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Sullivan, Shryock, Gieber take Dirt Track Championship wins at TMS Dirt Track, 3/3/12

by J M Hallas

Saturday wrapped up the racing on Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track’s 4/10 mile, semi-banked, dirt track as the Texas World Dirt Track Championships, presented by Port-a-Cool concluded. With eight spots already locked up the Modified and Limited Modified classes, the remaining drivers tried their luck to fill the spots open for the championship features and the chance for the prestigious trophy and signature cowboy hat.

The SUPR Late Models was also on hand running a full event slate as they qualified for their big 40-lap main event through heats races and last chance qualifiers. Several past champions were in attendance including last year’s winner, Will Vaught, two time race winner Rob Litton(2006, 2009) and 2010 winner John Anderson.

One driver joined an elite group winning races in two different classes, another became the fifth two-time winner, while another set another, perhaps even more difficult feat, putting his cars in all three A-mains for night.

Sullivan Secures Second Stetson in Super Late Model Showdown

Jack Sullivan celebrates after winning the SUPR Late Model Championship at TMS. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Jack Sullivan (Greenbriar, Ark.) became the fifth Late Model driver to take home a second victory at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Sullivan joined Raymond Merrill, Kelly Boen, Rob Litton and Ray Moore as he out-dueled former winners, Will Vaught early in the 40-lap main, and then John Anderson in mid stages before pulling away from the pack. Sullivan, who took the win in memory of a friend who passed away during the evening, was only slowed by lapped traffic towards the finish. He was able to maintain a comfortable margin despite slower cars, as he roared to the checkers.

Vaught jumped into the lead as the 21-car Late Model main fired off chased by Sullivan, Morgan Bagley, Sullivan and Chris Brown. After a lap 2 caution for spins by Jeff Chandler and Derek Perkins, Sullivan picked off Bagley for third, while the pack raced three and sometimes four wide. Zach McMillan brought out a lap 9 yellow with a spin in turn 4.

Once back to green, Sullivan began his march to the front trying Anderson low. Anderson fought back and put the heat on Vaught for the lead. As the leader ran side by side, Jon Mitchell took a top five spot from Brown. Taking advantage of the lead battle, Sullivan snuck past for second on lap 10 and got alongside Vaught for the lead. Just as Sullivan got the nose out front, yellow waved for debris, negating the pass.

Not to be discouraged, Sullivan was door to door with Vaught on the restart finally securing the top spot on lap 14. Sullivan then stretched out his lead coming to the crossed flags followed by Vaught, Anderson, Bagley and Mitchell. Lap 20 saw caution fly for Timothy Culp who spun and nearly got drilled by Allen Tippen. After several restarts for spins in the pack, Sullivan jumped ahead leaving Vaught and Anderson battling for second.

Anderson and Vaught swapped second for a couple laps giving Sullivan the chance to rebuild a big margin on both. Anderson finally took second with Bagley now challenging Vaught for third. Sullivan caught the back of the field with ten to go and had some trouble getting through the side by side traffic. Anderson was unable to capitalize on the situation only closing a small distance.

Bagley was able to grab third from Vaught in the waning laps while Kevin Sitton made his way up to battle with Litton for fifth. With two to go, Sullivan finally cleared traffic, as Sitton snagged fifth from Litton. Once clear of slower cars Sullivan in the Triple A Diesel Service, JFR Graphics, Peterson Fluid Systems, Central Arkansas Pest Control, MSR Mafia, Bryant Motorsports, Wiles Driveshaft’s, All-star Performance, Penske Shocks, Russell Baker Race Engines, GRT Chassis, easily cruised to the victory.

“I want to dedicate this win to Rusty Kirkey who passed away this evening.” commented Sullivan. “He was my girlfriend’s step-father and a part of our race team. I thought about him the final few laps. It’s amazing what you think about(during a race). You’re trying to hit your line and do the right things. All these wins are special and this made it even more important. I came down here when this place first opened and thought how would feel to win here, now I’ve won twice. I thank God for that.”

“It felt good out there. The car was working well. This is a new car we had out here tonight and we did a lot of front end work on it. It was very good; I was really impressed with it. It’s kind of a crap shoot at first, but we have a basic set up that we show up with and go from there. It’ was too free in the heat race so we really tightened it up quite a bit for the feature. It worked out good for us.”

