The yellow restacked the field for one final restart, and Blonde took full advantage, surging around Roahrig on the outside and giving quick chase to McCune as the laps started to tick off. By the time the field hit 10 to go, Blonde was on McCune’s tail-tank and waiting to strike.
He got his chance in turns three and four on lap 42, when McCune wiggled and couldn’t cut up in front of Blonde off the bottom, allowing the No. 42 Bingham Farms entry to storm to the lead after spending several laps trying to work McCune over from up high.
That effort would prove to be Blonde’s undoing, however, as his right rear tire wore further and further and he began sliding up the track on the exits of the corners. McCune stayed patient, slipped back by on the inside coming to five laps to go and vanished into the night as Blonde hung onto a fading car for second.
“I just got too sideways (running the top) every lap and it kept burning that (right-rear) tire off,” Blonde admitted. “I’ll tell you what, though – I could run it in so hard, and that’s what got me to Jimmy. It worked for a while, but just didn’t work long enough. If the feature had been five laps shorter, we might have won it, but it wasn’t meant to be tonight. This is still a great result for our team and I’m proud of everyone who got us here.”
Roahrig ended up on the podium in third after leading 17 laps in the first half of the race.
“We struggled a lot in practice with the car being super-tight, got that fixed, and then just got too loose during the feature as the run went on,” Roahrig explained. “The first 25 laps we were really good, and we just lost that edge once we got to halfway. I’m not complaining, though … running (third) to Jimmy McCune and Jason Blonde – two of the best ever in the sport – is nothing to hang your head about and I’m honored to be a part of this with those guys.”
National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Jeff Bloom was fourth and Jerry Caryer rounded out the top five.
Blonde’s fast qualifying effort earlier in the night tied him with McCune for third on the series’ all-time qualifying list. Doug Stepke, Gillenwater and McCune won their respective heat races.
The Must See Racing Sprint Car Series returns to Owosso Speedway for their next series event, scheduled for Aug. 6.
For more information on the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series, including race results, upcoming events and team and driver news, visit www.mustseeracing.com.
Audio with race winner Jimmy McCune:
Audio with runner-up Jason Blonde:
Audio with third-place Tyler Roahrig:
Audio with Brian Gerster following opening lap crash:
RESULTS: Must See Racing Sprint Car Series; Firecracker 50/50; Owosso Speedway; July 2, 2016
Engine Pro Time Trials (best of two laps): 1. #42 – Jason Blonde, 12.962; 2. #50M – Brian Gerster, 13.031; 3. #88 – Jimmy McCune, 13.055; 4. #10 – Chris Neuenschwander, 13.158; 5. #45 – Ryan Gillenwater, 13.230; 6. #81 – Brad Wyatt, 13.395; 7. #22 – Derek Snyder, 13.472; 8. #26 – Jeff Bloom, 13.504; 9. #64 – Tyler Roahrig, 13.559; 10. #75C – Jerry Caryer, 13.573; 11. #12T – John Turnbull Jr., 13.663; 12. #12 – Grant Galloway, 13.664; 13. #9L – Kris Leming, 14.186; 14. #25 – Doug Stepke, 14.286.
Mahle First Heat (15 laps): 1. Doug Stepke, 2. Grant Galloway, 3. Kris Leming, 4. Jerry Caryer, 5. John Turnbull Jr. (DNF).
SpeedPro Second Heat (15 laps): 1. Ryan Gillenwater, 2. Jeff Bloom, 3. Tyler Roahrig, 4. Brad Wyatt, 5. Derek Snyder (DNF).
Engine Pro Fast Car Dash/Third Heat (15 laps): 1. Jimmy McCune, 2. Chris Neuenschwander, 3. Jason Blonde, 4. Brian Gerster.
A-Main (50 laps): 1. #88 – Jimmy McCune [7]; 2. #42 – Jason Blonde [9]; 3. #64 – Tyler Roahrig [3]; 4. #26 – Jeff Bloom [4]; 5. #75C – Jerry Caryer [2]; 6. #10 – Chris Neuenschwander [6]; 7. #22 – Derek Snyder [13]; 8. #45 – Ryan Gillenwater [5]; 9. #25 – Doug Stepke [11]; 10. #9L – Kris Leming [10]; 11. #12G – Grant Galloway [1]; 12. #81 – Brad Wyatt [12]; 13. #12T – John Turnbull Jr. [14]; 14. #50M – Brian Gerster [8].
CREDIT: Must See Racing
