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AJ Bruns Tops in MOWA Opener at Jacksonville!

(Bill W) May 18, 2012 – AJ Bruns pulled away to victory in the opener for the Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA) on Friday night at the Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois. The series had suffered a pair of rainouts prior to Friday's event.

Alex Shanks, starting on the pole by virtue of a win in the Dash, took the early advantage from fellow front row starter, Bruns. But by the third lap, Shanks stumbled coming out of four, and Bruns slid in front of him in turns one and two to take the lead.

Jerrod Hull moved past Shanks as well into second, and he was followed by Jimmy Hurley. Bruns set a good pace on the top, but Hull started finding some rubber forming on the low side. When Bruns saw Hull's nose, he moved down a car width to hold him off. Hull made a bid for the lead, but Bruns was able to put a lapped car between them and pull away.

Hurley challenged Hull for second, before Shanks squeezed under him to secure third at the stripe. Hurley and Ben Wagoner were fourth and fifth. Hard Charger, Robbie Standridge, Korey Weyant, Jordan Goldesberry, Brett Samonds and Ron Standridge completed the top ten.

Heats were won by Hull, Wagoner and Ron Standridge. Shanks claimed the Dash, and Paul May won the B main.

"I've raced with Jerrod a long time, and I figured he was right there," said Bruns in Victory Lane. "It didn't take long and he showed his nose. I dropped down a lane to try and protect it and it worked out for me. I've been running here since 1992, so I've been around this place a couple thousand times. It was good to get the win after crashing last week!"

"We had found the rubber a little earlier than anyone else," said Hull. "I really thought we had a shot to pass (Bruns) but he shut the door on us. That was pretty much it after that. We got tighter and tighter and he got better. We were just trying to hang onto second at the end, and we did that. The tire was vibrating big time."

"The car was very good," said third running Shanks. "I can't say enough about our Penske shocks. Dynotech motors from Ricky Stenhouse…we can't have any more power than that right now. It got a little close with Hurley, but rubbin' is racing. I've had a few of those over the years too."

MOWA has a big Memorial Day weekend planned with a trip to the I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri on Saturday, May 26, and an event at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa on Sunday, May 27.

MOWA Sprint Series Main Event (started), 25 laps: 1. 44, AJ Bruns, Athens, IL (2) 2. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (3) 3. 66, Alex Shanks, Marion, IL (1) 4. 35, Jimmy Hurley, Springfield, IL (4) 5. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (6) 6. 22, Robbie Standridge, Springfield, IL (11) 7. 7s, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (10) 8. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (7) 9. 47, Brett Samonds, Springfield, IL(9) 10. 83, Ron Standridge, Springfield, IL (5) 11. 71m, Paul May, Terre Haute, IN (16) 12. 22, Bret Tripplett, Lincoln, IL (12) 13. 28, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (14) 14. 7m, Geoff Dodge, Colorado Springs, CO (13) 15. 3B, Brad Greer, Coulterville, IL (17) 16. 05, Paul Patterson, Virden, IL (8) 17. 4m, John Memmer, Evansville, IN (18) 18. 1m, Jim Moughan Jr., Springfield, IL (15). Lap Leaders: Shanks 1-2, AJ Bruns 3-25. BMRS Hard Charger: Robbie Standridge. VP Race Fuels Winner: Robbie Standridge.

Cooper Racing Enterprises Heat one (started, *qualified for feature, 10 laps): 1. Jerrod Hull (2*) 2. Alex Shanks (6*) 3. Brett Samonds (4*) 4. Bret Tripplett (5*) 5. Joey Moughan (1) 6. Brad Greer (3) 7. Jonathan Cornell (10*) 8. 77u, Chris Urish, Elkhart, IL (8) 9. 6B, Andy Baugh, Mason City, IL (7) 10. 9, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (9)

