Fairbury, Nebraska (July 4, 2020) - Independence Day led the Mel Hambelton Ford Racing POWRi United Rebel Sprint Series to the 1/5-mile bullring of Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Nebraska. A stacked 13-car field was on hand for the historic marking, as the first time sprint cars ever took to the semi-banked dirt track, and three time URSS Champion Jake Bubak was the victor.
The format would see the field participate in a qualifying run, heat races, and a dash that lined up the feature event. Zach Blurton was the quick qualifier of the night with a 10.485 lap, over Monty Ferriera (10.563) and Jake Bubak (10.571). Nebraska’s Stuart Snyder captured the first heat race, with Chad Salem seizing the victory in the second heat race.
A 6-lap shake-up dash started six cars to determine the first half of the feature line-up. Kyler Johnson was the victor, with Stuart Snyder behind him to set the front row.
Kyler Johnson took off with the early lead of the feature event, with a heated battle behind him between Snyder, Bubak, and Blurton. Snyder rocketed ahead into turn three to take the lead on the fifth lap with Johnson following. Leaders caught the end of the field, and on lap 10 Kyler Johnson would take a tumble coming out of turn four after hitting an infield tire while trying to get past a lap car and maintain position. Johnson was okay.
Snyder took off with the lead on the restart, but not without Bubak, Blurton, and JD Johnson in the hunt for the lead position. Snyder and Bubak traded slide-job for slide-job for three laps until Bubak claimed the top spot, and he never looked back to grab the Mel Hambelton Ford Racing POWRi feature win. Snyder would hang on to the second spot, with Zach Blurton, JD Johnson, and Monty Ferriera rounding out the top-five finishers.
Jeremy Huish was the Keizer Aluminum Wheels hard-charger, starting eleventh and finishing in the sixth position.
United Rebel Sprint Series
Jefferson County Speedway – FireCracker Nationals
July 4, 2020
Qualifying (2 laps): 1. Zach Blurton – 10.485, 2. Monty Ferriera – 10.563, 3. Jake Bubak – 10.571, 4. Kyler Johnson – 10.598, 5. Stuart Snyder – 10.640, 6. Taylor Velasquez – 10.730, 7. Shon Pointer – 10.819, 8. Boyd Peterson – 10.905, 9. Jeremy Huish – 10.999, 10. Chad Salem – 11.132, 11. JD Johnson – 11.157, 12. Jody Reeves – 11.261, 13. Howard Van Dyke – 11.540
Heat One (8 laps): 1. Stuart Snyder, 2. Jake Bubak, 3. Zach Blurton, 4. JD Johnson, 5. Howard Van Dyke, 6. Jeremy Huish, 7. Shon Pointer
Heat Two (8 laps): 1. Chad Salem, 2. Kyler Johnson, 3. Monty Ferriera, 4. Taylor Velasquez, 5. Boyd Petertson, 6. Jody Reeves
Dash (6 laps): 1. Kyler Johnson, 2. Stuart Snyder, 3. Zach Blurton, 4. Monty Ferriera, 5. Jake Bubak, 6. Chad Salem
A Feature (30 laps): 1. Jake Bubak, 2. Stuart Snyder, 3. Zach Blurton, 4. JD Johnson, 5. Monty Ferriera, 6. Jeremy Huish, 7. Taylor Velasquez, 8. Chad Salem, 9. Jody Reeves, 10. Howard Van Dyke, 11. Kyler Johnson, 12. Boyd Peterson, (DNS) 13. Shon Pointer