Park City, KS (April 8, 2022) – Taking control from the drop of the green flag, Bobby Piece paced the field for the entire 30 laps enroute to winning the MLRA season opener at the 81 Speedway on Friday night. Pierce had to survive multiple restarts during the main event before cashing in on the $5,000 top prize.

Tad Pospisil dominated the early part of the night, setting a new track record in DirtonDirt.com qualifying with a lap of 16.402 seconds and followed that up with a heat race win to put him on the Illini Racing & Supply Pole Position. At the onset of the feature, Pierce made the move of the night on the initial lap grabbing track position heading into turn three, and powering past Pospisil and fellow front row starter Rodney Sanders for the lead at the flag stand.

Pierce quickly distanced himself from the pack, building up a 2.44 second advantage before the races first caution waved on lap 11 when defending series champion Tony Jackson, Jr. slowed on the race track. Jackson ended up the night being scored in the 24th finishing position.

On the restart Pierce took a low line off the exit of four, which opened up the top side for Gustin before Pierce cut off the run near the flag stand. With Pierce defending the top spot from Ryan Gustin, it allowed Rodney Sanders to sneak past both drivers and take the top spot off the exit of turn two. Unfortunatley for Sanders, the caution would fly before the lap was completed for a spin by Terry Phillips, giving the top spot back to Pierce.

The nights final caution waved on lap 15 when Chase Junghans and fourth place running Kolby Vandenbergh made contact in turn four, resulting in Vandenbergh going around. After a visit to the hot pit Vandenbergh rebounded to finish 14th, enough to score Sunoco Race Fuel Rookie of the Race honors.

Pierce led the final 15 laps caution free to score his 10th career Lucas Oil MLRA win by a dominating 5.087 seconds over Gustin. Chase Junghans grabbed the final podium spot at the line, advancing 10 spots from his 13th starting spot.  Sanders hung on for fourth while Johnny Scott rounded out the top five.

 

In Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Victory Lane, Pierce comment on the early re-start with Sanders and Gustin. “The first one when Rodney got by me that was bad, and it would have been hard to get back by him that’s for sure. You have so much speed going into turn one and it’s such a tricky corner here and I knew everyone was struggling with it, it was really slick getting in.”

Pierce had to adjust his racing line during the feature event, following a low line in turns one and two while hustling the high line in three and four. “I really love it when a track is like that, it makes it challenging and really makes the restarts pretty hard. All in all, it was a great race track tonight. I felt like it was very racey and I felt like I could have came from the back, and as a racer that’s all you can ask for.”

Night number two of the Heartland Hustle continues on Saturday night at the 81 Speedway, with the running of the Heartland Hustle 40 which will put a $7,000 pay day on the line.

Eighty One Speedway Contingencies 4/8/22
Lap Leaders – Pierce ( 1-30 )
Cautions – 3
DirtonDirt.com “Overall Fast Time Award” – Tad Pospisil ( 16.402sec.)
Illini Racing & Supply "Pole Award" – Tad Pospisil
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race – Bob Pierce
Hooker Harness "11th Place Finisher" – Darrel Lannigan
Performance Bodies "Performer of the Race" – Bobby Pierce
Sunoco “Rookie of the Race” – Kolby Vandenbergh
Swift Springs “Move of the Race” – Ryan Gustin
Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" – Bobby Pierce

 

A Feature 1 30 Laps | Cedar Creek Beef Jerky
1. 32P-Bobby Pierce[3]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans[13]; 4. 20-Rodney Sanders[2]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott[9]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[11]; 7. 2S-Stormy Scott[10]; 8. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 9. 25-Chad Simpson[7]; 10. 49T-Jake Timm[14]; 11. 56L-Darrell Lanigan[18]; 12. 93-Mason Oberkramer[23]; 13. 10-Jacob Magee[20]; 14. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[6]; 15. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[17]; 16. 15-Justin Duty[24]; 17. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[19]; 18. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[21]; 19. 11H-Jeff Herzog[12]; 20. 76-Blair Nothdurft[16]; 21. 30-Todd Cooney[5]; 22. (DNF) 3-Brennon Willard[25]; 23. (DNF) 75-Terry Phillips[15]; 24. (DNF) 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[8]; 25. (DNF) 92S-Dan Smith[22]

B Feature 1 10 Laps | 00:04:13.428
1. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[2]; 2. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[1]; 3. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 4. 15-Justin Duty[5]; 5. 99L-Scott Lewis[4]; 6. 93-Mason Oberkramer[8]; 7. 1X-Aaron Marrant[7]; 8. 14W-Dustin Walker[6]; 9. 7D-Dusty Leonard[10]; 10. 6C-Cale Osborn[9]; 11. B1-Dustin Bolster[12]; 12. 92-Delbert Smith[11]

