Meyers Magic Worth $20K in
O'Reilly Short Track Nationals Finale!
Lonnie
Wheatley,
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
(October 27, 2007) – For 38 laps on Saturday
night, it seemed an almost certainty that
Oklahoma's Shane Stewart would reach victory
lane in the 20th Annual O'Reilly
Short Track Nationals presented by
Hoosier Tires 40-lap championship
finale at I-30 Speedway.
But
California shoe Jason Meyers had
other ideas in the $76,600 feature event,
sneaking up on the race-long leader and
swiping the lead with the white flag in
sight and then emerging from a furious
last-lap duel with Stewart to post a
dramatic $20,000 triumph in the prestigious
event sanctioned by the O'Reilly American
Sprint Cars on Tour National series.
Meyers' triumph aboard the Elite
Landscaping/Primerica Financial Maxim,
utilizing a Charlie Garrett powerplant
supplied by Jeff McCall, made the driver of
the No. 14 entry the 14th
different winner in STN history before a
capacity crowd.
"I think I snuck up on him there, he got
trapped behind a couple of lapped cars and
that gave me the chance I needed," Meyers
explained in victory lane. "We ran here
last year with Doc Sloan and had a lot of
fun and knew we had to come back, winning
this time makes it even better."
Ranked fifth in World of Outlaws points,
Meyers' first ASCS National Tour feature win
came with the Elite Racing Team en route
from
Perris, CA, last weekend to
Charlotte, NC, next weekend.
After starting fourth in the 6-lap Pack's
Dash for Cash, Meyers served fair warning by
blitzing past front row Dash starters Zach
Chappell and Jason Sides on the way to
winning the Dash and earning the Pole
position for the feature.
And while egged on by the crowd to accept
the COMP Cams challenge, which would have
offered a $25,000 bonus for him to start
tailback and the take the win, Meyers
couldn't resist the golden opportunity at a
$20,000 payday from the pole position.
Neither could Stewart, who earned the front
row outside starting slot with a
second-place Dash finish.
A Meyers win seemed unlikely most of the way
though, with outside front row starter Shane
Stewart gunning into the lead at the drop of
the green flag aboard the Shaver-powered
Doyle's Harley-Davidson No. 1hd Maxim with
Meyers in tow. Stewart weathered three
interruptions in the opening nine rounds,
with the final 31 circuits run in non-stop
fashion atop the high-banked, ¼-mile clay
oval.
While Stewart raced around the top side of
the track, Meyers had his hands full over
the middle portion of the race with Friday
night preliminary feature winner Tim
Shaffer. And as lapped traffic came into
play prior to the midway point, Meyers and
Shaffer closed in on Stewart with a
three-way battle for the lead beginning to
develop.
Stewart would have none of it though,
slipping away after the 20th
round and opening up a half straightaway
lead over the next ten rounds.
With Stewart, the Thursday night preliminary
feature winner, sailing out front, Meyers
finally escaped Shaffer's challenges when
the
Pennsylvania shoe tapped an infield
tire in turn two on the 26th
lap. Despite losing several car-lengths,
Shaffer continued on with no damage.
But when Stewart closed in on a pair of
lapped cars battling for position, a
handicap unknown to most observers on hand
gave Meyers just the opportunity he was
looking for.
"The panhard bar on the front axle broke two
or three laps into the race," Stewart
explained afterward. "Any time I slowed up
just a little bit, the car would start
moving around. Terry (Gray) was on the low
side and Travis (Rilat) was up high, I
needed one of 'em to get ahead of the other
so I could get going."
They didn't though, and in the final five
laps Meyers was able to erase Stewart's half
straightaway advantage, sliding into the
lead exiting turn four with the white flag
in sight.
Stewart slid back in front of Meyers
entering turn one on the final lap, only to
have Meyers duck back to the low side
exiting turn two and win the drag race down
the backstretch. A clean run through the
final pair of corners secured the victory
for Meyers, with Stewart settling for
runner-up honors in the event that has
eluded him.
