Reinhardt would try a slide job in turns three and four, however Esh had enough momentum on the top of the speedway to lead for the first time on lap 13.
“We were really fast and anytime you start as far back as we did, you have to be on the wheel and making moves when you can,” said Esh of his move for the lead. “These guys are all so good here and I just knew it was time to go if I wanted to win.”
It looked like Esh’s string of bad luck might continue as he slammed against the outside guardrail exiting turn two the following lap. He was able to continue, but there appeared to be something broken on the car as he nearly spun out by himself three laps later.
Realizing something was broken, Esh moved to the bottom of the speedway to try and hold on to the car and be able to control it. With five laps remaining, Reinhardt, who was using the high-side still, had closed the gap significantly and was on the tail tank of the leader.
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold off the pack where he was running, Esh made the decision to go all-in and move back up the speedway.
“I almost spun out back there and I really knew something was broken and that it was going to be really hard to hang onto the car up top,” said Esh. “But I kept seeing Kyle get closer and closer and I knew at that point I was going to have to just go for it up top if I wanted the chance to win.”
Esh continued to fend off Reinhardt and opened up a 1.145 second lead with two laps to go, when Kyle Smith brought out the caution as he came to a stop in turn one, setting up one final restart.
Nursing the car coming to the green flag, Esh waited until the last minute to get in the gas and bring the field back to racing action. Reinhardt tried to execute a slide job in turn one, only for Esh to ride the middle of the track and break up his momentum.
Reinhardt would re-group down the backstretch and try another slide job attempt in turn’s three and four, but Esh was able to once again lead to come to the white flag.
With the pack all jockeying for position in hopes Esh’s car might finally give in, Blane Heimbach, who started 10th, pulled a slide job to go from fourth to second exiting turn two on the last lap.
However, he would have nothing for the leader and Esh would win by .992 seconds. He also received a $300 bonus for winning from the ninth starting position.
Wagner, Flick and Reinhardt completed the top five.
“After Speedweek I think we were all ready to kill each other after 9 straight days of racing,” said Esh.”We’ve been fast, but we just hadn’t been able to get that break.
“My guys kept working and we kept gaining and I’m just happy to finally be able to give them some recognition that all our hard work is paying off and this is a night I won’t soon forget.”
Dylan Yoder took the late model feature victory, while Garret Bard passed Devin Adams late in lap traffic to earn the 305 sprint car class win.
The finish:
1. Jared Esh, 2. Blane Heimbach, 3. Logan Wagner, 4. AJ Flick, 5. Kyle Reinhardt, 6. Dylan Cisney, 7. TJ Stutts, 8. Justin Whittal, 9. Tyler Bear, 10. Mike Wagner, 11. Rick Lafferty, 12. Ryan Linder, 13. Frankie Nervo, 14. Nicole Bower, 15. Kyle Smith, 16. Tyler Reeser, 17. Dustin Baney, 18. Anthony Macri, 19. Jeff Miller, 20. Cory Thornton.