MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Tony Jackson Jr. extended his Lucas Oil MLRA point lead on Thursday night in claiming his second series win of the season at Maquoketa Speedway.
Jackson had to fight back after losing the lead early in the going to secure the $3,000 victory.
Jackson rolled from the pole with Hurst alongside on the front row for the 30-lap event. At the drop of the green Jackson jumped to the point but the advantage was short lived, as Hurst powered to the front using the high line in his Roberts Motorsports entry No. 41 on lap two.
Hurst held the advantage and began to stretch out the lead in search of his first career Lucas Oil MLRA victory.
As the field passed the mid-point of the race, Jackson used lapped traffic and a fast XR1 Rocket Chassis to chase down Hurst on the low line to re-take the top spot with 11 laps remaining. The race would go without a single caution flag, as Jackson powered on for the win by a margin of 3.196 seconds.
Chris Simpson used a very fine line on the top side of the speedway to score runner-up honors late in the going from his sixth starting position.
Simpson’s late move to by-pass Hurst for the second spot also earned him the Swift Springs Move of the Race.
Hurst, the defending MLRA series champion held onto third while Garrett Alberson and Chad Simpson rounded out the top five at the line.
“I told them (crew) before I got in that I hate starting from the pole because you’re a sitting duck,” Jackson said. “It was probably a blessing that he (Hurst) got out in front of me because it just kind of showed me the pace he was going to set and it gave me something to go off of.”
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[1]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 3. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[2]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[8]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson[5]; 6. 74-Mitch McGrath[4]; 7. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 8. 49T-Jake Timm[7]; 9. 91P-Jason Papich[9]; 10. 40C-Joel Callahan[10]; 11. F15-Jeremy Conaway[17]; 12. 51F-Matt Furman[12]; 13. 93-Mason Oberkramer[11]; 14. 17-Tim Simpson[16]; 15. 3W-Brennon Willard[13]; 16. (DNF) T22-Tegan Evans[14]; 17. (DNF) 15-Justin Duty[15]