Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (September 20, 2008) – Travis Senter, Jr., captured a second 600 Nationals crown by working his way to victory lane in Saturday night's 40-lap championship event at I-30 Speedway.
Senter battled past Friday night winner Ben Murphy at the midway point and led the rest of the way to capture the $8,500 winner's share to conclude the Third Annual 600 Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.
While Senter took the lion's share of the purse, Trent Taylor and Tim Crawley both earned victories as well. Taylor completed a sweep of both nights of the Second Annual Horizon Mini Sprints Restricted "A" Class main event, while Crawley led all the way in the Sprint Car feature event.
Senter, who topped I-30 Speedway's inaugural 600 Nationals in 2006, started Saturday's main event from the third row outside after locking himself into the finale by finishing among the top six in Friday's feature.
Ben Murphy, who won Friday's feature and then topped the Sawyer Dash for Cash on Saturday to earn the pole position, outgunned fellow front row starter Eric Edwards at the drop of the green flag and paced the opening four circuits before Edwards battled into the top position. Edwards maintained the lead for a handful of laps before Murphy recaptured the lead on the tenth circuit.
Meanwhile, Senter was methodically picking off car after car. Senter disposed of Donnie Ray Crawford for fourth on the fourth lap and then was up to third behind Edwards and Murphy on the seventh round.
By the twelfth circuit, Senter made his way past Edwards for second and began pressuring Murphy for the point. While Murphy successfully fought off a pair of challenges, Senter finally dove to the low side entering turn three on the 20th lap for what proved to be the race-winning pass.
Senter held strong over the final half of the race to collect the hefty winner's share, which included $1,000 contributed by Senter Farms to the winner's share earlier in the week.
While Senter set the pace, Murphy held second until a lap 23 restart when the No. 23 cars of Kevin Bayer and Jason Lair both battled past. Murphy developed problems and pulled pitside soon after.
Bayer and Lair raced for second in the Osceola, Arkansas driver's wake, with Oklahoma City's Lair taking command of the runner-up position just five laps from the end. Bayer held on for the show position, with defending race winner Jerrod Wilson and Evans rounding out the top five.
Andrew Felker crossed the stripe sixth, with Aaron Reutzel, Justin Jackson, Earl McDoulett, Jr., and Nick Ivy completing the top ten.
New Jersey's Jimmy Glenn picked up a $500 bonus in the form of the Stallard Hard Charger Award by racing from 22nd to twelfth.
The feature event was interrupted by just a pair of cautions. The first occurred after 17 laps when Justin Webb slid off the backstretch and came to a stop. Under the caution, Steven Shebester was forced pitside with mechanical woes.
The final caution flew five rounds later with 22 laps in the book when Riley Adair climbed the right rear of a slowing Donnie Ray Crawford on the frontstretch and nearly flipped, with Michael Dicely caught up in the scramble as well.
Missouri's Jason Dent picked up a $200 bonus courtesy of MSMS as the first Non-Qualifier.
Third Annual 600 Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Saturday Results:
Locked in from Friday Night's Preliminary Feature: 36-Ben Murphy, 22T-Travis Senter, Jr., 1e-Eric Edwards, 7J-Jerrod Wilson, 23a-Kevin Bayer, 55c-Donnie Ray Crawford.
Heat Races – Top 50 in Finishing/Passing Points to Four Inverted Qualifying Races; Balance of Field to Four Last Chance Races.
