps):1. 21b-Brian Brown, 2.
94-Jeff Swindell, 3. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 4. 1s-Sammy Swindell, 5. 3n-Nate Van
Haaften, 6. 3r-A.G. Rains, 7. 4j-John James. DNS: 66x-Aaron Reutzel.
Sixth Heat
(10 Laps):1. 6t-Tim Shaffer, 2.
82-Justin Henderson, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 39-Brad Bowden, 5. 1h-Nic Jenkins, 6.
48-Jake Martens, 7. 2x-Patrick Moore, 8. 14m-Jordon Mallett.
Qualifying
Races – Top 14 in Combined Passing/Finishing Points to “A” Feature; Balance to
“B” Mains
First
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 26m-Marshall
Skinner, 2. 9w-Gary Wright, 3. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 4. 25-Blake Hahn, 5. 3n-Nate
Van Haaften, 6. 39-Brad Bowden, 7. 3r-A.G. Rains, 8. 1h-Nic Jenkins, 9. 4j-John
James, 10. 31g-Johnny Gardner.
Second
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 1m-Danny
Lasoski, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 4. 29-Brandon Hahn, 5. 47r-Eric
Riggins, Jr., 6. 12d-Dalton Davis, 7. 58f-Gary Floyd, 8. 01n-Jeremy Newkirk, 9.
44-Ronny Howard. DNS: 2x-Patrick Moore.
Third
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 1s-Sammy
Swindell, 2. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 3. 38-Rick Pringle, 4. 94-Jeff Swindell, 5.
14z-Zach Pringle, 6. 26s-Jon Stinson, 7. 21tx-Brandon Schure, 8. 17j-Josh
Baughman, 9. 9$-Kyle Clark, 10. 9k-Kyle Sager.
Fourth
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 3g-Shane
Stewart, 2. 12m-Kyle McCutcheon, 3. 82-Justin Henderson, 4. 17b-Ryan Bickett,
5. 5-Joe Bob Lee, 6. 21b-Brian Brown, 7. 66x-Aaron Reutzel, 8. X-Charlie Louden,
9. 47-Dale Howard. DNS: 4s-Tommy Snellgrove.
Fifth
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 6t-Tim Shaffer,
2. 88-Tim Crawley, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 6s-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 5. 48-Jake
Martens, 6. 0s-Glenn Styres, 7. 4x-Shawn Petersen, 8. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 9.
14m-Jordon Mallett. DNS: 92h-Richie Harris.
“B”
Features – Top 2 from Each Advance to “A” Feature
First “B”
Feature (12 Laps):1. 21b-Brian Brown,
2. 12m-Kyle McCutcheon, 3. 38-Rick Pringle, 4. 25-Blake Hahn, 5. 21tx-Brandon
Schure, 6. 48-Jake Martens, 7. 12d-Dalton Davis, 8. 9k-Kyle Sager, 9.
2x-Patrick Moore, 10. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 11. 44-Ronny Howard. DNS:
01n-Jeremy Newkirk.
Second “B”
Feature (12 Laps):1. 17b-Ryan Bickett,
2. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 3. 47r-Eric Riggins, Jr., 4. 47-Dale Howard, 5. 17j-Josh
Baughman, 6. 3n-Nate Van Haaften, 7. 3r-A.G. Rains, 8. 14m-Jordon Mallett, 9.
0s-Glenn Styres, 10. X-Charlie Louden, 11. 1h-Nic Jenkins, 12. 31g-Johnny
Gardner.
Third “B”
Feature (12 Laps):1. 27-Andy Shouse, 2.
14z-Zach Pringle, 3. 66x-Aaron Reutzel, 4. 26s-Jon Stinson, 5. 39-Brad Bowden,
6. 5-Joe Bob Lee, 7. 4x-Shawn Petersen, 8. 58f-Gary Floyd, 9. 9$-Kyle Clark,
10. 4j-John James, 11. 92h-Richie Harris. DNS: 4s-Tommy Snellgrove.
“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. 53-Jack Dover (5), 2. 82-Justin Henderson (3), 3. 9w-Gary Wright (1),
4. 21b-Brian Brown (15), 5. 6t-Tim Shaffer (2), 6. 94-Jeff Swindell (7), 7.
3g-Shane Stewart (8), 8. 1s-Sammy Swindell (14), 9. 88-Tim Crawley (11), 10.
6s-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (12), 11. 12m-Kyle McCutcheon (18), 12. 29-Brandon Hahn
(6), 13. 26m-Marshall Skinner (13), 14. 14z-Zach Pringle (20), 15. 12h-Jerrod
Hull (10), 16. 77x-Wayne Johnson (9), 17. 17b-Ryan Bickett (16), 18. 14k-Kyle
Bellm (19), 19. 27-Andy Shouse (17), 20. 1m-Danny Lasoski (4).
Lap
Leaders: Gary Wright 1-18, Justin Henderson 19-23, Jack Dover 24-25.
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