"I thought we had this one, but I also knew
I could hear someone there," Stewart
commented. "This is one event that I circle
on my calendar each year and I've got to
keep coming back until I win it."
After starting sixth, Shaffer quickly
advanced to fourth in the opening rounds and
then took third from Zach Chappell by the
fifth lap. After dicing with Meyers for
much of the race, Shaffer took the show
position in Doc Sloan's Dynotech-powered No.
a12 J&J.
Defending Short Track Nationals champion
Jason Johnson rebounded from a wild flip in
hot laps to earn the eighth starting
position for the feature. "The Ragin'
Cajun" was sixth by the fifth lap and
blasted past Gary Wright and Chappell for
fourth on a lap ten restart.
Holding fourth to the line in Lanny Row's
Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41
Eagle was good enough for Johnson to climb
past the unrelated Wayne Johnson for second
in final O'Reilly ASCoT National points.
Wayne Johnson missed the cut for the feature
when he tagged an infield tire and suffered
event-ending front-end damage in his
qualifying race.
Wright locked up his fourth consecutive ASCS
National championship by rounding out the
top five in the Wesmar-powered Richwood
Construction/Whiteco Commercial Funding No.
9 Maxim.
Oklahoma's Chappell was sixth, with
Mississippi's Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., climbing
from 13th to finish seventh.
Texas shoe Sam Hafertepe, Jr., earned
Hard Charger honors by racing from 20th
to eighth, with Oklahoma's Daryn Pittman and
Missouri's Jerrod Hull completing the top
ten.
The feature's first caution flew after three
laps when ASCS Gulf South shoe Tommy Bryant
spun in turn four after contact. Suffering
a cut tire, Bryant was done for the night.
Five laps later, I-30 Speedway track
champion Zach Pringle, who started seventh
after accumulating the most points in
Saturday's heat and qualifying race action,
went for a tumble off turn three. Pringle
was uninjured but done for the night.
A lap later, third-starter Jason Sides spun
in turn four to bring out the night's final
caution. Sides raced back to finish
twelfth.
Five drivers made their first STN
championship feature start, including
Meyers, Shaffer,
Oklahoma City's Joe Wood, Jr. (16th),
Pringle (18th) and Bryant (20th).
Lewis Jenkins, Jr., Jack Dover, Stenhouse,
Darren Stewart, Dain Naida, Wayne Johnson,
Sean McClelland, John Carney, Jr., Stu
Snyder and Garry Lee Maier topped heat race
action as 98 drivers vied for the final 14
positions to the STN championship feature.
Lee Sowell, Tony Bruce, Jr., Joe Beaver and
Gary Taylor topped Last Chance race action,
with Travis Rilat, Tim Montgomery, Terry
Gray and Jerrod Hull winning the Qualifying
races.
The night featured plenty of thrills and
spills, with Florida's Danny Martin, Jr.,
the first flip victim when he bicycled and
flipped wildly off the top of turn four on
the opening lap of the fourth heat. On the
seventh lap of the same heat, Kaley Gharst
climbed Kenneth Walker's right rear tire and
flipped entering turn one. One lap later,
Dale Blaney bicycled and flipped in turn
two.
On the opening lap of the sixth heat, Jimmy
Brooks flipped in turn three while battling
for the lead with Tyler Thompson. Four laps
later, a broken rear axle sent Kyle Bellm
upside down exiting turn four.
Langley, British Columbia's Travis Rutz, who
was later presented the Long Tow award, had
the tenth and final heat well in hand until
climbing over the lapped car of Larry Howery
entering turn one on the final lap and
flipping.
Marshall Skinner was the lone Last Chance
flip victim when he dumped his mount in turn
four on the first lap of the second Last
Chance race.