Midland Performance Parts Heat two (started, *qualified for feature, 10 laps): 1. Ben Wagoner (2*) 2. Jimmy Hurley (1*) 3. Robbie Standridge (3*) 4. Korey Weyant (6*) 5. Jim Moughan Jr. (4*) 6. Paul May (7) 7. John Memmer (9) 8. 10s, Jeremy Standridge, Springfield, IL (8) 9. 5, Caleb Wankel, Jacksonville, IL (10) 10. 28, Justin Springer, Pekin, IL (5)

Super Shox Heat three (started, *qualified for feature, 10 laps): 1. Ron Standridge (2*) 2. Paul Patterson (1*) 3. AJ Bruns (6*) 4. Jordan Goldesberry (9*) 5. Geoff Dodge (7*) 6. 52F, Logan Faucon, Elkhart, IL (3) 7. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (5) 8. 42, Cory Bruns, Lincoln, IL (4) 9. 2K, Ryan Kempin, House Springs, MO (8)

Dash (started, 6 laps): 1. Alex Shanks (2) 2. AJ Bruns (1) 3. Jerrod Hull (4) 4. Jimmy Hurley (3) 5. Ron Standridge (6) 6. Ben Wagoner (5) 7. Jordan Goldesberry (7) 8. Paul Patterson (8)

Race Bumpers B Main one (started, 12 laps): 1. Paul May (1) 2. Brad Greer (4) 3. John Memmer (2) / 4. Logan Faucon (5) 5. Jeremy Standridge (8) 6. Jimmy Davies (6) 7. Paul Nienhiser (11) 8. Caleb Wankel (9) 9. Joey Moughan (3) 10. Andy Baugh (10) 11. Chris Urish (7) Justin Springer (12) DNS – Cory Bruns, Ryan Kempin

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The race was a sleeper. I expected a more exciting show. Heading to Beaver Dam to see the IRA. That show will be a lot better.

I tell it like I see it.

ilsprints what time was racing over last night at jacksonville

Races were over at 11:30. Track got dry slick and then it took rubber. 5 classes of cars IMO played a big factor in the track conditions. 5 classes is 1 too many. I wish the racing was a little better myself but thats ok, every show isnt going to be a barn burner. I support this series and what they are doing for the sprints here in Illinois.

thought about going last night but didnt, suppose to be late model special with mowa added on so i figured big late model car count plus good sprint car count would equal a dry slick track and with that many classes no time for further track prep throughout the night. sad thing is each class may have good quality cars but fans will never know because cars drop low and follow the leader as a result of dry slick track. also most of these tracks have curfews and with that many classes go past the curfew set, you cannot blame the nieghbors for getting upset. i understand the tracks must have several classes on their weekly program to survive but if your going to call a race a special and charge a higher price for a ticket then run the race as a special. for example, last year jacksonville speedway ran weekly 410 winged sprints along with three other classes and the night of specials they did the same. i couldn't tell the difference between the weekly program and the specials exept the specials cost more. remember when jacksonville had a sprint car special and before the a main would bring the cars out and line them up and introduce each driver. no track does this anymore because they run too many classes. please understand i only use jacksonville as an example because this is where i go most of the time. most tracks do this.

The race at Jacksonville was scheduled as a Late Model race and the track had made commitments to 4 classes of cars. Then the MOWA race was rained out two weeks ago. It's the middle of May and with two rainouts, it was time to get the cars out of the shops and make some noise so we added the MOWA makeup to Jacksonville's schedule last night rather than wait until Memorial Day Weekend to start the season.

At future shows the track has every intention of limiting classes and MOWA plans to re-introduce the driver introductions prior to the feature along with other opportunities for fan interaction and engagement as time permits. In fact at the rained out May 18th show plans were in place for driver introductions prior to the feature.

For a track that was set to be closed this year, a sign hanging at the ticket booth midway through the show last night saying "Sold Out", is a step in the right direction.

Be sure to catch MOWA next weekend at Pevely and Burlington.

The group of individuals trying tto keep Jacksonville alive should be applauded for their efforts.� As indicated in an earlier post MOWA was added to a already full show to get the sprint cars in action. The addition of mowalive.com so that fans can receive heat line up and results in real time is a great addition.

Keep up the good work