September 15, 2024 | By Billy Rock

Garrett Alberson sweeps MLRA weekend at Davenport

DAVENPORT, Ia. — The Hawkeye State officially has a new King of the Cornfields, as Garrett Alberson backed up his thrilling victory on Friday night with another Lucas Oil MLRA victory in the finale of the “Corn State Nationals” at the Davenport Speedway on Saturday night.

This time around Alberson had to roll from third on the starting grid for the 40-lap affair behind from row starters Tyler Bruening and last nights runner up Dennis Erb Jr.  Bruening grabbed the nights MyRacePass Fast Time award and was able to take advantage of his pole position to lead the opening circuits. The first of two cautions waved on lap 8 when Chad Mahder slowed on the race track with a flat right rear tire.

On the restart it was 4th starting Brandon Sheppard moving ahead of Erb Jr. for the runner up spot while Alberson also snuck by to grab third. The final caution of the night was a big one in regards to the championship picture, as Dillon McCowan made contact with Midwest Sheet Metal Point Leader Chad Simpson, resulting in both drivers suffering irreparable damages that would sideline both from the event. Simpson and McCowan would be scored in 23rd and 24th respectively in the final run down.

On the ensuing restart Bruening would once again put distance between himself and the field, running the narrow top side cushion of the ¼ mile while Alberson and Sheppard continued to battle for podium position. On lap 23, Alberson was able to pin his Longhorn chassis to the bottom of the speedway and grab the race lead from Bruening exiting turn two.

For the second night in a row Alberson had to make all the right moves in a battle with lapped traffic, and was able to hold off a pair of late race advances by Sheppard to score the $10,000 victory. Sheppard had an opportunity late after clearing lapped traffic, but was not able to close to within striking distance and settled for second. Bruening ended his night with an MLRA career best 3rd place finish. Tyler Erb raced his way from 8th on the grid to 4th, while McKay Wenger rounded out the top five in his first MLRA start of the season.

“I knew early I would have to get up there and burn that top in with them guys and just keep the speed up, that’s typically just how it goes it seems like,” explained Alberson. “I was hoping I would be the guy that found the bottom at the right time. It looked pretty wet down there when we got going, cautions just kind of fell my way right there with positioning and all.”

“I think I just fell into the right places at the right time. I knew the lane was probably going to change somewhere in there and you know I was trying to be smart with my tires. They did a great job with the track prep, it was transitioning and moving and dirt was flying it was just awesome. I’m super proud of my guys. I don’t know if this is what I expected coming into the weekend, but this is really cool.”

“It’s just such a pleasure to drive for them,” noted Alberson of car owners Ken and Beth Roberts. It's cool to come and represent them here well. They have a lot of history in this area and it’s just really special. I’m really glad I could finally do a little bit for them at Davenport.”

The Lucas Oil MLRA will next return to action on October 3rd – 5th for the MLRA “Fall Nationals” at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO. Originally slated as a two night affair, the annual fall classic has expanded to now include three nights of racing with complete shows each night. Both Thursday and Friday nights action will pay $5,000 to win, leading up to Saturday nights $10,000 weekend finale.


Davenport Speedway Contingencies 9/14/24

Lap Leaders – Tyler Bruening (1 - 22), Garrett Alberson (23 - 40)

Cautions – 2

MyRacePass “Overall Fast Time Award" – Tyler Bruening (13.449 sec.)
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race – R.C. Whitwell
MD3 "Most Laps Led" – Tyler Bruening (22)
Swift Springs “Move of the Race” – Garrett Alberson
Sunoco Race Fuel “Rookie of the Race” – Aaron Marrant
PEM Racing "4th Place Finisher" – Tyler Erb
Fluidyne: "5th Place Finisher: – McKay Wenger
Sunoco "Engine Builders Challenge" – Clements
Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" – Chad Simpson
MSD Performance Holley: “1st B-Main NON-Qualifier” – Matt Menzie
MD3 Final Finisher: – Chris Simpson


