LITTLE ROCK — Jack Dover of Springfield, Neb., racing on the perilous top groove of the track, passed Justin Henderson of Sioux Falls, S.D., on the next-to-last lap and won the second preliminary feature Friday night during the 25th annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals sprint car event at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock.
The prelim victory was the second of the night for a Roush Yates Ford driver. Jason Johnson of Eunice, La., earlier won the rain-delayed prelim from Thursday night.
The top-three finishers from both prelims earned starting spots at the front of the field for the 40-lap main event, which paid $15,000 to win and was held late Saturday night.
Dover earned his second career start in a STN main event while Henderson, who finished second, qualified for his first STN A-Main.
Gary Wright of Hooks, Texas, the only four-time winner of the event, finished third to secure a spot in his 18th STN. Wright, who claimed STN titles in 2004, 2003, 1999 and 1995, has announced he is retiring from racing after this weekend.
Johnson, the 2006 STN winner, 2002 winner Paul McMahan of Elk Grove, Calif., and Christopher Bell of Norman, Okla., secured spots in the main event through the first prelim. The rest of the 20-car field was set during a series of qualifying races.
Wright started on the pole for the second prelim and outran Tim Shaffer of Aliquippa, Pa., to the lead. Former World of Outlaws champion Danny Lasoski of Dover, Mo., was running in third place before he struck an infield utility tire and stopped on the track with front-end damage.
Dover, who started fifth, moved past Shaffer for second on the sixth lap. But Henderson charged past Dover for second on the 17th lap and passed Wright for the lead two laps later.
Dover passed Wright for second just before the caution flag flew on the 20th lap when 1997 winner Wayne Johnson of Knoxville, Iowa, slipped off the track, setting up a five-lap dash to determine the winner.
Henderson worked the low groove, but Dover stuck to the high groove and made the pass before taking the white flag and earned his first feature victory at I-30.
Brian Brown of Grain Valley, Mo., finished fourth after starting 15th, and Shaffer took fifth. Jeff Swindell of Bartlett, Tenn., was sixth and Shane Stewart of Bixby, Okla., took seventh.
Two-time and defending STN champion Sammy Swindell of Bartlett, Tenn., finished eighth and 1998 winner Tim Crawley of Benton was ninth. 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Olive Branch, Miss., took 10th.
Short Track Nationals preliminary feature
Friday night’s preliminary feature results at the 25th annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock. The top three finishers advanced to the main event, which was held late Saturday. Starting position in parentheses: 1. Jack Dover, Springfield. Neb. (5) 2. Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls, S.D. (3) 3. Gary Wright, Hooks, Texas (1) 4. Brian Brown, Grain Valley, Mo. (15) 5. Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, Pa. (2) 6. Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, Tenn. (7) 7. Shane Stewart, Bixby, Okla. (8) 8. Sammy Swindell, Bartlett, Tenn. (14)
Tim Crawley, Benton (11)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch, Miss. (12) 11. Kyle McCutcheon, Lubbock, Texas (18) 12. Brandon Hahn, Tulsa (6)
Marshall Skinner, West Memphis (13) 14. Zach Pringle, Benton (20)
Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, Mo. (10) 16. Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, Mo. (9) 17. Ryan Bickett, Ramona, S.D. (16) 18. Kyle Bellm, Nixa, Mo. (19) 19. Andy Shouse, Oklahoma City, Okla. (17) 20. Danny Lasoski, Dover, Mo. (4) Lap leaders — Wright 1-18, Henderson 19-23, Dover 24-25
HEAT RACES
FIRST HEAT 1, Jon Stinson; 2, Eric Riggins Jr.; 3, Lasoski; 4, Shouse; 5, McCutcheon SECOND HEAT 1, Stenhouse; 2, Dover; 3, Skinner; 4, Bl.Hahn; 5, Stewart THIRD HEAT 1, Johnson; 2, Brandon Hahn; 3, Hull; 4, Dalton Davis; 5, Glenn Styres FOURTH HEAT 1, Wright; 2, Josh Baughman; 3, Bickett; 4, Rick Pringle; 5, Taylor Velasquez FIVE HEAT 1, Brown; 2, J.Swindell; 3, Bellm; 4, S.Swindell; 5, Nate Van Haaften SIXTH HEAT 1, Shaffer; 2, Henderson; 3, Crawley; 4, Brad Bowden; 5, Nic Jenkins
QUALIFYING RACES
FIRST QUALIFIER 1, Skinner; 2, Wright; 3, Johnson; 4, Bl.Hahn; 5, Van Haaften SECOND QUALIFIER 1, Lasoski; 2, Dover; 3, Bellm; 4, Br.Hahn; 5, Riggins THIRD QUALIFIER 1, S.Swindell; 2, Hull; 3, R.Pringle; 4, J.Swindell; 5, Z.Pringle FOURTH QUALIFIER 1, Stewart; 2, Mc-Cutcheon; 3, Henderson; 4, Bickett; 5, Joe Bob Lee FIFTH QUALIFIER 1, Shaffer; 2, Crawley; 3, Shouse; 4, Stenhouse; 5, Jake Martens
B-MAIN QUALIFIERS
FIRST B-MAIN 1, Brown; 2, McCutcheon; 3, R.Pringle; 4, Bl.Hahn; 5, Brandon Schure SECOND B-MAIN 1, Bickett; 2, Bellm; 3, Riggins; 4, Dale Howard; 5, Baughman THIRD B-MAIN 1, Shouse; 2, Z.Pringle; 3, Aaron Reutzel; 4, Stinson; 5, Bowden
Sports, Pages 27 on 10/28/2012