Maynard, Gossar and Stickler Victorious in ‘Last Lap’ for Short Track U.S. Nationals

by Zach Evans / Racing America

On Saturday night, three grassroots racing series convened at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Short Track U.S. Nationals: The Last Lap. Billed as the final outing for the Vores Compact Touring Series, CRA Street Stock Series and Midwest Modifieds Tour to Bristol, the event added two names to the list of Bristol winners.

MAYNARD MAKES A MEMORABLE BRISTOL DEBUT WITH STREET STOCK WIN
It may be ‘The Last Lap,’ but it was a memorable first lap for Austin Maynard.

Maynard scored the victory in the CRA Street Stock Series presented by Chevrolet Performance feature in his first trip to Bristol. It was a rare appearance at a larger track for Maynard, but certainly one he’ll never forget.

“It’s really cool. The only other half-mile, or close to a half-mile, I’ve been to is Nashville,” said Maynard. “To come here and win, last one, is something special, especially to join Brett Hudson and Chuck Barnes on this list.”

Maynard had to hold off none other than Chuck Barnes, Jr. in the closing laps, especially after a restart with 12 laps to go. Coincidentally, Barnes provided a lot of advice that put Maynard on the right track for the win.

“Chuckie has helped me a lot, a lot. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be standing here honestly. He didn’t put in the work, but he told me everything I needed. I never doubted that he’d steer me in the right direction.

“I appreciate him. I knew we could race clean. I knew he was coming, so I had to go.”

Barnes, Jr. finished second, followed by Jeff Lane, Brett Hudson and Heath Helton.


GOSSAR COMPLETES THE VORES COMPACT SERIES TRIFECTA

Tom Gossar added a third sword to his collection from Bristol Motor Speedway, scoring the Vores Compact Touring Series powered by Mercer County Electric win at the Short Track U.S. Nationals.

Gossar took the lead with 17 laps to go in the 50-lap event, surviving a battle of attrition while many of his toughest competitors fell by the wayside on the grueling high banks.

“This is the best victory lane there is,” said Gossar. “I definitely didn’t want to see the last [caution]. I knew most of the faster cars had fell out. I was really surprised that the 25 [of Shawn Bowar] had on the restart. I knew once we got clear of him, we had a pretty good shot to keep it.”

While this year’s event is being billed as “The Last Lap,” Gossar acknowledged he didn’t think he’d get another chance to race at Bristol after the 2020 edition of the event.

“I thought maybe when we won the last one, it was going to be the last one. I’d like to end it on a good note.”

Shawn Bowar finished second, followed by Cody Griffith, John Ketron and Karter Stark.


STICKLER ADDS TO RESUME WITH SHORT TRACK U.S. NATIONALS WIN

Cody Stickler has won plenty of big races in his career, such as the Hot Shoe 100 and the Modifieds of Mayhem event at the Snowball Derby. Now, he can add a victory at Bristol to the list after taking the checkered flag in the Midwest Modifieds Tour powered by Wheeler Trucking.

Stickler benefitted from a friendly redraw, setting fast time in qualifying and starting third in the 24-car field. He quickly jumped to the lead and led the rest of the 40 laps for the victory.

“Starting third definitely helped,” said Stickler. “Getting out in that clean air was definitely a good thing. It feels great.”

For Stickler, the Bristol win goes right to the top of his list of accomplishments.

“Man, this one’s right at the top with the Derby. This one feels good.”