Corn State Nationals40 Laps | 00:27:29.311
1. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 3. 16T-Tyler Bruening[1]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[8]; 5. 99W-Mckay Wenger[9]; 6. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[10]; 7. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[11]; 8. 99F-Frank Heckenast Jr[13]; 9. 19-Dustin Sorensen[7]; 10. 28JR-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 12. 15D-Justin Duty[16]; 13. 17SS-Brenden Smith[14]; 14. 11-Jeff Herzog[24]; 15. 1M-Mike Mataragas[19]; 16. 22H-Dustin Hodges[12]; 17. 17-Tim Simpson[17]; 18. 15C-Curt Schroeder[18]; 19. 78S-Steve Stultz[26]; 20. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[25]; 21. 51F-Matt Furman[21]; 22. (DNF) 29D-Spencer Diercks[22]; 23. (DNF) 25-Chad Simpson[6]; 24. (DNF) 8-Dillon McCowan[15]; 25. (DNF) 55C-Chad Mahder[20]; 26. (DNF) 32-Chris Simpson[23]

B Feature 1 Fast Shafts10 Laps | 00:03:43.137
1. 17-Tim Simpson[1]; 2. 1M-Mike Mataragas[2]; 3. 51F-Matt Furman[4]; 4. 41-Matt Menzie[7]; 5. M27-Mike Provenzano[5]; 6. 78S-Steve Stultz[3]; 7. 99-Sawyer Specht[10]; 8. 4X-Dalon Helm[6]; 9. 26G-Glen Powell[8]; 10. (DNS) 32-Chris Simpson

B Feature 2 Wieland10 Laps | 00:04:18.302
1. 15C-Curt Schroeder[3]; 2. 55C-Chad Mahder[2]; 3. 29D-Spencer Diercks[4]; 4. 33F-Rickey Frankel[8]; 5. 11-Jeff Herzog[6]; 6. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[9]; 7. 42-Johnathan Huston[5]; 8. 50C-Kayden Clatt[1]; 9. (DNS) 1ST-Justin Reed; 10. (DNS) 67-Jimmy Vanzandt

H1-Flo Sports8 Laps | 00:07:23.421
1. 16T-Tyler Bruening[1]; 2. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 3. 99W-Mckay Wenger[5]; 4. 99F-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 5. 17-Tim Simpson[6]; 6. 78S-Steve Stultz[9]; 7. M27-Mike Provenzano[7]; 8. (DNF) 41-Matt Menzie[8]; 9. (DNF) 32-Chris Simpson[4]

H2-Simpson Race Products8 Laps | 00:06:00.256
1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 19-Dustin Sorensen[3]; 3. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[5]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 5. 1M-Mike Mataragas[4]; 6. 51F-Matt Furman[6]; 7. 4X-Dalon Helm[7]; 8. 26G-Glen Powell[8]; 9. 99-Sawyer Specht[9]

H3-Earnhardt Technologies8 Laps | 00:01:59.098
1. 28JR-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 3. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 4. 17SS-Brenden Smith[4]; 5. 50C-Kayden Clatt[5]; 6. 15C-Curt Schroeder[9]; 7. 42-Johnathan Huston[7]; 8. 1ST-Justin Reed[8]; 9. (DNS) 1XM-Aaron Marrant

H4- Lucas Oil8 Laps | 00:06:04.616
1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 2. 1-Tyler Erb[1]; 3. 22H-Dustin Hodges[3]; 4. 15D-Justin Duty[9]; 5. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 6. 29D-Spencer Diercks[4]; 7. 11-Jeff Herzog[6]; 8. 33F-Rickey Frankel[5]; 9. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[8]


For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com.


CURRENT MLRA STANDINGS

Pos # Competitor Hometown Points Gap
1 25 Chad Simpson Chad Simpson  Mt. Vernon, IA 2410 -
2 56JR Tony Jackson Jr Tony Jackson Jr  Lebanon, MO 2310 -100
3 32 Chris Simpson Chris Simpson  Oxford, IA 2210 -200
4 8 Dillon McCowan Dillon McCowan  Urbana, MO 2185 -225
5 11T Trevor Gundaker Trevor Gundaker  St. Charles, MO 2030 -380
6 11 Jeff Herzog Jeff Herzog  Festus, MO 1960 -450
7 11G Gordy Gundaker Gordy Gundaker  St. Charles, MO 1775 -635
8 1XM Aaron Marrant Aaron Marrant (R)  Richmond, MO 1720 -690
9 22H Dustin Hodges Dustin Hodges  Centralia, MO 1710 -700
10 78S Steve Stultz Steve Stultz  Peoria, AZ 1700 -710