SPENCER, Iowa — Elevating his win total to 49 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, Tim Crawley held on for victory at Iowa’s Clay County Fair Speedway during Tuesday’s Deberg Concrete Battle of the Blue Ribbon.
Wheeling the Ronnie Pitts Motorsports No. 1x from outside the front row, Crawley outdueled fellow tour veteran Wayne Johnson through the first two turns.
Chased on the cushion by Blake Hahn, the No. 52 traded the runner-up spot with Wayne Johnson through three and four. Able to run under the No. 2c, Hahn went to work running down Crawley.
Slowed working lap four, the race resumed with Johnson again going after the runner-up position. This time in one and two, the result was Hahn, again, able to turn under for silver.
Into traffic with 10 laps complete, Crawley went to work on the back markers with Hahn looming. Into the mix a couple of laps later, all it was going to take was one mistake to shuffle the podium.
Keeping the pair at bay, Crawley used slower cars to his inside as rolling roadblocks to put distance back on his pursuers.
Easing down the track to the middle groove as the race worked to the final seven laps, the shift in line opened the door for Hahn.
Shooting to the curb off the second turn, Hahn pulled even with Crawley, but a slip of the right rear off the backstretch allowed the No. 1x the breathing room needed to land his third victory of the season.
“I wasn’t sure if it was going to take any rubber, but it did, and when I caught that first lapped car, I kept thinking was all it’s going to take is one bobble, and I knew someone was on me,” Crawley said. “The line was so thin; you’d be in the dust, so when Blake run up beside me, I had to get my elbows up.”
Crawley won by .667 seconds over Hahn. The show position went to Johnson for his 171st podium finish. Matt Covington crossed fourth with Kyler Johnson fifth.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 1X-Tim Crawley[2]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson[1]; 4. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 5. 45X-Kyler Johnson[6]; 6. 10-Landon Britt[8]; 7. 24T-Christopher Thram[9]; 8. 44-Chris Martin[12]; 9. 36-Jason Martin[11]; 10. 22-Riley Goodno[5]; 11. 55B-Brandon Anderson[17]; 12. 187-Landon Crawley[19]; 13. 17B-Ryan Bickett[16]; 14. 10P-Dylan Postier[18]; 15. 35-Skylar Prochaska[10]; 16. 88-Terry Easum[20]; 17. 99-Bret Tripplett[13]; 18. 05-Jody Rosenboom[14]; 19. 5-Brady Forbrook[7]; 20. 1CC-Clayton Christensen[15]; 21. 18-Tyler Rabenberg[21]; 22. 10J-Justin Jacobsma[22]