DAVENPORT, Iowa — The Hawkeye State officially has a new King of the Cornfields, as Garrett Alberson backed up his thrilling victory on Friday night with another Lucas Oil MLRA victory in the finale of the Corn State Nationals at the Davenport Speedway on Saturday night.
This time around Alberson had to roll from third on the starting grid for the 40-lap affair behind from row starters Tyler Bruening and last nights runner up Dennis Erb Jr. Bruening grabbed the nights MyRacePass Fast Time award and was able to take advantage of his pole position to lead the opening circuits. The first of two cautions waved on lap eight when Chad Mahder slowed on the race track with a flat right rear tire.
On the restart it was fourth-starting Brandon Sheppard moving ahead of Erb Jr. for the runner up spot while Alberson also snuck by to grab third. The final caution of the night was a big one in regards to the championship picture, as Dillon McCowan made contact with Midwest Sheet Metal Point Leader Chad Simpson, resulting in both drivers suffering irreparable damages that would sideline both from the event. Simpson and McCowan would be scored in 23rd and 24th respectively in the final run down.
On the ensuing restart Bruening would once again put distance between himself and the field, running the narrow top side cushion of the ¼ mile while Alberson and Sheppard continued to battle for podium position. On lap 23, Alberson was able to pin his Longhorn chassis to the bottom of the speedway and grab the race lead from Bruening exiting turn two.
For the second night in a row Alberson had to make all the right moves in a battle with lapped traffic, and was able to hold off a pair of late race advances by Sheppard to score the $10,000 victory. Sheppard had an opportunity late after clearing lapped traffic, but was not able to close to within striking distance and settled for second. Bruening ended his night with an MLRA career best third-place finish. Tyler Erb raced his way from eighth on the grid to fourth, while McKay Wenger rounded out the top five in his first MLRA start of the season.
“I knew early I would have to get up there and burn that top in with them guys and just keep the speed up, that’s typically just how it goes it seems like,” explained Alberson. “I was hoping I would be the guy that found the bottom at the right time. It looked pretty wet down there when we got going, cautions just kind of fell my way right there with positioning and all.”
“I think I just fell into the right places at the right time. I knew the lane was probably going to change somewhere in there and you know I was trying to be smart with my tires. They did a great job with the track prep, it was transitioning and moving and dirt was flying it was just awesome. I’m super proud of my guys. I don’t know if this is what I expected coming into the weekend, but this is really cool.”
“It’s just such a pleasure to drive for them,” noted Alberson of car owners Ken and Beth Roberts. It’s cool to come and represent them here well. They have a lot of history in this area and it’s just really special. I’m really glad I could finally do a little bit for them at Davenport.”
$5,000 was on the line in the Wangelin’s Auto IMCA Modified A-main. All 31 cars started the feature with their eyes on the first-place prize. Trevor Fitz found himself in victory lane with plenty of gas money for the drive home.
Cary Brown took home the win in Koehler Electric Outlaw Street Stock action. Tony Olson was the victor in the D&K Home Products – IMCA SportMod feature.
Feature Finish (40 Laps)
1. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 3. 16T-Tyler Bruening[1]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[8]; 5. 99W-Mckay Wenger[9]; 6. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[10]; 7. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[11]; 8. 99F-Frank Heckenast Jr[13]; 9. 19-Dustin Sorensen[7]; 10. 28JR-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 12. 15D-Justin Duty[16]; 13. 17SS-Brenden Smith[14]; 14. 11-Jeff Herzog[24]; 15. 1M-Mike Mataragas[19]; 16. 22H-Dustin Hodges[12]; 17. 17-Tim Simpson[17]; 18. 15C-Curt Schroeder[18]; 19. 78S-Steve Stultz[26]; 20. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[25]; 21. 51F-Matt Furman[21]; 22. (DNF) 29D-Spencer Diercks[22]; 23. (DNF) 25-Chad Simpson[6]; 24. (DNF) 8-Dillon McCowan[15]; 25. (DNF) 55C-Chad Mahder[20]; 26. (DNF) 32-Chris Simpson[23]