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 87r-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 5b-Austin Laskey, 3. 51b-Joe Miller, 4. 16x-Michael Davidson, 5. 17r-Justin Rapp, 6. 82s-Steven Shebester, 7. 75-Ryan Truitt, 8. 51e-Duane Emberton, 9. 59x-Billy Lawhead, 10. 14m-Jordan Mallett, 11. 10e-Matt Ebarb.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 11a-Andrew Felker, 2. 44-Michael Dicely, 3. 18m-Jake Murphy, 4. 22rm-Rhett Miller, 5. 6x-Christopher Meyer, 6. 19-Keith McIntyre, Jr., 7. 70-Michael Wickham, 8. 85m-John McCord, 9. 24J-Brandie Jass, 10. 6g-Dustin Gates. DNS: 1xx-Darryl Wills.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 59F-Greg Fritts, 2. 22J-Josh Rehm, 3. 66J-J.J. Simmons, 4. 11d-Jason Dent, 5. 79-Ryan Duke, 6. 31d-Joe Dent, 7. 57-Jimmy Taylor, 8. 1x-Curt Schumacher, 9. 3c-Cody Coggin, 10. 9v-Mike Vaculik, 11. 3F-Austin Farley.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 1k-Kara King, 2. 18T-Tyler Devault, 3. 9L-Tim Dietz, 4. 4-Justin Hooter, 5. 46-Wally Henson, 6. 5x-Tyson Hall, 7. 21T-Taylor Smitherman, 8. 1-Bobby Zaiontz, 9. 31z-Brent Zimmerman, 10. 16F-Nate Fleming. DNS: 32m-Trey Marcham.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 2h-Heath Hehnly, 2. 2a-Riley Adair, 3. 92-Jake Rosario, 4. 51g-Dean Gaerte, 5. 00-Cody Cleaves, 6. 198-Hunter Jones, 7. 47-Rusty Pipes, 8. 7b-Nick Bailey, 9. 29w-Skyler Wissman. DNS: 45-Brad Lee.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 8c-Chris Andrews, 2. 39-Brian Nance, 3. 82b-Cody Brewer, 4. 11r-Tyler Reddick, 5. 69r-Clayton Robertson, 6. 21x-Phil Reed, 7. 1st-Dusty Young, 8. 66r-Roger Rose, 9. 28w-Jeff Willingham, 10. w77-Jim Wall.
Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. 1J-Cale Reigle, 2. 96s-Samantha Gargus, 3. 32x-Brad McDaniel, 4. 73-Jake Mosley, 5. 81m-Jimmy McClain, 6. 111a-Toby Brown, 7. 64-Chad Boone, 8. 166-Channin Tankersley, 9. 11T-Tim Sandelovic, 10. 14T-Taryn Laskey.
Eighth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 7y-Stan Yockey, 2. 23L-Jason Lair, 3. 18c-Scott Bolden, 4. 88w-Eric Wright, 5. 81F-Frank Flud, 6. 31w-Justin Webb, 7. 32k-Ricky King, 8. 85x-Kevin Gigot, 9. 23T-Jasmes Tsokatos, 10. 13k-Kyle Carpenter.
Ninth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 29s-Scott Sawyer, 2. 35-Justin Jackson, 3. 60-Earl McDoulett, Jr., 4. 55L-Shane Lewis, 5. 96z-Zach Gigot, 6. 8F-Andy Farley, 7. 87h-Duane Harbaugh, 8. 49-Sam Miller, 9. 6h-Shelby Henson, 10. 10m-Tim McKenzie.
Tenth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 32n-Nick Ivy, 2. 76-Josh Ruple, 3. 7g-Jimmy Glenn, 4. 40h-Dereck King, 5. 83-Karlas Stephens, 6. 72-Eric Fenton, 7. 51o-Jason Ormsby, 8. 15-Coy Jorden, 9. 99-Dalton Stevens, 10. 78-Jimmy Davis.
Last Chance Races – Top 4 Finishers to tail of the Five Qualifying Races.
First Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 96z-Zach Gigot, 2. 5x-Tyson Hall, 3. 21x-Phil Reed, 4. 85x-Kevin Gigot, 5. 28w-Jeff Willingham, 6. 1x-Curt Schumacher, 7. 70-Michael Wickham, 8. 9v-Mike Vaculik. DNS: 49-Sam Miller, 14T-Taryn Laskey, 3F-Austin Farley.
Second Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 6x-Christopher Meyer, 2. 1-Bobby Zaiontz, 3. 1xx-Darryl Wills, 4. 14m-Jordan Mallett, 5. 21T-Taylor Smitherman, 6. 85m-John McCord, 7. 8F-Andy Farley, 8. 13k-Kyle Carpenter, 9. 24J-Brandie Jass, 10. 11T-Tim Sandelovic. DNS: 51o-Jason Ormsby.
Third Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 198-Hunter Jones, 2. 1st-Dusty Young, 3. 57-Jimmy Taylor, 4. 6g-Dustin Gates, 5. 15-Coy Jorden, 6. 3c-Cody Coggin, 7. 23T-James Tsokatos, 8. 7b-Nick Bailey, 9. 10m-Tim McKenzie, 10. 87h-Duane Harbaugh. DNS: 32m-Trey Marcham.
Fourth Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 31w-Justin Webb, 2. 64-Chad Boone, 3. 47-Rusty Pipes, 4. 69r-Clayton Robertson, 5. 66r-Roger Rose, 6. 51e-Duane Emberton, 7. 31z-Brent Zimmerman, 8. 78-Jimmy Davis, 9. 45-Brad Lee, 10. 6h-Shelby Henson. DNS: 16F-Nate Fleming.