B Feature 2 10 Laps | 00:04:24.238
1. 56L-Darrell Lanigan[1]; 2. 10-Jacob Magee[2]; 3. 92S-Dan Smith[4]; 4. 6H-Al Humphrey[3]; 5. 3-Brennon Willard[7]; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell[11]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 8. 47-Chris Bratcher[5]; 9. 10 4-Adam Popp[8]; 10. 60-Jonathan Lindberg[10]; 11. (DNS) 60H-Kip Hughes

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:11:29.759
1. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 2. 30-Todd Cooney[3]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott[2]; 4. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 5. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 7. 15-Justin Duty[8]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant[7]; 9. 6C-Cale Osborn[9]; 10. 92-Delbert Smith[10]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:40.908
1. 32P-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 3. 32S-Chris Simpson[3]; 4. 75-Terry Phillips[4]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[5]; 6. 99L-Scott Lewis[6]; 7. 14W-Dustin Walker[10]; 8. 93-Mason Oberkramer[7]; 9. 7D-Dusty Leonard[8]; 10. B1-Dustin Bolster[9]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:00:16.509
1. 20-Rodney Sanders[1]; 2. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[2]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 4. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 5. 56L-Darrell Lanigan[5]; 6. 6H-Al Humphrey[7]; 7. 47-Chris Bratcher[8]; 8. 3-Brennon Willard[9]; 9. 60H-Kip Hughes[6]; 10. 50-Kaeden Cornell[10]

Heat 4 8 Laps
1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 3. 11H-Jeff Herzog[4]; 4. 76-Blair Nothdurft[5]; 5. 10-Jacob Magee[3]; 6. 92S-Dan Smith[6]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[7]; 8. 10 4-Adam Popp[8]; 9. 60-Jonathan Lindberg[9]

Qualifying 1 | 00:00:34.503 | Dirt on Dirt
1. 04-Tad Pospisil, 00:16.402[5]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:16.495[4]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott, 00:16.600[9]; 4. 32P-Bobby Pierce, 00:16.608[20]; 5. 30-Todd Cooney, 00:16.674[10]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:16.680[14]; 7. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:16.682[6]; 8. 75-Terry Phillips, 00:16.802[12]; 9. 18-Chase Junghans, 00:16.902[8]; 10. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:16.931[15]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:17.054[19]; 12. 99L-Scott Lewis, 00:17.073[11]; 13. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:17.073[16]; 14. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:17.080[17]; 15. 15-Justin Duty, 00:17.231[1]; 16. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:17.246[18]; 17. 6C-Cale Osborn, 00:17.274[2]; 18. B1-Dustin Bolster, 00:17.287[13]; 19. 92-Delbert Smith, 00:17.338[7]; 20. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:17.368[3]

Qualifying 2 | 00:07:20.664 | Dirt on Dirt
1. 20-Rodney Sanders, 00:16.512[15]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:16.645[2]; 3. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh, 00:16.662[12]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:16.764[16]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:16.915[10]; 6. 10-Jacob Magee, 00:16.986[18]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm, 00:17.067[6]; 8. 11H-Jeff Herzog, 00:17.132[8]; 9. 56L-Darrell Lanigan, 00:17.173[19]; 10. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:17.379[9]; 11. 60H-Kip Hughes, 00:17.795[14]; 12. 92S-Dan Smith, 00:17.804[7]; 13. 6H-Al Humphrey, 00:17.850[11]; 14. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:17.874[3]; 15. 47-Chris Bratcher, 00:17.914[17]; 16. 10 4-Adam Popp, 00:17.933[1]; 17. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:22.826[5]; 18. (DQ) 60-Jonathan Lindberg, 00:18.707[13]; 19. 50-Kaeden Cornell[4]

Media Contact: Billy Rock

For Immediate Release

Park City, KS (April 9, 2022) – The final night of the of the Heartland Hustle at the 81 Speedway in Park City, KS proved to be all Johnny Scott, as the Las Cruces, NM native led the entire 35 laps to score the win in the weekend finale. 

Ryan Gustin led the field to the green from the Illini Racing & Supply pole position by virtue of his heat race win, but it was Scott using the top side momentum off the exit of turn two to take the advantage and lead lap number one of the thirty-five lap affair. With a clean race track Scott jumped out to a 2+ second advantage early on, but Gustin wasted little time in erasing that advantage as Scott began to work lapped traffic.

