ML Motorsports Team Finishes Fifth In Rain-Shortened Race
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
HAMPTON, GA - What became an otherwise dark day filled with clouds and rain, Saturday did have its bright spots for 26-year-old driver Jason Jarrett and his Warsaw-based ML Motorsports team.
After qualifying third for the ARCA RE/MAX Series' Pork The Other White Meat 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the third-generation racer came away with a fifth-place finish when the 162-lap event was red flagged on lap 118 for rain.
The AMS safety crews briefly circled the 1.54-mile oval with jet dryers, but the race never restarted.
"It just wasn't meant to be," ML Motorsports crew chief Scott Eldridge said. "We had a good car, we just didn't get to finish the race."
Pitting on its own cycle, the ML Motorsports entry was the only car in the top five that could have made it on fuel had the race been completed.
"We did what we had to do," Eldridge said. "We tried to use a little pit strategy. If we wouldn't have got caught by rain again we would have been in pretty good shape."
February's season-opener at Daytona was also shortened by rain, leaving Jarrett trapped in 18th place after passing 15 cars in three laps and making a charge to the front.
"I wasn't real disappointed," said Jarrett, whose father and Winston Cup star Dale Jarrett spoke to him during the race via radio contact. "I mean, you can't control the rain. We were lucky enough not to get trapped back in the field like we did at Daytona."
Washington driver Damon Lusk, piloting his No. 22 Chevrolet, picked up his first career ARCA win, just edging 22-year-old Walkerton, In. driver Chad Blount's Dodge at the line.
Lusk, 24, and rookie Blount battled door to door in what became the final laps, with Lusk winning out by .001 seconds. The photo-finish, which led to arguments in the garage area afterward, was the closest in ARCA's 50-year history.
Following Lusk and Blount in the top 10 were Cam Strader, Michael Vergers, Jarrett, Andy Belmont, Billy Venturini, Tina Gordon, 16-year-old Indiana driver Shelby Howard and Doug Stevens.
Third-generation driver Justin Labonte, son of two-time NASCAR champ Terry Labonte, started 12th and finished 28th after engine failure on lap 97. Jeffersonville, In. native Frank Kimmel, who has won three season championships in the last four years, started second but finished 35th after a blown tire caused him to hit the wall.
Kimmel passed polesitter and new track record holder Blount at the start and led the first 51 laps. Blount took the point for laps 52 and 53, but after a 17-second pit stop from his ML Motorsports crew, Jarrett won the race off pit road and led the field for the next 28 circuits, easily pulling away from the pack.
As his car got better on long green flag runs, Blount passed Jarrett on lap 82.
"For the first 20 laps of that run it felt like I had a rocket," said Jarrett, last year's ARCA Rookie of the Year. "It felt really good running wide open. The problem with that is, I guess I should have paced myself and backed off a little. Chad had a better car on the longer runs, but it's hard to tell yourself to slow down when you're running that good."
Jarrett's fifth-place finish propelled him from 16th to third in the season standings with 20 races remaining. Blount, the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year honors after finishing fourth and second in the first two races, leads the points race, followed by Lusk, Jarrett, Andy Hillenburg, Venturini, Kimmel, Mike Buckley, Gordon, Todd Bowsher and Howard in the top 10.
"We're in the top three in points now, that's definitely something we can be proud of," Jarrett said. "It looks like we're probably gonna be in the top two, with Damon not running the full season. There's no doubt we're gonna go down to Nashville and run good, we always have."
Jarrett and Team 67 will race Nashville Superspeedway April 12. In two races there last year the team came away sixth and second.
Two Warriors Advance To State Gymnastics Finals
By Mike Madison, Times-Union Sports Correspondent
VALPARAISO -ÊWawasee entered Friday night's gymnastics regional at Valparaiso as the seventh-ranked team in the state and holder of the state's sixth best score this season, a 106.90 in earlier competition.
With that type of previous success going for them it would seem that a trip to the state finals would be a very real possibility, but unfortunately the Warriors would have to go up against the top three teams in Indiana in the regional field.
Chesterton came in as the state's top-ranked team in the coaches poll with Merrillville not far behind at two, and the host, Valparaiso, was ranked third.
