Matt Jaskol of Las Vegas won tonight’s $5,000-to-win, 150-lap MetroPCS Fall Classic Super Late Model feature at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jaskol, Friday night’s No. 1 Qualifier, dominated the 150-lap finale and led almost all laps en route to his first Fall Classic victory.
METROPCS SUPER LATE MODELS: Matt Jaskol of Las Vegas started the 150-lap grind from the pole position by virtue of his fast time on Friday night. The race only was two laps old when the first caution flag flew for a spin in Turn 1. Jaskol led the parade on the restart, followed by Washington’s Shelby Thompson and local star Jeff Connors. On lap 20, Jeff Connors drove to the inside of Shelby Thompson and took Bear Rzesnowiecky with him for third place. Connors then set off in pursuit of race leader Jaskol. On lap 30 the frontrunners encountered heavy traffic with Jaskol smoothly leading Connors through the fray. Hopes for victory died for Connors on lap 35 as his car expired and slowed to a stop in the infield. Bear Rzesnowiecky now was in second place, followed by Thompson. Andy Allen spun in Turn 1 on lap 45 and Connors’ car was helped to the pit area while the field was under caution. Jaskol and Rzesnowiecky pulled away from the rest of the pack on the restart. Thompson, cruising a straightaway behind, was able to keep the lead pair in sight. With five laps remaining before the halfway break, Thompson reeled in the lead duo and created a three-car battle for the lead. On lap 71, disaster nearly struck as Andy Allen spun in front of the lead trio in Turn 4, causing them to spin. Jaskol, Rzesnowiecky and Thompson were reinstated to first, second and third positions but Thompson’s car displayed sheetmetal damage. On lap 75, the racers were given a 10-minute break to refuel their cars and change tires.
The race restarted with Jaskol in the lead, followed by Rzesnowiecky, Thompson, Robert Ewing and Eric Richardson. On lap 78, Rzesnowiecky artfully slipped past Jaskol on the back straightaway to grab the lead. Jaskol patiently waited for an opportunity and passed Rzesnowiecky for the lead on lap 96. Thompson drove under Rzesnowiecky in Turn 4 on lap 112 but ran out of racing room, made contact and spun out of third place. Jaskol found new challengers in his rear-view mirror as Rzesnowiecky and Thompson were sent to the rear of the field. At lap 120, the top five cars included leader Jaskol, Ewing, Richardson, Taylor Barton and 2008 MetroPCS Super Late Model champion Scott Gafforini. The caution flag waved again with just 16 laps remaining when Mike Haslam spun in Turn 4. The top five remained intact but Thompson had worked his way back up to seventh place. As Jaskol paced the field, Thompson took fifth place from Gafforini. Jaskol won the $5,000 first-place prize, followed by Ewing and Richardson.
“You do not know how hard my crew worked,” said Jaskol. “It was unbelievable – everybody pitched in – my whole family, worked on this car so hard. This is what the crew deserved.
“I know times are tough. I thank the whole crowd for coming out.”
LATE MODELS: Travis Irving of Cason, Wash., started the 75-lap Late Model race from the pole position with Scott Gafforini in hot pursuit. Less than 10 laps into the race, the pair was racing through lapped traffic and Gafforini made his move. He stuck Irving behind a lapped car and took the lead, only to see the caution flag fly for an accident. With his pass for the lead erased, Gafforini fell back behind leader Irving on the restart. Gafforini drove to the inside of Irving on lap 21 in Turn 4 and the pair made contact. Irving spun and both drivers were sent to the rear of the field on the restart. Tim Huddleston was the new leader with Gafforini and Irving trying to charge back up to the front. On lap 55, the red flag was thrown when the engine on Brandon Loverock’s car erupted in flame and he spun to a stop in Turn 3 as Gafforini moved into seventh place. Huddleston held the lead on the restart and Kevin Callahan made his move for second place on Chris Bray. With 10 laps remaining, Huddleston began to pull away from Callahan and Bray. On lap 68, Richard Gaudreau spun in Turn 2 and the ensuing caution flag erased Huddleston’s lead. The race restarted on lap 70 with Huddleston in the lead and Gafforini now up to fifth place. Gafforini passed Ray Robinson for fourth place on lap 72. First under the checkered was many-time Irwindale, Calif., champion Tim Huddleston, followed by Callahan, Bray, Gafforini and Robinson.
