*Story By: Billy Rock
Oskaloosa, Iowa (June 2, 2016) – Jesse Stovall started his MLRA weekend swing off on the right foot Thursday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway by besting a loaded field of 26 competitors from ten different states. Stovall took full advantage of his DirtonDirt.Com Pole position to lead wire to wire for his first Lucas Oil MRLA win of the season.
Chad Simpson would move into 2nd early on until a caution with 22 laps to go. On the re-start outside pole sitter Jordan Yaggy would power back around Simpson to retake 2nd place, a position the Minnesota driver would not relinquish.
With 13 laps to go Stovall was ready to head deep into lapped traffic, but before that would happen the events final caution would appear for then 5th running Dave Eckrich who lost power down the front straight of the half-mile speedway.
Once again Stovall used a powerful restart to jump out to a commanding lead but lapped traffic again came into pay with just 5 laps remaining allowing both Yaggy and Simpson to close to within 1-2 car lengths of the leader. However, Stovall was able to maintain that advantage to the line for his first appearance in Andy’s Frozen Custard Victory Lane this season.
“I’m usually not good on these big race tracks. I told my crew chief Tommy Rogers don’t expect much in the heat race and then we were able to go out and do what we did tonight,” said Stovall. “It was just a really good hot rod to sit in all night.”
Yaggy celebrated his birthday in style picking up runner-up honor’s in his Rocket Chassis. “I don’t think we had anything for Jesse, but we were fortunate enough to catch him in lapped traffic and make it interesting,” commented Yaggy. “We feel very fortunate to be running up front and making it exciting.”
As for third finishing Rodney Sanders, “It was a good night for us, we had a good car tonight and didn’t tear anything up and we’ll try again tomorrow night.” “The late model has been real consistent the whole year we just need to build on that and put everything together.”
Chad Simpson and Jimmy Mars completed the top five while Jason Utter picked up the Casey’s General Store Hard Charger award by virtue of his nine position improvement at the finish. Picking up heat races wins were Yaggy, Stovall, and Chad Simpson.
The Lucas Oil MLRA Series now heads to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa on Friday night for the 2nd time in less than 30 days. The three-day swing will conclude on Saturday night at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri.
Protect The Harvest.Com A Feature (30 Laps): 1. Jesse Stovall 2. Jordan Yaggy 3. Rodney Sanders 4. Chad Simpson 5. Jimmy Mars 6. Tony Jackson Jr. 7. Tommy Weder Jr. 8. Tad Pospisil 9. Chris Simpson 10. Brantlee Gotschall 11. Justin Kay 12. Jason Utter 13. Terry Phillips 14. Ryan Gustin 15. Jason Papich 16. Bryon Allison 17. Austin Siebert 18. Brent Larson 19. Randy Timms 20. Spencer Diercks 21. Dave Eckrich 22. Joe Godsey 23. J.C. Wyman 24. Jay Johnson
Hoosier Racing Tires B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1.Chris Simpson 2. Brent Larson 3. Terry Phillips 4. Austin Siebert 5. Jason Utter 6. Randy Timms 7. Bryon Allison 8. Spencer Diercks 9. Nathan Vawter 10. Wayne Brau
Bilstein Shocks Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Jordan Yaggy 2. Dave Eckrich 3. Tony Jackson Jr. 4. Rodney Sanders 5. Jason Papich 6. Bryon Allison 7. Austin Siebert 8. Wayne Brau 9. Terry Phillips
Casey’s General Stores Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. Jesse Stovall 2. Tommy Weder Jr. 3. Tad Pospisil 4. Justin Kay 5. Jimmy Mars 6. Jason Utter 7. Chris Simpson 8. Brent Larson 9. Randy Timms
Chix Gear Racewear Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. Chad Simpson 2. Jay Johnson 3. Ryan Gustin 4. Brantlee Gotschall 5. Joe Godsey 6. J. C. Wyman 7. Spencer Diercks 8. Nathan Vawter
Southern Iowa Speedway Contingencies 6/2/16
• Hooker Harness “11th Place” – Justin Kay
• Andy’s Frozen Custard Victory Lane – Jesse Stovall
• Fasttrack Photos – Jesse Stovall
• Crew Chief of the Race – Tommy Rogers
• Casey’s General Stores “Hard Charger of the Race” – Jason Utter
• Sunoco “Rookie of the Race” – Tad Pospisil
• Real Racing Wheels – Bryon Allison
• Wehrs Machine – Randy Timms
• DirtonDirt.com “Pole Award”- Jesse Stovall
• Malvern Bank & Trust “Most Laps Led” – Jesse Stovall
• AR Bodies – Austin Siebert
• KRC – Brantlee Gotschall
• RacingJunk.com “Hard Luck Award” – J. C. Wyman
• Landrum Springs “Top Performer” – Jesse Stovall
• Performance Bodies “Performer of the Race” – Jason Utter
For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com.
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