Now a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska, Jason Martin rarely gets an opportunity to race in front of his native Liberal, KS, friends and family.
Martin took full advantage of the opportunity to do just that by leading wire-to-wire in the 25-lap URSS vs. Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Car portion of the “Boothill Showdown” Steve King Memorial to take the $2,000 winner’s share.
“There was some bad boys behind me, I had to be on my A-game to keep them there,” Martin said after the triumph aboard the Trucks Plus/Midwest Linings No. 5x entry over a field of 39 competitors.
After a sixth-place run from 18th in Friday’s preliminary event, Martin earned a position in Sunday’s redraw after heat race action and pulled the pole starting position for the feature event with reigning track champion Luke Cranston alongside.
Martin gunned into the lead at the outset and kept Cranston at bay throughout, surviving three minor cautions in the opening 15 rounds and then one final stoppage after 22 laps when Keefe Hemel and Ty Williams went for a wild double-flip in turn two.
Martin held off Cranston on the final three-lap dash to the stripe with John Carney II tuning up for the NCRA portion of the event by taking the final podium position in third. Jeremy Huish was fourth with Mike Peters rounding out the top five.
Zach Blurton was sixth, with Zac Taylor, Taylor Velasquez, Lance Davis and 18th-starter Tyler Knight completing the top ten earning him the Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Award.
URSS vs. Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 224-John Carney II, 2. 5x-Jason Martin, 3. 98-J.D. Johnson, 4. 18-Brandon Sprott, 5. 74-Barry Crane, 6. 17-Todd Plemons, 7. 24-Tim Snelling, 8. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. (Disqualified: weighed in below the minimum after finishing second).
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 88J-Jeremy Huish, 2. 9d-Lance Davis, 3. 911-Ty Williams, 4. 11k-Tyler Knight, 5. 97-Brian Herbert, 6. 28-Tracey Hill, 7. 83-Austin McLean. DNS: 33k-Aaron Ploussard.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 11-Keefe Hemel, 2. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 3. 20b-Nate Berry, 4. 86-Zac Taylor, 5. 6m-Pat McVicker, 6. 1x-Cody Lampe, 7. 17x-Craig Jecha. DNS: 22T-Mike Taylor.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 10-Jordan Knight, 2. 2J-Zach Blurton, 3. 20-Luke Cranston, 4. 007-Jordan Randles, 5. 33-Koby Walters, 6. 84-Jack Dover, 7. 12-Darren Berry, 8. E85-Justin Pack.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 49x-Mike Peters, 2. 0-Steven Richardson, 3. 49-Kris Moore, 4. 40J-Brandy Jones, 5. 6-Kaden Taylor, 6. 50-Jed Werner, 7. 21r-Jeff Radcliffe.
First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 17-Todd Plemons, 2. 74-Barry Crane, 3. 007-Jordan Randles, 4. 6-Kaden Taylor, 5. 28-Tracey Hill, 6. 83-Austin McLean, 7. 50-Jed Werner, 8. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 9. 21r-Jeff Radcliffe, 10. 12-Darren Berry. DNS: 22T-Mike Taylor.
Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 18-Brandn Sprott, 2. 97-Brian Herbert, 3. 20J-Brandy Jones, 4. 6-Pat McVicker, 5. 17x-Craig Jecha, 6. 1x-Cody Lampe, 7. 33k-Aaron Ploussard, 8. 24-Tim Snelling, 9. E85-Justin Pack, 10. 84-Jack Dover (Disqualified: weighed in below the minimum after finishing second).
“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 5x-Jason Martin (1), 2. 20-Luke Cranston (2), 3. 224-John Carney II (5), 4. 88J-Jeremy Huish (4), 5. 49x-Mike Peters (9), 6. 2J-Zach Blurton (10), 7. 86-Zac Taylor (11), 8. 21x-Taylor Velasquez (12), 9. 9d-Lance Davis (13), 10. 11k-Tyler Knight (18), 11. 49-Kris Moore (16), 12. 0-Steven Richardson (8), 13. 10-Jordan Knight (7), 14. 97-Brian Herbert (22), 15. 33-Koby Walters (17), 16. 17-Todd Plemons (19), 17. 11-Keefe Hemel (3), 18. 911-Ty Williams (6), 19. 20J-Brandy Jones (24), 20. 20b-Nate Berry (15), 21. 74-Barry Crane (21), 22. 18-Brandon Sprott (20), 23. 007-Jordan Randles (23), 24. 98-J.D. Johnson (14 – DNS).