WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa — Joe B. Miller inherited a late lead and held it to the checkers to bank the $2,000 to win Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders main event Sunday at 34 Raceway.
It was the second career win for the Millersville, Missouri native with the Sprint Invaders, and his first since a 2018 win at Quincy Raceways in Illinois.
Miller slid under Terry McCarl to lead early in the 25-lap feature. Fourth-starting Colton Fisher ripped the cushion around McCarl for second on lap two. Miller and Fisher separated themselves from the pack and entered lapped traffic on the eighth circuit.
Fisher kept Miller in sight and shot around him to lead lap 12. A lap later, Dustin Clark flipped in turn three while running seventh. He was uninjured. Fisher led Miller, McCarl, Dustin Selvage and Cole Mincer back to green. On lap 15, Selvage found speed on the cushion, passing McCarl for third.
As Fisher began to approach traffic 19 laps in, the car met the backstretch wall and he rode the wall through three and four, ending his bid at victory. Miller inherited the lead, ahead of Selvage, McCarl, Cody Wehrle and J.J. Hickle.
Miller held all challengers off, followed to the line by Selvage, McCarl, Hickle and Wehrle.
“I thought the top might be a little crumby for the first corner or two,” said Miller of the feature start and his pass of McCarl for the early lead. “The bottom was a little blown off, so I did a ‘Hail Mary’ down there and it stuck. We were rolling really good, and I didn’t know how hard to push. Colton came by and blew my doors off. I felt like I paced with him well after he went by, but I think he kind of got into the wall on the back straightaway with a lapped ca. It stinks to win one like that, but you still have to finish them. I felt like I was really good on the bottom on the restarts, so I didn’t know if I should protect. I knew Dustin would hammer the top really hard if I did. I didn’t want him to cris-cross and throw a slider on me in three and four, so I decided to just hammer the top (on the restart).”
“The car was great all night,” said Selvage of his second-place run in Jimmy Davies’ No. 99. “I felt like I gave the race away on the first lap. Terry kind of slid himself, and I probably should have just stayed on the top. I decided to drive under him and kind of got stuck in the middle and got ate up by the No. 11 car and Joe B. That was kind of the race. I kind of fell into place. The car was great and good enough to win. We got by Terry. I don’t know that we were better than him, but he got to searching around and left the top open for us. I felt we were as good as the 51, but you’re not going to get by someone as good as him in clean air with just a few laps left. The car was a pleasure to drive.”
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. 51B Joe B. Miller, Millersville, MO (3) 2. 99, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (2) 3. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (1) 4. 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (8) 5. 40, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (10) 6. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (12) 7. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (17) 8. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (5) 9. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (11) 10. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (9) 11. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (13) 12. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Bulrington, IA (16) 13. 51J, Blaine Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (15) 14. 6R, Garrett Benson, Concordia, MO (14) 15. 52D, Skyler Daly, Hallsville, MO (19) 16. 31, McCain Richards, Burlington, IA (20) 17. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (4) 18. 57, Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO (7) 19. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (6) 20. 2, Dylan Opdahl, Madison, SD (18).
