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By Billy Rock (Park City, KS) -- 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.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mike Ruefer

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]

For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: http://www.mlraracing.com

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JLR PROPERTY MANAGMENT ROOKIE MODIFIEDS

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 41-Chevy Coleman[2]; 2. 22-KC Mullin[3]; 3. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[1]; 4. 37D-Dakota Dale[4]; 5. 020-Frederick Freeman[5]; 6. 14R-Ryan Quiring[10]; 7. 19-Terry Collins[13]; 8. 47-Doulphus Koeppen[14]; 9. 72-Dickie Koeppen Jr[20]; 10. 29C-Cooper Weis[16]; 11. 93-Nick Tullos[12]; 12. 0-Tyler Humphries[8]; 13. (DNF) 10-Chris Klick[15]; 14. (DNF) 14-Eric Jarvis[11]; 15. (DNF) 86A-Ashley Main[22]; 16. (DNF) 96-Logan Johnson[7]; 17. (DNF) 1000-Ethyn Hafner[6]; 18. (DNF) 54-Jim Roney[9]; 19. (DNF) 64-Dickey Koeppen[19]; 20. (DNS) 93J-Jeff Carrell; 21. (DNS) 17D-Dalton Chambers; 22. (DNS) 15K-Richard Koeppen; 23. (DNS) 28-Eddie Stillwell

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 020-Frederick Freeman[1]; 2. 96-Logan Johnson[2]; 3. 54-Jim Roney[4]; 4. 93-Nick Tullos[3]; 5. (DNF) 29C-Cooper Weis[6]; 6. (DNF) 28-Eddie Stillwell[7]; 7. (DNS) 72-Dickie Koeppen Jr

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 1000-Ethyn Hafner[2]; 2. 37D-Dakota Dale[4]; 3. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[7]; 4. 14R-Ryan Quiring[5]; 5. 14-Eric Jarvis[8]; 6. (DNF) 15K-Richard Koeppen[3]; 7. (DNF) 17D-Dalton Chambers[1]; 8. (DNF) 64-Dickey Koeppen[6]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 41-Chevy Coleman[2]; 2. 22-KC Mullin[3]; 3. 0-Tyler Humphries[5]; 4. 19-Terry Collins[1]; 5. 47-Doulphus Koeppen[4]; 6. 10-Chris Klick[6]; 7. 86A-Ashley Main[7]; 8. (DNS) 93J-Jeff Carrell

AUTOTECH SERVICE SUPER STOCKS

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 24B-David Blocher[4]; 2. 36-Chris Purkey[8]; 3. 164-James Weve[6]; 4. 54-Mike McIlvain[1]; 5. 28-Tim Ozbun[9]; 6. 84T-Mark Courtright[10]; 7. 4-Rick Dunsworth[5]; 8. 35-Jay Purkey[7]; 9. (DNF) 32-Jeff Richey[12]; 10. (DNF) 01X-Beau Davis[3]; 11. (DNF) 67-Austin Ramey[2]; 12. (DNS) 3B-Raymond Ketner

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 01X-Beau Davis[5]; 2. 4-Rick Dunsworth[6]; 3. 67-Austin Ramey[4]; 4. 35-Jay Purkey[1]; 5. 28-Tim Ozbun[3]; 6. (DNF) 3B-Raymond Ketner[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 164-James Weve[1]; 2. 24B-David Blocher[4]; 3. 54-Mike McIlvain[6]; 4. 36-Chris Purkey[2]; 5. 84T-Mark Courtright[3]; 6. (DNF) 32-Jeff Richey[5]

MIDWEST WRAP CO. IMCA MOD LITE

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1JR-Justin Kinderknecht[8]; 2. 22B-Dalton Bell[6]; 3. 01Z-Nick Watts[5]; 4. 22-Alex Loveless[1]; 5. 52-Clayton Hogie[2]; 6. 33-Marlin Hogie[3]; 7. 02-Tyler Wilson[4]; 8. 12B-Bret Towell[7]; 9. 5S-Derrick Sprott[9]; 10. 74-Peter Klassen[10]; 11. (DNS) 3M-Mark Downey

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 1JR-Justin Kinderknecht[6]; 2. 22-Alex Loveless[5]; 3. 01Z-Nick Watts[1]; 4. 12B-Bret Towell[2]; 5. 02-Tyler Wilson[3]; 6. (DNS) 3M-Mark Downey

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 22B-Dalton Bell[3]; 2. 52-Clayton Hogie[2]; 3. 33-Marlin Hogie[5]; 4. 74-Peter Klassen[4]; 5. 5S-Derrick Sprott[1]