HAYS, Kansas (July 11, 2021) – Twenty-four cars checked in for night one of Wheat Shocker Nationals competition with the Drive to Zero POWRi United Rebel Sprint Series Presented by Mel Hambelton Ford Racing on Saturday. A dicey RPM Speedway gave fans spectacular racing action. Arcadia, Oklahoma’s Ty Williams claimed the preliminary night victory, his third win of the season in series competition.
Ty Williams and Luke Cranston led the field to the green for the 20-lap feature event. Williams quickly jumped to the lead with Cranston and Jordan Knight following, while hard-charger Jason Martin began his march forward through the field. Jeremy Huish, Zach Blurton, and Martin battled for the fourth position. A red flew over competitors with eight laps in the books.
The restart saw Luke Cranston grabbing the lead, with Williams maintaining second. Knight fell back to fifth, allowing Jeremy Huish to move into third and Jason Martin to fourth. Blurton then moved into fifth ahead of Knight before the caution flew with five laps to go.
Cranston took off with the race lead on the restart, again with Williams following closely. Taylor Velasquez and Knight battled for the sixth, and final, lock-in to Sunday’s feature event, but red would again fly over competition.
With four laps remaining, Ty Williams regained the race lead ahead of Cranston and Huish. The final lap saw Martin moving into third. Ty Williams went on to claim his third win of the season with the United Rebel Sprint Series. Luke Cranston and Jason Martin rounded out the podium, with Jeremy Huish, Zach Blurton, and Steven Richardson locking into the feature event for Sunday’s Wheat Shocker Nationals finale.
Jason Martin also earned the Keizer Aluminum Wheels Hard Charger award charging from his 13th starting position.
United Rebel Sprint Series
RPM Speedway – Hays, Kansas
July 10, 2021
Heat One (8 laps): 1) Taylor Velasquez, 2) Jon Freeman, 3) Jed Werner, 4) Zach Blurton, 5) Jason Martin, 6) Fred Holz, 7) Darren Berry, 8) Connor Atkinson
Heat Two (8 laps): 1) Ty Williams, 2) Jake Martens, 3) Brian Herbert, 4) Aaron Ploussard, 5) Shane Sundquist, 6) Chad Salem, 7) Tyler Knight, 8) Mark Walinder
Heat Three (8 laps): 1) Jordan Knight, 2) Scott Cochran, 3) Luke Cranston, 4) Jeremy Huish, 5) Steven Richardson, 6) Kyler Johnson, 7) Koby Walters, 8) Cash Beeson
Dash (6 laps): 1) Ty Williams, 2) Luke Cranston, 3) Jordan Knight, 4) Taylor Velasquez, 5) Zach Blurton, 6) Jon Freeman, 7) Jake Martens, 8) Scott Cochran
A Feature (20 laps): 1) Ty Williams, 2) Luke Cranston, 3) Jason Martin, 4) Jeremy Huish, 5) Zach Blurton, 6) Steven Richardson, 7) Jed Werner, 8) Shane Sundquist, 9) Jordan Knight, 10) Jon Freeman, 11) Scott Cochran, 12) Taylor Velasquez, 13) Darren Berry, 14) Aaron Ploussard, 15) Fred Holz, 16) Chad Salem, 17) Cash Beeson, 18) Tyler Knight, 19) Koby Walters, 20) Jake Martens, 21) Connor Atkinson, 22) Mark Walinder, 23) Kyler Johnson, 24) Brian Herbert
(Carl “Red” Larson photo)