WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa — Josh Schneiderman made racing at home pay off Sunday night, when he took the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders main event at 34 Raceway in his hometown.
Schneiderman came back after losing an early lead to win his fifth feature at 34 Raceway with the Sprint Invaders, tying him with Matt Rogerson, Jerrod Hull, Dustin Selvage and Paul Nienhiser for first all-time. It was his 11th with the series in his career.
The 20-lap main event saw Schneiderman lead early over Cam Sorrels, Alex Vande Voort, Tasker Phillips and Ryan Jamison.
Sixteen-year-old Lincoln Martin passed three-time Sprint Invaders champion Jamison to move into the top five on lap three.
Schneiderman was into lapped traffic on the sixth circuit, before a seventh running Sawyer Phillips spun, bringing the first caution of the event. Schneiderman led Sorrels, Vande Voort, Tasker and Martin back to green.
Sorrels took advantage of the restart to slide in front of Schneiderman in turn two, taking the point. At the same time, Sean McClelland moved into the top five.
On lap 11, the third running Vande Voort would have his race come to an end after contacting the wall. The fifth running Lincoln Martin would stop under caution, giving up his spot.
Sorrels led Schneiderman, Tasker, McClelland and Cam Martin back to green. Cam moved by McClelland into fourth and began pressuring Tasker for third.
When he attempted to get under Tasker on lap 14, the door was closed and both cars spun out of contention. Nathan Murders tried to avoid the pair, but caught Tasker. The result of the incident saw Murders lose his front end and drift into the infield.
Now there were six laps to go, and Sorrels led Schneiderman, McClelland, Jamison and Cody Wehrle back to green. Wehrle quickly grabbed fourth.
With three to go, Schneiderman found some rubber in the middle of the track and shot by Sorrels to take the lead before McCain Richards went over the top of turn two to bring caution. Schneiderman was never headed after the restart. His win came ahead of McClelland, who also got by Sorrels with a lap to go, hard-charger Wehrle and Jamison.
“When I lost the lead, I got nervous,” said Schneiderman. “But I kept searching. I told myself on that last corner to just stand up and drive the damn thing. I appreciate that (Sorrels) raced me clean when he passed me. He’s got a great future there. I love the 34 Raceway. I know the track wasn’t perfect, but I still love it!”
“We weren’t that great in the heat,” said McClelland. “That put us starting seventh. As old as I am (51), I’m going to stay smooth and steady and let those other guys slide and run over each other. About halfway through, I found it (rubber) in three and four. On that last restart, I was sitting in third and I didn’t think they’d found it yet. I was licking my chops. (Sorrels) didn’t see it, but (Schneiderman) races here a lot and he found it. That’s the way it goes.”
“I didn’t expect him to go into three and four like that, so I went to the bottom of the racetrack,” said Sorrels. “I knew it was probably going to rubber eventually, so I took what I had. I felt really good, but later I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a situation where you’d rather be second or third and find the rubber first. Overall, we had speed and worked our butts off. It’s something we can’t control, but we learn as we go.”
The finish:
Feature (20 laps): 1. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (1) 2. 1, Sean McClelland, Tulsa, OK (7) 3. 57, Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO (3) 4. 40, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (14) 5. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (6) 6. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (10) 7. 7s, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (8) 8. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (15) 9. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (17) 10. 17, Nate Parks, Burlington, IA (9) 11. 7B, Nick Guernsey, Burlington, IA (16) 12. 88, Riley Scott, Quincy, IL (13) 13. 9L, Lincoln Martin, Monmouth, IL (4) 14. 11x, Jaden Alexander, Knoxville, IA (19) 15. 31, McCain Richards, Burlington, IA (11) 16. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (18) 17. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (5) 18. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (12) 19. 71, Nathan Murders, Burlington, IA (20) 20. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (2) DNS – 1T, Tyler Shoemaker, Clinton, IL.
