Jason Martin Takes The Win at URSS Season Finale

The 2008 United Rebel Sprint Series season came to a close Saturday night as thirty-nine teams checked in through the Pit Gate at DCRP to settle the URSS National and Regional Points Championships. Racers battled Mother Nature as well as windy conditions caused the racers to battle on a quickly changing track. Finding the right set-up for the conditions was Liberal’s Jason Martin who used what was left of the cushion inches from the wall to take the hard fought victory.

Timken Kansas’s Craig Jecha led the field to the green flag but it was outside pole-sitter Don Steiben who jumped out to the lead with Jecha, Darren Berry, Keefe Hemel and Taylor Milton rounding out the top five. Hemel quickly moved to the runner-up spot on lap two as he made his way past Jecha and Milton. Jason Martin started making his up to the front from his eighth starting spot as he passed Milton for the third position on lap three. Martin applied the heat to Hemel as the pair battled for several laps before Martin grabbed the second spot on lap five.

Martin made the pass on Steiben for the lead on lap six but Steiben wouldn’t give the chase for the spot. Back in the field, Jon Johnson and Brian Herbert were locked in a battle for the seventh position. The pair diced their way around the tricky oval with both drivers trying to find the line that would work the best for them. After trading the spot back and forth for five laps, Herbert finally made the pass for the spot stick on lap nine. The “Kansas Tornado” would stay glued to Herbert’s bumper as the pair set their sights on Hemel.

Lap sixteen saw Herbert take the fourth spot away from Hemel and start to apply pressure on third place Taylor Milton. The leaders were starting to encounter lapped traffic and as they wove their way through Milton used it to his advantage to take over the runner-up spot from Steiben. Herbert quickly moved in on Steiben and on lap twenty-one took the spot.

Meanwhile, Mike Woodruff had been quietly working his way through the field and took over the fifth spot on lap twenty-three. Woodruff worked his way to Herbert’s bumper and slingshot his way to the third position on lap twenty-four. The mover and shaker of the race had to be young gun Taylor Velasquez who had worked his way very steadily and quietly to the sixth spot by the white flag fell.

As the checkers flew it was Martin picking up the win with Milton, Woodruff, Herbert and Velasquez rounding out the top five. Coming to the checkers, Kasey Beckham spun on the front-stretch and as he rolled back across the track, Craig Jecha had no place to go and the pair tumbled just short of the flag-stand. Both drivers were okay but the same couldn’t be said their cars.

The Weld Racing Wheels “Hard Charger Award” went to Taylor Velasquez sho came from his twentieth starting spot to finish in the fifth position.

The Keizer Aluminum Wheels B-Main Award went to Barry Crane.

Heat Race Winners were Jon Johnson, Kasey Beckham, Ken Lutters, Craig Jecha and Tyler Knight.

A-Main: 1-Jason Martin (1J), 2-Taylor Milton (91X), 3-Mike Woodruff (83X), 4-Brian Herbert (97), 5-Taylor Velasquez (21), 6-Don Steiben (6), 7-Kirby Hagans (4), 8-Barry Crane (30C), 9-Jon Johnson (86), 10-Keefe Hemel (11), 11- Ray Seemann (72), 12-Cody Salem (23), 13-Jeff Radcliffe (21R), 14-Smokey Fairbank (2), 15-Kasey Beckham (25), 16-Craig Jecha (17X), 17-Tyler Knight (11K), 18-Tanner Mullens (02), 19-Ken Lutters (79), Darren Berry (12) DQ

 Non-Qualifiers – Top Five Transfer To A Main

 B #1: 1-Tanner Mullens, 2-Brian Herbert, 3-Mike Woodruff, 4-Cody Salem, 5-Jeff Radcliffe, 6-Taylor Velasquez, 7-Dennis Fair, 8-Ty Williams, 9-John Colbert, 10-Willie Wynn, 11-Steve Dalton, 12-Van Kuhn, 13-Justin Schwien, 14-Michael Williams, Kris Moore DNS

 B#2: 1-Barry Crane, 2-Kirby Hagans, 3-Ray Seemann, 4-Smoket Fairbank. 5-Jerry Caldwell, 6-Brandon Fisher, 7-Randy Bantam, 8-Corey Lutters, 9-Lance Davis, 10-Brooke Boyd, 11-Tobby Schield, 12-Mark Walinder, 13-Bill Hays, 14-Reed Bernbeck