Bowling Wires Jeff McCall Memorial Opener
Written by I Dig Sports
GASTONIA, N.C. Jadan Bowling went wire-to-wire to win night one of the Jeff McCall Memorial Weekend on Friday night at Carolina Speedway for the United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire.
Bowling held off a late-race charge from NASCAR Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to take the win.
Stenhouse returned to his sprint car racing roots to finish second and Ryan Turner started 19th and finished third
USCS point leader Dale Howard took the fourth spot and Trey Meredith was fifth.
When the green flag came out to start the 25-lap Feature Race, Bowling took the lead from the pole position, followed by Moss, Howard, Clem, and Smith.
By lap seven, it was Bowling, Howard, Clem, Stenhouse, and Smith. Bowling held a 1.189 second lead over Howard by the halfway mark, and five laps later, he had stretched it out to 2.333 seconds.
Smith fell off the pace on lap 19 and out of the top five. That brought out a caution flag to bunch the field up for a four-lap dash to the finish.
Bowling led the field down for the restart followed by Howard, Stenhouse, Clem and Meredith, Stenhouse passed Howard for second on lap 21, and Turner came from sixth on the restart to move up to third on the last lap.
Bowling took a 1.365 second margin of victory over Stenhouse under the checkered flag.
The finish:
Feature (23 Laps): 1. 01 Jadan Bowling, Holden Beach, NC (1); 2. 47jr Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Olive Branch, MS (7); 3. 15 Ryan Turner, Dunnville, ON CAN (19); 4. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (2); 5. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (6); 6. 6s Tyler Clem, St. Petersburg, FL (3); 7. 71h Max Stambaugh, Lima, OH (12); 8. 77e Ashton VanEvery, Ohsweken, ON CAN (9); 9. 13 Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (17); 10. 48 Coen McDaniel, Gaffney, SC (13); 11. 47r Eric Riggins Jr., Charlotte, NC (8); 12. 4 Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (5); 13. 66 Chase Dunham, Leipsic, OH (18); 14. 00 P.J. Reutimann, Zephyrhills, FL (10); 15. 201 Kelsey Ivy, Fremont, OH (16); 16. 67m Jake McLain, Hembry Bridge, NC (15); 17. B5 Brianna Lawson, Jackson Springs, NC (22); 18. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (11); 19. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (14); 20. 5r Steven Renn, Gastonia, NC (25); 21. 75x Brian Tyler, Parma, MI (24); 22. 19w Jackson Wellman, Belmont, NC (21); 23. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (4); 24. 75 Robert Tyler, Mount Pleasant, NC (20); 25. G6 Brandon Grubaugh, Ocala, FL (23) DNS.