“I was just biding my time at the beginning of the race. I knew I could get around the bottom. I started thinking I needed to get on it and get the lead as soon as I could before anyone else found the line. If they got there first it would be harder for me to get past them. I had one of my crew guys showing me how far ahead I was when I got in traffic. I messed with that lapped car longer than I wanted to. I needed to try to get on by him before he wrecked or something. But I’ve been lapped traffic before, so it’s a give/take thing.”

SUPR Late Models
1s Jack Sullivan, Greenbriar, Ark.
2j John Anderson, Omaha, Nebr.
14m Morgan Bagley, Longview
1v Will Vaught, Crane, Mo.
20 Kevin Sitton, Baytown
6x Rob Litton, Alexandria, La.
5m Jon Mitchell, Texarkana
77 Robbie Starnes, Baytown
27m Dennie Gieber, Jacksonville
28 Chris Holley, Dayton
22 Derek Perkins, Oakdale, La.
21 Chris Brown, Cleveland
02 Tommy Weder jr., Woodward, Okla.
21d Lee Davis, Greenwood, La.
K5 Jay Brunson, Dubberly
89 Steve Whiteaker jr., Corpus Christi
R5 BJ Robinson, Blanchard, La.
71a Allen Tippen, Minden, La.
14z Zach McMillan, Gladewater
C8 Timothy Culp, West Monroe, La.
11c Jeff Chandler, Minden, La.

Late Model Last Chance Qualifiers(Top 3 to A-main)
LCQ 1
20 Kevin Sitton
27m Dennie Gieber
R5 BJ Robinson
2 Allen Murray
60 Keith Lawson
84 Tom Lorenz
74s Josh Sliney
97 Eric Neal
69 Ricky Begnaud
7jr Chad Ewell
64 Jay Sale

LCQ 2
89 Steve Whiteaker jr.
22 Derek Perkins
87m Jason Ingalls
4x Brock Williams
188 Derek Rashall
4 Jim Bryant
18 Bryan Sugg
26 Randy Roth
14r Jeff Roth
ZZ Sloppy Hogg
12 Jon Driskill

Late Model heats(Top 16 in passing points)
Heat 1
2j John Anderson
21 Chris Brown
21d Lee Davis
89 Steve Whiteaker jr.
02 Tommy Weder jr.
20 Kevin Sitton
5r BJ Robinson
97 Eric Neal
84 Tom Lorenz

Heat 2
1v Will Vaught
C8 Timothy Culp
1s Jack Sullivan
71a Allen Tippen
87m Jason Ingalls
22 Derek Perkins
4x Brook Williams
18 Bryan Sugg
ZZ Sloppy Hogg
4 Jim Bryant

Heat 3
K5 Jay Brunson
77 Robbie Starnes
28 Chris Holley
2 Allen Murray
11c Jeff Chandler
188 Derek Rashall
69 Ricky Begnaud
74s Josh Sliney
7jr Chad Ewell

Heat 4
14m Morgan Bagley
6x Rob Litton
5m Jon Mitchell
14z Zach McMillan
60 Keith Lawson
27m Dennie Gieber
26 Randy Roth
14r Jeff Roth
12 Jon Driskill

Shryock Scores Modified Main(After Tech)

The third time was a charm for Fertile, Iowa’s Kelly Shryock who was awarded the 30-lap Modified Championship win after Chris Brown, running a Shryock team car, was DQ’ed in tech for being light. Shryock jumped from row two into the lead and looked to be the winner early, but Brown made a last ditch pass coming to the white flag and beat Shryock back to the finish line. In tech inspection it was discovered that Brown was light after apparently losing some lead in front of the motor plate. This gave the win to Shryock, in his third attempt at the Texas World Dirt Track Championship title.

Bobby Malchus and Chris Henigan stayed wheel to wheel into turn 1 at the start of the 26-car Modified feature. Coming from outside of the second row, Shryock, the 9-time USMTS champion, shot past both to lead coming back for lap 1. Malchus, Henigan, Brown and Corey Babbitt fell in line behind Shryock. Clyde Dunn went around on lap 1 for an early caution.

