MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Justin Whittall muscled the lead away from T.J. Stutts to win Friday’s Kevin Gobrecht Classic Qualifier for 410 sprint cars at Williams Grove Speedway.
The second win of his career at the oval, the victory was worth $6,000 for the Garden State driver.
In the 358 sprint main, Cole Young took his first career win in the division, leading all 20 laps.
Stutts started on the pole of the 25-lap 410 sprint feature and led over third starter Whittall from the beginning.
On clear track, Whittall kept Stutts in sight but once the leaders began lapping cars, Whittall was able to close the gap and by lap 13 he was letting Stutts know he was in contention.
Whittall chased Stutts down the backchute on lap 15 before plastering him deep in the third corner to get the lead but Stutts fought back as the pair completed the circuit and raced to his outside into the first turn.
The pair raced side by side out of the second turn and down the backchute before Stutts crossed over to surge back into control in the third corner but just as he was making his move the No. 18J of J.T. Ferry got backwards in the middle of the corners on the high side and turned over.
Both drivers narrowly escaped contact with Ferry’s mount and the red placed Whittall back at the helm.
And it was a spot he would not relinquish as he pulled away nicely when green reappeared and indeed began stretching out a lead of over a straightaway.
His final margin of victory was 3.657 seconds over Stutts.
Kyle Reinhardt rode home third followed by Freddie Rahmer and Danny Dietrich.
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. Justin Whittall, 2. TJ Stutts, 3. Kyle Reinhardt, 4. Freddie Rahmer, 5. Danny Dietrich, 6. Troy Wagaman Jr., 7. Dylan Norris, 8. Lucas Wolfe, 9. Kody Hartlaub, 10. Devon Borden, 11. Mike Wagner, 12. Lance Dewease, 13. Kyle Moody, 14. Aaron Bollinger, 15. Cameron Smith, 16. Steve Buckwalter, 17. Kyle Spence, 18. Ricky Peterson Jr., 19. Derek Hauck, 20. Rick Lafferty, 21. Ricky Dieva, 22. Chad Trout, 23. JT Ferry, 24. Mike Walter II.