Ball flawless in Lucas Oil ASCS tilt at Hamilton County Speedway

August 18, 2018 | by Bryan Hulbert

After a horrid Southern Iowa Sprint Week, Jamie Ball came to Hamilton County Speedway driven by Spangler Automotive with something to prove. Working 25 perfect laps ahead of Johnny Herrera, the Check Magnet Motorsports No. 5j rolled into Integrity Trucking Victory Lane for the first time in 2018 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com.

“This whole year has been so hard. With torn up equipment and some bad luck, and too, I put myself in some bad spots but after the Knoxville Nationals we had, to come back and rebound like this," Ball said. "We needed it and this just proves my guys are the best."

Ball’s second career Lucas Oil ASCS win Saturday night was his first in a full points-paying national tour competition.

Besting Harli White on the start, Ball rolled the high side of the Webster City, Iowa, half-mile oval. Working through several cautions in the first 10 laps as drivers snagged cones out of the infield while navigating the bottom line, each restart had Herrera glued to the back bumper of Ball’s No. 5J.

Able to keep the wily veteran at bay, Ball rolled into lapped traffic on the final lap as Herrera shaved over a second from his advantage but did not have enough time as Ball crossed 1.292 seconds ahead of the Mesilla Valley Transportation No. 45X.

Racing back and forth with White through the first half of the feature, Matt Covington finally took hold of the final podium step with Blake Hahn working the top shelf to fourth after a multi-lap race with Seth Bergman who held on to round out the top five.

White ended up sixth with Wayne Johnson advancing five positions to seventh. Travis Rilat in eighth was trailed by Skylar Gee with Scott Bogucki in tenth.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com
Hamilton County Speedway driven by Spangler Automotive, Webster City, Iowa
Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown.

Heat #1:
1. (2) 17W Harli White, Lindsay, Okla.
2. (4) 95 Matt Covington, Glenpool, Okla.
3. (7) 23 Seth Bergman, Snohomish, Wash.
4. (1) 28 Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, Sask., Canada
5. (6) 52 Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, Okla.
6. (5) 2C Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City, Okla.
7. (3) 77X Alex Hill, Six Nations, Ont., Canada

Heat #2:
1. (2) 45X Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, N.M.
2. (1) 44 Chris Martin, Ankeny, Iowa
3. (3) 5J Jamie Ball, Knoxville, Iowa
4. (5) 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr, Sunnyvale, Texas
5. (4) 1 Travis Rilat, Forney, Texas
6. (6) 99 Skylar Gee, Leduc, Alb., Canada

Feature:
1. (2) 5J Jamie Ball, Knoxville, Iowa
2. (4) 45X Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, N.M.
3. (3) 95 Matt Covington, Glenpool, Okla.
4. (8) 52 Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, Okla.
5. (6) 23 Seth Bergman, Snohomish, Wash.
6. (1) 17W Harli White, Lindsay, Okla.
7. (12) 2C Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City, Okla.
8. (10) 1 Travis Rilat, Forney, Texas
9. (11) 99 Skylar Gee, Leduc, Alb., Canada
10. (9) 28 Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, Sask., Canada
11. (5) 44 Chris Martin, Ankeny, Iowa
12. (13) 77X Alex Hill, Six Nations, Ont., Canada
13. (7) 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, Texas