CONCORD, NC — Oct. 28, 2018 — Third generation Sportsman Modified driver Jackson Gill passed pole-sitter David Schilling to win the VP Racing Fuel Sportsman Modified Driven Racing Oil World Short Track Championship Feature at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Gill held of Sportsman Modified Tour Champion Kevin Root and VP Racing Fuel Sportsman of the Year award-winner Jessica Power for the biggest win of his young career. After teammate Chris Corbett came up light on the scales during post-race inspection, Tyler Thompson won the 20-lap VP Racing Fuels Sportsman Modified All-Star Invitation.
Jackson Gill battled hard to get to the front. He noted, “It was a single file restart and David [Schilling] was a little bit faster. I pushed him coming off the restart and I had enough to get my nose under him. I think he was out of the rubber, the track laid down a little bit of rubber, and I was on it. That was really the last I saw of him.”
David Schilling admitted that he drove the first half of the race too hard and stripped the rubber off too early. He was forced to the pit area with a flat tire. Gill kept his mount steady and straight. “I just tried to stay straight and keep from spinning the tires,” he said. Gill was excited about his trip to Victory Lane, but indicated that running The Dirt Track at Charlotte wasn’t without it’s challenges: “The track was pretty good. I wish the top lane had been a little bit better. It was a little bumpy up there but it’s kind of hard to complain when you won!”
Runner-up Kevin Root had a slow start to the week but finished strong. “We started out the week not very good at all. I think we got ourselves a lot better every day. The track rubbering up really helped us. It was smooth. I take my hat off to all the guys for giving us a good race track. With sunlight during the day, we know it rubbers up, there’s nothing you can do about it. I drew a good number and I was able to hang on.”
“I figured the 400 [Hoosier Racing Tire] could make it all the way. It’s down to pretty much nothing. It’s 30 laps, you gotta go,” noted Sportsman Modified Tour Champion Root. The race was by no means a contest of endurance. All drivers knew they only had 30 laps to drive up to the front.
Jessica Power had a memorable day at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. At the drivers meeting she was awarded the VP Racing Fuels Sportsman Modified Sportsman of the Year Award and then went on to finish on the podium in the Feature.
Power ran well inside the top five for the entire race. “The track was in great condition although a little rubbered up so it was kind of one lane. I saw my opportunity when Tyler [Thompson] slipped up a bit and on that restart when Schilling was on the inside, I had to take the opportunity that I had. I knew it was going to be about getting there when you could because otherwise you have to move somebody and I don’t like to race that way. I took the opportunities when I had them and lucked out,” Power commented.
Power’s parting words summed up the race: “You had to leave it all out there today.”
The final VP Racing Fuels Sportsman Modified race of the evening was a 20-lap All-Star Invitational Feature. Australian national Chris Corbett lead the entire race and crossed the finish-line in first. Unfortunately for him he had to relinquish victory to teammate Tyler Thompson because he was light on the scales in post-race technical inspection.
