9/14/2019
IRA Lightning Sprints
Heinert Grabs 3rd Win of 2019!
13 cars returned to Sycamore Speedway on 9/14. CJ Malueg was once again back atop the leader board after qualifying by setting a quick time of 14.633. Malueg was able to use that speed in the heat race as he was able to rocket around the top to the lead from his fourth place stating position on the opening lap of his heat race and go on to win. The 6 of Jeff Schmidt was also able to do the same from his outside front row starting position to claim heat 2. The feature saw the 4 pill again and another deep invert. Schmidt once again found himself on the outside of the front row at the drop of the green and was able to get out to an early lead, but the seas parted and Heinert and Malueg were able to charge towards the front on the opening corner. Schmidt would lead Heinert and Malueg for the next 9 circuits. As the leaders approached lap traffic, Malueg would make a run to the inside of Heinert but it wasn’t enough. This allowed the 5K of Kevin Douglas to close in on Malueg and the pair would battle and trade spots over the next few laps. Heinert was then able to use lapped traffic to his advantage and overtake Schmidt on lap 14 just before the only caution of the race was displayed. On the restart, Malueg was able to get by Douglas and then get Schmidt for second as Heinert drove off to the win. The win for Heinert makes him the first driver in series history to have recorded at least 1 Feature win at each of the 5 ILS tracks (Wilmot – 2012, 141 – 2013, Plymouth 2014, Beaver Dam 2019, and Sycamore – 2019). Malueg would finish 2nd and Schmidt would hang onto 3rd. Heinert also claimed the hard charge by advancing 5 positions. The ILS takes a break next week before finishing the season with an all sprint car show at Plymouth on 9/28 that features 4 divisions of sprints including all 3 IRA divisions plus the MSA 360 sprints.
Submitted By: Mike Neau
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