11/2/2015
Season Summary: Jonathan Cornell
(Photo by TeeJay Crawford Photography)
SEDALIA, Mo. – Coming as no surprise to sprint car fans across the Midwest, Jonathan Cornell’s 2015 campaign was a successful one. Though narrowly missing out on his fourth Double-X Speedway track championship by just 13 points after missing one race early in the season, he did garner his fourth ASCS Warrior Region crown by a healthy 207-point margin. Overall, Cornell scored eight wins in over the course of his season, including 20 top-ten finishes opposed to just three DNFs.
The season began in familiar fashion, as Cornell swept the opening weekend of May. The Sedalia, Mo. native followed up a season-opening Warrior triumph at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. with a score at Double-X the following night. Both races, Cornell won in heat competition as well, and led all but three laps he contested that weekend. Later in May, Cornell and crew chief Chad Cypert visited the Golden State for four races with Main Motorsports in their No. 35M entry. His top finish during the trip was a tenth-place effort at Marysville Raceway Park with the Civil War Sprint series on May 23.
After returning home, Cornell picked up where he left off, and won at Double-X on June 7. A hard flip in his next race, a Friday night event at US 36 Raceway in Osborn, Mo., didn’t slow him down for the remainder of the weekend. Coming from the 18th starting position, Cornell was able to rally to tenth-place finish at Lucas Oil with the ASCS National Tour on Saturday. Sunday night, Double-X hosted the “Tribute to Jesse,” in which the highest driver in points after heat races was offered a $6000 payday if he could win from the rear of the field, in true Jesse Hockett style. Cornell was highest in points and accepted the challenge. Though unable to win, he hustled from 20th on the grid to a top-five. He enjoyed more success the following weekend, taking a Nebraska 360’s win at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. and a fourth-place finish at Knoxville, Iowa’s famed Knoxville Raceway.
For the Warrior Region’s Red, White, and Blue Tour centered around Independence Day, Cornell failed to finish at Callaway Raceway in Fulton, Mo., but took fourth at Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Mo. and concluded the weekend with a runner-up at Double-X. The next three weeks, he and the Kiowa Line Builders No. 28 Maxim went on a tear at the California, Mo. quarter-mile. Each Sunday night, Cornell parked the sprinter in the winner’s circle. A third-place finish to conclude the season there wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit he faced due to his trip to the west coast in May.
Unfortunately, Cornell’s season peak came slightly too early and he struggled through August’s Knoxville Nationals events in both 360 and 410 sprint action, unable to make a feature at a track he has historically ran well at. The highlight of the month was a ninth-place hard-charging effort from the 22nd and final starting spot at Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia on August 23, in a National Tour and Warrior Region co-sanctioned event just a ten-minute drive from Cornell’s shop. One more attempt at a 410ci start with the National Sprint League ended prematurely, as the car’s rear end failed pushing onto the track before heat race action at Randolph County.
September was nicer to Team Twenty Eight, kicking off the month with his final win of the season, coming at Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo. Finishing fourth and sixth at Randolph County the next two nights helped Cornell close in on the Warrior title, and a second-place finish at US 36 the following Saturday clinched the crown. Two nights of racing remained on the schedule; the Jesse Hockett Memorial, a National/Warrior co-sanctioned weekend at Lucas Oil. Cornell took ninth on night one, and appeared primed for another top-ten finish, running in tenth for much of the race, but slipped back following a late-race restart and finished 13th.
Jonathan Cornell Racing would like to thank Kiowa Line Builders, Starline Brass, Gas Monkey Tequila, VKCC Motorsports, Yeager's Cycle, Mustang Sallyz Saloon, Champion Brands, Ostrich Racing Engines, Peak Sport and Spine, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Weld Racing, Hoosier Racing Tire, Maxim Chassis, Rod End Supply, Lucas Oil, KSE Racing Products, ButlerBuilt, Factory Kahne Midwest, Duinkerken Farms, Steve Watt Enterprises, R2C Performance Products, Simpson Race Products, Don's Truck Towing & Truck Wash, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions LLC, Outlaw Wings, Sparks Electric Co., SureCoat, Xtreme Fuel Stick, and Steve and Charlie Smith, as well as all of his fans for their continued support.
2015 Stats
32 races, 26 features, 8 wins, 11 podiums, 15 top fives, 20 top tens, 3 DNFs
Social Media
Twitter: http://twitter.com/teamtwentyeight
Article Credit: Redbeard Promotions
