By Jordan Kuehne
PLOVER, WIS. (Friday, July 24, 2009) – Ryan Carlson made his way to the front early and managed to hold off the two-time defending champion Jeremy Miller to top a 26 car field and claim the BRP Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet “Jingle Bells 58” tonight at Golden Sands Speedway. Carlson maneuvered his way from the third row into first in just 20 laps, taking the lead away from Brian Bach and never looking back as he held on for the win.
As the skies darkened above, two-time defending series champion Jeremy Miller jumped out to the early lead in the BRP Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet “Jingle Bells 58”. Brian Bach slid his way past Steve Dobbratz for second as Scott Broughton jumped up to third.
Seven laps in, Broughton began peeking on the inside of Bach for second as Miller built up a comfortable margin on the field. Miller lost his lead on lap 13 as a caution bunched the field back up due to an unassisted spin by Davey Pennel in turn two.
Bach took advantage of the restart to tap Miller in turn three, sending him down to third as Bach jumped into the top spot. Ryan Carlson moved into second after Miller’s slip but Carlson wouldn’t stay there for long as he worked the bottom line on Bach grabbing the lead away two laps later and bringing Miller with him into second.
Jeremy Lepak moved past a fading Bach as 2008 Golden Sands Speedway Big 8 Series winner Ross Kenseth followed him into fourth. Lepak started to reel in Miller for second and was about to pounce when the second caution of the race flew with just 17 circuits remaining after a Ryan Miles spin in turn four.
Carlson had a great restart jumping out to a two-car length lead over Miller as Lepak continued to try and maneuver into second. Miller managed to get away a little from Lepak and settle into second as Kenseth jumped onto Lepak’s back bumper and battled for third.
Fast qualifier and new limited late model track record holder Skylar Holzhausen jumped into the fray as he tried to drive around Kenseth on the outside for fourth. Holzhausen completed the pass on the last lap as Kenseth dropped back to fifth.
Ryan Carlson grabbed his first Big 8 Series victory of 2009 as he held off a wily veteran, Jeremy Miller, to take the trophy.
Jeremy Lepak rallied for third while Skylar Holzhausen charged from his twelfth place starting spot to fourth and Ross Kenseth rounded out the top five in the fifth position.
The next event on tap for the BRP Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet is the “Dixieland 38” on Tuesday, August 4th at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. The Big 8 Series will be running in conjunction with the ASA Midwest Tour featuring NASCAR stars Kevin Harvick and Ron Hornaday.
For more information on the BRP Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet, please visit the series website at www.big8series.com.
This article was posted to the website on July 25th, 2009 • Click to view all related content in the following categories
