By Mike Warren, WOO Late Model Series PR (Humboldt, KS) -- After a five-year wait for the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series to return to Kansas, Chase Junghans defended his home state’s honor.
The Manhattan, KS driver thundered away from Dennis Erb Jr. on Turn 2 of the race’s opening lap and held off an early challenge to earn his fourth career Series victory Friday night at Humboldt Speedway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jacy Norgaard
Junghans and Shane Clanton led the inaugural visit to Humboldt to the green flag, but Erb powered to second off Turn 2 on the initial start.
The Carpentersville, IL driver stayed within striking distance of Junghans for several circuits before getting his best chance on Lap 12.
That’s when the current Series points leader pulled his Rocket Chassis even with Junghans through Turns 1 and 2, but Junghans’ carried his speed on the outside to keep the veteran driver at bay.
From there, the Sunflower State Competitor cruised through traffic to take the $10,000 prize.
“It’s humbling,” Junghans said. “I thought I had (a win) there at Volusia at the beginning of the year and just ran out of laps. I haven’t gotten to race with (the Series) that much, but I definitely enjoy racing with [the World of Outlaws] and all that.
“We’ll take it; we just have to do it again the next few nights.”
Despite going unchallenged for the lead in the final 27 Laps, Junghans still had to work his way through traffic in the caution-free race.
“It got sketchy there for a while, but it seemed like we got around the bottom and followed each other,” Junghans said. “All in all, a good night. I mean, we won our Heat Race, started on the pole in the Feature, and won. We just missed it by Qualifying.”
Erb, who crossed the line second, said he needed to be better in traffic to have a chance at spoiling Junghans’ home state triumph.
“We had a good car,” Erb said. “We were able to get up under him in (Turns) 1 and 2, but he carried his speed in 3 and 4. Then, we just kind of ran like that for a little bit, and then we got into that traffic, and he got past a couple, and I sucked there behind them, and it’s just the way it was.”
The Series points leader increased his championship lead over Tanner English, of Benton, KY, who finished eighth. He’s 110 points ahead of English with five races to go.
Max Blair also gained points on English in the battle for Rookie of the Year after rounding out the podium on Friday night. He trails English driver by 58 points, leaving Humboldt.
The Centerville, PA driver, inched his way through the field from his seventh starting position on the bottom lane and cracked the top three when he passed Clanton on Lap 9.
Blair stated he was thrilled to finish third at a type of track he’s struggled at in 2022.
“I think we had a car that was really capable of racing for the win,” Blair said. “I’ll take a third all day long, though. These are the race tracks we’ve kind of struggled on the most this year, so to roll in on the first day of this trip and finish on the podium, you can’t really ask for much more.”
Mike Marlar, Friday’s Fox Factory Hard Charger, finished fourth after transferring through the Last Chance Showdown and starting 17th.
Despite not making the Feature through the Heat Race, the Winfield, TN competitor didn’t make any changes to his Longhorn Chassis.
"Anytime you can get on the track, you learn more and more, so that was helpful,” Marlar said. “We didn’t really change anything, we just had to let the track come around a little bit, and when it did, we had a good car.
“We could maneuver and race all over, and it was a lot of fun. The track was great.”
The Decorah, IA driver ran most of the race in fourth before Marlar snuck by him on the final lap.
“I heard Mikey the last lap there and charged in maybe a little strong and missed the bottom just a little bit,” Bruening said. “All in all, a really good night, a solid finish, a top five. The car was really good all night. We tried something different for a Feature adjustment tonight, and it worked really well, so I’m happy we did that.”
Chase Junghans defended his home state in his first of two chances at scoring a victory in Kansas with the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models in 2022. He’ll have another chance on Saturday as the Series returns to 81 Speedway for the first time since 2017.
“The car was good, we just have to keep it going the next two nights and keep it truckin’,” Junghans said.
UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet head to 81 Speedway in Wichita, KS for night two of the three-race weekend. Then, the weekend finishes with a return to the “Show-Me” state for a battle at US 36 Speedway in Osborn, MO on Sunday, Oct. 23. FOR TICKETS: CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on?DIRTVision – either online on with the DIRTVision App.
Case Construction Feature (40 Laps): 1. 18-Chase Junghans[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 111V-Max Blair[7]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[17]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 6. 11-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 7. 25-Shane Clanton[2]; 8. 81E-Tanner English[14]; 9. 19R-Ryan Gustin[9]; 10. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr[12]; 11. B5-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 12. B1-Brent Larson[13]; 13. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[19]; 14. 76-Blair Nothdurft[5]; 15. 10-Jacob Magee[10]; 16. 99-Scott Lewis[11]; 17. 99B-Boom Briggs[22]; 18. 60-Kip Hughes[23]; 19. 36-Logan Martin[15]; 20. 1-Josh Richards[21]; 21. 36D-Mark Daye[24]; 22. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[18]; 23. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[16]; 24. 77-Jordan Yaggy[20]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]; 3. 1-Josh Richards[2]; 4. 60-Kip Hughes[5]; 5. 53-Andrew Kosiski[6]; 6. 9-Joseph Gorby[3]; 7. 1M-Darren Moses[11]; 8. 10J-Lynn Jones[8]; 9. 6L-Kevin Lveck[10]; 10. 81-Troy Bynum[7]; 11. (DNS) 7-Cole Wells
Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 2. 77-Jordan Yaggy[1]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 4. 36D-Mark Daye[5]; 5. 14W-Dustin Walker[3]; 6. 7H-Brett Hansen[7]; 7. 47-Chris Bratcher[11]; 8. L88-Larry Clawson[10]; 9. 77J-Jeremy Petty[8]; 10. (DNS) 7D-Dusty Leonard; 11. (DNS) 11J-Steve Johnson
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 4. B1-Brent Larson[4]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 6. 9-Joseph Gorby[6]; 7. 60-Kip Hughes[8]; 8. 81-Troy Bynum[9]; 9. 7-Cole Wells[7]; 10. 1M-Darren Moses[10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Gordy Gundaker[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 99-Scott Lewis[3]; 4. 36-Logan Martin[6]; 5. 1-Josh Richards[7]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[5]; 8. 10J-Lynn Jones[8]; 9. 6L-Kevin Lveck[9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 2. 111V-Max Blair[3]; 3. 10-Jacob Magee[2]; 4. 81E-Tanner English[6]; 5. 77-Jordan Yaggy[5]; 6. 14W-Dustin Walker[7]; 7. 36D-Mark Daye[4]; 8. 7H-Brett Hansen[8]; 9. 11J-Steve Johnson[9]; 10. 47-Chris Bratcher[10]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Chase Junghans[2]; 2. 76-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 3. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr[4]; 4. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[3]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[5]; 6. 7D-Dusty Leonard[6]; 7. 99B-Boom Briggs[7]; 8. 77J-Jeremy Petty[8]; 9. L88-Larry Clawson[9]
