Nick Eastin shocks Invaders at CJ Raceway
By Jake Croxton

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, IA (May 27) - Nick Eastin became the third consecutive first-time winner in Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders competition at the CJ Raceway in Columbus Junction, Iowa. The Burlington, Iowa driver took the lead from pole starter Russ Hall on the opening circuit, led the final 19 laps, and held off point leader Kaley Gharst and Larry Pinegar to claim his initial 360-sprint car victory.

“We did it. Finally,” said an elated Eastin. “There’s nothing like it. I just kept telling myself to keep it straight and keep it smooth.”

“This is a deal that got thrown together in the last three weeks – three weeks ago tonight actually,” he continued, after starting second in his Wunderlich Excavating & Plumbing / B&B Auto Body / Bill Glasgow / Automotive Machine / Eagle. “I told my girlfriend and my parents that I wanted to race and that I planned on racing this weekend. We’ve had the car since January and I’ve had the motor for two years now and me and Gip (crew chief Derrick Gipple) started bolting it together.”

Valley Distribution Corporation Shake-up Dash winner Larry Pinegar pressured Eastin throughout the first two-thirds of the 20-lapper. Eastin would get away following restarts at laps 6 and 14 before Pinegar and the rest of the pack would slowly track the leader back down.

“We were pretty good until I tagged the wall and broke the Jacob’s ladder off the thing and then it was just kind of ‘hang on’ after that,” said Pinegar of his third-place effort. “We put a different rear end in it after the dash. It was vibrating and shaking the rear caliper off the thing, so we had to do something.” Pinegar finished on the podium for the second straight event in his Larry Weeks-owned Brownells.com / Wright Welding Supply / Ostrich / J&J.

Lance Gullo gave the crowd a thrill on lap 17 as he rode the length of the back straightaway on the levee separating the fairgrounds from the Des Moines River. Gullo dismounted into a lazy roll in turn three that brought out the event’s only red flag.

The late-race red set up a three-lap shootout with Eastin on the point and series point leader Kaley Gharst joining Pinegar on his tail tank.

“I wanted to make sure I knew how many laps were left,” Eastin commented on the restart. “I knew it couldn’t be many but I never saw the flags cross so I didn’t really have any idea. I thought it was 15-18 probably. I knew our left rear tire was hurt. It was starting to blister and I was hoping that there weren’t that many laps left to try to save it.”

Gharst’s bonsai move on Pinegar put him one spot closer to the leader but he ran out of laps and earned his second podium finish.

“Second’s the first loser, I guess,” admitted Gharst, who take his Hostiowa.net / Bell Helmets / Maxim to Aledo Raceway Park with an extended points lead. “I think if we’d have had another restart we’d have had something for him but he ran a good race and kept his momentum going and we just came up one spot short. We were going wherever the cars in front of us weren’t. It was good on the bottom but that started going away at the end.”

Brian Hetrick had his best run of 2007 and ended a race-long battle with Bobby Mincer with a pass for fourth on the final corner. Matt Sutton came from the B-Main to grab sixth, while Jeff Mitrisin, Korey Weyant, Russ Hall, and Josh Schneiderman rounded out the top ten.

The series will visit Aledo Raceway Park for the first time on Friday, June 1, before making a stop at Quincy Raceway the following Wednesday, June 6.


Results

Car Count – 24
Cautions – 3 – L6, 14, 17 (RED – Gullo flip)
Leaders – Russ Hall 1-1, Eastin 2-20
Laps Led – Eastin 19, R. Hall 1
Highest Finishing Rookie – Jordan Goldesberry (17th)

Contingency:
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Matt Sutton (Started 17th, Finished 6th)
Saldana Racing Product – Josh Schneiderman
Ultra Shield – Matt Rogerson
Diversified Machine – Korey Weyant
Kinser Air Filters – Brian Hetrick
MPD – Kaley Gharst
The Brake Man – Rager Phillips
M&W Aluminum Products – Ryan Jamison

Staats Awards Heat Race #1 (Top 5 advance) – 1. 35 Brian Hetrick, Stronghurst, IL; 2. 00 Larry Pinegar, II, Pleasantville; 3. 3G Lance Gullo, Springfield, IL; 4. 14P Rager Phillips, Pleasantville; 5. 49 Josh Schneiderman, W. Burlington; 6. 29 Matt Rogerson, Burlington; 7. 7 Dustin Selvage, Indianola; 8. 2 John Schulz, Burlington DNS

Budweiser Heat Race #2 (Top 5 advance) – 1. 22X Nick Eastin, Burlington; 2. 51J Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis; 3. 3* Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL; 4. 9X Bart Andrews, Muscatine; 5. 10 Jeff Mitrisin, Oskaloosa; 6. 99W Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL; 7. 3 Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL; 8. 36 Justin Newberry, Burlington

Storm Steel / Abrasive Jet Technologies Heat Race #3 (Top 5 advance) – 1. 15 Bobby Mincer, Burlington; 2. 29X Russ Hall, Des Moines; 3. 99 Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL; 4. 65 Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL; 5. 10T Tim Moore, Rock Island, IL; 6. 18A Dan Avery, Burlington; 7. 53H Matt Harms, Chillicothe, IL; 8. 31P Travis Porter, Rock Island, IL

Valley Distribution Corporation Shake-up Dash – 1. Pinegar; 2. Jamison; 3. Mincer; 4. Hall; 5. Eastin, 6. Hetrick

B-Main (Top 5 advance) -- 1. Weyant; 2. Sutton; 3. Rogerson; 4. Harms; 5. Porter; 6. Newberry; 7. Avery; 8. Selvage DNS: 9. Schulz DNS

CJ Raceway 20 (started) – 1. Eastin (2); 2. Gharst (8); 3. Pinegar (4); 4. Hetrick (3); 5. Mincer (6); 6. Sutton (17); 7. Mitrisin (14); 8. Weyant (16); 9. Hall (1); 10. Schneiderman (13); 11. Rogerson (18); 12. Jamison (5); 13. Harms (19); 14. Davies (9); 15. Phillips (10); 16. Porter (20); 17. Goldesberry (12); 18. Andrews (11); 19. Moore (15); 20. Gullo (7)