WHEATLAND, Mo. – USRA B-Mod National points leader Kris Jackson earned his 27th victory of the season and eighth at Lucas Oil Speedway on Sunday night during the B-Mod Clash of Champions II.
It was far from easy, especially with worry about a motor that was sputtering over the final dozen laps.
“I got to the lead and when I was passing a lapped car, something happened,” Jackson said of his motor. “It started popping and carrying on. It finally cleared out, but it’s got a dead-miss in it. I was just holding it on the floor the last 15 laps.
“I feel sorry for the motor, but I feel like we needed to win and here we are.”
Jackson, who earned $3,000, finished ahead of Andy Bryant, surviving a restart with six laps to go. Gunner Martin was third with J.C. Morton fourth and Ryan Gillmore fifth.
“I have to thank all the guys who work on the car. We have a lot of fun in the pits, despite all the stress,” Jackson said. “We come in, I feel, with a target on our back.”
Ryan Gillmore started on the front row and led the first eight laps before Jackson, who started fifth, made an inside pass for the lead coming to the finish of lap nine.
Jackson remained out front, as Gillmore and Bryant gave chase with the three separated by less than a second as the trio worked through slower traffic during the lengthy green-flag run.
Jackson was ahead of Bryant by one-half second with Gillmore right behind when the race’s first caution flew on lap 33 after Parker Hale spun in turn two.
One lap after the restart, another caution came out, this one for debris on the track. Jackson had opened up a five-car-length lead as Gillmore and Bryant battled side-by-side for second with Brian McGowen in fourth.
That set the stage for a six-lap shootout. Jackson was up to the task, riding the low side as Bryant tried to make up ground by taking to the high groove.
“Everything was going fine with no cautions, then that caution came out,” Jackson said. “I just knew it wasn’t going to take off right. Normally on a restart I’ll start it real slow because Jim (Ruble) builds such a good motor, I can take off from almost a dead stop.
“I decided since it wasn’t running right, I’d keep my momentum up on the restarts. I thought they’d be coming. I couldn’t help but look up at the (video board) a couple of times and noticed that they weren’t right on me. I just had to keep doing the same thing over and over.”
Jackson finished about six car lengths in front of Bryant with 10th-starting Gunner Martin moving into third on the final lap. JC Morton, who started 13th, advanced to fourth and Gillmore, slipping on the final circuit, wound up fifth.
“You have to give kudos to Kris,” Bryant said. “He ran a clean race and got to the bottom first and went off from there.”
The finish:
Kris Jackson, Andy Bryant, Gunner Martin, J.C. Morton, Ryan Gilmore, Brian McGowen, Jayden Larson, Dillon McCowan, Kyle Slader, Terry Schultz, Robbe Ewing, Tyler Tesch, Shaun Walski, Parker Hale, Luke Nieman, Brantlee Gotschall, Mike Striegel, Damien Vandenberg, Jerry Ellis, Jeremy Lile, Dylan Allen, Eric Turner, B.J. Deal, Gene Sisco.