Group A Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 25-Shane Clanton, 00:14.310[5]; 2. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:14.396[13]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:14.431[12]; 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:14.880[3]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:14.890[15]; 6. 99-Scott Lewis, 00:14.977[10]; 7. B1-Brent Larson, 00:14.991[6]; 8. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:15.107[9]; 9. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:15.119[1]; 10. 53-Andrew Kosiski, 00:15.166[8]; 11. 9-Joseph Gorby, 00:15.175[11]; 12. 36-Logan Martin, 00:15.181[2]; 13. 7-Cole Wells, 00:15.351[16]; 14. 1-Josh Richards, 00:15.379[14]; 15. 60-Kip Hughes, 00:15.588[18]; 16. 10J-Lynn Jones, 00:15.642[7]; 17. 81-Troy Bynum, 00:15.793[17]; 18. 6L-Kevin Lveck, 00:15.955[4]; 19. (DNS) 1M-Darren Moses, 00:15.955
Group B Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:14.588[7]; 2. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:14.595[17]; 3. 10-Jacob Magee, 00:14.814[4]; 4. 18-Chase Junghans, 00:14.846[3]; 5. 111V-Max Blair, 00:14.918[15]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:14.941[13]; 7. 36D-Mark Daye, 00:15.002[2]; 8. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr, 00:15.033[18]; 9. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 00:15.034[10]; 10. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:15.044[9]; 11. 81E-Tanner English, 00:15.047[14]; 12. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:15.118[1]; 13. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:15.190[12]; 14. 99B-Boom Briggs, 00:15.301[19]; 15. 7H-Brett Hansen, 00:15.367[8]; 16. 77J-Jeremy Petty, 00:15.826[11]; 17. 11J-Steve Johnson, 00:15.880[6]; 18. L88-Larry Clawson, 00:15.915[5]; 19. 47-Chris Bratcher, 00:15.942[16]
Hot Laps: 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:14.433[26]; 2. 111V-Max Blair, 00:14.925[34]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton, 00:15.002[5]; 4. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 00:15.214[29]; 5. 81E-Tanner English, 00:15.410[33]; 6. 18-Chase Junghans, 00:15.482[22]; 7. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:15.514[31]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs, 00:15.580[38]; 9. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:15.581[3]; 10. B1-Brent Larson, 00:15.584[6]; 11. 36-Logan Martin, 00:15.594[2]; 12. 11J-Steve Johnson, 00:15.621[25]; 13. 53-Andrew Kosiski, 00:15.631[8]; 14. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:15.667[15]; 15. 10J-Lynn Jones, 00:15.700[7]; 16. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:15.706[36]; 17. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:15.752[32]; 18. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:15.791[20]; 19. 47-Chris Bratcher, 00:15.801[35]; 20. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:15.846[12]; 21. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr, 00:15.954[37]; 22. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:16.054[28]; 23. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:16.062[13]; 24. 7H-Brett Hansen, 00:16.121[27]; 25. 10-Jacob Magee, 00:16.293[23]; 26. 7-Cole Wells, 00:16.393[16]; 27. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:16.446[1]; 28. 1-Josh Richards, 00:16.485[14]; 29. 9-Joseph Gorby, 00:16.527[11]; 30. 99-Scott Lewis, 00:16.533[10]; 31. 6L-Kevin Lveck, 00:16.564[4]; 32. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:16.652[9]; 33. 77J-Jeremy Petty, 00:16.694[30]; 34. 36D-Mark Daye, 00:16.695[21]; 35. 60-Kip Hughes, 00:16.894[18]; 36. 81-Troy Bynum, 00:17.017[17]; 37. L88-Larry Clawson, 00:17.083[24]; 38. 1M-Darren Moses, 00:20.095[19]
CURRENT STANDINGS
1 28 Dennis Erb Carpentersville, IL 5008 37 4 18 29
