6/2/2017
Kennedy Is King At Jackson Nationals Night #2
Jackson Nationals 360 Sprint Cars Presented By:
Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series (UMSS)
Midwest Sprint Touring Series (MSTS)
Nebraska 360 Sprints
It looked like Jack Dover of Springfield, Nebraska was poised to make it two straight during second night action at the Jackson Nationals, but Thomas Kennedy tracked down Dover and made the winning pass coming out of turn four down the front stretch to take the white flag and went on to a thrilling victory one lap later. Kennedy started seventh in the main event and passed Lee Grosz for second on lap eight. Kennedy was patient and had to wait through four separate yellow flags during the 20 lap finale for spins. The stage was set for an exciting finish when Dover slipped up high a bit in turn two on lap 19, allowing Kennedy to close the gap coming off the corner and down the back stretch. The win paid Kennedy $1,000 and earned him valuable points in the two-night point scheme being utilized at the Jackson Nationals. After two nights, Dover and Kennedy are the top two cars in the points.
Another very strong field of (37) 360 winged sprints signed into the pits during second night competition with the Nebraska 360 Sprints, MSTS & UMSS providing sanctioning. With the World of Outlaws and IMCA Racesaver 305 sprints added in, 101 sprint cars were on hand at Jackson for the 39th Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals on a warm and breezy Friday evening in early June.
The four 8-lap heat races were won by Dover, Kennedy, Chris Martin and Jamie Ball. Like the previous night, Kennedy came from fifth in his heat race and passed Derrik Lusk on the final lap for the win. The other heat winners came from front row starting spots. To save some time, one 12-lap B Main was run with 20 cars taking the green. A couple of cautions slowed the pace, as Kaley Gharst came from his outside row three starting spot for the win when he got by race leader John Lambertz on lap 8.
The 20 lap A Main was the final race of the night. Dover took command early on from his pole starting position. A couple of yellows in the first three laps for two spins by Chris Martin kept the field tight. A couple more cautions from laps 7-10 for two spins by Sawyer Phillips would see Kennedy restart right behind Dover after grabbing second from Grosz. Kennedy had a fast car, but so did Dover. When the opportunity presented itself, Kennedy took full advantage and brought the crowd to their feet with a side-by-side charge to the white flag. Following Kennedy and Dover was Grosz, Derrik Lusk and Cody Ledger in the top five. Rounding out the next five finishers was Jamie Ball, Skylar Prochaska, 17th starter Gharst, 18th starter Seth Brahmer and Brooke Tatnell.
The final night of the 39th Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals will see the 360 winged sprints racing for $2,000 to win and the glory of being a Jackson Nationals champion in the long and storied history of this event. Once again, the highest finishing UMSS car was the 63 sprinter owned by Jerry Richert, Jr. and driven by his brother-in-law Brooke Tatnell.
Results:
A Feature (20 laps): 1. 21K-Thomas Kennedy (7); 2. 53-Jack Dover (1); 3. 4J-Lee Grosz (8); 4. 2-Derrik Lusk (3); 5. 35L-Cody Ledger (9); 6. 5J-Jamie Ball (5); 7. 35-Skyler Prochaska (6); 8. 7-Kaley Gharst (17); 9. 13V-Seth Brahmer (18); 10. 63-Brooke Tatnell (12); 11. 25-Dylan Peterson (13); 12. 9N-Wade Nygaard (11); 13. 75B-Tommy Barber (2); 14. 11X-Gregg Bakker (15); 15. 77-John Klabunde (14); 16. 18-Ryan Roberts (16); 17. 57-TJ Artz (10); 18. 22-Kaleb Johnson (20); 19. 3P-Sawyer Phillips (19); 20. 44-Chris Martin (4).
Lap Leaders: Dover 1-18, Kennedy 19-20.
Caution: (4). Yellow with one lap scored for 44 spin turn 2. Second yellow with 3 laps in for 44 spin turn 2. Third yellow with 7 laps scored for 3Pm spin turn 2. Final yellow with 10 laps scored for 3P spin turn 4.
B Feature (12 laps): 1. 7-Kaley Gharst (6); 2. 13V-Seth Brahmer (11); 3. 3P-Sawyer Phillips (3); 4. 22-Kaleb Johnson (4); 5. 12L-John Lambertz (1); 6. 75-Scott Winters (8); 7. 2D-Dusty Ballenger (10); 8. 14R-Jody Rosenboom (12); 9. 17B-Ryan Bickett (15); 10. 2K-Kevin Ingle (5); 11. 14K-Tori Knutson (13); 12. 5T-Mark Toews (20); 13. 77M-Nate Maxwell (17); 14. 42-Kevin Flowers (18); 15. 1A-John Anderson (9); 16. (DNF) 14-Ben Holmberg (19); 17. (DNF) 07-Derek Anderson (14); 18. (DNF) 03-Shayle Bade (2); 19. (DNF) 2JR-Kelly Miller (7); (DNS) 32-Nate VanHaaften; (DNS) 85-Adam Tough.
Lap Leader: Lambertz 1-7, Gharst 8-12.
Cautions: (2) yellows.
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover (2); 2. 4J-Lee Grosz (3); 3. 35L-Cody Ledger (6); 4. 25-Dylan Peterson (7); 5. 12L-John Lambertz (9); 6. 2K-Kevin Ingle (5); 7. 1A-John Anderson (4); 8. 14K-Tori Knutson (8); 9. (DNF) 85-Adam Tough (10); (DNS) 5T-Mark Toews.
Lap Leader: Dover 1-8.
No cautions.
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 21K-Thomas Kennedy (5); 2. 2-Derrik Lusk (1); 3. 57-TJ Artz (3); 4. 77-John Klabunde (7); 5. 03-Shayle Bade (6); 6. 7-Kaley Gharst (8); 7. 2D-Dusty Ballenger (9); 8. 07-Derek Anderson (4); 9. 77M-Nate Maxwell (2).
Lap Leaders: Lusk 1-7, Kennedy 8.
Cautions: (1) yellow.
Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 44-Chris Martin (2); 2. 75B-Tommy Barber (5); 3. 9N-Wade Nygaard (4); 4. 11X-Gregg Bakker (9); 5. 3P-Sawyer Phillips (8); 6. 2JR-Kelly Miller (1); 7. 13V-Seth Brahmer (6); 8. 17B-Ryan Bickett (7); 9. 42-Kevin Flowers (3).
Lap Leader: Martin 1-8.
No cautions.
Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. 5J-Jamie Ball (1); 2. 35-Skyler Prochaska (2); 3. 63-Brooke Tatnell (9); 4. 18-Ryan Roberts (4); 5. 22-Kaleb Johnson (3); 6. 75-Scott Winters (7); 7. 14R-Jody Rosenboom (6); 8. 32-Nate VanHaaften (8); 9. 14-Ben Holmberg (5).
Lap Leader: Ball 1-8
No cautions.
Vic tory Lane photo courtesy of Mark Meeks at Meeks Video.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
