Lonnie Wheatley, DODGE CITY, Kan. (September 15, 2018) – Zach Blurton captured his second career Jerry Soderberg Memorial Championship event win atop the 3/8-mile Dodge City Raceway Park by wiring the field in Saturday night’s 25-lap Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars versus United Rebel Sprint Series feature event.
In the 25-lap DCRP vs. URSS Sprint Car feature, Quinter’s Blurton gunned into the lead from the pole position at the outset and led all the way, slicing through heavy traffic over the final half of the race for his lone DCRP win of the year and third URSS Victory.
“The car was perfect, I could put it anywhere and it would work,” Blurton said of the No. 2J entry.
“This one is special, it means a lot to me,” Blurton said after adding the Soderberg Memorial victory to the inaugural triumph in 2013. “I’m family with the Soderberg now and I wasn’t the first time.”
Following the race’s only caution after four laps, Blurton opened up a half-straightaway advantage in short order over Luke Cranston and Jake Martens with the latter working his way into second by the seventh round.
Blurton soon entered lapped traffic but maintained his advantage until encountering a cluster of cars with eight laps to go that allowed his chasers to temporarily close the gap.
But Blurton worked through the congestion diligently and slipped back out to a half straightaway advantage by the time the checkered flag flew.
In his wake, the battle was heated for position with Martens and Cranston dicing for second through traffic. Then, after climbing from sixth on the tenth round, Ray Seemann entered the mix for runner-up honors as well.
DCRP Sprint Car Nationals champion Martens prevailed in the battle for second in Blurton’s wake with Cranston rallying back around Seemann to take the show position. Taylor Velasquez rounded out the top five behind Seemann while Steven Richardson secured the DCRP Sprint Car championship by crossing the stripe in eighth. Jeremy Huish came from his seventeenth starting spot to ninth to claim the Keizer Aluminum Wheels Hard Charger award with Koby Walters rounded out the top ten.
Results
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 48-Jake Martens, 2. 49x-Luke Cranston, 3. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 4. 10-Jordan Knight, 5. 6-Kaden Taylor, 6. 50-Jed Werner, 7. 56-Chris Douglas.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 49-Kris Moore, 2. 2J-Zach Blurton, 3. 7-Shane Sundquist, 4. 97-Brian Herbert, 5. 33-Koby Walters, 6. 4s-Kevin Schramek, 7. 33k-Aaron Ploussard.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 72-Ray Seemann, 2. 98-J.D. Johnson, 3. 0-Steven Richardson, 4. 83-Austin McLean, 5. 11k-Tyler Knight, 6. 88J-Jack Kirchoff, 7. 51r-Ross Essenburg.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 2J-Zach Blurton, 2. 48-Jake Martens, 3. 49x-Luke Cranston, 4. 72-Ray Seemann, 5. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 6. 98-J.D. Johnson, 7. 83-Austin McLean, 8. 0-Steven Richardson, 9. 88J-Jeremy Huish, 10. 33-Koby Walters, 11. 10-Jordan Knight, 12. 7-Shane Sundquist, 13. 50-Jed Werner, 14. 97-Brian Herbert, 15. 49-Kris Moore, 16. 11k-Tyler Knight, 17. 51r-Ross Essenburg, 18. 4s-Kevin Schramek, 19. 33k-Aaron Ploussard, 20. 6-Kaden Taylor, 21. 56-Chris Douglas (DNS).