After another quick yellow, Shryock began to edge away with John Whittington having his night end after problems while running sixth. The top three had just spread out when Henigan broke from third and stopped in turn 2. As Shryock and Malchus got away on the restart, Tristan Dycus was chasing Zack Van Der Beek for fourth.

Malchus took a couple looks low on Shryock, while the pack was still three wide behind them. As Dycus began to fall back, John Anderson was moving forward getting by Dycus then Van Der Beek for fourth. Brown, in an identical Shryock car, took second from Malchus followed by Babbitt, when yellow flew for a Robert Baker spin.

Back to green, Babbitt got under Malchus with the top five coming to halfway Shryock, Brown, Babbitt, Malchus and Van Der Beek getting fifth back from Anderson. Van Der Beek then got inside Malchus for fourth leaving him side by side with Anderson as Steve Whiteaker jr. closed in. Randy Timms joined that fight with Anderson, Whiteaker and Timms going three wide before Timms grabbed the spot.

Dunn, recovering from an early spin made his way back into the top ten before having trouble again and pulling off. Van Der Beek continued his charge to the front taking third from Babbitt on lap 27 while Malchus and Timms battled for fifth. Brown caught his car owner, Shryock and took a look low as the leaders diced in traffic. Van Der Beek took advantage of the chance to reel in the lead duo.

As Van Der Beek tried a move on Brown for second they made contact with Van Der Beek giving up some distance. With two to go Brown was again peeking under Shryock and coming to the white flag got the bumper out front. Brown held off Shryock coming back to the finish, but gave up the win in tech to Shryock in the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance, Houston Specialty Products, CJ Auto Sales, B&L Satellite Rental, DK Arndt, Lake Mills Motorsports, VP Racing Fuel, Pro Power, Skyrocket Chassis.

“The third time was a charm,” quipped Shryock. “We’ve come down here twice before and weren’t even able to make the feature. We had some bad luck with a blown engine and crashed. Running up front at a place like this is unbelievable. I was just kind of taking it easy toward the end and misread the signal from my crew. Sometimes you’re like a sitting duck being out front. He just smoked us at the end.”

“It’s just an unfortunate deal for Chris(Brown) to fail tech. It was a great race between us. He and his family treat us well when we come down here to race. We enjoy having him drive the backup car. I’ve got two sisters, so he’s kind of like the brother I don’t have. We don’t normally have to run that much weight in front of the motor plate and the extra weight he added came off during the race.”

“This was pretty much our Baytown set up. We were pretty good down there, but not great. Maybe I’ll have to drive my old car instead of this new one. We still have some work to do on the new one. We had a good season with the old car, winning fifteen races, so we knew it was still a good one and Chris can drive the wheels off a Modified.”

Modifieds
3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Ia.
33z Zack Van Der Beek, New Sharon, Ia.
5t Randy Timms, Wheatland, Okla.
4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak
14t Tristan Dycus, Alvarado
89 Steve Whiteaker jr., Corpus Christi
2j John Anderson, Omaha, Nebr.
60 William Gould, Calera, Okla.
56 Troy Taylor, Ft. Worth
16x Kyle Pleasant, Natchitoches, La.
2x Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
10 Kyle Schmidt, Farmington, Ark.
17m Robert Baker, Bryant, Ark.
45t Eric Tomlinson, Waco
8t Dustin Hyde, Texarkana
52 Mitch Keeton, Webb City, Mo.
J41 Monte Bolton, Lubbock
21c Chris Cole, Cache, Okla.
88xxx Clyde Dunn jr., Sunnyvale
81 Danny Caldwell, Princeton
24 Sean Jones, Mansfield
1 Colby Smith, Greenville
16 Chris Henigan, Marshall
5w John Whittington, Vidor
3b Chris Brown, Cleveland—DQ tech
12 Corey Babbitt, Channelview—DQ tech

Modified Pole Dash
4m Bobby Malchus
16 Chris Henigan
12 Corey Babbitt
3 Kelly Shryock
33z Zack Van Der Beek
3b Chris Brown
89 Steve Whiteaker jr.
2j John Anderson

