Inside Line Promotions, JETMORE, Kan. (May 29) – It has been anything but a winning season for Brady Bacon.
Entering Sunday’s race at The Great American Dirt Track in Jetmore, Kan., last year’s ASCS National Tour runner-up had a string of DNFs and hadn’t found Victory Lane during this trying season.
However, on a night with howling winds and fierce tempers, the 21-year-old notched his first win of the season in a wild 30-lap feature during the finale of the 3rd annual Steve King Memorial presented by The Oil Medics.
Bacon inherited the lead when contact between Brian Brown and Derek Drown, who were in the top two positions, sent the duo spinning in turn four with approximately 10 laps remaining in the ASCS Sooner Region/NCRA feature.
The Broken Arrow, Okla., native then outlasted Saturday’s winner Jack Dover to pick up the victory on a night with strong gusts that effected the competition.
“The wind made it really tricky,” he said. “You had to do some stuff a little different to compensate for the wind.”
The track was dry all night, making the bottom the coveted piece of real estate in the fature. Brown, who started second, led from the first turn on the opening lap until the contact with Drown late in the race. That opened the door for Bacon and Dover, who traded the lead after the restart on back-to-back laps before Bacon led the final half dozen laps.
“This place is just really good to us,” said Bacon, who has won three of his last four races at the Steve King Memorial after sweeping it last season.
“This is the place that turned my season around last year and hopefully it will turn it around this season.”
Dover finished second and earned the title of overall champion, which awarded him a $2,000 bonus and a unique pedal car as a trophy.
“That helps us out a lot,” he said. “We weren’t even sure about coming out here with the way fuel prices are.”
Drown, who crossed the finish line third, was disqualified for a second straight night for failing inspection. Garry Lee Maier was awarded the position, with Danny Wood and C.J. Johnson rounding out the top five, respectively.
Jeremy Campbell was sixth, Colton Treharn finished seventh, Ryan Roberts ended eighth, Preston Peebles III placed ninth and Jon Freeman earned a top 10.
Roberts and Freeman claimed victories in the two B Mains, with Roberts recording the win after Zach Chappell was disqualified.
Bacon, Treharn, Dover, Brown and Taylor Velasquez topped the heat races.
Results from The Great American Dirt Track:
Heat races (top 14 in passing points to the feature, balance to two “B” Mains):
Heat One (8 laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 81-Danny Wood, 3. 18r-Ryan Roberts, 4. 03-Joe Wood Jr., 5. 20-Luke Cranston, 6. 22-Koby Barksdale, 7. 33-Kris Miller, 8. 85-Forrest Sutherland.
Heat Two (8 laps): 1. 77-Colton Treharn, 2. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 3. 11c-Matt Covington, 4. 81x-Jon Freeman, 5. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 6. 81au-Gavin Punch, 7. 74-Zack Merritt, 8. 165-Haley Arnold.
Heat Three (8 laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 3. 51-Mike Peters, 4. 100-Zach Chappell, 5. 77y-Russ Yeager, 6. 36-Jason Martin, 7. 22k-Kevin Barksdale (DNS), 8. 110-Cameron Hagin (DNS).
Heat Four (8 laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 19-Patrick Stasa, 3. e85-Jeremy Campbell, 4. 21c-Justyn Cox, 5. 0c-Preston Peebles III, 6. 0-Steven Richardson, 7. 91-Jeff Stasa.
Heat Five (8 laps): 1. 21t-Taylor Velasquez, 2. 7-Michelle Decker, 3. 74b-Derek Drown, 4. 27-Andy Shouse, 5. 35g-Barry Gifford, 6. 31L-Lee Little, 7. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
“B” Mains (Top 3 from each advance to the feature):
First “B” Main (12 laps): 1. 18r-Ryan Roberts, 2. 51-Mike Peters, 3. 0c-Preston Peebles III, 4. 20-Luke Cranston, 5. 36-Jason Martin, 6. 0-Steven Richardson, 7. 31L-Lee Little, 8. 35g-Barry Gifford, 9. 22k-Kevin Barksdale, 10. 100-Zach Chappell, 11. 18-Tony Bruce Jr. (DNS), 12. 85-Forrest Sutherland (DNS).
Second “B” Main (12 laps): 1. 81x-Jon Freeman, 2. 11c-Matt Covington, 3. 21c-Justyn Cox, 4. 03-Joe Wood Jr., 5. 81au-Gavin Punch, 6. 22-Koby Barksdale, 7. 33-Kris Miller, 8. 165-Haley Arnold, 9. 91-Jeff Stasa, 10. 77y-Russ Yeager, 11. 74-Zack Merritt, 12. 110-Cameron Hagin (DNS).
Feature (30 laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 4. 81-Danny Wood, 5. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 6. e85-Jeremy Campbell, 7. 77-Colton Treharn, 8. 18r-Ryan Roberts, 9. 0c-Preston Peebles III, 10. 81x-Jon Freeman, 11. 19-Patrick Stasa, 12. 7-Michelle Decker, 13. 11c-Matt Covington, 14. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 15. 21c-Justyn Cox, 16. 21t-Taylor Velasquez, 17. 27-Andy Shouse, 18. 51-Mike Peters, 19. 21-Brian Brown, 20. 74b-Derek Drown.