VINTON, Iowa (Apr. 26) – Jenae Gustin used a pass in the final corner to earn top Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod honors Sunday night at Benton County Speedway.
Tony Olson held the lead at the drop of the green in the 20-lapper before Clint Luellen took command following a lap five restart.
Meanwhile, Gustin was working through the field from a fifth row start and settled into second just past the midway point.
With Luellen navigating through slower traffic, Gustin was able to chip away at the lead in the waning laps.
Running the top side throughout the event, Gustin was forced to the low groove in traffic and was able to challenge Luellen for the lead late.
Gustin and Luellen went three-wide with a lapped car exiting four on the final circuit with Gustin able to inch ahead at the line to score the victory. Luellen ran second ahead of Colby Heishman.
Damon Murty earned his second straight win to start the season in the Ron-Da-Voo Lounge & Deli IMCA Stock Car division.
Jared Daggett and Jay Schmidt shared time out front while Murty advanced from row four and into a challenge for the lead just past the midway point of the 18-lapper.
Murty worked around Schmidt to steal the top spot on lap 10, but Schmidt continued to pester the leader until he faded in the final laps.
Murty drove to back-to-back wins to open the season for the third consecutive year on the Vinton quarter-mile. Schmidt and Scooter Dulin completed the top three.
Nathan Ballard also earned his second win in as many weeks in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock division.
Ballard assumed command from Justin Wacha on the fifth of 15 laps to drive to victory ahead of Austin Luellen and Wacha.
Joe Docekal earned his first win since 2013 in the Cassill Motors IMCA Modified division.
Docekal led early until Zach Less powered to the front on the fourth circuit. Docekal was able to sneak beneath Less to regain control at the midway point of the 20-lapper to take the win ahead of Patrick Flannagan and Scott Hogan.
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