Jerrod Hull – Rough Short Track Nationals!
(Bill W) October 28, 2014 – At the Short Track Nationals, one bad incident can put you in a hole almost impossible to dig out of. That was the case for Jerrod Hull and the Jimmy Davies #99 team last week. A tip over in the feature on his prelim night made making Saturday’s finale hard to achieve. The Sikeston, Missouri driver’s night would end three spots out of a transfer on Saturday night.
Things started at I-30 Speedway near Little Rock, Arkansas with the Short Track Nationals Open on Wednesday night. The team was able to get some laps in and size things up for Thursday’s preliminary.
The teams would see a heavy racetrack Thursday. Jerrod was able to go from fourth to third in his heat, and sixth to fifth in his qualifier. “The track was tough last week,” he says. “It was fast on Thursday for sure. We were able to put ourselves in a pretty good position for the feature though.”
He would start sixth in the feature, and eventually work his way into the third and final position that would lock him into Saturday night’s finale. With three laps to go, the caution came out with Tim Crawley right behind him ready to pounce. “On the restart there, I gave Tim room on the backstretch and he was able to get by us,” says Jerrod. “We went into turn three and four there, and we both just aimed for the same piece of real estate on the bottom of four. It was unfortunate.”
The ensuing crash made both drivers’ Saturdays tough. “Even if we had run fourth or fifth, we could have locked ourselves in point-wise with a good heat run on Saturday,” says Jerrod. “It was just unfortunate. We were able to lock ourselves in a few years ago in the #50 car (owned by Rich DeReu). It sure made things easier, but it didn’t work that way this time.”
On Saturday, the team hoped for a draw that would provide plenty of passing points. They got a draw they could work with, but when another driver scratched in front of them, that was erased. “I thought we drew a good spot for where we were, starting fourth in the heat,” says Jerrod. “They told us on the radio that the #13 (Taylor Tidmore) wouldn’t be starting in front of us, so that put us on the front row. We ran second, but we didn’t get any passing points.”
Jerrod would line up sixth in a B main that was just taking the top two. “Everybody was the same speed,” he says. “We ran fifth, and there it was. There wasn’t much else to say. We just got ourselves behind things on Thursday in the feature.”
This year’s MOWA champ is thankful for the opportunity to drive for Davies. “I really want to thank Jimmy Davies for the opportunity to run his car,” says Jerrod. “We were fast, and we never backed up all week. We were moving forward or maintaining for sure. We just didn’t pass a whole lot more cars. We’ve got a winter to think about it!”
Jerrod and the #12 team would like to thank: Rockwell American, Midland Performance, Super Shox, Sebastian Sand Blasting & Powder Coating, Inc., Chuck’s Small Engines, Don Hamilton, HRP, Lighthouse Christian Center, Logo Daddy, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld, Automotive Machine, Maxim and Heartland Trailer Manufacturing.
- administrator on Oct 28, 2014
- Article Date: 10/28/2014