Arizona Motorplex

Moyer Jr. lassos $5,000 in Tucson's second round

January 12, 2014, 4:24 pm

By Joshua Joiner

DirtonDirt.com staff writer

Billy Moyer Jr. heads for victory at Tucson. (photofinishphotos.com)

TUCSON, Ariz. (Jan. 12) — Polesitter Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., regained the lead when second-starting Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., slowed on lap 11 of Sunday’s Winter Extreme feature and led the remainder of the 40-lap race for a $5,000 victory in the second round of Tucson International Raceway’s six-race miniseries.

Moyer’s victory, which came in a non-points race for the National Dirt Racing League, marked his first triumph in his new Longhorn Chassis. Sunday’s race was just his second start since he and his Hall-of-Fame father Billy Moyer switched to Bobby Labonte Racing’s in-house chassis brand over the offseason. | Complete Winter Extreme coverage

“I’m really ecstatic. The car was really really good,” said Moyer, who finished 11th in the Winter Extreme opener on Saturday. “We missed a little bit last night, but we got it back tonight. We had a little luck on our side, but hey, that’s part of racing.”

Tony Toste of Pismo Beach, Calif., led a strong showing by Western drivers in finish second with Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., third. Clay Daly of Watsonville, Calif., was fourth, while hometown driver R.C. Whitwell followed up his opening round victory on Saturday night by advancing from 10th to round out Sunday’s top five finishers.

After dropping into to second on the race’s initial start, Phillips stalked Moyer through the race’s first four laps. A turn-two slipup by Moyer on lap five allowed Phillips to shoot by for the lead down the back straightaway.

But Moyer soon got a reprieve when Phillips slowed with mechanical issues to bring out the race’s second caution on lap 11.

“I made a mistake there, and I knew it,” Moyer said of his lap-five miscue. “Coming out of turn two, I buzzed my tires and my car drifted up the track, and knew if somebody was on my tail, they were gone."

“I just followed him and thought maybe we’d get him back in lapped traffic. But he had some bad luck and we got it. But we’ve lost them that way too, so we’ll take this one. We definitely need it.”

Pulling away from Toste and Mars, Moyer established himself as the dominant car through the race’s middle portions before lapped traffic in the closing laps allowed Toste to close the gap.

With Moyer stuck behind slower traffic, Toste pulled to his back bumper just after the five-to-go mark before a caution with two laps remaining spoiled his late charge. Moyer pulled away after the final restart.

“I was worried,” Moyer said. “I seen that caution come out, and I was like 'Whew.' That was a lifesaver.”

The race opened with a nine-lap green-flag run before Justin Kay of Wheatland, Iowa, slowed from the seventh position and came to a stop on the front straightaway.

Phillips’ misfortune caused the second caution, and Tony Jackson Jr. of Lebanon, Mo., slowed on lap 20 to bring out the third yellow flag. The final caution appeared when sixth-running Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, slowed in turns one and two.

Notes: Moyer Jr.’s Moyer Xtreme by Longhorn car is powered a Pro Power engine with sponsorship from Crop Production Services, Watters Autoland, Dyna-Grow, New Vision Graphics, Red Line Oil, BSB Manufacturing. ... Moyer’s previous Tucson victory came in the 2011 Wild West Shootout opener. ... Toste’s runner-up finish came in his first Winter Extreme start. ... The Winter Extreme takes two days off before returning with a $3,000-to-win event on Wednesday. DirtonDirt.com will provide live video coverage of the event.

Winter Extreme (Jan. 12): (1) Billy Moyer Jr., (2) Tony Toste, (3) Jimmy Mars, (4) Clay Daly, (5) R.C. Whitwell, (6) Will Vaught, (7) Billy Moyer, (8) A.J. Diemel, (9) Justin Asplin, (10) Jason Krohn, (11) Ricky Weiss, (12) Pat Doar, (13) Brad Williams, (14) Morgan Bagley, (15) Tim Fuller, (16) John Blankenship, (17) Garrett Alberson, (18) Joey Moriarty, (19) Ryan Gustin, (20) Tony Jackson Jr., (21) Terry Phillips, (22) Mason Zeigler, (23) Kent Robinson, (24) Justin Kay. Fast qualifier (among 54 cars): Blankenship, 16.901 seconds. Heat winners: Gustin, Mars, Phillips, Daly, Toste, Moyer Jr. Consolation winners: Blankenship, Zeigler, Bagley.

