ODESSA, Mo. — Jason Martin has knocked on the door of the previous pair of Lubbock Wrecker Service 305 Sprint Car Nationals with back-to-back runner-up finishes.
The Liberal, Kan., native finished the job Saturday night at I-70 Motorsports Park, topping the 30-lap championship finale of the fifth annual event, a victory that proved to be worth $4,250 including lap money to push his overall take for the three-day event to $5,225.
“I was a little bummed when I pulled the six for the Dash,” Martin said. “But I also knew that it was a long race and I had time to get there, I just had to rely upon my experience.”
Gridding the feature fourth after gaining a pair of positions in the Weld Racing Pole Dash, Martin moved the Myers-powered Rezac Concrete/Trucks Plus/Bybee Electric No. 5x Eagle into second on the opening round and set his sights on pole starter and early leader Ty Williams.
Williams kept Martin and the battling duo of Zach Blurton and Luke Cranston at bay in the initial rounds before approaching a gaggle of lapped cars a half-dozen laps in.
Martin and company got bogged down briefly, allowing Williams to slip away to a half straightaway lead.
“There were some of those guys racing side-by-side and there just wasn’t anywhere to go,” Martin explained.
Once free of that pack, Martin chipped away at Williams’ advantage and pounced when Williams ran afoul of traffic.
Martin weathered one caution after 19 laps for a slowing car and then adeptly worked through traffic in the final circuits to secure the win.
Blurton finished second, with Williams, Cranston and Jeremy Huish rounding out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 5x-Jason Martin (4) [$4,250], 2. 2J-Zach Blurton (3) [$2,160], 3. 911-Ty Williams (1) [$2,580], 4. 20-Luke Cranston (6) [$1,040], 5. 88J-Jeremy Huish (8) [$800], 6. 45x-Kyler Johnson (2) [$700], 7. 7c-Toby Chapman (5) [$650], 8. 45-Monty Ferreira (10) [$600], 9. 63-Randy Martin (9) [$550], 10. 76-Jay Russell (7) [$500], 11. 19-Alfred Galedridge, Jr. (14) [$475], 12. 1p-Curtis Evans (12) [$450], 13. 43-Jake Greenwood (15) [$425], 14. 4-Josh Poe [$400], 15. 15-Jack Potter (14) [$400], 16. 91-Steven Russell (19) [$400}, 17. 20d-Jacob Dye (17) [$400], 18. 36c-Camdin Couch (20) [$400], 19. 38-Kevin Frisbie (21) [$400, 20. 9-John Webster (13) [$400], 21. 75-Cash Beeson (16) [$400], 22. 36-Chris Couch (22) [$400], 23. 1-Greg Murry (DNS).