by Lonnie Wheatley
 GIBSONTON, Fla. -- Travis Rilat made every effort to make it two wins in as many nights of East Bay Raceway Park’s Eighth Annual “King of the 360’s” preliminary action, but it was Altoona, Iowa’s Terry McCarl turning the tables in the latter stages to capture Friday night’s 25-lap O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour presented by Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores feature event.
McCarl pressured Rilat for several laps before taking advantage in lapped traffic to take command on the 16th round. Rilat tried to mount a bid to regain the point, but McCarl slipped away to a six car-length advantage aboard Mark Burch’s Morgan Farms/Engler No. 1m WolfWeld to notch his third career O’Reilly ASCS National Tour feature victory.
“Travis was fastest all night it seemed like, but I had a great car to work with and we got it going best in the feature,” a happy McCarl commented in victory lane. “I had a great time, I hope all you fans up there did too.”
For the second night in a row, Rilat gridded the feature event outside the front row. But this time, it was Ohio’s Greg Wilson to the Texas racer’s inside while McCarl lined up fourth. Wilson jumped into the early lead and paced the opening round, only to have Rilat race underneath him exiting turn four on the second lap. The move was negated however, when the race’s only caution flew for Matt Tiffany’s turn two spin.
Undeterred, Rilat wasted little time on the restart, blasting by Wilson for the lead via the high line through turns one and two. McCarl followed suit, racing past Wilson for second the next time around.
Setting a torrid pace, the leaders encountered lapped traffic after just seven rounds. Rilat sliced adeptly through traffic for several rounds, with McCarl matching his every move, until a quartet of lapped cars at the midway point heated up the lead battle.
Rilat battled past three of the machines successfully, but when he entered turn one on the low side behind the fourth lapped car on the 16th round, McCarl took quick advantage and raced by on the high side to take command.
Rilat kept the pressure on for several more laps before smoke began emanating from his mount. McCarl eased away in the final handful of laps to take the win and earned the pole position for Saturday night’s $10,000-to-win Ronald Laney Classic by virtue of accumulating the most points over the two preliminary nights.
Rilat settled for the runner-up slot, while Jason Sides took the show position for the second night in a row. Nick Smith battled past Wilson for fourth on the 17th round and held the position to the line, while Tim Montgomery charged from 15th to round out the top five after advancing to the feature event through Last Chance race action.
Darren Stewart crossed the stripe sixth, with Wilson, Jerrod Hull, Danny Smith and 17th-starter Sport Allen completing the top ten.
Wright was the 24-car feature event’s only casualty, pulling to the infield with undisclosed mechanical woes while running among the top eight after four laps.
While McCarl earned the pole for Saturday night’s “King of the 360’s” finale, others that locked themselves in as well included Rilat, Sides, Wilson, Montgomery and Smith.
Wilson kicked off the evening by making a last lap pass of Jessica Zemken to top the night’s opening heat race for the 80-car field, with other heat race winners including Sides, Rilat, Tim Shaffer, Smith, Wright, McCarl and Dustin Daggett.
Montgomery, Dustin Lindquist, Wayne Johnson and Johnny Anderson each claimed Last Chance race victories, with Rilat, Mike Brecht, Hull and Wilson scoring Qualifying Race wins. Sport Allen and Danny Martin, Jr., each scored “B” Feature wins.
The night’s first red flag proved to be a spectacular one, as Sean McClelland and Chuck Swenson went for a wild double flip into turn one at the start of the First Qualifying Race, with Kevin Ramey also involved. Swenson, who was the night’s top point earner after heat race action, returned for “B” Main action, but McClelland was done for the night after suffering extensive damage to his machine.
Lindquist tumbled into turn three on the opening lap of the first “B” Main after trying to avoid a tangle in front of him, while Wayne Johnson flipped in turn two in the second “B” Main while battling in a transfer position with Tyler Godwin. There were no injuries.
The Eighth Annual “King of the 360’s” at East Bay Raceway Park concludes with Saturday night’s $10,000-to-win Ronald Laney Classic.