As Scott struggled to advance through the lapped traffic, Gustin powered to the bottom side in turn two and took the top spot down the back stretch with Scott and Terry Phillips in tow. However, for Gustin disaster would strike seconds later as he slowed off the exit of turn four with a flat tire before the lead group could make it back to the start finish line, resulting in the nights first caution. The caution would be the end of the night for Gustin who was credited with a 16th place finish.

Scott and Phillips lead the field back to the green but just before the same lap could be completed Phillips would go around in front of the field off the exit of turn four resulting in a pile up that would involve 8+ cars including defending series champion Tony Jackson Jr. With Phillips off the track Friday nights winner Bobby Pierce assumed the runner up spot, but before the field could take the green he would be forced pitside with a flat right front tire.

The nights final 12 laps would go green to the end with Scott cruising to his third career MLRA win worth $7,000. Gordy Gundecker who started in 6th would come home with a career best 2nd place finish under the Lucas Oil MLRA banner, while Chad Simpson completed the podium with a third pace run. Tad Pospisil finished in 4th after breaking his own track record in DirtOnDirt.com qualifying, while Chris Simpson rounded out the top five.

Scott was all smiles in Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Victory Lane and commented, “Our car was really good, I knew my signal guy Tommy when I got to lap traffic that they were closing in on me, but heck I just couldn’t get around those guys once I got up to them so I just tried to stay there. I appreciate Ryan, he ran me really clean and could have probably moved me a couple of times. Heck the luck we have had to the start of this year, it definitely feels good to finally get a win.” 

Gundaker landed on the podium for the second time in his last three starts with the MLRA dating back to 2021. “Johnny was really good there,” commented Gundaker. “I just didn’t take off as well there at the end but it was a really really good run for us, we had a really good night. You know we struggled last night but came back tonight and put a really good night together to come home second and put it on the podium.”

Simpson moved up to third after starting the weekend off with a 9th place run on Friday night. “Last night we got caught behind there a little bit and made a few mistakes of my own but we rebounded well. The car is qualifying good and I’ve just got to thank my sponsors Ideal Ready Mix, Randy Davidson Trucking, Simpson Farms and just everybody that helps get me here and do this. If we do decide to run this point deal it’s all about consistency and running top five and top three all the time, so tonight is where we need to be for that so hopefully we can keep it going,” concluded the two-time series champion.

Lucas Oil MLRA action continues this upcoming weekend with a trio of events in Eastern Iowa. The Davenport Speedway is set to host the MLRA on Thursday night April 14, with a $5,000 prize on the line. Action will then move to the 34 Raceway in Burlington, IA for a pair of back-to-back shows on Friday and Saturday April 15th & 16th. Friday nights winner will pocket $5,000, leading up to Saturdays $10,555 to win Slocum 50.

Eighty One Speedway Contingencies 4/9/22
Lap Leaders – Johnny Scott (1 - 35)
Cautions – 3
DirtonDirt.com “Overall Fast Time Award” –Tad Pospisil ( 16.104 sec.)
Illini Racing & Supply "Pole Award" – Ryan Gustin
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race – Levi Demartino
Hooker Harness "11th Place Finisher" – Justin Duty
Performance Bodies "Performer of the Race" – Johnny Scott
Sunoco “Rookie of the Race” – Daniel Hilsabeck
Swift Springs “Move of the Race” – Gordy Gundaker
Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" – Johnny Scott

 

A Feature 1 35 Laps | 00:34:42.395 | Cedar Creek Beef Jerky
1. 1ST-Johnny Scott[2]; 2. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[6]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson[4]; 4. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson[13]; 6. 14W-Dustin Walker[26]; 7. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[11]; 8. 50-Kaeden Cornell[25]; 9. 76-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 10. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[17]; 11. 15-Justin Duty[23]; 12. 11-Trevor Gundaker[20]; 13. 3-Brennon Willard[12]; 14. (DNF) 32P-Bobby Pierce[7]; 15. (DNF) 75-Terry Phillips[3]; 16. (DNF) 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 17. (DNF) 2S-Stormy Scott[9]; 18. (DNF) 93-Mason Oberkramer[8]; 19. (DNF) 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[14]; 20. (DNF) 18-Chase Junghans[19]; 21. (DNF) 49T-Jake Timm[24]; 22. (DNF) 1X-Aaron Marrant[15]; 23. (DNF) 11H-Jeff Herzog[21]; 24. (DNF) 20-Rodney Sanders[18]; 25. (DNF) 92-Delbert Smith[16]; 26. (DNS) 30-Todd Cooney

