11/12/2014
Sprint Source
Jerrod Hull – Fourth Championship, Seven Wins Highlight 2014!
(Bill W) November 11, 2014 – Jerrod Hull and the Rockwell American #12 team turned in another solid season. Along the way, the Sikeston, Missouri driver posted seven wins and won his fourth consecutive championship with the Midwest Open Wheel Association. Avoiding DNF’s, Jerrod’s consistency saw him rack up fifteen top fives as well.
In 2013, Jerrod didn’t pick his first win up until midseason. This year, he shot to Victory Lane on his first night out in April at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois. “We got it started off early,” he says. “It’s always great to win one the first time out. That’s going to get you going in the right direction, and that’s what happened. We had a good race there.”
His next winning tally would come at Clay County Speedway in Flora, Illinois on May 3. “That was the first time we’d ever been to Flora,” says Jerrod. “That was a neat win, because I didn’t feel all that comfortable in the heat race. (Crew Chief) Scott (Bonar) was able to get us dialed in for the feature. I think we started fourth and we were able to win it.”
Another May win came at Quincy Raceways. “We were able to win one at Quincy,” says Jerrod. “After that, it was kind of Chris Urish Quincy Speedway, because he won the last two there. We were able to get that one earlier in the year and that felt good.”
In June, the MOWA series headed to Indiana, and Jerrod picked up a win at the Tri-State Speedway bullring near Haubstadt. “We’ve won a few races there over the years,” he says. “We were able to get over to Indiana for a couple days. They don’t run with the wings much over there. We were really fast at Haubstadt. It was an exciting win, and one we put at the top of the list for the year.”
The last weekend in June found Jerrod at the Jim Hall Memorial at Benton Raceway Park in Benton, Missouri. He scored a big win there. “That was $5,000 to win,” he says. “It was just our night. We had a fast car all night. We ended up starting second in the feature and we were able to get (Brad) Loyet on the start. It was really a rough track that night, so being up front was important. That was our biggest money win of the year, and that helped.”
A surprise victory came in August in open competition at St. Francois County Raceway in Farmington, Missouri. “That was the weekend of the (Knoxville) Nationals,” says Jerrod. “We really weren’t expecting to run that weekend, but we got word that Farmington was running about Thursday. We were able to win after starting eighth. Anytime you can do that, it gives you a lot of confidence.”
Jerrod had the MOWA title pretty much locked up when the series hit Jacksonville for its tribute to Ron Milton in September. That didn’t stop him from winning again. “I never got to race with Ron Milton, but he promoted a lot of the years at Jacksonville when I was starting racing,” he says. “I was around Ronnie a lot. He was a super-nice guy. It was a real privilege to win that race.”
He remains the only driver to capture a MOWA sprint car championship. “We had planned to run the full MOWA series, and that’s what we did,” says Jerrod. “Joey (Moughan) was all over us early, but he ended up having some motor problems at a couple shows. We kept doing our thing and trying to keep the car in the top five. It paid off. Scott always had the car nice and ready, and we avoided the DNF’s. I have to thank everyone who helps us on this team. It’s a special group of people.”
Jerrod and the #12 team would like to thank: Rockwell American, Midland Performance, Super Shox, Sebastian Sand Blasting & Powder Coating, Inc., Chuck’s Small Engines, Don Hamilton, HRP, Lighthouse Christian Center, Logo Daddy, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld, Automotive Machine, Maxim and Heartland Trailer Manufacturing.
Article Credit: Bill Wright
