Mitrisin Closes dramatic Invaders finale with second in a row
By Jake Croxton

DONNELLSON, IA (Sept. 23, 2006) – An all-time series high car-count graced the Lee County Speedway as 41 360 Sprint Cars battled for starting positions
in the “Mt. Hamill Elevator & Lumber / Mt. Pleasant Lumber / Donnellson Elevator 25.” When the dust settled, Jeff Mitrisin had his Wares-Harrison Motorsports / Mitrisin Motors / Pro Line Buildings / Eagle in victory circle for the second straight event to close out the 2006 Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders grind.

“We struggled early,” admitted Mitrisin, who moved into a tie for fifth on the all-time winners list. “I didn’t really think we had that good of a car in the heat race and the dash. I just didn’t feel all that comfortable. We came in and made a bunch of changes and changed the car all the way around to where we were kind of basic here. You’ve just got to bang the fence here a little to be fast. I started rolling around the cushion and picked off some cars.”

Bronson Maeschen led the opening two circuits before giving way to 2006 WOW champion Randy Martin. Fifth-starting Mitrisin quickly joined the fray and the trio waged a war on the 3/8-mile oval. As the leaders moved into traffic, Mitrisin swapped lines and positions with Martin before ultimately taking the lead for good.

“I don’t like running second,” Martin said with a wry smile. “Running second to Jeff here is okay. He knows how to get around this place pretty well. He’s got a
lot of laps here. We were really good in the heat race and good in the dash, but we just missed it in the feature.”

The red appeared for Joe Beaver on lap 12, who had a top five go south after contact with the turn four guardrail. Beaver was uninjured. Mitrisin cruised over the latter portion of the event and Martin had to hold off eleventh-starting Bobby Hawks, who earned his fourth consecutive third-place showing.

“We needed to change that a couple of numbers up to one, but we just can’t quite get there,” laughed Hawks. “We came from the back and moved forward, I guess. We were content, but not happy with where we finished. We did what we could and we loaded it up in one piece.”

Hawks said of his rumored plans for retirement, “If I can drive for somebody, I’d definitely do it. It’s just time for my ownership to come to a stop. I want to put up a house and do some things, and you can’t do that and finance a racecar at the same time.” Hawks sits third on the all-time win list in a tie with Terry McCarl.

Meanwhile, the battle for the 2006 championship took several turns during the event. Matt Sutton, who had to qualify and start the event to clinch the title, wired his heat race and finished second in the Mike Campbell’s Body Shop & Towing Shake-Up Dash to Bronson Maeschen. The cars pushed off for the feature, went through the 4-abreast parade lap, and took formation. As the field approached chief starter Donnie Williams’ furled flag, Sutton’s car stopped in turn three with a broken rear end. The alternate was pushed off and Sutton was unable to start the feature. Ryan Jamison, who had to qualify by winning the second B-Main, earned enough points in the feature to bypass Sutton and claim his second series title.

Rusty Potter and KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Rager Phillips rounded out the top five, with pole-starter Maeschen, Nick Eastin, Korey Weyant, Josh Schneiderman, and John Schulz following across the stripe.

The next event for the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders will be a general membership meeting at the Burlington Gym on Sunday, October 15, at 2 p.m. Keep up to date with series news at www.sprintinvaders.com

Results

Staats Awards Heat Race #1 (Top 4 Advance) – 1. Randy
Martin, California, MO; 2. Bronson Maeschen,
Knoxville; 3. Joe Beaver, Knoxville; 4. John Schulz,
W. Burlington; 5. Bart Andrews, Muscatine; 6. Dan
Avery, Burlington; 7. Brian Stansberry, Moulton; 8.
Scott Boles, New London; 9. Johnny Anderson,
Indianola; 10. Rager Phillips, Pleasantville; 11.
Jayson Ditsworth, Gladstone, IL

Storm Steel / Abrasive Jet Technologies Heat Race #2
(Top 4 Advance) – 1. Josh Higday, Des Moines; 2. Korey
Weyant, Springfield, IL; 3. Tyler Thompson, Des
Moines; 4. Tyler Blank, California, MO; 5. Bobby
Mincer, Burlington; 6. Nick Eastin, W. Burlington; 7.
Frankie Heimbaugh, Des Moines; 8. Justin Newberry,
Burlington; 9. Jimmie Davies, Oquawka, IL; 10. Randy
Plath, Stronghurst, IL

