Wallace, Cooper, Johnson, and Youngman Crowned Champions
MARYSVILLE RACEWAY
(Aug 28, 2021) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wallace, Cooper, Johnson, and Youngman Crowned Champs
Four champions emerged following the 15th and final point race of 2021 at Marysville Raceway. Billy Wallace won his 4th winged 360 sprint car track title at Marysville Raceway in impressive fashion. Wallace finished the night with a 69-point edge over second place driver Kevin Lovell. Andy Forsberg dominated the 25-lap sprint car main event. The only driver to keep pace with him was Brent Bjork. Forsberg earned his 24th career win at Marysville by negotiating slower cars with quick decisions. The race was slowed only a few times. On lap eight Jake Haulot stopped in turn two to bring out the yellow. Korey Lovell then exited the track with problems. On the restart John Clarke stopped in turn one. A few laps later Ryan Timmons, who held down a top five spot at the time, came to a stop in turn one. The final stoppage happened on lap 17 when contact between Kevin Lovell and William Fielding produced a big-time flip by Lovell. Lovell walked away from the badly beaten-up car while Fielding was able to continue. Forsberg led the final few laps with ease. Bjork ran a solid second. Jayson Bright provided a spark. He started 13th and finished third. It was fun to watch his drive towards the front. Once again Dennis Scherer was fast and finished fourth. Champion Wallace rounded out the top five. RJ Baker finished 17th in the race, but his overall season of work placed him 5th in points and earned him rookie of the year honors.
The Hobby Stock championship came down to a winner take all. Both Jacob Johnson and Jerry Bartlett each won their eight-lap heat race. They entered the main event tied with 405 points. They both decided to start at the rear of the field in the main event. They wanted to put on a show for the fans. For the first six laps they duked it out on the track. Bartlett was ahead of Johnson. Yet, on lap six, Bartlett slowed and made a quick exit to the pits and did not return with a mechanical issue. Once Johnson restarted the event and made it to lap seven, the championship was decided. Johnson won the 2021 track title over his Uncle Jerry by 16-points. While Johnson was the season champ, one could argue the main event champion was Howard Law. Once again Law dominated the race, led all 20-laps, and won his fifth feature of the season. Joe Gillock did a great job and held the second spot for most of the race. Officially, Johnson went from 16th to a third-place finish to win the championship. Kyle Cheney battled his way from 12th to a fourth-place finish. Toby Merrifield is always near the top and finished fifth. Mario Davis finished the race in 9th. He ended up seventh in the overall points, good enough to win the rookie of the year honors.
Todd Cooper and Jimmy Ford each had a great season. The IMCA Sport Mod main event was exciting tonight. Both Ford and Cooper each had a chance to win the championship. At one point, during the first five laps, if the race had ended then, Ford would have won the championship. That is how close it was. Shaun Merritt did an outstanding job in leading the 11 laps of the main event. Behind him it was an epic race between Phillip Shelby, Ford and Cooper, and Cole Fear. Ford held he second spot all the way into lap 12, until Shelby moved from third to the lead in one lap. Ford then passed Merritt for second. On lap 13, Cooper was in fourth, but made the championship winning pass on lap 14 when he moved around Merritt for third. On lap 17, Cooper then passed Ford for second. In the end, Shelby won his fifth main event of the season. Cooper finished second and Ford was third. Cooper won the championship by a mere three points over Ford. Scott Savell finished the race in eighth and narrowly held on to finish three points ahead of Mike Merritt and Shelby for the third spot in points.
Could not have been happier for Dusty Barton tonight. After a long season of ups and downs, Barton led 19-laps to secure the Crate Sprint main event win. Barton was very thankful in his victory lane interview. Jason Ballentine led the first lap but then spun going into turn one and collected David Simms. Simms suffered too much damage and could not continue. Mike Hall did a good job tonight. Hall ran in the second spot for most of the event. He held that spot until lap 18 when he drifted back to a fifth-place finish. Wyatt Van Lare was impressive all night. Van Lare rocketed from fourth to second on the final two laps. Brett Youngman had another stellar season. With his third-place finish tonight in the main event, he captured his third consecutive Marysville Crate Sprint track championship. Cameron Haney Jr. finished seventh in the race, and grabbed the second spot in points, just three markers better than David Simms. Cameron Haney raced his way into a fourth-place finish tonight.
Full results located at https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/1905975
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