RESULTS
Heat Races – Top 40 in Finishing/Passing Points to Four Qualifying Races; Balance of Field to Four Last Chance Races
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. w20-Greg Wilson, 2. 33z-Jessica Zemken, 3. X-Chuck Swenson, 4. 75-Jesse Hockett, 5. 42x-Sport Allen, 6. 51-Byan Howland, 7. 24-Josh Higday, 8. 11T-T.J. Winegardner, 9. d12-Doc Sloan, 10. 33k-Kyle Patrick.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 7s-Jason Sides, 2. 32-Steve Darvalics, 3. 35R-Ron Blair, 4. d1-Jesse Giannetto, 5. 4m-Mike Chadd, 6. 94s-Wayne Johnson, 7. 11L-Greg Leonard, 8. 02-Bubba T. Lovesponge, 9. 12m-James Mosher, 10. 14w-Sean Walden.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 91-Darren Stewart, 3. 4a-Kenny Adams, 4. 93-Wayne Reutimann, Jr., 5. 46-Jan Howard, 6. 7a-Johnny Anderson, 7. 4-Danny Smith, 8. R19-Scott Winters, 9. 52-Mark Broughman, 10. 12k-David Kountz.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1T-Tim Shaffer, 2. 7b-Brock Mayes, 3. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 4. 12J-Joey Montgomery, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 34-Luke Hall, 7. 35-Brad Best, 8. 47x-Louie Carufel, 9. 28-Brett Burdette, 10. 12-Mike Schroeder.
Fifth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 21T-Johnny Gilbertson, 3. 0-Glenn Styres, 4. 00-Danny Martin, Jr., 5. 36-Jason Martin, 6. 88-Steven King, 7. 43-Terry Witherspoon, 8. 27-Andy Shouse, 9. 94b-Cody Branchcomb, 10. 44J-Abe Sherwood.
Sixth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 9w-Gary Wright, 2. 20m-Mike Brecht, 3. 2k-Roger Rager, 4. 1x-Sean McClelland, 5. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 6. 01m-Tim Montgomery, 7. 20bg-Gene Lasker, 8. 5c-Dan Carrozza, 9. 10s-Matt Stegeman, 10. 88x-Shane Kreidler.
Seventh Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1m-Terry McCarl, 2. 19T-Matt Tiffany, 3. 4c-Tyler Godwin, 4. 01-John Koller, 5. 55L-Dustin Lindquist, 6. 3-Pat Cannon, 7. 20-Frank Carlsson, 8. 29p-Terry Pletch, 9. 71-Keith Rauch, 10. 38s-Alex Pettas.
Eighth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 85-Dustin Daggett, 2. 94-Jerrod Hull, 3. 99-Danny Jones, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 50z-Zach Chappell, 6. 14-Becca Anderson, 7. 12T-Trey Robb, 8. Jake Peters, 9. 96-Rod Craddock. DNS: 51J-John Sauermilch.
Last Chance Races – Top 2 Finishers to tail of the Four Qualifying Races
First Last Chance Race (8 Laps): 1. 01m-Tim Montgomery, 2. 4-Danny Smith, 3. 34-Luke Hall, 4. 3-Pat Cannon, 5. 12T-Trey Robb, 6. 33k-Kyle Patrick, 7. 44J-Abe Sherwood, 8. 47x-Louie Carufel, 9. d12-Doc Sloan. DNS: 94-Cody Branchcomb.
Second Last Chance Race (8 Laps): 1. 55L-Dusitn Lindquist, 2. 14-Becca Anderson, 3. 57x-Jake Peters, 4. R19-Scott Winters, 5. 27-Andy Shouse, 6. 12m-James Mosher, 7. 10s-Matt Stegeman, 8. 88x-Shane Kreidler, 9. 35-Brad Best, 10. 14w-Sean Walden.
Third Last Chance Race (8 Laps): 1. 94s-Wayne Johnson, 2. 88-Steven King, 3. 24-Josh Higday, 4. 11T-T.J. Winegardner, 5. 5c-Dan Carrozza, 6. 52-Mark Broughman, 7. 71-Keith Rauch, 8. 43-Terry Witherspoon, 9. 38s-Alex Pettas. DNS: 12k-David Kountz.
Fourth Last Chance Race (8 Laps): 1. 7a-Johnny Anderson, 2. 11L-Greg Leonard, 3. 20bg-Gene Lasker, 4. 20-Frank Carlsson, 5. 12-Mike Schroeder, 6. 29p-Terry Pletch, 7. 28-Brett Burdette, 8. 96-Rod Craddock, 9. 02-Bubba T. Lovesponge. DNS: 51J-John Sauermilch.
