7/2/2010
ASCS
Humston Hauls in ASCS Midwest Loot at McCool Junction
Lonnie Wheatley, McCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. (July 1, 2010) – Chad Humston kicked off the ASCS Midwest Region’s Fourth of July holiday weekend double header by racing to his first series win of the year in Thursday night’s 25-lap main event at Junction Motor Speedway.
Humston assumed the point on a mid-race restart when Jack Dover retired with engine woes and then beat a closing Ryan Roberts to the stripe to secure his fourth career ASCS Midwest win aboard Mark Burch’s Engler Machine & Tool No. 1m Wolfweld.
“We had this car set up for about the last four laps of that race, and we needed every bit of it,” the 23-year-old Giltner, NE, shoe commented in victory lane. “I wasn’t sure if we were quite as fast as we needed to be the last couple of laps, but it was enough.”
While Humston gridded the feature field outside row three, it was rookie shoe Tyler Drueke outgunning front row outside starter Dover for the lead at the drop of the green flag with Humston up to third on the opening round before the caution flew for Eric Lutz, who got turned around entering turn one.
Dover slid past Drueke for the lead on the restart, but the young shoe fired right back into the lead and held the top spot until the race’s second caution flew with five laps in the books for defending series champion Jason Danley, who slowed in turn four with engine issues.
Dover successfully slid past Drueke for the point on the ensuing restart, with Humston following suit. Dover led the way in front of Humston until a caution flew at the midway point when Bronson Maeschen cut a left rear tire. The caution proved to be the end of Dover’s run up front as well, as an ailing powerplant forced the Springfield, NE, racer to retire Gary Swenson’s No. 24a machine to the pit area.
With Humston suddenly out front upon Dover’s departure, tenth-starter Ryan Roberts was up to third behind Humston and Don Droud, Jr., in pursuit of a second consecutive McCool Junction win after taking his first series win at JMS in May.
And, after breaking free of the three-way scrum for position that included Droud, Jr., and Brian Brown, Roberts closed the gap on Humston and tried to mount a challenge in the closing circuits as traffic came into play.
While Roberts closed to within two car-lengths on the white flag lap, Humston slipped away on the final circuit to secure the win, forcing Roberts to settle for runner-up honors.
Droud claimed the show position, with 11th-starter Brown and 13th-starter Lee Grosz rounding out the top five.
Gregg Bakker was sixth, with early leader Drueke crossing the stripe seventh. With Dover in Swenson’s mount for the night, Aussie crew member Brodie Tulloch took the wheel of the Dover No. 53 and claimed eighth with Lutz and Maeschen rebounding from early issues to complete the top ten.
Justyn Cox, Droud, Jr., and Drueke topped the night’s heat races.
ASCS Midwest Region Results from Junction Motor Speedway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 5h-Justyn Cox, 2. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 3. 5-Eric Lutz, 4. 18-Ryan Roberts, 5. 6-Kyle Hirst, 6. 1-Bronson Maeschen, 7. 82-Jason Danley.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 2. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 3. 1m-Chad Humston, 4. 21-Brian Brown, 5. 4j-Lee Grosz, 6. 6g-Bryan Gossel.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 12-Tyler Drueke, 2. 24a-Jack Dover, 3. 93-Patrick Bourke, 4. 53-Brodie Tulloch, 5. 71-Bob Schaeffer, 6. 17-Gage Dorr.
"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 1m-Chad Humston, 2. 18-Ryan Roberts, 3. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 4. 21-Brian Brown, 5. 4j-Lee Grosz, 6. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 7. 12-Tyler Drueke, 8. 53-Brodie Tulloch, 9. 5-Eric Lutz, 10. 1-Bronson Maeschen, 11. 93-Patrick Bourke, 12. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 13. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 14. 17-Gage Dorr, 15. 71-Bob Schaeffer, 16. 5h-Justyn Cox, 17. 24a-Jack Dover, 18. 6-Kyle Hirst, 19. 82-Jason Danley.
ASCS Midwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Jack Dover 1,183, 2. Eric Lutz 1,049, 3. Doug Lovegrove 906, 4. Billy Alley 750, 5. Jason Danley 749, 6. Chad Humston 622, 7. Brian Brown 614, 8. (tie) Ryan Roberts and Tyler Drueke 612, 10. Lee Grosz 589.
Submitted By: Lonnie Wheatley
