HUMBOLDT — Battle at the Bullring III concluded late Sunday afternoon after a one-day weather delay with Springdale, Ark., driver J.C. Morton powered to the front for his biggest victory to date behind the wheel of a new PCD Chassis B-Mod.
Morton, who advanced to the starting grid twice before for this event left those disappointing finishes behind, by putting the cap on a dream weekend that set him up for a fourth-place start on the grid of the 50-lap event.
Veteran Stephen Muilenburg of Sparta, Mo,, was one of only two drivers to claim three heat-race victories out of four preliminary heat races, sat on the pole for the event. Muilenburg led the opening laps and sometimes pulled away by over five-car lengths early on over Oklahoman, Brandon Kenney.
On lap 11, Morton made the pass over Kenney to place himself in the runner-up spot as Muilenburg comfortably held his lead. Third-starting Travis Johnson, the other driver to claim three heat-race wins over the weekend, unfortunately retired early on lap two. The attrition rate was low as only five of the 25 starters were unable to take the checkers.
For the ensuing restart, Muilenburg brought the field back to green as Morton, who knew he had limited opportunities on the tricky track to make a move, quickly shot to the low side and pulled a slider on the leader into turns one and two. The pass was clean and Morton assumed command of the race on lap 24. However, Muilenburg stayed right with Morton never letting him move away by more than five car lengths.
A second caution flag bunched the field on lap 31 for Cody Lee’s spin as Morton brought the field to green for the restart. Meanwhile, Garfield, Minn. driver Justin Froemming, climbed his way from 10th on the grid as he came forward to sixth. Former USRA National Champion Andy Bryant found his way into the top five by lap 35 after starting seventh. Last year’s runner-up Cody Smith looked solid early on from eighth to fifth but slipped back in the late stages of the race.
The third and final yellow appeared on lap 39 and as Morton came to the flag for the restart, this time Muilenburg kept the pressure on as the pair darted away from third-running Brandon Kenney, who was glued to the third-place position all long, looked for a way to catch the lead duo.
The final few laps were like a skating rink for the drivers as Morton masterfully piloted his machine off the corners with Muilenburg in tow. In the closing stages Bryant took over the fourth spot from sixth-starting Michael Truscott but ran out of time to advance any further.
As his new team and wife and daughter watched from the pit area, Morton went uncontested the rest of the way and claimed his biggest career win to date. In victory lane, an ecstatic and still in disbelief Morton said, “I have to thank everyone on this team, we put this car together rather quickly, I’m so thankful, it hasn’t sunk in yet!”
Muilenburg capped off a strong weekend in the runner-up position after leading the first 23 circuits. Brandon Kenney stayed in third position the entire race distance to round out the podium. Bryant climbed to fourth while Michael Truscott rounded out the top five. Finishing sixth through tenth were Justin Froemming, Cody Smith, 2015 winner Shawn Strong, Illinois driver Robbie Eilers and Ft. Scott, Kansas veteran Randy Zimmerman.
In preliminary action, where only the top two drivers of 16 cars on the grid transferred to the main event, Robbie Eilers bested Mack Estey in B-Main number one with Don Reid going to victory over David Simpson in B-Main number two. Kansan Dakota Foster claimed the victory in B-Main number three over Mitch Weiss. Cole Searing claimed the win in B-Main number four ahead of twelfth-starting Mike Striegel, while Oklahoma’s Kale Westover beat Cody Lee for the win in B-Main five.
