Lonnie Wheatley, ELDON, Mo. (September 4, 2011) – Springfield, Nebraska’s Jack Dover nabbed his fourth overall American Sprint Car Series feature win of the year and second in Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior action by taking the top spot in Saturday night’s Ninth Annual Lake Ozark Nationals championship finale.
The 21-year-old paced all 30 circuits atop the 1/3-mile Lake Ozark Speedway clay oval to pocket the $4,000 winner’s share aboard the Shaver-powered Thorpe’s Body Shop/Homepride Roofing No. 53 Eagle.
While Mike Goodman and Seth Bergman led the feature field to the green flag, Dover took command on the opening circuit from his third starting position and never looked back.
Weathering an early caution and another pair of reds along the way, Dover kept Dustin Morgan at bay in the early rounds and then held off Brian Brown over the latter stages to secure his 18th career overall ASCS victory.
Dover beat Brown to the stripe, with Morgan, Jason Johnson and Seth Bergman rounding out the top five. Jonathan Cornell was sixth, with Goodman, 21st-starter Robbie Standridge, Joey Moughan and 19th-starter Zach Chappell completing the top ten.
Morgan, Miranda Arnold, Brown and Gary Taylor won Saturday night’s heat races, with Mark Shirshekan and Wayne Johnson winning the “B” Main. Johnson flipped eleven laps into the feature event along with Rusty Potter, while Shirshekan climbed the wall 21 laps into the main event.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Results from Lake Ozark Speedway:
Locked in from Friday’s Preliminary Feature: 05-Brad Loyet, 41-Jason Johnson, 23-Seth Bergman, 11g-Mike Goodman.
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 2-Dustin Morgan, 2. 1m-Jim Moughan, 3. 6-Bryan Grimes, 4. 75-Tyler Blank, 5. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 6. 29-Rusty Quick, 7. 4-Evan Martin, 8. 5-Matt Close, 9. 09-Josh Stephens.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 3. 86-Kyle Bellm, 4. 14s-Wayne Johnson, 5. 38-Cody Baker, 6. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 7. 27-Mark Finnell, 8. 35g-Barry Gifford, 9. 11c-Matt Covington.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 14-Randy Martin, 3. 14m-Joey Moughan, 4. 3p-Rusty Potter, 5. 8w-Jordan Whitehead, 6. 99-Brady Bacon, 7. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 8. 50z-Zach Chappell, 9. 2a-Randy Hibbs.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 7T-Gary Taylor, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 7-Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. 23s-Robbie Standridge, 5. 4j-Jon Corbin, 6. 88-J. Kinder, 7. 22-Dustin Barks, 8. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 9. 3z-Zach Davis.
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 2. 50z-Zach Chappell, 3. 23s-Robbie Standridge, 4. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 5. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 6. 86-Kyle Bellm, 7. 27-Mark Finnell, 8. 75-Tyler Blank, 9. 4-Evan Martin. DNS: 99-Brady Bacon, 3z-Zach Davis, 11c-Matt Covington.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 14s-Wayne Johnson, 2. 38-Cody Baker, 3. 4j-Jon Corbin, 4. 22-Dustin Barks, 5. 29-Rusty Quick, 6. 5-Matt Close, 7. 09-Josh Stephens, 8. 8w-Jordan Whitehead, 9. 2a-Randy Hibbs, 10. 35g-Barry Gifford, 11. 88-J. Kinder. DNS: 17-Kyle Carpenter.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 2-Dustin Morgan, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 23-Seth Bergman, 6. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 7. 11g-Mike Goodman, 8. 23s-Robbie Standridge, 9. 14m-Joey Moughan, 10. 50z-Zach Chappell, 11. 7T-Gary Taylor, 12. 6-Bryan Grimes, 13. 05-Brad Loyet, 14. 4j-Jon Corbin, 15. 14-Randy Martin, 16. 38-Cody Baker, 17. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 18. 3p-Rusty Potter, 19. 14s-Wayne Johnson, 20. 1m-Jim Moughan, 21. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 22. 7-Tony Bruce, Jr.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brad Loyet 1,897, 2. Randy Martin 1,670, 3. Jonathan Cornell 1,657, 4. Kyle Bellm 1,626, 5. Mark Shirshekan 1,571, 6. Cody Baker 1,509, 7. Josh Stephens 1,382, 8. Tyler Blank 1,229, 9. Austin Alumbaugh 1,063, 10. Miranda Arnold 1,010.
*(Paul Gray photo)