MODIFIEDS: Scott Winters of Tracy, Calif., dominated the early stages of the 75-lap Modified feature, slicing through heavy lapped traffic while pursued by Andrew Phipps of Simi Valley, Calif. A single-car spin in Turn 2 bunched the field up behind Winters’ Ferrari Farms entry. Winters held the lead on the restart and began to pull away again, only to see a three-car tangle in Turn 2 caused the caution flag to appear once more. The final caution period occurred with just seven laps remaining for another single-car spin. Once again, Winters saw his comfortable lead evaporate. Winters once again put the whip to his mount as his competitors scrambled frantically for position behind him. Winters successfully kept Phipps at bay and cruised to his second consecutive Bullring Fall Classic Modified victory.
LEGENDS CARS: The 30-lap Legends Cars feature was won by Las Vegas’ Dusty Davis, who made the winning pass on the final circuit to snatch the victory from Dan Hemric of North Carolina. Danny Medina finished third.
BANDOLEROS: Jonathan Eakin led every lap to win the 15-lap Bandolero feature. Giles Thornton finished second and Jacob Tilton was third.
SATURDAY PRELIMINARIES: Tom Hynes of Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada, won the Modified last-chance race and transferred to the A-Feature. Ryan Philpott of Tracy, Calif., won the 15-lap MetroPCS Super Late Model last-chance race and transferred to the 150-lap feature along with second-place-finisher Dave Garber of Spokane, Wash. Giles Thornton and Jonathan Eakin won Bandolero heats. The National Anthem was sung by Malia Civetz.
150-lap MetroPCS Super Late Model Fall Classic feature: 1. Matt Jaskol (No. 8.0), 2. Robert Ewing (No. 16x), 3. Eric Richardson (Bakersfield, Calif., No. 21), 4. Taylor Barton (No. 21TB), 5. Shelby Thompson (No. 3), 6. . Linny White (No. 55), 7. Scott Gafforini (No. 38), 8. Zan Sharp (Logan, Utah, No. 84), 9. Jared Vorse (Olympia, Wash., 21V), 10. Mike Haslam (No. 22H), 11. Steve Anderson (No. 32), 12. Dennis Rock Jr. (Henderson, No. 61), 13. Ryan Philpott (Tracy, Calif, No. 52), 14. Rick Taylor (No. 07), 15. Andy Allen (Orange Grove, Calif., No. 22), 16. Dave Garber (Spokane, Wash., No. 93), 17. David Anderson (No. 5), 18. Tony Jackson (Palmdale, Calif., No. 35), 19. Billy Mitchell (No. 21M), 20. Bear Rzesnowiecky (No. 85), 21. Robert Kiemele (San Bernardino, Calif., No. 48), 22. . Dave Quartaro (No. 4), 23. Jim Wulfenstein (No. 12), 24. Dan Rhodes (Yelm, Wash., No. 9), 25. Jeff Connors (No. 7x), 26. Thane Alderman (No. 09).
75-lap Modified feature: 1. Scott Winters, 2. Andrew Phipps, 3. Jay Linstroh, 4. Lynn Hardy, 5. Shelby Stroebel, 6. Doug “Hound Dog” Hamm, 7. Craig Stewart, 8. Charlie Wilson, 9. Jentry Pisca, 10. Tim Lawrence, 11. Tom Hynes, 12. Eddie Laws, 13. Guy Young, 14. Bryan Wordelman, 15. Charlie Wahl, 16. Kelly Peacock, 17. Dennis Wurtz II, 18. Billy Johanneck Jr., 19. Rick Taylor, 20. Scott Osborn, 21. Trevor Boys, 22. Gary Rodriguez, 23. Don Sargent, 24. Jeff Verlin, 25. Mark Ith Jr., 26. Mike Hale.
75-lap Late Model feature: 1. Tim Huddleston, 2. Kevin Callahan, 3. Chris Bray, 4. Scott Gafforini, 5. Ray Robinson, 6. Joe Deguevara, 7. Glen Burke, 8. Terry Henry, 9. Chris Birdsong, 10. Jason Small, 11. Travis Irving, 12. Clay Wattenbarger, 13. Brett Thompson, 14. Brian Koski, 15. Chris Holloway, 16. Miles Copenhaver, 17. Greg Hock, 18. Logan Hanson, 19. Gerorge Atkinson, 20. Dan DiGiammarino, 21. Richard Gaudreau, 22. Mike McKearn, 23. Carlos Vierra, 24. Brandon Loverock, 25. Josh Gross, 26. Branden Giannini.
