BRANDON, S.D. — Austin McCarl, Zach Olivier and Mike Moore kicked off a doubleheader weekend at Huset’s Speedway by reaching victory lane on Sunday evening during Frankman Motors Night.
McCarl took advantage in traffic to lead the final 10 laps of the Buffalo Wild Wings Northern Outlaw Sprint Association and Casey’s 410 Sprint Cars presented by Big Frig main event for his second victory in two starts at the dirt oval this season.
“I felt like it came down to traffic there,” he said. “Gio (Scelzi) was doing a good job of setting the pace. He caught a guy at the wrong time and got stuck in the fence. These races are won and lost in traffic. Even my mom told me before we pushed off that you only need to lead the last lap, just stay patient.”
Polesitter Giovanni Scelzi led the first 15 laps of the 25-lap A Main before contact on the frontstretch while trying to put a driver down a lap allowed McCarl to steal the lead. Four laps later Scelzi slowed to a stop for the fourth-and-final caution of the race.
McCarl quickly built a sizeable lead on the restart as younger brother Carson McCarl and Jack Dover swapped the runner-up position during the ensuing two laps. Carson McCarl won that battle to score the second-place showing and take over the points lead at Huset’s Speedway.
“We weren’t getting the best restarts there,” he said. “We just have to get a tick faster. We’ve been second here twice and I think we have a really fast car.”
Dover’s third-place outing was a season best at the track and his rally from the 17th starting position earned the Simpson Safety Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
“If we can qualify better and put ourselves in a better spot in the A Main I think we have a shot at winning one of these,” he said.
Gregg Bakker posted a fourth-place finish with Matt Juhl placing fifth.
Austin McCarl and Juhl set quick time in their qualifying groups. McCarl, Scelzi, Riley Goodno and Jade Hastings each won a heat race. James Broty was the B Main winner.
Olivier captured his second straight Nordstrom’s Automotive Late Model Street Stocks A Main by leading the final 10 laps of the 20-lap race.
Brandon Ferguson held the top spot throughout the first eight laps, which featured five cautions, before ninth-starting Cory Yeigh used the outside lane to power into the lead on lap nine. Two laps later Olivier stuck the bottom in turn four to drive into first place. He held off Yeigh by cruising through traffic to a win by 1.490 seconds.
“(Yeigh) was so fast up there,” Olivier said. “I couldn’t get around (Ferguson). I hopped up on the cushion and the car just drove really well. I caught (Yeigh) in just a couple of laps. I thought, ‘Well, that’s half the challenge.’ We had a really good race. He showed me his nose. Then we got to lapped traffic and we got to slicing and dicing. That might be the most fun race I’ve had. Huset’s Speedway is back.”
Matt Steuerwald was third with Ferguson fourth. Colby Klaassen charged from 14th to fifth.
Moore led the opening seven laps before the first of a half dozen cautions slowed the 20-lap Wyffels Hybrids RaceSaver Sprint Car Series main event. Brandon Bosma took over the top spot on a restart of lap eight, but Moore reclaimed the lead on lap 13 using the outside lane to his advantage. He then outlasted the final two cautions to win by 0.423 of a second. It was Moore’s first career triumph at the track.
“I’ve been coming down here for about 20 years and racing that 410,” he said. “This is my first win here. It feels great. Man, this car was sweet.”
Bosma posted a runner-up result with Dusty Ballenger rounding out the podium. Stu Snyder advanced from 17th to fourth and Casey Abbas finished fifth.
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