WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa —The 20th season for the Sprint Invaders couldn’t have started in more exciting fashion than it did on Sunday night at the 34 Raceway.
Chase Randall emerged victorious after a heat race crash, a run from the back to win the B main and an incredible charge from row eight in the $2,000 to win feature event.
Early on, the 25-lap main event was a two-horse race. Paul Nienhiser led early over Ryan Jamison, Chris Martin, Jamie Ball and Josh Schneiderman. Martin would get around Jamison early and was quickly in pursuit of the leader.
Nienhiser and Martin separated themselves from the pack, and entered lapped traffic on the three-eighths-mile by lap eight. With Nienhiser low behind a lapper, Martin used the high side to take the lead by a nose on lap 10.
Three laps later, an infield tire was knocked into turn three, bringing the only caution. While almost all attention was on the two up front, suddenly the crowd set its sights on Chase Randall.
Randall had been a victim of circumstance in his heat, getting upside down after contact from another car. The crew spent the rest of the night preparing for the B, which he won from the 10th-starting spot.
Now he would restart fifth (from 16th) behind Martin, Nienhiser, Jamison and Schneiderman. Randall gained fourth from Schneiderman on the restart, and then made a sensational move on the low side of turns one and two on lap 15, to pass both Jamison and Nienhiser into the runner-up spot.
With five laps to go, Martin and Randall were back in traffic. Randall took advantage of Martin, who was picked by a lapper and took the lead for good to take his first Sprint Invaders feature win.
Nienhiser would recover for second, passing Martin with two to go. Following Randall, Nienhiser and Martin were Jamison and Schneiderman.
“We had to change just about everything on this racecar,” said Randall. “We were thrashing for the B and barely made it out. We didn’t get a chance to set up much, I just kind of went out and drove it. I can’t thank the track enough for getting the show in with the wind here. It turned out to be a good race. The first part of the race, I was slowly picking them off one by one. We were able to get to fifth by the restart. They kind of shot up the track in turn one and left a hole for me. That’s kind of how we got the lead as well. It was just a good race.”
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. 9R, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (16) 2. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (1) 3. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (4) 4. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (3) 5. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (5) 6. 40, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (9) 7. 35, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (2) 8. 78, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (10) 9. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (11) 10. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (14) 11. 99, Bret Tripplett, Lincoln, IL (13) 12. 11T, Dugan Thye, Burlington, IA (17) 13. 28, Luke Verardi, Taylorsville, IL (6) 14. 21, Devin Wignall, Altoona, IA (15) 15. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (12) 16. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (7) 17. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA (8) 18. 9, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (21, prov.) 19. 41, Noah Samuel, Burlington, IA (19) 20. 31, McClain Richards, Burlington, IA (20) 21. 2A, Austin Archdale, Brimfield, IL (18).
Keyword: Randall Romps To Sprint Invader Glory