Austin McCarl gave up second position a pair of laps into the feature, and later he had to make the pass for the lead twice, but once he got there he was gone for good.
The 27-year old, Altoona native drove his car to his second victory of the year in the class during the first night of qualifying for the weekend’s 360 nationals.
“We just had a good car really,” McCarl said. “We were kind of moving around and I didn’t get the best start in the world. I kind of left myself open there”
Dominic Scelzi slid past McCarl using the inside lane through turns three and four, leaving the 17A in third place early on in the race.
“I was fortunate enough to just get back by him in (turns) one and two,” McCarl said. “I kind of looked to my left and seen that he wasn’t there and had to throw a little blocker just to make sure he couldn’t slide me back. It was just to break his momentum a little bit and make sure the 70 car didn’t get to far away from us in open air.”
Calvin Landis had kicked off the race from the pole position and got out to the early lead over the field.
McCarl wanted to make sure the Knoxville native didn’t utilize the clean air, so the ensuing laps became even more important. He got up to Landis’ bumper and got by the No. 70 before a caution came out, resetting McCarl back to second for the restart.
“I wasn’t really sure what he was going to do on the restart, but it all worked out,” McCarl said. “I knew in one and two, what I was doing was probably the best thing I could have done. In three and four I was moving around quite a bit.”
Scelzi ended up hanging with McCarl, and got back up to the bumper of the 17A before getting passed for second.
Aaron Reutzel – who would later pull off the track with issues – got by and then Kerry Madsen did the same near the checkered flag. Scelzi finished third.
“I felt like we had good speed there the first probably seven to 10 laps, but we sort of faded there at the end,” Scelzi said. “I’m not really sure why. It felt really good, we were just lacking some mile per hour. I think to win Saturday night is going to be the same as winning any night here.”
The Fresno, California native said he was just hoping to be in the first four or five rows when the points shake out for Saturday’s main event lineup.
Although it will be all about if they have the speed to win, just like it will for anyone.
“This is motorsports,” McCarl said. “The guy with the best motor usually has some fun, and right now we’ve got the whole package working for us for the 360 deal. Hopefully we can start in the first three rows and the points shake out for us on Saturday. We’ll see what we can do.”
360 Nationals Points Standings
1. Kerry Madsen 492
2. Shane Golobic 486
3. Tim Shaffer 486
4. Austin McCarl 475
5. Dominic Scelzi 467
6. Calvin Landis 460
7. Cory Eliason 458
8. Justin Henderson 456
9. Ayrton Gennetten 453
10. Tim Kaeding 450
11. Aaron Reutzel 449
12. Roger Crockett 445
13. JJ Hickle 443
14. Joe Beaver 440
15. Ricky Montgomery 426
16. Kaleb Johnson 421
17. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 418
18. Ryan Leavitt 414
19. Kyle Offill 413
20. Harli White 410
21. Matt Moro 409
22. Garret Williamson 405
23. Nathan Mills 402
24. Devon Dobie 401
25. Colton Heath 392
26. Rob Kubli 389
27. Brady Bacon 384
28. Matt Covington 374
29. Michael Faccinto 363
30. Eric Bridger 353
31. Jamie Ball 352
32. Nick Parker 346
33. Tasker Phillips 345
34. Chase Dunham 342
35. Lee Grosz 338
36. Riley Goodno 332
37. AJ Moeller 329
38. Cody Hansen 324
39. Bailey Sucich 324
40. Zach Chappell 323
41. Elliot Amdahl 323
42. Lance Moss 312
43. JT Imperial 311
44. Chelsea Blevins 307
45. John Anderson 305
46. Jett Carney 299
47. Frank Rodgers III 276
48. Adam Speckman 265
Race Results
C-Main
1. Cody Hansen
2. Bailey Sucich
3. Lance Moss
4. Chelsea Blevins
5. Frank Rodgers III
6. Lee Grosz – DNS
7. AJ Moeller – DNS
8. Adam Speckman – DNS
B-Main
1. Cory Eliason
2. Justin Henderson
3. Tim Kaeding
4. Kyle Offill
5. Michael Faccinto
6. Matt Covington
7. Sam Hafertepe Jr.
8. Jamie Ball
9. Rob Kubli
10. Chase Dunham
11. Zach Chappell
12. Riley Goodno
13. Elliot Amdahl
14. Nick Parker
15. Cody Hansen
16. Eric Bridger
17. Bailey Sucich
18. JT Imperial
19. Chelsea Blevins
20. Lance Moss
21. Jett Carney
22. John Anderson
23. Brady Bacon
24. Tasker Phillips – DNS
A-Main
1. Austin McCarl
2. Kerry Madsen
3. Dominic Scelzi
4. Shane Golobic
5. Tim Shaffer
6. Joe Beaver
7. Roger Crockett
8. Cory Eliason
9. Calvin Landis
10. Tim Kaeding
11. Justin Henderson
12. JJ Hickle
13. Garret Williamson
14. Ayrton Gennetten
15. Harli White
16. Kaleb Johnson
17. Ricky Montgomery
18. Colton Heath
19. Kyle Offill
20. Matt Moro
21. Nathan Mills
22. Devon Dobie
23. Aaron Reutzel
24. Ryan Leavitt