Rich DeReu Memorial Heat Race #3 (Top 4 Advance) – 1.
Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL; 2. Rusty Potter, Boonville,
MO; 3. Bobby Hawks, Jacksonville, IL; 4. Curtis Boyer,
New Haven, MO; 5. John Hall, Marion; 6. Mike Trent,
Rocheport, MO; 7. Brian Hetrick, Stronghurst, IL; 8.
Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis; 9. Charlie Gilpin, Jr.,
Dallas City, IL; 10. Mark Widmar, Ottumwa

Ideal Ready Mix Heat Race #4 (Top 4 Advance) – 1.
Dustin Selvage, Indianola; 2. Jeff Mitrisin,
Oskaloosa; 3. Josh Schneiderman, W. Burlington; 4.
Matt Harms, Chillicothe, IL; 5. Robert Bell, Colfax;
6. Patrick Moore, Moline, IL; 7. Travis Porter, East
Moline, IL; 8. Seth Wilke, Burlington; 9. Mark
Tischer, Hannibal, MO; 10. Matt Krieger, Burlington

Mike Campbell’s Body Shop & Towing Shake-Up Dash – 1.
Maeschen; 2. Sutton; 3. Martin; 4. Selvage; 5.
Mitrisin; 6. Potter; 7. Weyant; 8. Higday

Budweiser B-Main #1 (Top 2 Advance) – 1. Eastin; 2.
Phillips; 3. Mincer; 4. Heimbaugh; 5. Newberry; 6.
Davies; 7. Plath; 8. Avery; 9. Stansberry; 10.
Andrews; 11. Boles DNS; 12. Anderson DNS; 13.
Ditsworth DNS

Budweiser B-Main #2 (Top 2 Advance) – 1. Jamison; 2.
Trent; 3. Hall; 4. Bell; 5. Porter; 6. Moore; 7.
Krieger; 8. Tischer; 9. Gilpin, Jr.; 10. Wilke; 11.
Hetrick; 12. Widmar DNS

Mt. Hamill Elevator & Lumber / Donnellson Elevator /
Mt. Pleasant Lumber 25 – 1. Mitrisin; 2. Martin; 3.
Hawks; 4. Potter; 5. Phillips; 6. Maeschen; 7. Eastin;
8. Weyant; 9. Schneiderman; 10. Schulz; 11. Blank; 12.
Higday; 13. Trent; 14. Jamison; 15. Hall; 16. Harms;
17. Thompson; 18. Beaver; 19. Selvage; 20. Boyer

Car Count – 41 (record)
Cautions – 3 (L2, 2, 12* Red for Joe Beaver flip)
Leaders – Maeschen 1-2, Martin 3-11, Mitrisin 12-25
Laps Led – Mitrisin 14, Martin 9, Maeschen 2
Highest Finishing Rookie – n/a

Contingency:
QA1 Motorsports Feature Winner – Jeff Mitrisin
B&B Oval Track Products Pole Award – n/a
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Rager Phillips
(Started 19th, Finished 5th)
Design 500 5th Place – Rager Phillips
Design 500 First Non-Qualifier – Bobby Mincer
Weld Racing Products First Non-Qualifier – Bobby
Mincer
Rainbo Oil Second Non-Qualifier – Justin Newberry
Storm Steel 16th Place – Matt Harms
Saldana Racing Products –Nick Eastin
Ultra Shield Racing Products – John Hall
Jocko’s Sprint Parts – John Schulz
Rod End Supply – Josh Schneiderman
Brake Man –Matt Harms
M&W Aluminum Products – Rager Phillips
Hepfner Racing Products – Ryan Jamison
Velocity Wings – Korey Weyant


FINAL 2006 Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders Standings
Pos. # Driver Hometown Points Behind Wins
1. 51J Ryan Jamison Mediapolis, IA 3,138 - 1
2. 3 Matt Sutton Macomb, IL 3,100 38 3
3. 99W Korey Weyant Springfield, IL 2,999 139 0
4. 15 Bobby Mincer Burlington, IA 2,873 265 0
5. 14P Randy Plath Stronghurst, IL 2,831 307 1
6. 25 Nick Eastin W. Burlington, IA 2,789 349 0
7. 5H Bobby Hawks Jacksonville, IL 2,628 510 0
8. 36 Justin Newberry Burlington, IA 2,589 549 0
9. 10 Jeff Mitrisin Oskaloosa, IA 2,476 662 3
10. 1X Jayson Ditsworth Gladstone, IL 2,450 688 0
11. 53 Dave Anderson Burlington, IA 2,289 849 0
12. 9X Bart Andrews Muscatine, IA 2,273 865 0
13. 49 Josh Schneiderman W. Burlington, IA 2,236 902 0
14. 35 Brian Hetrick Gladstone, IL 2,181 957 0
15. 9 Rager Phillips Pleasantville, IA 2,138 1,000 1