Modified Last Chance Qualifiers(Top 4 to A-main)
LCQ 1
10 Kyle Schmidt
5t Randy Timms
81 Danny Caldwell
16x Kyle Pleasant
11x Wesley Veal
22x Ralo Pilkington
1* Jason Troutman
4 Shannon Scott
112 Darian Hendrix
21c Chris Cole
8x Mark Hoover
88 Shawn Gammage
321 Matt Martin
18j Dustin Johnson
107 Shad Badder
14x Josh Landers
8 Chase Allen
68 Brandon Watson

LCQ 2
56 Troy Taylor
14t Tristan Dycus
88xxx Clyde Dunn jr.
J41 Monte Bolton
23 Matt Gilbertson
85t Thomas Tillison jr.
5m Joe Mayhew
01 Kirby Stiens
17m Robert Baker
25d Donnie Shipp
66 Greg Burt
7p Greg Penney
44 Delaney Erickson
02Gary Corbin
12t Tyler Townsend
010 Jeremy Willis
53x Eric Layton
410 Brad Doherty
11 Keith Lawson

LCQ 3
24 Sean Jones
52 Mitch Keeton
60 William Gould
1 Colby Smith
86j Travis Johnson
127 Glen Hibbard
19b BJ Baze
12g Jeremy Green
21 Dustin Billingsley
66x Mike Dillard
77 Shawn Greenlee
27x Allen Juelch
77a Aaron Benedict
2x Lyle Sheppard
10x Jeremy Ishmael
75d Patrick Daniel
82x Jamie Williams
42w Wayne Poteet
D11 David Hennan

LCQ 4
5w John Whittington
2x Grant Junghans
8t Dustin Hyde
45t Eric Tomlinson
98 John Allen
18 Chase Junghans
85t Thomas Tillison jr.
25 Richard Miller
15b Thomas Blackwell
L1 Larry Clevenger
27 Kelly Lockey
19t Tony Osborn
7 Kelly Gorham
121 Scooter Bates
99 Bryan Sugg
9 Shane Hebert
C22 Rob Litton
3c Sam Cox

Gieber Gets Limited Modified Loot

Frankston’s Dennie Gieber joined the elite group of drivers winning at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track in two different classes, after taking the 30-lap Limited Modified feature. Gieber, who took a Modified win back in 2003, got by John Whittington near midway then held off another past Modified champion, Randy Timms after a late race caution rebunched the field.

Dennie Giber celebrates after winning the Limited Modified Championship at TMS. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Steve Whiteaker jr., who added a record of sorts, to his own to his resume becoming the only driver to qualify in all three classes, set sail as green waved on the 26-car Limited Modified field. Whittington and Robert Elliot were side by side for second, while Timms and Gieber ran wheel to wheel for fourth. As the top five sorted out, Matt Mueller, Doug Easterling and Derek Grigsby were three wide for sixth.

Chase Allen brought out the first caution on lap 9 when he had problems in turn 2. Once back to green Gieber and Timms both swept past Elliot for third and fourth. As Whiteaker began to ease away, Grigsby and Jason Troutman were challenging Elliot for fifth. Whiteaker’s run up front started to end on lap 13 when he slowed giving up the lead to Whittington followed by Gieber and Timms.

Mueller stopped along the back stretch and Greg Deterding off in turn 3 brought a yellow on lap 14 at which time Whiteaker pulled to the pits. Back under green Grigsby went around Elliot for fourth leaving him side by side with Troutman. At the midway point it was Whittington, Gieber, Timms, Grigsby and Elliot holding down the top five.

Gieber got by Whittington for the top spot on lap 16 that saw a multi-car crash in turn 2 bring the action to a halt with several suffering damage and a couple other forced to retire. Gieber got a good jump as green waved again leaving Timms and Whittington battling for second while Elliot and Troutman began to swap fifth.

After a brief battle, Timms took second from Whittington, with Jason Ingalls now pressuring Elliot for fifth. Edward Oakes brought out the final yellow on lap 23 with a spin in turn 2. The front four stayed in line on the restart with Gieber easing away to a five car length lead with five to go. Gieber, in the Dewayne and Kandi Wilkerson owned, Dent Magic, AMS Race Engines, Wicked Chassis took the margin to the finish line.

