Zimmerman Wins I-30 Speedway’s Wingless STN Prelim Again

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (March 4, 2022) – For the second year in a row, Athens, Texas’ Justin Zimmerman found himself in preliminary night victory lane at I-30 Speedway’s Second Annual Wingless Short Track Nationals presented by KNP Painting.

This time, Zimmerman slipped underneath early race leader Landon Crawley on a lap four restart and then fought off several strong bids from Shane Cockrum over the remaining distance to take the $1,000 winner’s share in Friday’s Second Annual Wingless STN 20-lap preliminary feature.

While Zimmerman gridded the feature field fifth, Jason Long led the way to the green flag with outside pole starter Crawley gunning into the early lead as Zimmerman made his way to second on the opening circuit.

After Long spun to a stop on the frontstretch with three laps in the books, Zimmerman wasted little time pouncing on Crawley to take command on the restart.  Cockrum followed suit a lap later and pressured Zimmerman the rest of the way, even sliding in front of Zimmerman once but to no avail as the reigning ASCS Elite Non-Wing Sprint Car champion countered in short order.

After three interruptions in the opening ten rounds including a lap ten red flag for a Blake Jenkins flip in turn three that also collected Long and Chase Howard, Zimmerman held steady the rest of the way to secure the win.

Cockrum of Benton, IL, settled for runner-up honors with the young Crawley filling out the podium in third.

Reigning USAC Midwest Sprint Car champion Kory Schudy crossed the stripe fourth with Cody Gardner advancing a handful of positions to round out the top five.

Paul White was sixth with 16^th-starter Kyle Jones,  Kobe Simpson, 17^th-starter Anthony Nicholson and Cody Price completing the top ten.

Cockrum, Zimmerman, Schudy, and Crawley topped heat race action for the 31-car field with Zach Pringle best in the 12-lap “B” Main.

The third heat race was slowed by a pair of red flags.  The first occurred after three laps when Derek Hagar took a tumble in turn three.  On the ensuing restart, Jason Howell and Chase Parson made contact exiting turn two while battling for second with both flipping violently down the backstretch as a result.  There were no injuries.

The Second Annual Wingless Short Track Nationals presented by KNP Painting at I-30 Speedway concludes with Saturday night’s $5,000-to-win championship card with the Factory Stocks in action as well.

General admission is just $20.  Pit passes are $30.

Second Annual Wingless Short Track Nationals presented by KNP Painting Preliminary Results

Friday – March 4, 2022

Heat Races (Top 14 in Finishing/Passing Points Advance to “A” Main, balance to two “B” Mains):

First Heat (8 Laps):  1. 66-Shane Cockrum (8), 2. 1-Paul White (2), 3. G6-Cody Gardner (4), 4. 13-Chase Howard (3), 5. 15J-Jeremy Middleton (7), 6. 80-Josh Hawkins (1), 7. 38-Rick Pringle (5), 8. 21k-Kevin Hinkle (6).

Second Heat (8 Laps):  1. #1-Justin Zimmerman (4), 2. 11a-Blake Jenkins (6), 3. 44c-Cody Price (3), 4. 91p-Zach Pringle (5), 5. 63-Chris Williams (8), 6. 52-J.D. Fry (2), 7. 16-Anthony Nicholson (7), 8. 73-Josh Baker (1).

Third Heat (8 Laps):  1. 28-Kory Schudy (4), 2. 31-Mason Smith (3), 3. 19-Jason Long (6), 4. 12m-Greg Merritt (2), 5. 47ak-Knick Stewart (8), 6. 57-Chase Parson (1), 7. 72-Jason Howell (7), 8. 9jr-Derek Hagar (5).

Fourth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 187-Landon Crawley (2), 2. 21ks-Kobe Simpson (1), 3. 33-Reece Wommack, 4. 04-Kyle Jones (5), 5. 48-Caden McCreary (4), 6. 91k-Riley Kreisel (DNS), 7. 7h-Brett Holland (DNS).

“B” Feature – Top 6 Advance to “A:

“B” Feature (12 Laps):  1. 91p-Zach Pringle (1), 2. 04-Kyle Jones (2), 3. 13-Chase Howard (4), 4. 48-Caden McCreary (6), 5. 16-Anthonhy Nicholson (8), 6. 12m-Greg Merritt (5), 7. 52-J.D. Fry (7), 8. 38-Rick Pringle (10), 9. 91k-Riley Kreisel (13), 10. 73-Josh Baker (12), 11. 21k-Kevin Hinkle (11), 12. 80-Josh Hawkins (9), 13. 15J-Jeremy Middleton (3), 14. 72-Jason Howell (DNS), 15. 57-Chase Parson (DNS), 16. 9jr-Derek Hagar (DNS), 17. 7h-Brett Holland (DNS).

“A” Feature

A Feature (20 Laps – Starting position in parentheses):  1. #1-Justin Zimmerman (5), 2. 66-Shane Cockrum (6), 3. 187-Landon Crawley (2), 4. 28-Kory Schudy (4), 5. G6-Cody Gardner (10), 6. 1-Paul White (8), 7. 04-Kyle Jones (16), 8. 21ks-Kobe Simpson (9), 9. 16-Anthony Nicholson (17), 10. 44c-Cody Price (11), 11. 31-Mason Smith (7), 12. 33-Reece Wommack (14), 13. 48-Caden McCreary (18), 14. 12m-Greg Merritt (19), 15. 47ak-Knick Smith (12), 16. 19-Jason Long (1), 17. 91p-Zach Pringle (13), 18. 11a-Blake Jenkins (3), 19. 13-Chase Howard (15), 20. 63-Chris Williams (DNS).

Lap Leaders:  Landon Crawley 1-3, Justin Zimmerman 4-20.

Event Points (Saturday Heat Race Passing Points will be added to Friday total to set Saturday feature lineups):

Sources: Lonnie Wheatley/I-30 Speedway PR

• ← DÉJÀ VU: Sheldon Haudenschild Tames Texas Two-Step Opener Once Again at Cotton Bowl Speedway
• Fremont Speedway Features Diverse 2022 Schedule →