WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa — Tasker Phillips won for the second time this season at 34 Raceway with the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders Friday night.
After the race got off to an awkward and slow first seven laps, things got thrilling down the stretch and the Pleasantville, Iowa native netted $2,000 for his win.
Corbin Gurley bicycled and got all but upside down at the first try at green in the 25-lap feature. He rejoined the field after changing a flat left rear tire. Once Green, Tanner Gebhardt shot into the early lead ahead of Josh Schneiderman, Phillips, Terry McCarl and Colton Fisher.
Four laps in and Jake Glasgow flipped hard down the backstretch. Chase Richards was also involved, but make repairs in the work area and continued. Glasgow exited the car under his own power.
Paul Nienhiser entered the top five on the restart and passed McCarl on the low side to gain fourth on lap seven. Things became disjointed at that point, when Blaine Jamison spun, bringing out the caution. A third-starting Phillips jumped the start on the next try at green and was moved back a spot.
On the next try, Alex Vande Voort got into the wall entering the pits, bringing another red. He was OK. At the same time, Fisher went to the work area to make repairs. The third try was not a charm, as a caution was coming out for Cam Sorrels when the third running Nienhiser flipped in turn four. He was uninjured.
The last 18 laps were caution-free. Gebhardt, who had a damaged nose wing throughout, led Schneiderman, Phillips, McCarl and Dustin Selvage back to green. Miles Paulus quickly moved into the top five. Phillips and Schneiderman battled hard for second, exchanging the spot three times.
Gebhardt, with bad nose wing and all, entered lapped traffic on the 17th circuit in pursuit of his first ever Sprint Invaders win. Phillips had gotten by Schneiderman and was now focused on the lead. He shot a slider on Gebhardt and took the point on lap 19. Paulus was also on the move, taking third form Schneiderman with three to go and passing Gebhardt for second on the following lap.
Phillips led the last few laps and won over Paulus and Schneiderman, who moved by Gebhardt late. Hard-charger Dustin Selvage was fourth and Gebhardt finished fifth.
McCarl, Tyler Lee, Garrett Benson, Sawyer Phillips and Chase Richards rounded out the top 10.
“I respect this track,” said Tasker Phillips in victory lane. “You have to respect the walls here. Schneiderman gave me room…it wasn’t a whole lot of room, but he gave me enough to work with it. I was on the edge of my seat, but I’m glad we got it done. I have to thank this team. I don’t have a whole lot of time to work on the car with the farming, and I couldn’t get it done without them.”
“To be honest, we weren’t good in the Dash,” said Paulus. “We started all over, and changed bars, and changed all kinds of stuff. My buddy Angelo from Australia is here helping me, and that’s been a huge help. He got her dialed in. We stunk the first seven laps, and at the end, we were really good. It was narrow at the beginning and once it widened up, it got pretty dang racy.”
“We’re pretty disappointed really,” said Schneiderman of his third place run after starting on the pole. “We struggled the second half of the race. With about three to go, I about clobbered Tanner, because I had no brakes left. It’s part of racing. Lapped traffic made it interesting. I wasn’t going to give (Phillips) an inch. I love racing Tasker. He did a good job and made the moves when he needed to. We were able to get by him a couple times, but I couldn’t get by Tanner to save my life.”
Feature Finish (25 Laps)
1. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (4) 2. 98P, Miles Paulus, Marshall, MO (6) 3. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (1) 4. 6w, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (12) 5. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (2) 6. 99, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (5) 7. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (14) 8. 2B, Garrett Benson, Concordia, MO (11) 9. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (15) 10. 4, Chase Richards, Burlington, IA (17) 11. 31, McCain Richards, Burlington, IA (10) 12. 2, Chase Porter, St. Joseph, MO (9) 13. 51J, Blaine Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (19) 14. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (3) 15. 40, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (18) 16. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (7) 17. 57, Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO (20) 18. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (8) 19. 62, Jake Glasgow, Burlington, IA (16) 20. 12, Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN (13). Lap Leaders: Gebhardt 1-18, T. Phillips 19-25. KSE Hard-charger: Selvage.