SHORT TRACK U.S. NATIONALS: THE LAST LAP UNOFFICIAL RESULTS CRA STREET STOCK SERIES

FIN NO DRIVER LAPS DIFF
1 29 Austin Maynard 40
2 44B Chuck Barnes, Jr. 40 0.274
3 21L Jeff Lane 40 2.148
4 00H Brett Hudson 40 3.502
5 16H Heath Helton 40 3.776
6 20C Dalton Conner 40 4.005
7 5B Chuck Barnes, Sr. 40 4.553
8 84 Andrew Teepe 40 4.850
9 99 Brian Bayer 40 5.726
10 94 Jeff Stith 40 5.945
11 74 Austin Baum 40 6.134
12 25N Tyler Nicely 40 6.395
13 05 Blaine Akin 40 7.632
14 5P Josh Poore 40 7.742
15 73 Colby Lane 40 8.017
16 19B Cole Baxter 40 8.512
17 3A Shawn Amor 40 8.750
18 32 Roger Williams 40 9.327
19 25 Josh Way 40 12.044
20 191 Jake Hinton 40 17.423
21 33 Chad Richardson 39 1 Lap
22 38 Alex Ware 39 1 Lap
23 2 Duane Damon 39 1 Lap
24 50 Brandon Barcus 39 1 Lap
25 77P Justin Pirtle 35 5 Laps
26 19P Conner Popplewell 29 11 Laps
27 76 Joe Muldoon 27 13 Laps
28 24W Jeremie Wiggins 27 13 Laps
29 98 Jamie Sites 27 13 Laps
30 89 Josh Sage 20 20 Laps
31 03D Dillon Oliver 19 21 Laps
32 12 Kyle Hadley 9 31 Laps
33 22 James Kirby III 2 38 Laps
34 15S Lonnie Sauier 1 39 Laps
35 10B Dan Banker
36 85 Alan Williams

VORES COMPACT TOURING SERIES

FIN NO DRIVER LAPS DIFF
1 0 Tom Gossar 50
2 25 Shawn Bowar 50 0.951
3 46 Cody Griffith 40 1.629
4 26 John Ketron 50 2.823
5 92 Karter Stark 50 2.968
6 14X Josh Richardson 50 3.262
7 111 Devon Dixon 50 3.987
8 1 Tim Hintz 50 4.450
9 5J Jesse Jones, IV 50 6.070
10 95 David Yoder 50 6.756
11 99 Corey Edelman 50 7.196
12 110 Austin Scott 47 3 Laps
13 24T Aaron Teegarden 47 3 Laps
14 1T Alex Treptow 44 6 Laps
15 07 Steve Vore 44 6 Laps
16 007 Don Rufener, III 43 7 Laps
17 10 Jake Albright 42 8 Laps
18 85 Phil Iliff 42 8 Laps
19 27H Bo Hoelscher 35 15 Laps
20 42 Danny Cascioli 34 16 Laps
21 57 Ricky Wilson 31 19 Laps
22 9T Nicholas Meade 31 19 Laps
23 71S Derek Simon 30 20 Laps
24 51M Mark Mason 29 21 Laps
25 39 Kyle Frame 26 24 Laps
26 6 Chris Jennings 18 32 Laps
27 981 B.J. Wambold 16 34 Laps
28 9A Aaron Tatman 16 34 Laps
29 28P Pete Doxey 16 34 Laps
30 33P Jake Burgroff 15 35 Laps
31 71G Trent Gossar 12 38 Laps
32 33F Justin Brown 12 38 Laps
33 192 Kyle Stark 11 39 Laps
34 62 Todd Metz, Sr. 7 43 Laps
35 50B Brandon Barcus 7 43 Laps
36 29 Ron Sagers 7 43 Laps
37 107 Jeff Vore 7 43 Laps
38 14JJ Joseph Jennings 2 48 Laps

MIDWEST MODIFIEDS TOUR

FIN NO DRIVER LAPS DIFF
1 46 Cody Stickler 40
2 7D Matt Dimit 40 2.174
3 13 Kyle Purvis 40 2.495
4 55 Chuck Barnes 40 4.415
5 12B Tim Burkett 40 4.626
6 7M David McManus 40 5.509
7 12L Nick Lechota 40 5.756
8 00H Brett Hudson 40 5.936
9 16 Scottie Lamp 40 8.428
10 4X Matt Maurer 40 11.156
11 24G Buddy Gray 40 11.734
12 82 Bob Sibla 40 11.893
13 23 Peyton Ferree 40 12.362
14 17J Todd Jackson 40 12.544
15 5 Danny Jackson 40 13.844
16 2 Billy Hutson 40 13.970
17 81M Logan McPherson 33 7 Laps
18 12S Bubba Smith 28 12 Laps
19 31 Doug Meyer 24 16 Laps
20 135 Wesley Smith 19 21 Laps
21 11 Brian Nester 9 31 Laps
22 26L Jeff Lane 3 37 Laps