After second-runner Greg Wilson hooked a rut
and tagged the frontstretch wall and then a
multi-car tangle that eliminated
Johnny Miller and Jesse Hockett in
the first Qualifying race, things got really
wild when leader Steve Short jumped the turn
four cushion and turned down into Travis
Rilat with the white flag in sight. The
resulting contact sent Short for a wild
ride, with Derek Hagar caught up with no
place to go and tumbling as well.
Jack Dover's STN came to a conclusion on the
opening lap of the fourth Qualifying race
when contact with another car in turn two on
the opening lap sent him end-over-end.
There were no injuries in Saturday's action.
An STN record total of 108 drivers from 21
different states as well as
Canada competed in the 20th
Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals
presented by
Hoosier Tires at Little Rock's I-30
Speedway, with $106,000 in purse money
distributed over the weekend.
20th
Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals
presented by
Hoosier Tires Championship Finale
Results:
Locked
in from Preliminary Features:
1hd-Shane
Stewart, a12-Tim Shaffer, 7s-Jason Sides,
9w-Gary Wright, 50z-Zach Chappell, 14m-Jason
Meyers.
Heat
Races – Top 40 in Finishing/Passing Points
to Four Qualifying Races (32 inverted);
Balance of Field to Four Last Chance Races.
First Heat
(10 Laps): 1. 7h-Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 2.
29R-Travis Rilat, 3. 81-Jon Freeman, 4.
97-Mike Brecht, 5. 29x-Brandon Berryman, 6.
53b-Joe Beaver, 7. 21b-Brian Brown, 8.
58-Wade Oliver, 9. 71T-Tim Simmons, 10.
12x-Robbie Standridge.
Second
Heat (10 Laps): 1. 53d-Jack Dover, 2.
03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 75J-Jesse Hockett, 4.
4am-Tyler Walker, 5. 26-Marshall Skinner, 6.
3a-A.G. Rains, 7. 12s-Jeff Swindell, 8.
87b-Brian McClelland, 9. 6-Mike Dussel, 10.
15b-Brad Bowden.
Third Heat
(10 Laps): 1. 40R-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2.
87T-Tim Montgomery, 3. 59d-Dustin Morgan, 4.
21T-Tommy Bryant, 5. 2m-Bryce Vowan, 6.
8w-Jeff Wingate, 7. 38-Rick Pringle, 8.
7w-Wade Human, 9. 29s-Shawn Sander, 10.
66-Kenny Taylor.
Fourth
Heat (10 Laps): 1. 91-Darren Stewart, 2.
8z-Zach Pringle, 3. 2w-Kenneth Walker, 4.
64J-Johnny Miller, 5. 71b-Robert Bell, 6.
35h-Jimmy Hurley, 7. 44-Ronny Howard, 8.
6b-Dale Blaney, 9. 3*-Kaley Gharst, 10.
00-Danny Martin, Jr.
Fifth Heat
(10 Laps): 1. 6n-Dain Naida, 2. 86F-Josh
Fisher, 3. 21p-Daryn Pittman, 4. 15h-Sam
Hafertepe, Jr., 5. 10-Terry Gray, 6. 76-Jay
Russell, 7. 94T-Steven Tiner, 8. 01-Paul
McMahan, 9. 13k-Lucas Wolfe, 10. 51b-Mike
Boston.
Sixth Heat
(10 Laps): 1. 94J-Wayne Johnson, 2.
41-Jason Johnson, 3. 1x-Don Droud, Jr., 4.
51s-Lee Sowell, 5. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 6.
7c-Chris Morgan, 7. 11T-Tyler Thompson, 8.
75b-Tyler Blank, 9. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 10.
51J-Jimmy Brooks.
Seventh
Heat (10 Laps): 1. 1m-Sean McClelland, 2.
7m-Kevin Ramey, 3. 15s-Nick Smith, 4. 88-Tim
Crawley, 5. 18w-Lorne Wofford, 6. 18T-Tony
Bruce, Jr., 7. 93b-Bob Schaeffer, 8.
14c-Coleman Gulick, 9. 3b-Brad Greer, 10.
8x-Chris Williams.
