ROSSBURG, Ohio – Taylor Cook rolled the bottom, passed Jacob Hawkins and then held off former NASCAR star Kenny Wallace to win Tuesday night’s 20-lap DIRTcar UMP Modified feature at Eldora Speedway.
Billed as Tuesday Night Tailgate, Cook claimed the $3,000 winner’s share after starting sixth in the 24-car field. He found his way to second in just two laps and then stalked polesitter and early leader Hawkins, waiting for the right time to make his move.
At the halfway point and just getting through traffic, that time came. Cook powered to the bottom and hung tough, while Hawkins tried to roll the outside and keep his momentum built up in an effort to hold the lead.
That effort proved futile on lap 11, as Cook cleared Hawkins for the top spot and never looked back.
“I can’t thank my family enough,” said Cook in victory lane. “A week and a half ago, this car was a bare chassis sitting on jack stands. Our entire family worked their butts off to get us as competitive as we were and I can’t thank them all enough. This is an awesome feeling to be standing here right now.
“To win in front of a crowd like this, it’s a really big deal for us to have this big of a stage to race on,” Cook added. “To get a win at Eldora … period is just awesome. The only thing that would make it even better would be if my father could be here to see this … he’d be in tears right now at this win.
Wallace, who was awarded the win in Canada’s IWK 250 late model race earlier in the day, passed Hawkins with six laps to go and closed down on Cook in the final laps, but couldn’t quite make a last-lap move for the lead and had to settle for second.
Hawkins crossed the line in third ahead of Brian Ruhlman and Evan Taylor.
Ken Schrader came home sixth, while NASCAR veteran-turned dirt modified chassis builder David Stremme finished 10th.
Former Coca-Cola 600 winner David Reutimann started 22nd and fought his way up to 15th.
The 20-lap sprint ran from start to finish without a caution flag, taking just nine minutes and 23 seconds to complete.
Paul Pardo won the Eldora stock car feature from the pole.
The finish:
Taylor Cook, Kenny Wallace, Jacob Hawkins, Brian Ruhlman, Evan Taylor, Ken Schrader, Dean Hoffman, Ray Bollinger, Tony Anderson, David Stremme, Josh Morton, Brian Gray, Jonathan Taylor, Jerry Bowersock, David Reutimann, Ryan Sutter, Dylan Woodling, Jeff Koz, Brandon Vaughan, Mike Learman, Tim Richardson, Lenny Guyton, Joel Dick, Jordan Conover.
