GREENWOOD, Neb. — Matt Juhl took top honors on night one of the Carpetland Nebraska 360 Sprint Series presented by Malvern Bank Spring Meltdown Friday evening at I-80 Speedway.
Juhl exchanged slide jobs with Jack Dover early on, but when Dover fell out of the race with clogged fuel lines that allowed Juhl to collect $2,000 top prize.
“The car felt awesome and I was getting a little tight towards the end there, but I had the wing pulled back pretty far otherwise it felt good,” said Juhl. “It’s the first race of the year so I feel good about that. This is the first race we could get to and get some laps before Knoxville and get some laps in before those guys. Hopefully we can run well tomorrow night otherwise we will get back to Knoxville. The guys behind me helped me get a lot of things done with the car but we are prepared and got the car ready and if this says anything, we are going to have an awesome year.
“I was getting worried about all of the restarts and Dover was up there and I don’t know what happened to him but I was more worried about where he was because I knew it was going to be a dog fight back and forth with him. It was fun there for a little while before the restarts but I’m glad that is all over with. The middle and bottom in 1 & 2 was alright and fortunately I nailed one and two on the start and it was a good way to get the lead there. Hopefully we can go two for two.”
Brendan Mullen, the 15-year-old racer from Grand Forks, N.D., was the Saldana Racing Products pole winner for the 25-lap feature. As he brought the field to the green flag, second place starter Dover dove to the bottom of turn one to take the lead, but Mullen took to the low side of turn four to take the lead but the yellow flag flew as Wade Nygaard came to a stop in turn four.
The field was reset and Mullen brought the field to the green flag as Dover shot to the lead in turn one as Juhl moved to second and Mullen dropped to third. On lap three,Lee Grosz spun as a car checked up in front of him, bringing out the second yellow.
On the restart, Dover brought the field to the green flag with Juhl in second, Mullen in third, Seth Brahmer fourth and Jason Martin fifth. Dover gathered a great lead by eight car lengths on lap four with Juhl trailing. The yellow flag waved again for Ryan Roberts on lap six.
Dover brought the field to the green as Juhl got a great run on Dover taking the lead momentarily in turn two, but Dover took it back in turn four. Another yellow waved on lap eight as Wade Nygaard, Clint Garner and Lee Grosz collected each other in turn four.
Dover kept the lead and took the green flag on the restart as he went low in turn one and Matt Juhl got great speed going high and took the lead from Dover. Dover went to the pits a lap later, moving Brahmer to second. Halfway through the race Juhl maintained a four-second lead as Brahmer was second, Justin Henderson third, Martin fourth and Tyler Drueke fifth. Ryan Roberts brought out his second yellow, putting him to the pits for the night.
Juhl lead the field to the green with Henderson, Martin, Brahmer and Drueke rounding out the top-five. Henderson looked low on Juhl, but was not able to make the pass. Martin moved to third as he slid past Brahmer in turn four.
With five laps to go, Juhl, Henderson, Martin, Brahmer and Chris Martin were the top 5. Juhl gathered a straightaway lead over Henderson in the final laps to take home the win and $2,000 payday.
The finish:
Matt Juhl, Justin Henderson, Jason Martin, Seth Brahmer, Chris Martin, Tyler Drueke, Jody Rosenboom, Ryan Bickett, Brendam Mullen, Jake Bubak, Jade Hastings, John Klabunde, Rich Cerveny, Dusty Ballenger, Ryan Roberts, Jack Dover, Clint Garner, Wade Nygaard, Lee Grosz, Jason Danley.