Sharon Nationals race report 2001-09-02

HARTFORD, OH - A broken radiator hose cost Kenny Jacobs Sunday night at Sharon Speedway in the All Star sprint 40-lap feature. The 21st annual Sharon Nationals final victory apparently went to Jacobs who crossed the finish line first, but due to the loss of water, Jacobs came up four pounds under the 1,200 pound minimum at the scales. The next driver to cross the line, Jason Johnson, had illegal weight added to his car and was disqualified, handing the victory to third place finisher Greg Hodnett. Also disqualified were sixth place finisher Mike Wagner and seventh place Lance Dewease for no mufflers and 13th place PJ Chesson for being two pounds under weight.

The win paid Hodnett $10,000. It was his second Sharon Nationals win and came over Kelly Kinser and Todd Shaffer.

Johnson started on the ButlerBuilt Hot Seat pole with Ed Lynch Jr. alongside. Dean Jacobs and Greg Hodnett made up row two for the start. Jacobs spun on the initial start, and spun again on lap three, causing him to be sent to the pits according to the two spin rule.

Johnson grabbed the lead over Lynch on the start, with Kenny Jacobs taking second on lap two after starting fifth. Hodnett took third from Lynch on lap four before James Chesson tagged the wall, bringing out a red for a fuel stop.

Johnson led following the fuel stop, with Hodnett now second after passing Jacobs high off turn two. Todd Shaffer was then fourth behind Jacobs and Kelly Kinser was fifth. Johnson maintained a quarter lap lead when Byron Reed's stalled machine brought out the caution on lap 10. Johnson was still on top as Jacobs hounded Hodnett and got second on lap 12. Ed Lynch Jr. got around Kinser and was pressuring Shaffer for the fourth spot, Kinser moved back around Lynch as the pair battled behind Shaffer for the next five laps, trading positions several times each lap.

At the half-way mark, Johnson's lead had evaporated with Jacobs applying heavy pressure. Jacobs tried a slide job on the leader on lap 21, but to no avail. On lap 22 the leaders were side by side with Jacobs going under Johnson in turns three and four to take command on lap 23. Lynch spun on lap 28 out of fifth spot, and while circling under caution Jacobs popped a radiator hose, losing all his water on the speedway. He did not pull in, but kept the lead on the restart over Johnson and Hodnett. On lap 32 Jacobs pulled away from Johnson with Hodnett third. Jacobs quarter lap lead disappeared on lap 28 for the final caution as Jim Nier stopped on the front stretch. Jacobs pulled away to the apparent victory until the shortcoming at the scales.

So the final finishing order was Hodnett, Kelly Kinser, Todd Shaffer, Greg Wilson, Jimmy Hawley, Danny Smith and Chad Kemenah finished seventh, winning the Team Simpson Racing Lucky Seven award.

The K-T Equipment heat went to Ed Lynch, Jr., the JB Enterprise Racing Products heat to Kenny Jacobs, the Crown Battery heat to Hodnett and the Engler Machine & Tool heat fell to Chad Hill. The B Main went to Johnson and Lynch also captured the Haulmark Dash. Rodney Duncan smacked the wall in hot laps. He was done for the evening.