HIGHLIGHTS:
RESULTS:
Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 60-Jackson Gill [4]; 2. 34-Kevin Root [3]; 3. 52-Jessica Power [7]; 4. M1-David Marcuccilli [9]; 5. 8f-Alan Fink [13]; 6. 98T-Tyler Thompson [5]; 7. 35-Chris Curtis [16]; 8. C3-Chas Wolbert [25]; 9. 27b-Robert Bublak [14]; 10. 21p-Adam Pierson [15]; 11. 87-Rocco Leone [19]; 12. 15-Stevie Hartman [24]; 13. 410-Mike Fowler [20]; 14. 11T-Jeff Taylor [11]; 15. 19x-Rob Lanfear [21]; 16. 48A-Chris Corbett [10]; 17. 73c-Kevin Chaffee [18]; 18. 7H-Nicole Hoag [17]; 19. 21x-Eric Williams [23]; 20. 18r-Brad Rouse [6]; 21. 20-David Schilling [1]; 22. 79-Bob Henry [2]; 23. 57-Anthony Stockman [8]; 24. 12g-Matt Guererri [12]; 25. 64-Tyler Corcoran [22]; 26. 20x-Kevin Ridley [26]; KSE Hard Charger Award: C3-Chas Wolbert[+17]
Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 18r-Brad Rouse, 17.946; 2. 98T-Tyler Thompson, 17.953; 3. 18-Brandon Ford, 18.065; 4. 7H-Nicole Hoag, 18.069; 5. 57-Anthony Stockman, 18.163; 6. 52-Jessica Power, 18.21; 7. 15-Stevie Hartman, 18.213; 8. 48A-Chris Corbett, 18.247; 9. 60-Jackson Gill, 18.249; 10. 20x-Kevin Ridley, 18.279; 11. 8f-Alan Fink, 18.3; 12. 410-Mike Fowler, 18.31; 13. 631-Todd Buckwold, 18.338; 14. 27b-Robert Bublak, 18.378; 15. 35-Chris Curtis, 18.379; 16. C3-Chas Wolbert, 18.399; 17. 1r-Ricky Thompson, 18.687; 18. 21x-Eric Williams, 18.892
Qualifying Flight-B – 1. M1-David Marcuccilli, 17.682; 2. 34-Kevin Root, 18.117; 3. 20k-Kyle Inman, 18.128; 4. 12g-Matt Guererri, 18.143; 5. 11T-Jeff Taylor, 18.231; 6. 19x-Rob Lanfear, 18.284; 7. 79-Bob Henry, 18.334; 8. 21p-Adam Pierson, 18.433; 9. 73c-Kevin Chaffee, 18.481; 10. 20-David Schilling, 18.533; 11. 64-Tyler Corcoran, 18.576; 12. 87-Rocco Leone, 18.66; 13. 11B-Don Blaney, 18.835; 14. 8-Steve Lary, 18.933; 15. 11J-David Kalb, 19.086; 16. 21-Adam Gage, 19.225; 17. 18m-Ryan Macartney, NT
Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 18r-Brad Rouse [1]; 2. 57-Anthony Stockman [3]; 3. 60-Jackson Gill [5]; 4. 8f-Alan Fink [6]; 5. 35-Chris Curtis [8]; 6. 631-Todd Buckwold [7]; 7. 15-Stevie Hartman [4]; 8. 1r-Ricky Thompson [9]; 9. 18-Brandon Ford [2]
Heat #2 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 98T-Tyler Thompson [1]; 2. 52-Jessica Power [3]; 3. 48A-Chris Corbett [4]; 4. 27b-Robert Bublak [7]; 5. 7H-Nicole Hoag [2]; 6. 410-Mike Fowler [6]; 7. 21x-Eric Williams [9]; 8. C3-Chas Wolbert [8]; 9. 20x-Kevin Ridley [5]
Heat #3 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. M1-David Marcuccilli [1]; 2. 11T-Jeff Taylor [3]; 3. 79-Bob Henry [4]; 4. 20k-Kyle Inman [2]; 5. 73c-Kevin Chaffee [5]; 6. 64-Tyler Corcoran [6]; 7. 18m-Ryan Macartney [9]; 8. 11B-Don Blaney [7]; 9. 11J-David Kalb [8]
Heat #4 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 12g-Matt Guererri [2]; 2. 34-Kevin Root [1]; 3. 20-David Schilling [5]; 4. 21p-Adam Pierson [4]; 5. 87-Rocco Leone [6]; 6. 19x-Rob Lanfear [3]; 7. 21-Adam Gage [8]; 8. 8-Steve Lary [7]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps) – Top 7 Transfer – 1. 410-Mike Fowler [2]; 2. 631-Todd Buckwold [1]; 3. 19x-Rob Lanfear [4]; 4. 64-Tyler Corcoran [3]; 5. 21x-Eric Williams [6]; 6. 15-Stevie Hartman [5]; 7. C3-Chas Wolbert [10]; 8. 20x-Kevin Ridley [14]; 9. 21-Adam Gage [8]; 10. 11J-David Kalb [15]; 11. 1r-Ricky Thompson [9]; 12. 11B-Don Blaney [11]; 13. 18m-Ryan Macartney [7]; 14. 8-Steve Lary [12]; 15. 18-Brandon Ford [13]