Wawasee coach Nika Prather knew the Warriors would have to be at their all-time best to have any chance to be one of the three teams to advance to the state finals.
"We were hoping for third," said Prather, "with Chesterton, Merrillville and Valpo here, we knew we probably couldn't beat two of them, but I felt we had a shot at third. I was hoping for a 107. That would have required us to be 'on' in every event.
"The girls came in pretty optimistic. They knew they had a shot and I think that made them somewhat nervous."
As it turned out a score of 107 wouldn't have been enough to advance, as Chesterton finished on top as expected with an extraordinary score of 111.8. Merrillville took second with a 109.2 followed by Valpo at 107.925. Those three teams will advance to this weekend's state finals in Indianapolis.
Wawasee finished fourth at 103.15 while Elkhart Memorial was fifth at 95.7 and Plymouth sixth at 95.325.
Across the state, only four teams have scored at a 108 or above this season and three of them were at the Valparaiso regional.
The good news for the Warriors is that they will have another shot next year, and the year after, as their top four performers just happen to be a freshman and three sophomores. Freshman Hannah Marshall and sophomore Lindsay Olson will both get to make the trip to Indy, but as individuals. Hanna qualified for state with sixth place finishes in both the vault and the beam. She scored a 9.15 on the vault and a 9.1 on the beam. Olson qualified on the floor exercise with a 9.225, which was also good for a sixth place finish. Also coming through for the Warriors was sophomore Cari Vanlue who scored a personal best score on the floor to go with an excellent beam routine. Neither though were quite good enough to advance.
"Even though we are really disappointed," said Prather, "We had a lot of positives tonight. I am proud of our girls. We had a great season."
These type of events also produce a lot of sadness as many of the seniors preformed for the last time. One of those was Warsaw's, Dana Wentzel. She had qualified for regional competition in both the bars and beam. This was her third trip to the regional, the first two coming from Warsaw's sectional victories the last two years.
"I have had a lot of fun this year," said Wentzel, "I am really going to miss my teammates."
While Wentzel performed very well she did not advance. "I tried my best. I am proud of myself. I went out and put in something new on bars just for this. I am proud of myself for coming out here and trying my best." [[In-content Ad]]
HAMPTON, GA - What became an otherwise dark day filled with clouds and rain, Saturday did have its bright spots for 26-year-old driver Jason Jarrett and his Warsaw-based ML Motorsports team.
After qualifying third for the ARCA RE/MAX Series' Pork The Other White Meat 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the third-generation racer came away with a fifth-place finish when the 162-lap event was red flagged on lap 118 for rain.
The AMS safety crews briefly circled the 1.54-mile oval with jet dryers, but the race never restarted.
"It just wasn't meant to be," ML Motorsports crew chief Scott Eldridge said. "We had a good car, we just didn't get to finish the race."
Pitting on its own cycle, the ML Motorsports entry was the only car in the top five that could have made it on fuel had the race been completed.
"We did what we had to do," Eldridge said. "We tried to use a little pit strategy. If we wouldn't have got caught by rain again we would have been in pretty good shape."
February's season-opener at Daytona was also shortened by rain, leaving Jarrett trapped in 18th place after passing 15 cars in three laps and making a charge to the front.
"I wasn't real disappointed," said Jarrett, whose father and Winston Cup star Dale Jarrett spoke to him during the race via radio contact. "I mean, you can't control the rain. We were lucky enough not to get trapped back in the field like we did at Daytona."
Washington driver Damon Lusk, piloting his No. 22 Chevrolet, picked up his first career ARCA win, just edging 22-year-old Walkerton, In. driver Chad Blount's Dodge at the line.
Lusk, 24, and rookie Blount battled door to door in what became the final laps, with Lusk winning out by .001 seconds. The photo-finish, which led to arguments in the garage area afterward, was the closest in ARCA's 50-year history.
Following Lusk and Blount in the top 10 were Cam Strader, Michael Vergers, Jarrett, Andy Belmont, Billy Venturini, Tina Gordon, 16-year-old Indiana driver Shelby Howard and Doug Stevens.
Third-generation driver Justin Labonte, son of two-time NASCAR champ Terry Labonte, started 12th and finished 28th after engine failure on lap 97. Jeffersonville, In. native Frank Kimmel, who has won three season championships in the last four years, started second but finished 35th after a blown tire caused him to hit the wall.
