Sunday, September 25, 2011

Terry Phillips Scores Fall Jamboree Finale

Last year Terry Phillips enjoyed a lot of success at the Fall Jamboree at the Deer Creek Speedway in southern Minnesota. He scored wins on the preliminary nights (Thursday and the rain delayed Sunday shows). This year, he sat on the front row of the finale on Saturday and marched his way into victory lane at the end of the fifty-lap race.

Once again the Wissota midwest modifieds opened the feature action with their twenty-five lapper in which Hansen Tire Services upped the payoff. They added another $200 on top of the purse, making it now $700 to win. After scoring wins on the first two nights of action, Dustin Scott was looking to sweep the weekend much like Brandon Davis did last year on his way to the Wissota midwest modified national championship. He quickly moved into the runner-up position following an early restart only to lose it a lap later when his machine pushed in turn four. He would right the ship and get back by for second prior to another caution flag and took over the race lead on the restart. Scott would put a straight away between him and his nearest competitor before cautions late in the race bunched the field back up. It wouldn't matter, however, as Scott drove to his third win of the weekend and fifth in a row at the speedway.

The next race on the track would be the non-qualifier event. Drivers who finished in positions five through ten in their respective b-mains would redraw for their starting position in this feature-caliber event. Bob Timm and Greg Jensen sat on the front row of the thirty-car field of the twenty-five lap, $2,000 to win race. Timm would set the pace early on while Tennessee driver Lucas Lee got by Jensen for second. Following an early restart, Lee would exit to the infield with mechanical issues and Bryan Rowland ducked to the inside of Jensen to take over the second position. The caution flag would come out two more times, on lap six and lap nine, to keep the field close but the action would pick up throughout the remainder of the race. Rowland took the lead away from Timm following the lap six yellow while Eric Dailey moved into the top five after passing Jensen. Keith Foss used the low line to sneak by Timm for third, but Timm rebounded following the third and final restart to snare the second position back. Dailey continued his strong run as he passed Foss for third. Rowland appeared to be on his way to victory, but Timm chased him down in the final laps and overpowered him on the last lap to score the win. Rowland settled for second, Dailey finished third, Foss was fourth, and Jacob Dahle rounded out the top five.

After pre-race ceremonies to introduce the drivers and conduct the redraw, the front row of the three-wide USMTS feature would consist of Brandon Beckendorf, Brad Waits, and Terry Phillips. Phillips would secure the top spot after using momentum off the cushion while Waits settled into the second position. An early caution slowed the action momentarily, but following the restart Jason Hughes passed Nate Wasmund for the third spot. With Phillips pulling away, Jon Tesch would also power by Wasmund on the top side for the fourth position. Yellows on lap eight and nine kept things at a slower pace, but the action would resume and the green light would stay on for the duration of the fifty-lapper.

Brad Waits would get by Wasmund for the fifth spot as he tried to make up ground after brushing the concrete wall earlier in the race. Phillips would enter lapped traffic on lap twenty-one, allowing Hughes to close the gap. I noticed at one point that Jeremy Payne was working his way forward and made it up to the sixth spot after starting in the middle of row six. Up front Hughes would pull even with Phillips with about five laps to go, but Phillips used his momentum off the top side to maintain the lead. Jon Tesch would use the top side to close in on the front runners as the laps were winding down, but he simply ran out of time as Terry Phillips took home the $9,000 top prize thanks to Hanson Tire Services, who again put an extra $3,000 on top of the original payout. Jason Hughes finished second, Jon Tesch was third, Brandon Davis finished fourth, and Brad Waits rounded out the top five.

It was another great night of racing at the Fall Jamboree and the drivers put on a heck of a show for the fans. I would like to give a big shout out to the track prep crew as they provided an excellent race surface both nights I was in attendance and allowed the drivers to put on a great show for the fans. Drivers raced three, four, and sometimes five-wide on the wide speedway.

This upcoming week/weekend looks to be a busy one for me. I'm hoping to make my first visit to the LaSalle Speedway in Illinois on Tuesday for the rescheduled Lucas Oil Late Model series visit. Following that I plan to take in at least a couple days, if not all three, of the Knoxville Late Model Nationals. I'll then finish up the weekend at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton on Sunday. If these events don't fit your schedule, be sure to make it out to a race you can make before the season ends!!

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