B Feature 1 Sunoco 10 Laps | 00:06:59.905
1. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[2]; 2. 18-Chase Junghans[3]; 3. 11H-Jeff Herzog[5]; 4. 15-Justin Duty[1]; 5. 99-Scott Lewis[7]; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 7. (DNF) 10-Jacob Magee[4]; 8. (DNF) 6-Al Humphrey[9]; 9. (DNF) 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 10. (DNS) 6C-Cale Osborn

B Feature 2 Hoosier 10 Laps | 00:10:30.531
1. 20-Rodney Sanders[3]; 2. 11-Trevor Gundaker[10]; 3. 30-Todd Cooney[1]; 4. B1-Dustin Bolster[7]; 5. 92S-Dan Smith[2]; 6. 14W-Dustin Walker[4]; 7. 47-Chris Bratcher[9]; 8. (DNF) 60-Jonathan Lindberg[8]; 9. (DNF) 7D-Dusty Leonard[6]; 10. (DNF) 78S-Steve Stultz[5]

Heat 1 Midwest Sheet Metal 8 Laps | 00:04:51.503
1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 32S-Chris Simpson[3]; 5. 15-Justin Duty[6]; 6. 18-Chase Junghans[7]; 7. 11H-Jeff Herzog[8]; 8. 99-Scott Lewis[5]; 9. (DNF) 6-Al Humphrey[9]

Heat 2 Hooker Harness 8 Laps | 00:03:40.071
1. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 2. 32P-Bobby Pierce[2]; 3. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 4. 1X-Aaron Marrant[4]; 5. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[8]; 6. 10-Jacob Magee[6]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[5]; 8. 50-Kaeden Cornell[7]; 9. (DNS) 6C-Cale Osborn

Heat 3 My Race Pass 8 Laps | 00:03:50.444
1. 1ST-Johnny Scott[2]; 2. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[1]; 3. 76-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[3]; 5. 30-Todd Cooney[5]; 6. 20-Rodney Sanders[9]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 8. B1-Dustin Bolster[7]; 9. 47-Chris Bratcher[8]

Heat 4 Fast Shafts 8 Laps | 00:09:03.812
1. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 2. 93-Mason Oberkramer[2]; 3. 3-Brennon Willard[6]; 4. 92-Delbert Smith[8]; 5. 92S-Dan Smith[7]; 6. 14W-Dustin Walker[5]; 7. 7D-Dusty Leonard[4]; 8. 60-Jonathan Lindberg[9]; 9. (DNF) 11-Trevor Gundaker[3]

Dirt on Dirt Qualifying 1 | 00:00:32.937 | Dirt on Dirt
1. 04-Tad Pospisil, 00:16.104[7]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips, 00:16.255[2]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:16.310[3]; 4. 32P-Bobby Pierce, 00:16.360[9]; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:16.363[5]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:16.450[1]; 7. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:16.463[13]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:16.472[18]; 9. 99-Scott Lewis, 00:16.490[10]; 10. 49T-Jake Timm, 00:16.533[4]; 11. 15-Justin Duty, 00:16.552[12]; 12. 10-Jacob Magee, 00:16.588[8]; 13. 18-Chase Junghans, 00:16.686[15]; 14. 50-Kaeden Cornell, 00:16.778[6]; 15. 11H-Jeff Herzog, 00:16.794[17]; 16. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh, 00:16.844[16]; 17. 6-Al Humphrey, 00:17.097[14]; 18. (DNS) 6C-Cale Osborn, 00:17.097

Dirt on Dirt Qualifying 2 | 00:00:34.067 | Dirt on Dirt
1. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:16.457[2]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:16.479[13]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott, 00:16.547[16]; 4. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:16.612[4]; 5. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:16.618[14]; 6. 11-Trevor Gundaker, 00:16.716[10]; 7. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:16.781[15]; 8. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:16.792[3]; 9. 30-Todd Cooney, 00:16.875[7]; 10. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:16.975[1]; 11. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:16.985[18]; 12. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:17.091[12]; 13. B1-Dustin Bolster, 00:17.111[11]; 14. 92S-Dan Smith, 00:17.260[5]; 15. 47-Chris Bratcher, 00:17.567[9]; 16. 92-Delbert Smith, 00:17.655[17]; 17. (DQ) 20-Rodney Sanders, 00:16.610[8]; 18. (DQ) 60-Jonathan Lindberg, 00:18.714[6]