2 81E Tanner English Benton, KY 4910 -98 37 2 11 25
3 111V Max Blair Centerville, PA 4842 -166 37 2 10 22
4 19R Ryan Gustin Marshalltown, IA 4646 -362 37 2 8 19
5 B1 Brent Larson Lake Elmo, MN 4510 -498 37 0 1 9
6 1 Josh Richards Houston, OH 4440 -568 34 0 4 13
7 11 Gordy Gundaker St. Charles, MO 4370 -638 35 0 3 7
8 99B Boom Briggs Bear Lake, PA 4270 -738 35 0 0 3
9 25 Shane Clanton Zebulon, GA 3596 -1412 27 2 9 15
10 16 Tyler Bruening Decorah, IA 2902 -2106 23 0 4 10
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ARMI USRA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 65-Tyler Davis[5]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 3. 127-Paden Phillips[2]; 4. 1K-Tim Karrick[6]; 5. 49-Andy Bryant[1]; 6. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[8]; 7. 18JR-Chase Sigg[4]; 8. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[12]; 9. 22N-Kevin Newell[10]; 10. 84-John Yeoman[7]; 11. 55-Chris Kratzer[14]; 12. 7-Treyton Gann[13]; 13. 65B-Brett Davis[11]; 14. 247-Jarret Dotson[9]; 15. (DNS) 50-Leroy Morrison
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Andy Bryant[2]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 3. 18JR-Chase Sigg[7]; 4. 84-John Yeoman[5]; 5. 247-Jarret Dotson[3]; 6. 65B-Brett Davis[8]; 7. (DNF) 55-Chris Kratzer[6]; 8. (DNF) 50-Leroy Morrison[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 127-Paden Phillips[1]; 2. 1K-Tim Karrick[3]; 3. 65-Tyler Davis[7]; 4. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[5]; 5. 22N-Kevin Newell[4]; 6. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[6]; 7. 7-Treyton Gann[2]
PRIMAL JERKY MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 16-Matthew Kay[2]; 2. 01-Jimmie Davis[1]; 3. 7-Jesse Folk Jr[7]; 4. 23-Daniel Anders[3]; 5. 89-Jackson McGowen[8]; 6. 21A-Andrew Hodges[13]; 7. 423-Todd Woodruff[16]; 8. 40-Quentin Sams[10]; 9. 59-Dennis Bishop[4]; 10. 26-Bobby Brown[12]; 11. 9-Levi McGowen[6]; 12. 1T-Trevor Holman[15]; 13. 99-Scott Lucke[20]; 14. 68-Dexton Daniels[18]; 15. 6K-Kris Smith[21]; 16. 447-Kenny Prince[5]; 17. 9R-Dereck Caudell[22]; 18. 8-Derryl Aeillo[23]; 19. 11-Casey Jesseph[17]; 20. (DNF) X1-Brad Jarman[19]; 21. (DNF) 18-Scott Collins[14]; 22. (DNF) 09-Tret Bailey[9]; 23. (DNS) 19-Tanner Calhouln; 24. (DNS) 57-Mike Davis
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21A-Andrew Hodges[3]; 2. 18-Scott Collins[1]; 3. 1T-Trevor Holman[4]; 4. 423-Todd Woodruff[2]; 5. 11-Casey Jesseph[10]; 6. 68-Dexton Daniels[6]; 7. X1-Brad Jarman[5]; 8. 99-Scott Lucke[8]; 9. 6K-Kris Smith[9]; 10. 9R-Dereck Caudell[13]; 11. 8-Derryl Aeillo[11]; 12. 57-Mike Davis[14]; 13. 1-Scott Louis[15]; 14. (DNF) 2-Jim Wright[12]; 15. (DNF) 3W-Rick Horn[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Jimmie Davis[6]; 2. 447-Kenny Prince[4]; 3. 7-Jesse Folk Jr[7]; 4. 19-Tanner Calhouln[5]; 5. X1-Brad Jarman[3]; 6. 21A-Andrew Hodges[9]; 7. 99-Scott Lucke[1]; 8. 2-Jim Wright[8]; 9. (DNS) 1-Scott Louis
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Matthew Kay[5]; 2. 9-Levi McGowen[4]; 3. 89-Jackson McGowen[6]; 4. 423-Todd Woodruff[3]; 5. 26-Bobby Brown[8]; 6. 1T-Trevor Holman[9]; 7. 6K-Kris Smith[2]; 8. 11-Casey Jesseph[7]; 9. 9R-Dereck Caudell[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Daniel Anders[3]; 2. 59-Dennis Bishop[5]; 3. 09-Tret Bailey[6]; 4. 18-Scott Collins[1]; 5. 40-Quentin Sams[9]; 6. 68-Dexton Daniels[4]; 7. 3W-Rick Horn[8]; 8. 8-Derryl Aeillo[7]; 9. 57-Mike Davis[2]