Qualifying Races – Top 16 in Combined Points from Heats & Qualifiers to “A” Feature; Balance to Twin “B” Mains
First Qualifying Race (10 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 2k-Roger Rager, 3. 4-Danny Smith, 4. 01m-Tim Montgomery, 5. 4m-Mike Chadd, 6. 33z-Jessica Zemken, 7. 21T-Johnny Gilbertson, 8. 93-Wayne Reutimann, Jr., 9. 4c-Tyler Godwin, 10. X-Chuck Swenson, 11. 1x-Sean McClelland, 12. 7m-Kevin Ramey.
Second Qualifying Race (10 Laps): 1. 20m-Mike Brecht, 2. 15s-Nick Smith, 3. 7s-Jason Sides, 4. 1T-Tim Shaffer, 5. 35R-Ron Blair, 6. 36-Jason Martin, 7. 75-Jesse Hockett, 8. 50z-Zach Chappell, 9. 55L-Dustin Lindquist, 10. 14-Becca Anderson, 11. 32-Steve Darvalics, 12. 99-Danny Jones.
Third Qualifying Race (10 Laps): 1. 94-Jerrod Hull, 2. 91-Darren Stewart, 3. 9w-Gary Wright, 4. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 5. 42x-Sport Allen, 6. 00-Danny Martin, Jr., 7. 46-Jan Howard, 8. 94s-Wayne Johnson, 9. 85-Dustin Daggett, 10. 88-Steven King, 11. 12J-Joey Montgomery, 12. 01-John Koller.
Fourth Qualifying Race (10 Laps): 1. w20-Greg Wilson, 2. 1m-Terry McCarl, 3. 7b-Brock Mayes, 4. 19T-Matt Tiffany, 5. d1-Jesse Giannetto, 6. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 7. 51-Bryan Howland, 8. 7a-Johnny Anderson, 9. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 10. 11L-Greg Leonard, 11. 0-Glenn Styres. Disqualified: 4a-Kenny Adams (failed to meet minimum weight after crossing the finish line in first).
“B” Mains – Top 4 from Each to “A” Main
First B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 42x-Sport Allen, 2. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 3. 33z-Jessica Zemken, 4. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 5. 51-Bryan Howland, 6. 75-Jesse Hockett, 7. 50z-Zach Chappell, 8. 11L-Greg Leonard, 9. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 10. 36-Jason Martin, 11. 7a-Johnny Anderson, 12. 99-Danny Jones, 13. 21T-Johnny Gilbertson, 14. 55L-Dustin Lindquist. DNS: 1x-Sean McClelland, 12J-Joey Montgomery.
Second B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 00-Danny Martin, Jr., 2. d1-Jesse Giannetto, 3. 4a-Kenny Adams, 4. 85-Dustin Daggett, 5. X-Chuck Swenson, 6. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. 35R-Ron Blair, 8. 32-Steve Darvalics, 9. 88-Steven King, 10. 4c-Tyler Godwin, 11. 14-Becca Anderson, 12. 93-Wayne Reutimann, Jr., 13. 0-Glenn Styres, 14. 01-John Koller, 15. 94s-Wayne Johnson. DNS: 46-Jan Howard.
“A” Main
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 1m-Terry McCarl, 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 7s-Jason Sides, 4. 15s-Nick Smith, 5. 01m-Tim Montgomery, 6. 91-Darren Stewart, 7. w20-Greg Wilson, 8. 94-Jerrod Hull, 9. 4-Danny Smith, 10. 42x-Sport Allen, 11. 2k-Roger Rager, 12. 7b-Brock Mayes, 13. d1-Jesse Giannetto, 14. 1T-Tim Shaffer, 15. 4a-Kenny Adams, 16. 00-Danny Martin, Jr., 17. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 18. 4m-Mike Chadd, 19. 33z-Jessica Zemken, 20. 20m-Mike Brecht, 21. 85-Dustin Daggett, 22. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 23. 19T-Matt Tiffany, 24. 9w-Gary Wright.
“Strawberry Dash for Cash”
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 4m-Mike Chadd, 2. 33k-Kyle Patrick, 3. 12T-Trey Robb, 4. 20bg-Gene Lasker, 5. 47x-Louie Carufel, 6. 44J-Abe Sherwood.
O’Reilly ASCoT presented by Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Points (Top Ten): 1. (tie) Travis Rilat and Terry McCarl 98, 3. Jason Sides 94, 4. Tim Montgomery 91, 5. Greg Wilson 88, 6. Nick Smith 80, 7. Tim Shaffer 79, 8. Sport Allen 78, 9. Darren Stewart 76, 10. Gary Wright 70.
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