MOBERLY, Mo. — Ayrton Gennetten won his second consecutive Sprint Invaders start at Randolph County Raceway Sunday night.
The Gravois Mills, Mo., driver outdueled Austin Alumbaugh to take home the $2,000 prize aboard the Ozark Barge & Dock No. 3 sprint car.
The 25-lap main event had a rocky start. Contact from another car sent Tanner Gebhardt spinning in turn one. He collected two-time and defending series champion, John Schulz and Ben Brown, who tipped over. On the ensuing start, Gunner Ramey, making his Sprint Invaders debut, crashed hard in turn three.
Once underway, Ayrton Gennetten, who won his heat and the Dash, shot from his third place starting spot to the lead in front of fellow Missourians Kyle Bellm and Alumbaugh. Alumbaugh got by Bellm to take over second on lap three.
The leaders entered lapped traffic on the sixth circuit. Washington state visitor J.J. Hickle entered the top five by lap nine. Heavy lapped traffic challenged the leaders, and Alumbaugh reeled in Gennetten.
He shot by the leader, dicing through traffic on lap 13. Gennetten would shoot back by to the point on lap 16. Alumbaugh would return the favor on lap 17, but Gennetten got by for good in the fifth and final lead change.
A spin by 15-year-old Cam Martin on lap 22, set up a three-lap dash for the win.
Gennetten pulled away, while Alumbaugh held off a late charge by Bellm for second. Hickle was fourth, followed by Chris Martin.
“For some reason, this track suits me,” said Gennetten. “Alumbaugh’s been racing a lot longer than I have, and he’s raced here a lot longer. This is kind of his place, so to beat him tonight is a really good run for us. I was challenged by him, and I didn’t want that starting up front. I set a decent pace, but he came on strong. I made a mistake and he capitalized, but then he made a mistake and I capitalized. Lapped traffic was a big factor in the race. Luckily, we got through there at the right times. The yellow flag kind of saved me at the end. The left rear was going flat on the restart and I could feel it. I was glad it was three laps and not five. I don’t think we would have made it.”
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (3) 2. 33, Austin Alumbaugh, Higginsville, MO (7) 3. 50, Kyle Bellm, Nixa, MO (1) 4. 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (13) 5. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (9) 6. 11c, Mason Campbell, New Berlin, IL (5) 7. 21, Miles Paulus, Marshall, MO (14) 8. 40c, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (10) 9. 78, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (20) 10. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (21) 11. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (22) 12. 0, Jake Griffin, Quincy, IL (2) 13. 29w, Wyatt Wilkerson, Morning Sun, IA (19) 14. 51J, Blaine Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (16) 15. 69, Justin Buchholz, Davenport, IA (24) 16. 9, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (17) 17. 86, Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO (25) 18. 44m, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (18) 19. 75, Tyler Blank, California, MO (4) 20. 4, Bailey Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (24) 21. 21R, Gunner Ramey, Sedalia, MO (8) 22. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (6) 23. 99, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (11) 24. 13, Brayden Gaylord, Wever, IA (12) 25. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (15).