Time Trials: 1. Todd Shaffer, Beam 88, 15.757; 2. Kenny Jacobs, Jacobs/Honecker 6, 15.809; 3. Greg Hodnett, Apple 12, 15.852; 4. Dean Jacobs, Daugherty 7r, 15.953; 5. Ed Lynch, Jr., Lynch 2L, 15.971; 6. Jason Johnson, Row 41, 15.973; 7. Travis Rilat, Archer U2, 15.978; 8. James Chesson, CRC 22, 16.028; 9. Kelly Kinser, Kinser 4k, 16.048; 10. Rob Chaney, Elden 22e, 16.095; 11. Jim Nier, Nier 00, 16.160; 12. Mike Wagner, Wagner 55, 16.173; 13. Lance Dewease, Harz 88, 16.195; 14. Jimmy Hawley, Crawford C3, 16.236; 15. Chad Kemenah, Harble 15k, 16.283; 16. Chad Hill, Shearer 44, 16.337; 17. Chad Jones, Ashworth 92, 16.406; 18. Brian Ellenberger, Ellenberger 20, 16.412; 19. Lee Jacobs, Jacobs/Honecker 2, 16.443; 20. Byron Reed, B&S 5, 16.498; 21. Butch Schroeder, Courtad 9x, 16.519; 22. Phil Gressman, Reidling 9, 16.530; 23. Danny Smith, Baker 4, 16.571; 24. Scott Bonnell, Bonnell 3, 16.594; 25. P.J. Chesson, CRC 76, 16.610; 26. Greg Wilson, Hampshire 63, 16.687; 27. Jarod Larson, Clemson 47, 16.699; 28. Mike Lutz, Southard 00, 16.842; 29. Kevin Schaeffer, Schaeffer 9, 16.869; 30. Mike Kekich, Kekich 5k, 16.961; 31. Andy Priest, Priest 21n, 17.059; 32. Jack Sodeman, Jr., S&S 23Jr, 17.104; 33. Barry Ruble, Ruble 63r, 17.205; 34. Deana Barbara, Barbara 7d7, 17.210; 35. Spud Gustin, Gustin 10G, 17.247; 36. Andy McKisson, McKisson 0, 17.342; 37. Rick Wilson, Price 27, 17.548; 38. Gale Ruth, Ruth 1x, 18.630; 39. Buddy Cochran, Cochran 30, 18.679; 40. Jamie McKinney, Momentum 95, 19.218; 41. Bruce Robenalt, Robenalt 98, NT; 42. Rodney Duncan, Harrison 22, NT.

K-T Equipment Rental Heat (8 laps): 1. Lynch 2. Dewease 3. Shaffer 4. Schroeder 5. Kinser 6. PJ Chesson 7. Jones 8. Ruble 9. Schaeffer 10. R. Wilson.

JB Enterprise Racing Products Heat (8 laps): 1. K. Jacobs 2. Hawley 3. G. Wilson 4. Gressman 5. Chaney 6. Johnson 7. Kekich 8. Barbara 9. Ellenberger 10. Ruth.

Crown Battery Heat (8 laps): 1. Hodnett 2. Kemenah 3. Smith 4. Nier 5. Priest 6. Rilat 7. Larson 8. Gustin 9. Cochran 10. L. Jacobs.

Engler Machine & Tool Heat (8 laps): 1. Hill 2. J. Chesson 3. Reed 4. Wagner 5. Lutz 6. McKinney 7. McKisson 8. Bonnell 9. D. Jacobs 10. Sodeman.

Haulmark Dash (4 laps): 1. Lynch 2. Kinser 3. Chaney 4. Hodnett 5. K. Jacobs 6. Nier.

B Main (12 laps): 1. Johnson 2. PJ Chesson 3. D. Jacobs 4. Jones 5. Sodeman 6. Bonnell 7. Larson 8. Kekich 9. Schaeffer 10. McKisson 11. Barbara 12. Gustin 13. Ruth 14. L. Jacobs 15. Ellenberger 16. McKinney 17. Cochran 18. Rilat 19. Ruble.

A Main (40 laps): 1. Greg Hodnett 2. Kelly Kinser 3. Todd Shaffer 4. Greg Wilson 5. Jimmy Hawley 6. Danny Smith 7. Chad Kemenah 8. Andy Priest 9. Ed Lynch Jr. 10. Jim Nier 11. Chad Jones 12. Rob Chaney 13. Mike Lutz 14. Phil Gressman 15. Byron Reed 16. Butch Schroeder 17. James Chesson 18. Dean Jacobs 19. Chad Hill 20. Kenny Jacobs (DQ) 21. Jason Johnson (DQ) 22. Mike Wagner (DQ) 23. Lance Dewease (DQ) 24. PJ Chesson (DQ).

All Star Sprint Points: 1. Chad Kemenah 2925, 2. Kenny Jacobs 2888; 3. Danny Smith, 2799; 4. Dean Jacobs, 2788; 5. Greg Wilson, 2706; 6. Travis Rilat, 2676; 7. Jason Johnson, 2567; 8. Rodney Duncan, 2534; 9. Mike Wagner, 2312; 10. Jerrod Hull, 2266.