Lonnie
Wheatley, RISING CITY, Neb. (September 13, 2009) – Even though the
American Sprint Car Series Midwest championship was just out of his
reach, Chad Humston didn't let that fact dampen his spirits in Sunday
night's season-championship finale at the Butler County Motorplex.
Humston outdueled Brian Brown on the opening circuit and went on to lead all 25 circuits of the torrid affair to collect the $2,001 winner's share in the track's 'Race to Remember' Tribute to 9/11 that was postponed by rain from Friday night to Sunday.
While Humston added an ASCS Midwest series' best third victory of the season, Jason Danley became the fifth different series champion in as many years after racing from 19th to sixth to take the crown by 64 markers over Humston.
While Humston paced the entire distance, he had to survive several cautions along the way as the battle for second behind him raged on in wildly intense fashion between Brown and Mike Boston, with Brown getting the nod at the stripe.
Missouri's Brown started the feature from the pole position with Humston on his outside shoulder. After a ragged first start got worse with a backstretch scramble that eliminated Ryan Anderson and Jack Dover and sent Stuart Snyder tailback, Brown led the way into the first corner only to have Humston charge by exiting turn two for the lead.
After battling through turns three and four for the point, Humston edged out front and never looked back in Mark Burch's Engler Tool & Machine No. 1m Wolfweld, even surviving one last restart that set up a green-white-checkered run to the stripe.
"I've never been leading and had to take the white flag twice, that's enough to get you nervous," the Giltner, NE, shoe commented in victory lane. "Any stumble on a restart could have been the difference, but crew chief Marvin Brees gave me a perfect car and all I had to do was drive it."
In Humston's wake, the battles for position were epic with Brown and Boston trading sliders virtually the entire race, Billy Alley and Brady Bacon doing the same just behind them in the latter stages and charges from the tail by both Danley and Nebraska Cup winner Tony Bruce, Jr.
Brown finally clamped down on the runner-up position when a slight Boston bobble in turn four allowed Brown to secure the position. The slightest of miscues nearly coast Boston an additional position, but he held on for third.
Alley crossed the stripe on Boston's tailtank in fourth, with Tony Bruce, Jr., rallying from 17th to round out the top five. Also advancing from the "B" Main, Danley was sixth, with Gregg Bakker, Justin Henderson, Gene Ackland and Ryan Roberts completing the top ten.
Fourth-starter Brady Bacon diced with Brown for the second position in the early rounds until he spun in turn two on the fourth lap. Bacon battled back through the field in short order and was trading sliders with Alley for the fourth position when he looped it again on the 22nd circuit and was directed pitside.
Bronson Maeschen, Ryan Anderson, Bacon and Bakker topped heat race action for Sunday night's 29-car field, with Bruce winning the 10-lap "B" Main. Maeschen suffered engine woes in the closing laps of his heat race and was unable to make the call for the feature.
Mark Schmidt got upside down at the end of the backstretch as the checkered flag flew upon the "B" Main, while Washington's Austen Wheatley tipped over in turn one on the tumultuous first attempt to start the feature. Schmidt was uninjured, while Wheatley rebounded to salvage an 11th-place finish.
ASCS Midwest Results from Butler County Motorplex:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 96-Bronson Maeschen, 2. 22a-Billy Alley, 3. 99jr-Justin Henderson, 4. 14g-Gene Ackland, 5. 82-Jason Danley, 6. 22k-Koby Barksdale, 7. 8b-Bobby Becker, 8. 6-Nick Bryan.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 2. 88-Mike Boston, 3. 28-Ken Klabunde, 4. 23s-Stuart Snyder, 5. 35ab-Trevor Grossenbacher, 6. 91-Mitchell Moore, 7. 34-Josh Padellford.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 21x-Brian Brown, 3. 18r-Ryan Roberts, 4. 32-Toby Chapman, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 7. 77-John Klabunde.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 2. 1m-Chad Humston, 3. 24a-Jack Dover, 4. 9j-Mark Schmidt, 5. 22x-Jesse Baker, 6. 21-Ryan Kitchen, 7. 19x-Chuck Jackson.
"B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 3. 82-Jason Danley, 4. 91-Mitchell Moore, 5. 22k-Koby Barksdale, 6. 21-Ryan Kitchen, 7. 34-Josh Padellford, 8. 77-John Klabunde, 9. 22x-Jesse Baker, 10. 6-Nick Bryan, 11. 9j-Mark Schmidt, 12. 8b-Bobby Becker, 13. 19x-Chuck Jackson.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 1m-Chad Humston, 2. 21x-Brian Brown, 3. 88-Mike Boston, 4. 22a-Billy Alley, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 82-Jason Danley, 7. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 8. 99jr-Justin Henderson, 9. 14g-Gene Ackland, 10. 18r-Ryan Roberts, 11. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 12. 23s-Stuart Snyder, 13. 32-Toby Chapman, 14. 35ab-Trevor Grossenbacher, 15. 99-Brady Bacon, 16. 91-Mitchell Moore, 17. 28-Ken Klabunde, 18. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 19. 24a-Jack Dover, 20. 96-Bronson Maeschen (DNS).
ASCS Midwest Points (Final Top Ten): 1. Jason Danley 1,700, 2. Chad Humston 1,636, 3. Jack Dover 1,358, 4. Brian Brown 1,286, 5. Eric Lutz 1,254, 6. Mike Boston 1,157, 7. Lee Grosz 1,108, 8. (tie) Jonathan Cornell and Don Droud, Jr. 1,072, 10. Ryan Anderson 949.
