Helberg Earns Fourth Series Victory



01 Aug

Helberg Earns Fourth Series Victory

Audio Clips:
– Jo Jo Helberg
– Ryan Litt
– Troy DeCaire

Story by Kyle Larson

BIRCH RUN, Mich. (August 1, 2014) – Scoring his fourth Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints victory of the season and third consecutive at Dixie (MI) Motor Speedway, Jo Jo Helberg earned the victory at the .400-mile oval on Friday, August 1.

Helberg powered around the outside of Davey Hamilton to take the race lead on the fifth circuit and then dominated the final 25 circuits. He was chased across the finish line by Canadian Ryan Litt with Florida’s Troy DeCaire making a last lap pass on Hamilton for third position. Davey Hamilton Jr. filled out the top-five finishers.

“The car wasn’t that good on the bottom in the early stages, but it was working really good on the top. I re-grouped after the yellow and gave it everything I had on the outside. You can go all out on these Hoosier Tires in 30 lap races,” said race winner Jo Jo Helberg.

The 16-car starting field charged to the green flag with Hamilton getting the jump and pacing the opening laps as DeCaire settled into second spot and Helberg drove into the third position. The lone caution waved on lap 4 when Jerry Caryer came to a stop in turn 3.

On the restart, Helberg made quick work on DeCaire using the outside lane to advance to second position and stayed up high to bypass Hamilton for the top spot. Once out front, Helberg began to construct a sizeable margin.

At the 10-lap mark, Litt drove into third around DeCaire and three laps later passed Hamilton for the second spot. Litt was able to close on Helberg in lapped traffic, but once Helberg got passed John Turnbull Jr., he was able to distance himself from Litt.

At the checkered flag, Helberg pulled away to earn his seventh Winged Sprint Car feature of the season while Litt posted his second top-two AVBBSS finish of 2014. DeCaire earned his second straight series podium with Hamilton and Hamilton Jr. filling out the top five.

Kyle Edwards collected the Hamilton Trucking Fast Qualifier Award with an official lap of 12.713 seconds at 113.270 mph. Heat race wins went to Helberg and Hamilton.

The Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints return to action on Saturday, August 2 at Illiana (IN) Motor Speedway. 

A MAIN RESULTS
POS LN # DRIVER LAPS
1 6 71H Jo Jo Helberg 30
2 5 07 Ryan Litt 30
3 4 22A Troy DeCaire 30
4 1 1 Davey Hamilton 30
5 3 60 Davey Hamilton Jr. 30
6 9 42 Jason Blonde 30
7 10 11 Kyle Edwards 30
8 7 61 Kevin Feeney 29
9 14 12 John Turnbull Jr. 29
10 2 75c Jerry Caryer 29
11 12 44 Teddy Alberts 28
12 11 70 Ike Beasley 16
13 15 11G Tom Geren 8
14 16 31 Phil Rutledge 6
15 13 3A Mike Astraukas 5
16 8 88 Jimmy McCune 2

HEAT RACE #1 RESULTS
POS LN # DRIVER LAPS
1 4 71H Jo Jo Helberg 8
2 1 70 Ike Beasley 8
3 3 22A Troy DeCaire 8
4 5 88 Jimmy McCune 8
5 2 75c Jerry Caryer 8
6 6 11 Kyle Edwards 8
7 7 3A Mike Astraukas 8
8 8 11G Tom Geren 4

HEAT RACE #2 RESULTS
POS LN # DRIVER LAPS
1 2 1 Davey Hamilton 8
2 4 07 Ryan Litt 8
3 3 60 Davey Hamilton Jr. 8
4 1 44 Teddy Alberts 8
5 6 42 Jason Blonde 8
6 5 61 Kevin Feeney 8
7 7 12 John Turnbull Jr. 8
8 8 31 Phil Rutledge 7

 

QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS # DRIVER TIME DIFF MPH
1 11 Kyle Edwards 12.713 – 113.270
2 42 Jason Blonde 12.789 0.076 112.597
3 88 Jimmy McCune 12.865 0.152 111.932
4 61 Kevin Feeney 12.883 0.170 111.775
5 71H Jo Jo Helberg 13.009 0.296 110.693
6 07 Ryan Litt 13.013 0.300 110.659
7 22A Troy DeCaire 13.052 0.339 110.328
8 60 Davey Hamilton Jr. 13.085 0.372 110.050
9 75c Jerry Caryer 13.150 0.437 109.506
10 1 Davey Hamilton 13.193 0.480 109.149
11 70 Ike Beasley 13.303 0.590 108.246
12 44 Teddy Alberts 13.468 0.755 106.920
13 3A Mike Astraukas 13.470 0.757 106.904
14 12 John Turnbull Jr. 13.524 0.811 106.477
15 11G Tom Geren 14.543 1.830 99.017
16 31 Phil Rutledge 15.200 2.487 94.737