Eighth
Heat (10 Laps): 1. 8c-John Carney, Jr., 2.
w20-Greg Wilson, 3. R19-Scott Winters, 4.
98-Andrew Korte, 5. 57x-Jake Peters, 6.
25-Gary Taylor, 7. d12-Doc Sloan, 8. 35r-Ron
Blair, 9. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 10. 32-Garry
Bell.
Ninth Heat
(10 Laps): 1 2d-Stu Snyder, 2. 95-Matt
Covington, 3. 8s-Steve Short, 4. 20e-Eric
Lutz, 5. 71J-John Jacob, 6. 1p-Curtis Evans,
7. 5$-Danny Smith, 8. 93c-Chris Sweeney, 9.
17b-Ryan Bickett.
Tenth Heat
(10 Laps): 1. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 2.
b4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 74e-Claud Estes, 4.
9JR-Derek Hagar, 5. 40e-Ernie Ainsworth, 6.
69h-Larry Howery, 7. 39c-Travis Rutz, 8.
5ma-Mallory Armfield. DNS: 1g-Cody Gardner.
Last
Chance Races – Top 4 Finishers to tail of
the Four Qualifying Races.
First Last
Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 51s-Lee Sowell,
2. 40e-Ernie Ainsworth, 3. 64J-Johnny
Miller, 4. 38-Rick Pringle, 5. 71J-John
Jacob, 6. 93c-Chris Sweeney, 7. d12-Doc
Sloan, 8. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 9. 6-Mike
Dussel, 10. 1p-Curtis Evans, 11. 01-Paul
McMahan. DNS: 12s-Jeff Swindell, 13k-Lucas
Wolfe, 00-Danny Martin, Jr., 32-Garry Bell.
Second
Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 18T-Tony
Bruce, Jr., 2. 58-Wade Oliver, 3. 12x-Robbie
Standridge, 4. 5$-Danny Smith, 5. 51b-Mike
Boston, 6. 75b-Tyler Blank, 7.
69h-Larry Howery, 8. 8w-Jeff Wingate, 9.
71T-Tim Simmons, 10. 29x-Brandon Berryman,
11. 1g-Cody Gardner, 12. 26-Marshall
Skinner. DNS: 3a-A.G. Rains, 6b-Dale
Blaney, 14k-Kyle Bellm.
Third Last
Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 53b-Joe Beaver,
2. 7c-Chris Morgan, 3. 94T-Steven Tiner, 4.
87b-Brian McClelland, 5. 98-Andrew Korte, 6.
71b-Mike
Boston, 7. 39c-Travis Rutz, 8.
3b-Brad Greer, 9. 15b-Brad Bowden, 10.
35r-Ron Blair, 11. 44-Ronny Howard, 12.
29s-Shawn Sander. DNS: 35h-Jimmy Hurley,
51J-Jimmy Brooks.
Fourth
Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. 25-Gary
Taylor, 2. 4am-Tyler Walker, 3. 18w-Lorne
Wofford, 4. 14c-Coleman Gulick, 5. 93b-Bob
Schaeffer, 6. 11T-Tyler Thompson, 7.
2m-Bryce Vowan, 8. 76-Jay Russell, 9.
7w-Wade Human, 10. 66-Kenny Taylor, 11.
5ma-Mallory Armfield, 12. 8x-Chris
Williams. DNS: 21b-Brian Brown, 3*-Kaley
Gharst.
Pack’s Dash for Cash –
Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows
of “A” Feature.
Pack’s
Dash for Cash (6 Laps – Starting position in
parentheses): 1. 14m-Jason Meyers (4), 2.
1hd-Shane Stewart (3), 3. 7s-Jason Sides
(2), 4. 50z-Zach Chappell (1), 5. 9-Gary
Wright (6), 6. a12-Tim Shaffer (5).
