ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. (Sept. 16-17) – Justen Yeager won another rare start and Ryan Gaylord won the race he started at Sweetwater Speedway’s Fall Round-Up.
Yeager topped Friday’s opening feature for Xtreme Motor Sports Modifieds, racing from sixth starting to the front spot 10 circuits into the 30-lapper. Gaylord failed to answer the call when his car wouldn’t start in staging that evening, put posted a dominating flag-to-flag run at the front of the Saturday field.
Both events paid $1,000 to win and were qualifiers for next year’s Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot.
Numerous cautions slowed the start of the opening night feature. Yeager then held off Chase Hansen following a late yellow. Chris Delp, Michael Hale and Bert Beech rounded out the top five.
“I only lost a couple of the races I ran at Sweetwater. I concentrated more on my son Braxton’s program this year,” said Yeager. “It’s hard to take care of two cars. You don’t realize that ‘til you try it and it’s like holy moly, but I think I enjoy helping him more than I do racing myself.”
Gaylord drew the inside row two start for Friday night but became a spectator when his car wouldn’t start in staging.
“I was pretty disappointed. I drew three and thought I had a good car,” he said. “We put a new battery in and started third on Saturday. It was like a total re-do, which was awesome.”
He took the lead coming out of the second turn. The second half of the race stayed green and Gaylord ending up beating Eddie Belec across the stripe by half a straightaway. Hansen, Yeager and beech were scored next.
“Eddie (Belec) and I went through lapped traffic pretty quickly but didn’t push it too hard,” said Gaylord. “The car was good and I was able to get out to a pretty good lead there for a while.”
Winners of Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod features were Jason Wright on Friday and A.J. Fierro on Saturday. Chuck Delp finished second both nights.
Sept. 16 Feature Results
Modifieds – 1. Justen Yeager; 2. Chase Hansen; 3. Chris Delp; 4. Michael Hale; 5. Bert Beech; 6. Eddie Belec; 7. Casey Delp; 8. Heath Denny; 9. Ron Moser; 10. Bryan Wordelman; 11. Kevin Wright; 12. Don Geist; 13. Jim Shoemaker; 14. Kelly Smith; 15. Ghary Smith; 16. Ronnie Roy; 17. Braxton Yeager; 18. Justin Elmer; 19. Rick Chorniak; 20. Rick Fierro; 21. Nate Beacham; 22. Zach Hensley; 23. Ryan Gaylord.
Northern SportMods – 1. Jason Wright; 2. Chuck Delp; 3. A.J. Fierro; 4. Trevor Geist; 5. Travis Poll; 6. Josh Pate; 7. David Pitt; 8. Larry Kaml; 9. Chipita Rowley; 10. Justin Wright.
Sept. 17 Feature Results
Modifieds – 1. Gaylord; 2. Belec; 3. Hansen; 4. Justen Yeager; 5. Beech; 6. Braxton Yeager; 7. Hale; 8. Fierro; 9. Casey Delp; 10. Chris Delp; 11. Beacham; 12. Wordelman; 13. Wright; 14. Reed Payne; 15. Kelly Smith; 16. Chorniak; 17. Elmer; 18. Denny; 19. Moser; 20. Roy; 21. Shoemaker; 22. Ghary Smith; 23. Hensley.
Northern SportMods – 1. Fierro; 2. Delp; 3. Poll; 4. Brandon Breaux; 5. Larry Kaml; 6. Jason Wright; 7. Brandon Phillips; 8. Pate; 9. Morris Duncan; 10. Pitt; 11. Wayland Duncan; 12. Myron Kaml; 13. Justin Wright; 14. Slade Pitt.