Terry McCarl Wires Field in NCRA Sprint Car Season Opener!
Park City, Kansas – April 5, 2019 - The National Championship Racing Association of Park City, Kansas presented by Mel Hambelton Ford Racing 360-ci sprint car division kicked off their 30th anniversary season on Friday night and it was Altoon, Iowa veteran Terry McCarl taking the victory at 81 Speedway in Park City. The event was a tune-up for the following night’s ninth annual “Park City Cup/Air Capital Shootout.”
McCarl and two-time and defending 360-ci national champion Sam Hafertepe, Jr. started on the front row for the twenty-five-lap feature and when the race went green, the caution quickly fell when Seth Bergman stopped at the top of turn three.
The attempted complete restart wasn’t much better as Blake Hahn, Danny Wood and Harli White all spun entering turns one and two.
The third time was a charm and as feature action got underway, McCarl quickly jumped out into the lead while Hafertepe, Dylan Westbrook, Wayne Johnson and Jamie Ball were the top five after the first lap was complete.
McCarl had his Moyle Engine powered Silva chassis tuned to perfection as he opened up a half stretch lead over Hafertepe by lap three. Hafertepe would cut the deficit to six car lengths by the time the front runners approached slower cars on lap ten but couldn’t get any closer the rest of the night.
After the pair of caution flags to start the night’s championship feature, the race went green to checker the whole twenty-five laps with McCarl taking his first-career series 360 victory.
Hafertepe would settle for second while Westbrook brought the Alex Hill Racing #77x home third in his first series appearance. Reigning Tony Stewarts All-Star Circuit of Champions champion Aaron Reutzel started fourteenth and worked his way up to finish fourth while Wayne Johnson rounded out the top five.
The four, ten lap heat races for the twenty-nine car field were won by Hahn, Johnson, McCarl and Covington while John Carney, II and Reutzel were the two, twelve lap “B” feature winners.
The National Championship Racing Association would like to thank the following for their involvement in the ninth annual “PCC/ACS” weekend: Park City Chamber of Commerce and Wichita Burner, Inc based out of Wichita, Kansas
The series would also like to welcome the following partners for the 2019 race season: Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels, Mel Hambelton Ford Racing, Park City Chamber of Commerce, Saldana Racing Products, Keizer Wheels, Ultra-Shield Racing Products and Competition Suspension, Inc.
NCRA 360 Sprints
81 Speedway/Park City, Kansas
April 5, 2019
29 Cars)
1st Heat (10 Laps): 1) Blake Hahn, 2) Joe Wood, Jr., 3) John Carney, II, 4) Danny Wood, 5) Brandon Hanks, 6) Kyle Clark, 7) Don Droud, Jr., 8) Forrest Sutherland
2nd Heat (10 Laps): 1) Wayne Johnson, 2) Seth Bergman, 3) Dylan Westbrook, 4) Jeremy Campbell, 5) Ray Seemann, 6) J.D. Johnson, 7) Kaden Taylor
3rd Heat (10 Laps); 1) Terry McCarl, 2) Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 3) Jamie Ball, 4) Jake Greider, 5) Tucker Doughty, 6) Nick Howard, 7) Eric Matthews
4th Heat (10 Laps): 1) Matt Covington, 2) Harli White, 3) Aaron Reutzel, 4) Danny Jennings, 5) Jeff Stasa, 6) Tyler Knight, 7) Mike Woodruff
1st B Feature (12 Laps): 1) John Carney, II, 2) Don Droud, Jr., 3) Jake Greider, 4) Jeff Stasa, 5) Nick Howard, 6) Ray Seemann, 7) Eric Matthews, 8) Mike Woodruff
2nd B Feature (12 Laps): 1) Aaron Reutzel, 2) Jeremy Campbell, 3) Tucker Doughty, 4) Brandon Hanks, 5) Tyler Knight, 6) Kaden Taylor, 7) Kyle Clark, 8) Forrest Sutherland
A Feature (25 Laps): 1) Terry McCarl (1), 2) Same Hafertepe, Jr. (2), 3) Dylan Westbrook (6), 4) Aaron Reutzel (14), 5) Wayne Johnson (5), 6) Jamie Ball (7), 7) Danny Jennings (12), 8) Joe Wood, Jr. (10), 9) Jeremy Campbell (16), 10) Jake Greider (17), 11) Brandon Hanks (20), 12) Jeff Stasa (19), 13) Harli White (3), 14) John Carney, II (13), 15) Danny Wood (11), 16) Nick Howard (21), 17) Don Droud, Jr. (15), 18) Tucker Doughty (18), 19) Blake Hahn (4), 20) Seth Bergman (9), 21) Tyler Knight (22), 22) Matt Covington (8)
Lap leaders: McCarl 1-25
Terry McCarl raced to victory lane in Friday's Park City Cup/Air Capital Shootout at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas (Photo courtesy of Lonnie Wheatley)
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David Smith, Jr./NCRA Public Relations
