Mooresville, N.C.- The Grand National Super Series presented by Engineered Components Co event at Franklin County Speedway was plagued by gremlins for some, and triumph for others. Friday, August 26th the track held an open practice where several drivers came to test and tune their hotrods. While most were able to make the most of their time, the first gremlin appeared in the form of Lauren Butler blowing her motor while testing. Unfortunately, Butler did not bring a spare so they were forced to head back to Pennsylvania. Saturday brought another early afternoon test session. Participants in this practice included Kevin Kromer, Bob Schacht, A.J. Henriksen, Joe Wilder, and Jason McDowell. Everyone was able to make gains on their machines.
The gates opened at 3 p.m. for regular race day activities. At 5 p.m. the GNSS stars would take to the track for practice. The gremlins soon appeared again. The next victim would be Jason McDowell in his #30, Jody Cash owned car. Jason would blow a motor and be forced to load up. Soon after was qualifying. A.J. Henriksen took back his title as pole sitter. A.J. has the most Chalew Pole Awards of the season.
For the first fifty-lap feature the top six cars would be inverted. Putting the 3 car of Jason Schue on the pole alongside Showtime Mike in his black #54. Henriksen started sixth alongside the 77 of Kevin Kromer who was set a blistering pace in practice. When the green flew the 54 took off and was able to lead the first three laps before Joe Wilder took over. On lap thirteen the next gremlin would appear. Marc Jones spun coming off of turn four. He barely kissed the inside wall and looked as if he was going to be able to continue. His race was ended when his car would not fire while sitting on the front stretch, putting him in the garage for the end of feature one. Luckily, Jones only had a dead battery and was able to charge it and make it to feature two. Once the green was back out Henriksen and Wilder battled back and forth for a few laps before Wilder finally was able to pull away. Joe Wilder in the 42 was able to maintain the lead until lap 39 when his tires began to wear and Henriksen made the move to pass him. Joe was shuffled back a few positions being passed then by Kevin Kromer, but was able to maintain a top-three finish. Henriksen went on to win the race, three in a row for him. Kevin Kromer had an amazing race finishing second and giving Henriksen a run for his money. Kevin Kromer was also the Howe Enterprises Hard Charger for race one. Local driver Tyler Ashley finished 8th in only his 2nd GNSS start.
Race two would once again see the top six be inverted. This time Showtime Mike would lead the way. The 54 lead the first two laps before Joe Wilder made his charge to the front. Wilder knew he had to get out front and grow his lead by as much as possible as Kromer and Henriksen were coming hard. It wasn’t long before Wilder had Kromer in his mirror. Kromer finally caught Wilder and ran side by side for several laps. The top three ran; Wilder, Kromer, and Henriksen. On lap 24 the caution came out when the 3 hit the backstretch wall and came to a rest in turn four. A series of events then lead to Wilder, Kromer, and Henriksen tangling. The top three did a great job and Henriksen and Wilder escaped with minimal damage. Kevin Kromer was not so lucky. The incident caused a busted radiator for Kromer ending his stellar performance. Wilder made multiple trips to the pits for Jody Cash to repair some cosmetic damage. During the chaos of everything Marc Jones’ bad luck continued when he lost his brakes. After the cleanup, the green came back out. Wilder would once again be your leader. While Henriksen and Wilder battled for the lead Larry Wilcox and Eric Barber battled for a podium position. Both Barber and Wilcox ran an extremely clean race. The gremlins would once again appear when Larry Wilcox lost power forcing him to the garage. With Wilcox out Barber had his sights set on the 42 of Wilder and 57 of Henriksen. He was not able to close the deal and Wilder went on to win his first race of the season. Joe Wilder lead the most laps in both fifty-lap features. This was the first top three for Eric Barber who was also the Howe Hard Charger for the 2nd race. Tyler Ashley was unable to participate in the second race due to transmission problems.
The next Grand National Super Series presented by Engineered Components Co will be at Caraway Speedway on September 10th in Sophia North Carolina. We want to thank the great sponsors who make all this possible; Engineered Components Co, Howe Enterprises, Chalew Performance, and Circle Track Warehouse.
Race 1 Results
- A.J. Henriksen
2.Kevin Kromer - Joe Wilder
- Bob Schacht
- Jason Schue
- Mike Kurkowski
- Eric Barber
- Tyler Ashley
- Larry Wilcox
- Marc Jones
Race 2 Results
- Joe Wilder
- A.J. Henriksen
- Eric Barber
- Larry Wilcox
- Kevin Kromer
- Bob Schacht
- Billy Keys
- Marc Jones
- Mike Kurkowski
Tyler Ashley did not start race two.