“It was a really good night, though a little stressful,” said Gieber. “We had a good run, and I had a good pit crew to get me where I’m at. Just knowing you have that caliber of drivers behind who will capitalize on any mistake you makes put some pressure on you. I just tried to keep the car out front and not make any of those mistakes.”

“This is one the biggest wins we’ve had and ranks up against some the others we’ve had, especially against these guys from all over the south. It’s been a long time coming to get back in the Winners Circle here. We felt like we were owned one and stepped it up for tonight. Troy(Taylor) is one of my heroes and to be in any group with him is an honor. I’ve watched him race for years and he’s certainly one of the best around and at this place.”

“My pit crew really stepped up this weekend. We had brake issues and pretty much rebuilt the entire brake system. They got us up and going.”

Limited Modifieds
15w Dennie Gieber, Frankston
5t Randy Timms, Wheatland, Okla.
511 John Whittington, Vidor
1* Jason Troutman, Sunnyville
28x Jason Ingalls, Hallsville
21 Robert Elliot, Clinton, Okla.
21b Gene Bryce, Altus, Okla.
56x Troy Taylor, Ft Worth
6s Kyle Slader, Muskogee, Okla.
69 Derek Grigsby, Marshall
77x Garrett Gregory, Tomball
8 Chase Allen, Midlothian
53 Edward Oakes, Center
22 Dakota Moore, Blair, Okla.
91 Craig Oakes, Jonesville
15 Craig Ridgeway, Jet, Okla.
85d Greg Deterding, Pond Creek, Okla.
88 Doug Easterling, Rule
23m Jimmy Day, Greenville
81b Cody Simpson, Quinlan
89 Steve Whiteaker jr., Corpus Christi
38 Matt Mueller, Stamford
V8 Robert Vetter, Wolfe City
88x RJ Stroman, New Boston
62 Joe Bohnstedt, Hennessey, Okla.
39x Jimmy Staats, Edgewood

Limited Modified Pole Dash
89 Steve Whiteaker
511 John Whittington
21 Robert Elliot
5t Randy Timms
15w Dennie Gieber
1* Jason Troutman
38 Matt Mueller
88 Doug Easterling

Limited Modified Last Chance Qualifiers(Top 4 to A-main)
LCQ 1
69 Derick Grigsby
22 Dakota Moore
85 Greg Deterding
81b Cody Simpson
8b Jason Bolden
22t Darrell Thompson
10 Dustin Robinson
23g Glen Gordy
2 Rowdy Day
99 Gary Fritchen
15 Craig Ridgeway
D25 David Tanner
K6 Joe Adams
99x Kristi Byrd
71 Scott Fincher
45 Robert Taylor

LCQ 2
88x RJ Stroman
91 Craig Oakes
V8 Robert Vetter
23m Jimmy Day
26 Dean Abbey
7m Danny Morris
08 Sean Glennon
33d Darrell McGee
99d David Allen
47x Gary Stuckey
34s John South
105 Jay McClanahan
62 Joe Bohnstedt
124 Jake Upchurch
06 Tommy Bohnstedt
22w Johnny Walton

LCQ 3
56x Troy Taylor
53 Edward Oakes
39x Jimmy Staats
21b Gene Bryce
147 Landon Maddox
1 Tim Linares
39 Dusty Lout
25 Roy Petty
114 Ryan Bohnstedt
14x Barry Hornbeck
116 Tim Mooman
86j Travis Johnson
55d Andy Deterding
76 Anthony McCollom
86 Jesse Buntin
14 Gary Cox

LCQ 4
8 Chase Allen
28x Jason Ingalls
6s Kyle Slader
77x Garrett Gregory
325 Mike Martin
74 Kevin Snow
48 Randy Bohnstedt
11 Jeff Allgayer
221 Keith Burnett
77b Bryan Bolden
2w Paul White
4 Bo Day
9 Shane Hebert
62m Tim McDonald
56 Darin Busch

By J M Hallas

Shryock, Gieber take Friday’s Port-a-Cool Texas World Dirt Track Qualifiers

by J M Hallas

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