DONNELLSON, Iowa — Zane DeVault made the most of his first start with the Sprint Invaders.
The Plymouth, Ind., driver inherited the lead with eight laps to go and won the $3,000 main event at Lee County Speedway. The win came aboard the Jeremy Scadden Construction No. 6z.
Tim Estenson looked good, leading early in the 25-lap feature over DeVault, Kameron Key, Bret Tripplett and Devon Dobie. While Tripplett and Dobie traded fourth, Estenson was entering lapped traffic on lap six. A lap later, Dobie’s good run ended when he lost a right rear wheel to the parking lot. Gage Pulkrabek also slowed and exited.
Estenson led DeVault, Key, Tripplett and Jamie Ball back to green. A lap later, Dustin Clark spun, bringing another yellow. Both Ball and Cam Martin got by Tripplett and exchanged the fourth spot in a good duel once the race went green again. On lap 11, Ryan Jamison contacted the frontstretch wall, bringing another caution.
Once again, Estenson had open track ahead of him, trailed by DeVault, Key, Martin and Ball. Estenson hit lapped traffic on lap 17, and DeVault reeled him in and things were really getting good when Josh Higday slowed to bring yet another slowdown.
A lap after that restart, Estenson jumped the turn two cushion and flipped, surrendering his lead. He was uninjured.
DeVault inherited the lead after an open red flag for fuel. Key was second, ahead of Ball, Martin and Paul Nienhiser. While Ball battled past Key for the second spot, DeVault increased his lead and won going away, hitting traffic with two to go.
DeVault’s win came ahead of Ball, Key, Martin and Nienhiser.
“It’s pretty great,” said DeVault. “It’s just Hunter and me here tonight. We’ve been busting out butt back there and the Ivy’s helped us. We’ve just put this deal together and run a couple of nights. It’s good to come back after flipping at Lucas Oil last weekend. We were so good in lapped traffic, we just couldn’t get there. I was following Tim, but I knew he was flirting with (the wall) coming off of two. I tried to stay off that, and my car was so good, I didn’t have to get up there. I could run him down in lapped traffic, and I felt he was pushing it so hard. I was just trying to show a nose, and keep pressure on him. He ended up making a mistake.”
“It’s nice getting back racing,” said Ball. “I’m driving a different car than I have my whole career. We have a better setup for it, and I’m just super-comfortable. Literally, everywhere we’ve gone, we’ve gone forward. It’s been fun to get to these tracks outside of Knoxville and just let it hang out a little bit. Cam (Martin) is a great talent. The things he’s been able to do in a few short years has been incredible. We were just really good on the restarts. I was able to get a good drive off of two on the bottom. That would set me up for three and four. We had some lucky breaks, but to go from fifth to second…I’m happy with that. I run the bottom at Knoxville, so to be able to go up and run the wall here gives me confidence going into tomorrow and Lake Ozark later in the year.”
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. 6z, Zane DeVault, Plymouth, IN (2) 2. 4w, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (5) 3. 22x, Kameron Key, Warrensburg, MO (3) 4. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (13) 5. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (12) 6. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (15) 7. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (7) 8. 6R, Ryan Bunton, Lincoln, IL (18) 9. 99, Bret Tripplett, Lincoln, IL (4) 10. 6, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (9) 11. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (16) 12. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (11) 13. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (23) 14. 40, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (19) 15. 14m, Randy Martin, California, MO (10) 16. 96, Jake Blackhurst, Hanna City, IL (22) 17. 28, Luke Verardi, Taylorville, IL (17) 18. 4x, Chase Richards, Burlington, IA (25, prov.) 19. 20I, Kelsey Ivy, Fremont, OH (21) 20. 14T, Tim Estenson, Fargo, ND (1) 21. 1E, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (24) 22. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (14) 23. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (20) 24. 23, Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH (6) 25. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (8).