30-lap Legends Cars feature: 1. Dusty Davis, 2. Dan Hemric, 3. Danny Medina, 4. Jeremiah Wagner, 5. Anthony Medina, 6. Brecken Snow, 7. Brent Scheideman, 8. Wayne Morris, 9. Jairo Avila Jr., 10. Jay Beasley, 11. Scot Eldridge, 12. Dylan Kwasniewski, 13. James “Pork Chop,” 14. Ryan Reed, 15. Brianna Holley, 16.Beau Hutchinson, 17. Alex Pacheco, 18. Paul Vitale, 19. Brandon Snow, 20. Chris Wesson.
15-lap Bandolero Bandit feature: 1. Jonathan Eakin, 2. Giles Thornton, 3. Jacob Tilton, 4. Ian Anderson, 5. Christian Warren, 6. Michael Morris, 7. Chris Trickle, 8. Nicholas Thigpen, 9. Christian Glass, 10. Hayley Lager, 11. Rachel Brown, 12. Kayli Barker.
Friday, Oct. 24, results: Sherard surprise Bomber winner; Jaskol fastest qualifier for Saturday’s Fall Classic MetroPCS Super Late Model 150 at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
LAS VEGAS – Matt Jaskol of Las Vegas was the fastest qualifier for Saturday’s $5,000-to-win, 150-lap MetroPCS Super Late Model feature at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That race is the grand finale for the annual Fall Classic at LVMS’ 3/8-mile asphalt oval.
Thirty-three MetroPCS Super Late Models time-trialed for the 2008 stock car finale and most notable was defending champion Scott Gafforini, who was shut out of the top 16 (21st place at 15.453 sec.) and had to earn a starting position through the MetroPCS Super Late Model heat races. Also missing the top 16 were local favorites Dennis Rock Jr. and Jim Petrie. Last year’s Fall Classic winner Taylor Barton qualified fourth.
The crazy, entertaining 40-lap Bomber feature was won by Ben Sherard. Bryan Gerald started the race from the pole position, flanked by Tom Dittman. Gerald led the first eight laps as the pair battled through lapped traffic. Dittman took the lead on lap 8 in the fourth turn, just as his father, Larry “The Torch” Dittman exited with engine problems. The caution flag appeared at the halfway point when Gerald was spun out of second place by another car. Joe Crouched dogged the race leader during the late stages of the event and took the lead with two laps remaining. Disaster struck on the final lap when Crouch crashed with the lapped car of Jesse Day in Turn 2. Sherard, running in second place, inherited the lead and went on to win. Tom Dittman finished second and Billy Bob Grasser was third.
FRIDAY PRELIMINARIES: Eight-lap Bomber heats were won by Bryan Gerald and Tom Dittman. Dusty Davis won the Legends Cars Dash. The Late Model qualifying races were won by Travis Irving of Cason, Wash., Kevin Callahan of Bakersfield, Calif., Brett Thompson of Jerome, Idaho, and Terry Henry of Bakersfield, Calif. Michael Hale, Doug “Hound Dog” Hamm, Trevor Boys and Charlie Wilson won Modified heats. MetroPCS Super Late Model qualifiers were won by Jaskol, Jeff Connors, Scott Gafforini and David Anderson.
40-lap Bomber feature: 1. Ben Sherard, 2. Tom Dittman, 3. Billy Bob Grasser, 4. Wade Pearson, 5. Anthony Finley, 6. Fred Harding, 7. Harold Sherard, 8. Joe Crouch, 9. Chris Bosley, 10. Bob Carvella, 11. Scott Castle, 12. Jesse Day, 13. Gary Wyatt, 14. Bryan Gerald, 15. Houston Simonette, 16. Jason Gray, 17. Nick Walters, 18. Larry Dittman.
MetroPCS Super Late Model qualifying (top 16):
Matt Jaskol 14.906 sec. Jeff Connors 15.009 sec. Bear Rzesnowiecky 15.025 sec. Taylor Barton 15.028 sec. Shelby Thompson 15.054 sec. Robert Ewing 15.066 sec. Linny White 15.87 sec. Eric Richardson (Bakersfield, Calif.) 15.178 sec. Thane Alderman 15.190 Steve Anderson 15.193 sec. Zan Sharp (Logan, Utah) 15.203 sec. Mike Haslam 15.214 sec. Tony Jackson (Palmdale, Calif.) 15.283 sec.
Andy Allen (Orange Grove, Calif.) 15.292
Dan Rhodes (Yelm, Wash.) 15.324
Jim Wulfenstein 15.354 sec.