Qualifying Races – Winner
from Each Qualifier Locked into "A" Main;
Top 8 Additional Point Earners Advance to
"A" Main (Rows 4-9 Lined up according to
Saturday Night points)
First
Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 29R-Travis Rilat,
2. 8z-Zach Pringle, 3. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse,
Jr., 4. 15s-Nick Smith, 5. 86f-Josh Fisher,
6. 40e-Ernie Ainsworth, 7. 7J-Lewis Jenkins,
Jr., 8. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 9. 8s-Steve Short,
10. 75J-Jesse Hockett, 11. 64J-Johnny
Miller, 12. 51s-Lee Sowell, 13. w20-Greg
Wilson, 14. 38-Rick Pringle.
Second
Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 87T-Tim Montgomery,
2. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4.
88-Tim Crawley, 5. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 6.
59d-Dustin Morgan, 7. 18T-Tony Bruce, Jr.,
8. 74e-Claud Estes, 9. 2w-Kenneth Walker,
10. 58-Wade Oliver, 11. 1m-Sean McClelland,
12. 95-Matt Covington, 13. 12x-Robbie
Standridge, 14. 5$-Danny Smith.
Third
Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 10-Terry Gray, 2.
91-Darren Stewart, 3. 21p-Daryn Pittman, 4.
1x-Don Droud, Jr., 5. 8c-John Carney, Jr.,
6. 20e-Eric Lutz, 7. 2d-Stu Snyder, 8.
53b-Joe Beaver, 9. 7c-Chris Morgan, 10.
94T-Steven Tiner, 11. 81-Jon Freeman, 12.
87b-Brian McClelland, 13. 57x-Jake Peters,
14. 94J-Wayne Johnson.
Fourth
Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 2.
03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 97-Mike Brecht, 4.
R19-Scott Winters, 5. 25-Gary Taylor, 6.
b4-Eric Baldaccini, 7. 15h-Sam Hafertepe,
Jr., 8. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 9. 18w-Lorne
Wofford, 10. 2m-Bryce Vowan, 11. 14c-Coleman
Gulick, 12. 6n-Dain Naida, 13. 4am-Tyler
Walker, 14. 53d-Jack Dover.
Tenth row of “A”
Feature comprised of top two point earners
over their points accumulated through
Qualifying and Saturday night action that
haven’t already qualified:
Ernie
Ainsworth and Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
20th
Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals
presented by
Hoosier Tires Championship “A”
Feature:
A Feature
(40 Laps – Starting position in
parentheses): 1. 14m-Jason Meyers (1)
[$20,000], 2. 1hd-Shane Stewart (2)
[$10,000], 3. a12-Tim Shaffer (6) [$7,500],
4. 41-Jason Johnson (8) [$5,000], 5. 9w-Gary
Wright (5) [$2,500], 6. 50z-Zach Chappell
(4) [$2,400], 7. 40R-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
(13) [$2,300], 8. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
(20) [$2,200], 9. 21p-Daryn Pittman (15)
[$2,175], 10. 10-Terry Gray (14) [$2,150],
11. 29R-Travis Rilat (9) [$2,125], 12.
7s-Jason Sides (3) [$2,100], 13. 12h-Jerrod
Hull (16) [$2,075], 14. 91-Darren Stewart
(12) [$2,050], 15. 40e-Ernie Ainsworth (19)
[$2,025], 16. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. (17)
[$2,000], 17. 87T-Tim Montgomery (10)
[$2,000], 18. 8z-Zach Pringle (7) [$2,000],
19. 15s-Nick Smith (18) [$2,000], 20.
21T-Tommy Bryant (11) [$2,000].
Lap
Leaders: Shane Stewart 1-38, Jason Meyers
39-40.
Final
2007 O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top
Ten): 1. Gary Wright 4,420, 2. Jason
Johnson 4,318, 3. Wayne Johnson 4,312, 4.
Travis Rilat 4,104, 5. Foster Landon 3,477,
6. Darren Stewart 2,819, 7. Nick Smith
2,402, 8. Eric Baldaccini 1,951, 9. Kenneth
Walker 1,823, 10.
Johnny Miller 1,744
