MARION, Ill. – Alex Bright dominated Friday’s Bailey Chassis Preliminary Night at Southern Illinois Raceway to lock himself into the $12,000 Engler Machine and Tool Highbanks Hustle finale.
The 2020 Highbanks Hustle weekend finally kicked off at Southern Illinois with 118 cars signed into the pit area. Passing points were awarded in 12 heat races, which lined up six A-Main qualifers. The finishing order of the qualifiers lined up the 30-lap A-main.
Scott Sawyer and Bright were awarded the front-row starting spots for the A-main by virtue of winning qualifiers one and two, respectively.
Sawyer got the early advantage on the initial start, leading the first lap around the eighth-mile, high-banked dirt oval. Bright quickly got by Sawyer on lap two to take over the race lead, while Sawyer made a crucial error on lap seven, spinning while running second.
Sawyer went to the rear of the field, taking him out of contention for the rest of the race.
After the restart, Bright built up a big advantage over Carber, Nathan Benson, Cody Christensen, Harley Hollan, and Frank Flud. Flud had worked his way into the top six early on after starting 11th.
At the halfway point, Christensen made hard contact with the guard rail on the front straightaway and went flipping down the main straightaway towards turn one. Christensen was tended to by the safety crew and was uninjured.
As the second half of the race began, Bright began the process of fending off pressure from second-running Carber, while Benson, Hollan, and Flud were all sitting comfortable in lock-in positions.
After a late-race caution for a stopped Chase Cabre, the best battle of the night began to develop for the sixth and final transfer position into Saturday’s A-main. Dylan Kadous had the position, while Joe B. Miller was all over Kadous’ No. 21L during the final green flag run.
In the closing stages, the No. 20 of Alex Bright was able to hold off Brian Carber’s No. 41, leading 29 out of the 30 circuits to secure the $1,000 to Win Bailey Chassis Preliminary Night feature win.
Benson, Hollan and Flud filled out the top five.
The battle between Kadous and Miller came down to the final straightaway, as Dylan Kadous stayed loyal to the bottom groove and was able to hold off top-running Miller for the sixth and final transfer spot.
By finishing in the top six, Bright, Carber, Benson, Hollan, Flud, and Kadous have all secured their positions starting in the front three rows of Saturday’s $12,000 to win Highbanks Hustle A-main.
For Miller and all other cars that did not run in the top six, they will aim to make up positions seven through 24 in Saturday’s feature. To do so, they must go through another complete racing program all over again on Saturday night.
The Finale of the eighth annual Engler Machine and Tool Highbanks Hustle will take place Saturday at Southern Illinois Raceway.
Saturday’s program will feature heat races, qualifiers, one LCQ, a Big Wheel Dash, an A-main Dash, and the 40-lap $12,000 to win Highbanks Hustle A-Main.
For those unable to attend at the race track, a pay-per-view broadcast will be available on FastFourMedia.com.
The finish:
1. Alex Bright, 2. Brian Carber, 3. Nathan Benson, 4. Harley Hollan, 5. Frank Flud, 6. Dylan Kadous, 7. Joe B. Miller, 8. Russ Disinger, 9. Trey Robb, 10. Jaxon Bishop, 11. Laydon Pearson, 12. Scott Sawyer, 13. Gavan Boschele, 14. Mickey Bullock, 15. Christopher Townsend, 16. Brenden Bright, 17. Frank Galusha, 18. Chase Cabre, 19. Craig Ronk, 20. Trey Marcham, 21. Cody Christensen, 22. Tyler Rennison, 23. Connor Wolf, 24. George Hertter.