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Matt Juhl Takes Night #1 of the Spring Meltdown!

I-80 Speedway Greenwood, Nebraska (April 5, 2019)— The Carpetland Nebraska 360 Sprint Series presented by Malvern Bank kicked off their 2019 season at, what could be considered our home track, I-80 Speedway. Twenty-nine 360ci sprint cars checked into the pits for night #1 of the Spring Meltdown. Tonight’s 25 lap event pays $2000 to the winner and night #2 will pay $2500.

Matt Juhl from Tea, South Dakota took night #1 of the Spring Meltdown but not before trading slide jobs with Jack Dover before Dover fell out of the race with clogged fuel lines. “The car felt awesome and I was getting a little tight towards the end there, but I had the wing pulled back pretty far otherwise it felt good. It’s the first race of the year so I feel good about that. This is the first race we could get to and get some laps before Knoxville and get some laps in before those guys. Hopefully we can run well tomorrow night otherwise we will get back to Knoxville. The guys behind me helped me get a lot of things done with the car but we are prepared and got the car ready and if this says anything, we are going to have an awesome year. I was getting worried about all of the restarts and Dover was up there and I don’t know what happened to him but I was more worried about where he was because I knew it was going to be a dog fight back and forth with him. It was fun there for a little while before the restarts but I’m glad that is all over with. The middle and bottom in 1 & 2 was alright and fortunately I nailed 1 & 2 on the start and it was a good way to get the lead there. Hopefully we can go 2 for 2!”

Brendan Mullen, the 15 year old sensation from Grand Forks, North Dakota was the Saldana Racing Products pole winner for the 25 lap, $2000 to win, A feature. As he brought the field to the green flag, second place starter, Jack Dover, dove to the bottom of turn 1 to take the lead but Mullen took to the low side of turn 4 to take the lead but the yellow flag flew as Wade Nygaard came to a stop in turn 4.

The field was reset and Brendan Mullen brought the field to the green flag as Dover shot to the lead in turn 1 as Matt Juhl moved to 2nd place and Mullen moved to third. On lap 3, Lee Grosz spun as a car checked up in front of him bringing out the second yellow.

On the restart, Dover brought the field to the green flag with Matt Juhl in second, Brendam Muller in third, Seth Brahmer fourth, and Jason Martin fifth. Dover gathered a great lead by 8 cars on lap #4 with Juhl trailing. Lap #6 was lead by Dover followed by Juhl, Brahmer, Justin Henderson and Jason Martin. The yellow came out again for Ryan Roberts restarting lap 6.

Jack Dover brought the field to the green as Matt Juhl got a great run on Dover taking the lead momentarily in turn 2 but Dover took it back in turn 4. Another yellow flew on lap 8 as Wade Nygaard, Clint Garner, and Lee Grosz collected each other in turn 4.

Jack Dover kept the lead and took the green flag on the restart as he went low in turn 1 and Matt Juhl got great speed going high and took the lead from Dover. Jack Dover headed to the pits a lap later moving Brahmer to second. Half-way through the race Juhl maintained a 4 second lead as Brahmer was second, Justin Henderson third, Jason Martin fourth, and Tyler Drueke fifth. Ryan Roberts brought out his second yellow putting him to the pits for the night.

Matt Juhl lead the field to the green with Henderson, Martin, Brahmer and Drueke rounding out the top 5. Henderson looked low on Juhl but not able to make the pass. Jason Martin moved to third as he slid past Brahmer in turn 4. With 5 laps to go, Juhl, Henderson, Martin, Brahmer, and Chris Martin were the top 5. Juhl gathered a straightaway lead over Henderson in the final laps to take home the win and $2000!

Heat Race #1 (Results) 8 Laps

Jason Martin
Jack Dover
Tyler Drueke
Dusty Ballenger
Shane Sundquist
Ryan King
Mike Kay

Heat Race #2 (Results) 8 Laps

Lee Grosz
Justin Henderson
Chris Martin
Wade Nygaard
Clint Garner
Stuart Snyder
Jake Bubak

Heat Race #3 (Results) 8 Laps

Matt Juhl
Seth Brahmer
Jody Rosenboom
Ryan Bickett
Jade Hastings
John Klabunde
Frank Galusha

Heat Race #4 (Results) 8 Laps

Jason Danley
Brendan Mullen
Ryan Roberts
Rich Cerveny
Cody Ledger
Joey Danley
Shayle Bade

B Feature (Results) 12 Laps

Clint Garner
Jake Bubak
Ryan Bickett
John Klabunde
Joey Danley
Shayle Bade
Ryan King
Shane Sundquist
Mike Kay
Stuart Snyder
Frank Galusha
Cody Ledger

A Main (Results) 24 Laps

Matt Juhl
Justin Henderson
Jason Martin
Seth Brahmer
Chris Martin
Tyler Drueke
Jody Rosenboom
Ryan Bickett
Brendam Mullen
Jake Bubak
Jade Hastings
John Klabunde
Rich Cerveny
Dusty Ballenger
Ryan Roberts
Jack Dover
Clint Garner
Wade Nygaard
Lee Grosz
Jason Danley

Contingency Awards

Saldana Racing Products Pole Award- Brendan Mullen
Speedway Motors Hard Charger $200- Ryan Bickett
Electrical Systems Inc Podium Draw $300- Jason Martin

Points (As of April 5, 2019)

Pos Driver Points Gap

1. Matt Juhl 150 -
2. Justin Henderson 142 8
3. Jason Martin 135 15
4. Seth Brahmer 130 20
5. Chris Martin 125 25
6. Tyler Drueke 122 28
7. Ryan Bickett 119 31
8. Brendan Mullen 116 34
9. Jake Bubak 113 37
10. Jade Hastings 110 40

Tomorrow evening we will return to I-80 Speedway for night #2 of the Spring Meltdown where we will award $2500 to the winner of that event. Racing will begin at 6 with hot laps at 5:15.

To stay up to date on current results, please visit us on Facebook and visit our website to catch all of the latest news from the series!

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