Fifth Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 32k-Ricky King, 2. 59x-Billy Lawhead, 3. 19-Keith McIntyre, Jr., 4. 166-Channin Tankersley, 5. 10e-Matt Ebarb, 6. 75-Ryan Truitt, 7. 99-Dalton Stevens, 8. 29w-Skyler Wissman, 9. w77-Jim Wall, 10. 31d-Joe Dent.
Sawyer Chassis Dash for Cash – Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of "A" Feature
Dash for Cash (6 Laps): 1. 36-Ben Murphy (1), 2. 1e-Eric Edwards (4), 3. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford (2), 4. 23a-Kevin Bayer (5), 5. 7J-Jerrod Wilson (3), 6. 22T-Travis Senter, Jr. (6).
Qualifying Races – Top 14 in Combined Points from Heats & Qualifiers to “A” Feature
First Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 23L-Jason Lair, 2. 7g-Jimmy Glenn, 3. 35-Justin Jackson, 4. 60-Earl McDoulett, Jr., 5. 72-Eric Fenton, 6. 5x-Tyson Hall, 7. 29s-Scott Sawyer, 8. 85x-Kevin Gigot, 9. 96z-Zach Gigot, 10. 55L-Shane Lewis, 11. 1J-Cale Reigle, 12. 21x-Phil Reed, 11. 83-Karlas Stephens, 12. 39-Brian Nance.
Second Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 82s-Steven Shebester, 2. 4-Justin Hooter, 3. 76-Josh Ruple, 4. 32n-Nick Ivy, 5. 2a-Riley Adair, 6. 5b-Austin Laskey, 7. 18m-Jake Murphy, 8. 6x-Christopher Meyer, 9. 96s-Samantha Gargus, 10. 1xx-Darryl Wills, 11. 14m-Jordan Mallett, 12. 16x-Michael Davidson, 13. 51b-Joe Miller, 14. 1-Bobby Zaiontz.
Third Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 79-Ryan Duke, 2. 66J-J.J. Simmons, 3. 46-Wally Henson, 4. 87r-Aaron Reutzel, 5. 11d-Jason Dent, 6. 17r-Justin Rapp, 7. 57-Jimmy Taylor, 8. 22rm-Rhett Miller, 9. 1st-Dusty Young, 10. 6g-Dustin Gates, 11. 51g-Dean Gaerte, 12. 18T-Tyler Devault, 13. 7y-Stan Yockey, 14. 198-Hunter Jones.
Fourth Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 11a-Andrew Felker, 2. 81m-Jimmy McClain, 3. 82b-Cody Brewer, 4. 1k-Kara King, 5. 64-Chad Boone, 6. 32x-Brad McDaniel, 7. 69r-Clayton Robertson, 8. 22J-Josh Rehm, 9. 00-Cody Cleaves, 10. 47-Rusty Pipes, 11. 31w-Jusitn Webb, 12. 92-Jake Rosario, 13. 88w-Eric Wright, 14. 59F-Greg Fritts.
Fifth Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 81F-Frank Flud, 2. 111a-Toby Brown, 3. 11r-Tyler Reddick, 4. 8c-Chris Andrews, 5. 9L-Tim Dietz, 6. 18c-Scott Bolden, 7. 44-Michael Dicely, 8. 73-Jake Mosley, 9. 2h-Heath Hehnly, 10. 32k-Ricky King, 11. 19-Keith McIntyre, 12. 166-Channin Tankersley, 13. 40h-Dereck King, 14. 59x-Billy Lawhead.
Third Annual 600 Nationals Championship “A” Feature
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 22T-Travis Senter, Jr., 2. 23L-Jason Lair, 3. 23a-Kevin Bayer, 4. 7J-Jerrod Wilson, 5. 1e-Eric Edwards, 6. 11a-Andrew Felker, 7. 87r-Aaron Reutzel, 8. 35-Justin Jackson, 9. 60-Earl McDoulett, Jr., 10. 32n-Nick Ivy, 11. 66J-J.J. Simmons, 12. 7g-Jimmy Glenn, 13. 79-Ryan Duke, 14. 1k-Kara King, 15. 76-Josh Ruple, 16. 36-Ben Murphy, 17. 81F-Frank Flud, 18. 44-Michael Dicely, 19. 2a-Riley Adair, 20. 55c-Donnie Ray Crawford, 21. 82s-Steven Shebester, 22. 31w-Justin Webb, 23. 8c-Chris Andrews.
Lap Leaders: Ben Murphy 1-4, Eric Edwards 5-9, Murphy 10-19, Travis Senter, Jr. 20-40. |
