WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa — Zane DeVault walked away with the $5,000 prize in Saturday’s “Fall Haul” at the 34 Raceway.
It took perseverance after a two-and-a-half-hour delay and some white knuckle driving in traffic, but the Plymouth, Indiana brought home his second Sprint Invaders win in as many nights. He also captured the $3,000 event on Friday at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa.
Ryan Bunton finished second and nailed down his first Sprint Invaders championship.
Paul Nienhiser jumped out to an early lead in the 30-lap main event, followed by Bunton, Tim Estenson and Cam Martin. DeVault entered the top five by lap four. The track was narrow and heavy after a two-and-a-half hour rain delay, the leaders were in traffic on the fifth lap.
When Nienhiser stumbled behind a lapper, Bunton snuck under him to lead lap six. Nienhiser bulled his way back by Bunton to the point. Contact was made, but Bunton was able to save his racer and continue in the second spot. Martin moved into the third spot at that point with DeVault in tow.
Twelve laps in, Nienhiser was attempting to lap J.J. Beaver when they made contact. Both cars got upside down.
The high speeds continued as Bunton assumed the lead, ahead of Martin, DeVault, Estenson and Kelby Watt. DeVault began changing to a bit higher line on the cushion. He shot around Martin into the second spot on lap 23. Shortly after, Colton Fisher went up in smoke to bring the final caution.
DeVault used the high side of two to pass Bunton for the lead on the restart, and he began pulling away. His win came by a straightaway over Bunton. Martin tried to emulate DeVault’s high line in an attempt to get by Bunton.He got a bit too high in turn two and Estenson shot by for third with three to go. Watt was fifth.
“Man ,it was close,” said DeVault. “My car owner (Jeremy Scadden) gave me a heck of a car. We made some decisions and the rain kind of messed up our gameplan. That was a pretty good race. I have to give the track crew a lot of credit for getting this in. Hats off to the fans for sticking it out. I went to the top and it worked out. You have to take risks and we did. It got pretty racy. We doubled down this weekend, and that’s good. We needed to get back on our feet and make some money.”
“It was close racing and Paul’s a good guy,” Bunton said of his close encounter early in the race with Nienhiser. “He’s going for the win just like we were. Unfortunately, the track was just hammer down and our car got tight. We gave it everything we had and still came away with second. That isn’t anything to shake your head at, but man I wanted to win. I heard (DeVault) rev up and go around us and I wondered what was under the hood. We’re a family team and everything depends on what is going on in our lives. We didn’t set out to win this championship, we were taking it one weekend at a time. I have to give credit to my Dad (Scott). He lives in Florida and I got him to come up and help me out. We didn’t have a mechanical breakdown all year and he’s the reason.”
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1. 6z, Zane DeVault, Plymouth, IN (8) 2. 6R, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (1) 3. 14T, Tim Estenson, Fargo, ND (3) 4. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (4) 5. 22x, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (6) 6. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (5) 7. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (9) 8. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (7) 9. 1E, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (11) 10. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (16) 11. 6, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (19) 12. 11T, Dugan Thye, Burlington, IA (21) 13. 4x, Chase Richards, Burlington, IA (13) 14. 99, Bret Tripplett, Lincoln, IL (14) 15. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (15) 16. 5m, Collin Moyle, Knoxville, IA (18) 17. 20I, Kelsey Ivy, Fremont, OH (20) 18. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (10) 19. 23, Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH (24) 20. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (17) 21. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (2) 22. B29, JJ Beaver, Knoxville, IA (22) 23. 14, Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (23) 24. 14M, Randy Martin, California, MO (12) DNS – 28, Luke Verardi, Taylorville, IL.