Kimmel passed polesitter and new track record holder Blount at the start and led the first 51 laps. Blount took the point for laps 52 and 53, but after a 17-second pit stop from his ML Motorsports crew, Jarrett won the race off pit road and led the field for the next 28 circuits, easily pulling away from the pack.
As his car got better on long green flag runs, Blount passed Jarrett on lap 82.
"For the first 20 laps of that run it felt like I had a rocket," said Jarrett, last year's ARCA Rookie of the Year. "It felt really good running wide open. The problem with that is, I guess I should have paced myself and backed off a little. Chad had a better car on the longer runs, but it's hard to tell yourself to slow down when you're running that good."
Jarrett's fifth-place finish propelled him from 16th to third in the season standings with 20 races remaining. Blount, the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year honors after finishing fourth and second in the first two races, leads the points race, followed by Lusk, Jarrett, Andy Hillenburg, Venturini, Kimmel, Mike Buckley, Gordon, Todd Bowsher and Howard in the top 10.
"We're in the top three in points now, that's definitely something we can be proud of," Jarrett said. "It looks like we're probably gonna be in the top two, with Damon not running the full season. There's no doubt we're gonna go down to Nashville and run good, we always have."
Jarrett and Team 67 will race Nashville Superspeedway April 12. In two races there last year the team came away sixth and second.
Two Warriors Advance To State Gymnastics Finals
By Mike Madison, Times-Union Sports Correspondent
VALPARAISO -ÊWawasee entered Friday night's gymnastics regional at Valparaiso as the seventh-ranked team in the state and holder of the state's sixth best score this season, a 106.90 in earlier competition.
With that type of previous success going for them it would seem that a trip to the state finals would be a very real possibility, but unfortunately the Warriors would have to go up against the top three teams in Indiana in the regional field.
Chesterton came in as the state's top-ranked team in the coaches poll with Merrillville not far behind at two, and the host, Valparaiso, was ranked third.
Wawasee coach Nika Prather knew the Warriors would have to be at their all-time best to have any chance to be one of the three teams to advance to the state finals.
"We were hoping for third," said Prather, "with Chesterton, Merrillville and Valpo here, we knew we probably couldn't beat two of them, but I felt we had a shot at third. I was hoping for a 107. That would have required us to be 'on' in every event.
"The girls came in pretty optimistic. They knew they had a shot and I think that made them somewhat nervous."
As it turned out a score of 107 wouldn't have been enough to advance, as Chesterton finished on top as expected with an extraordinary score of 111.8. Merrillville took second with a 109.2 followed by Valpo at 107.925. Those three teams will advance to this weekend's state finals in Indianapolis.
Wawasee finished fourth at 103.15 while Elkhart Memorial was fifth at 95.7 and Plymouth sixth at 95.325.
Across the state, only four teams have scored at a 108 or above this season and three of them were at the Valparaiso regional.
The good news for the Warriors is that they will have another shot next year, and the year after, as their top four performers just happen to be a freshman and three sophomores. Freshman Hannah Marshall and sophomore Lindsay Olson will both get to make the trip to Indy, but as individuals. Hanna qualified for state with sixth place finishes in both the vault and the beam. She scored a 9.15 on the vault and a 9.1 on the beam. Olson qualified on the floor exercise with a 9.225, which was also good for a sixth place finish. Also coming through for the Warriors was sophomore Cari Vanlue who scored a personal best score on the floor to go with an excellent beam routine. Neither though were quite good enough to advance.
"Even though we are really disappointed," said Prather, "We had a lot of positives tonight. I am proud of our girls. We had a great season."
These type of events also produce a lot of sadness as many of the seniors preformed for the last time. One of those was Warsaw's, Dana Wentzel. She had qualified for regional competition in both the bars and beam. This was her third trip to the regional, the first two coming from Warsaw's sectional victories the last two years.
"I have had a lot of fun this year," said Wentzel, "I am really going to miss my teammates."
While Wentzel performed very well she did not advance. "I tried my best. I am proud of myself. I went out and put in something new on bars just for this. I am proud of myself for coming out here and trying my best." [[In-content Ad]]