With one of largest VP Racing Sportsman car counts in World Short Track Championship History, 16 drivers are locked into Saturday’s Championship Feature.
Donovan Lussier, Jessica Power, Carter Crooker, and Dave Rogers earned Heat Race victories on Friday afternoon, gaining valuable momentum toward their quest for Victory Lane at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Heat Race 1
Thursday’s Championship Invitational Feature winner Donovan Lussier picked up where he left off Friday afternoon, dominating VP Racing Sportsman Heat Race 1.
The St. Denis-De-Richelieu, QC driver, used the outside lane to take the top spot, leading all eight laps for the Heat Race victory.
Derrick McGrew Jr. followed Lussier across the line in second, Payton Talbot finished third, and Jason Parkhurst Jr. grabbed the final transfer spot.
Heat Race 2
After missing quick time by 0.005 seconds, Jessica Power proved her Sportsman car was fast, leading all eight laps en route to the win in Heat Race 2.
Behind the Kingston, ON driver, Derek Wagner powered around two cars on the outside lane to move from sixth to third on the race’s opening lap.
However, he couldn’t catch Cam Tuttle, who crossed the line second. Wagner held on for third, and Chris Jakubiak finished fourth after passing Ray Hall Jr. and Nick Brundage on the outside lane on the final lap.
Heat Race 3
Like Lussier and Power, Carter Crooker took advantage of his front row starting spot to take the lead in Turns 1 and 2.
Behind him, David Dickey tried to keep pace with Crooker, but former World Short Track Championship winner Kevin Ridley immediately challenged him.
The Mt. Upton, NY driver tried holding Ridley off, but the No. 20X had too much momentum on the outside, moving to second in the race’s closing laps.
Crooker reached the checkered flag first, followed by Ridley, Dickey, and Cam Norris IV.
Heat Race 4
Dave Rogers is no stranger to Victory Lane at Charlotte, using that experience to win VP Racing Sportsman Heat Race 4.
The LaFargeville, NY driver drove away from Darin Gallagher and led every lap to earn the eight-lap Heat Race win.
Gallagher held off Joshua Jock to grab the second spot while Jock crossed the line third.
Land of Legends Raceway regular Matt Guerreri passed Savannah Laflair on Lap 4 of the Heat Race to wrestle away the final transfer spot.
Up Next: The VP Racing Sportsman returns to The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 2, for the final day of the ninth annual World Short Track Championship. A Last Chance Showdown will start the day before the Championship Feature Saturday night.
Tickets for the event are on sale at DIRTcar.com/WorldShortTrack and will be available at the track on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 61L-Donovan Lussier[1]; 2. 26-Derrick McGrew[2]; 3. 14-Payton Talbot[4]; 4. 38JR-Jason Parkhurst Jr[3]; 5. 165K-Karston King[6]; 6. 78-Michael Wright[7]; 7. 01-Zachary Buff[5]; 8. 813-Jason Quenneville[8]; 9. 9H-Chris Huntington[10]; 10. 48-Kearra Backus[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Jessica Power[1]; 2. 35T-Cameron Tuttle[2]; 3. 61-Derek Wagner[6]; 4. 57-Ray Hall Jr[4]; 5. 49-Chris Jakubiak[3]; 6. 916-Nick Brundige[7]; 7. 58-Logen Lockhart[8]; 8. 4-Tim Clemons[9]; 9. 6W-Kyle Whitney[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32C-Carter Crooker[1]; 2. 20X-Kevin Ridley[3]; 3. 23-David Dickey[2]; 4. 21-Cameron Norris IV[5]; 5. 02-Cody Ochs[7]; 6. 88-Jeffrey Lapalme[4]; 7. 35-Greg Crooker[8]; 8. 28J-Jacob Jordan[9]; 9. 39-Ryan Larkin[6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 44-David Rogers[1]; 2. 10-Darin Gallagher[2]; 3. 80-Joshua Jock[3]; 4. 12G-Matt Guererri[6]; 5. 16X-Savannah Laflair[4]; 6. 44S-Gordon Smith[5]; 7. 10X-Cory Castell[8]; 8. 41-Jeff Tiley[7]; 9. 26B-Maddy Broedel[9]