Feature lineup

Row 1: Billy Moyer Jr., Terry Phillips
Row 2: Tony Toste, Ricky Weiss
Row 3: Clay Daly, Jimmy Mars
Row 4: Ryan Gustin, A.J. Diemel
Row 5: Justin Kay, R.C. Whitwell
Row 6: Justin Asplin, Billy Moyer
Row 7: Jason Krohn, Will Vaught
Row 8: Tony Jackson Jr., Tim Fuller
Row 9: Kent Robinson, Pat Doar
Row 10: John Blankenship, Mason Zeigler
Row 11: Morgan Bagley, Joey Moriarty
Row 12: Brad Williams, Garrett Alberson

Consolation race results

Top two finishers transfer to main event

First consolation: John Blankenship, Joey Moriarty, Trevor Glaser, Chase Junhgans, Chris Simpson, Jason Papich, Zach McMillan, Sean Bray, Dana Fite, Rick Ortega, Terry Belcher, Bill Bartels.

Second consolation: Mason Zeigler, Brad Williams, Travis Dickes, Donny Schatz, Max Blair, Steven Pfeifer, Rob Sanders, Dave Deetz, Dave Smith, Greg Jelvick, Marshall Miles.

Third consolation: Morgan Bagley, Garrett Alberson, Jason Hughes, Shane Clanton, Lance Matthees, Nick Bartels, Mike Balcaen, Kyle Beard, Don Shaw.

Consolation race lineups

Top two finishers transfer to main event

First consolation
Row 1: Joey Moriarty, John Blankenship
Row 2: Trevor Glaser, Chase Junghans
Row 3: Zach McMillan, Jason Papich
Row 4: Sean Bray, Chris Simpson
Row 5: Dana Fite, Terry Belcher
Row 6: Rick Ortega, Tyson Turnbull

Second consolation
Row 1: Brad Williams, Mason Zeigler
Row 2: Travis Dickes, Max Blair
Row 3: Donny Schatz, Rob Sanders
Row 4: Steven Pfeifer, Dave Smith
Row 5: Dave Deetz, Greg Jelvick
Row 6: Marshall Miles, William Thomas

Third consolation
Row 1: Morgan Bagley, Garrett Alberson
Row 2: Jason Hughes, Lance Matthees
Row 3: Shane Clanton, Kyle Beard
Row 4: Nick Bartels, Don Shaw
Row 5: Bill Bartels, Mike Balcaen
Row 6: Jeff Whyman, Jordan Yaggy

Heat race results

First heat: Ryan Gustin, Ricky Weiss, Tim Fuller, John Blankenship, Travis Dickes, Steve Pfeifer, Dana Fite, Mike Balcaen, Zach McMillan.

Second heat: Jimmy Mars, R.C. Whitwell, Kent Robinson, Brad Williams, Jason Hughes, Shane Clanton, Nick Bartels, Bill Bartels.

Third heat: Terry Phillips, Justin Asplin, Pat Doar, Jason Krohn, Chase Junghans, Donny Schatz, Sean Bray. Did not start: William Thomas, Jorday Yaggy.

Fourth heat: Clay Daley, A.J. Diemel, Joey Moriarty, Mason Zeigler, Trevor Glaser, Jason Papich, Chris Simpson, Dave Deetz, Rick Ortega.

Fifth heat: Tony Toste, Justin Kay, Will Vaught, Morgan Bagley, Max Blair, Rob Sanders, Dave Smith, Terry Belcher, Marshall Miles.

Sixth heat: Billy Moyer Jr., Billy Moyer, Tony Jackson Jr., Garrett Alberson, Lance Matthees, Kyle Beard, Don Shaw, Greg Jelvick, Jeff Whyman.

Qualifying results (unofficial)

Top four in each group inverted for heat race lineups

First group
John Blankenship (23), Williamson, W.Va. 16.901
Tim Fuller (19), Watertown, N.Y. 16.993
Travis Dickes (6), Madison, Neb. 17.124
Ryan Gustin (19r), Marshalltown, Iowa 17.128
Ricky Weiss (7), Winnipeg, Manitoba 17.294
Mike Balcaen (10), Winnipeg, Manitoba 17.351
Steve Pfeifer (11), Minot, N.D. 17.574
Zach McMillan (14z), Gladewater, Texas 17.697
Dana Fite (40f), Tucson, Ariz. 17.901
Second group
Jason Hughes (12), Westville, Okla. 17.241
Kent Robinson (7r), Bloomington, Ind. 17.278
R.C. Whitwell (5), Tucson, Ariz. 17.323
Jimmy Mars (28), Menomonie, Wis. 17.399
Brad Williams (23), Tucson, Ariz. 17.532
Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga. 17.602
Nick Bartels (27), El Segundo, Calif. 18.389
Bill Bartels (77), Marina Del Ray, Calif. 19.071
Tyson Turnbull (10), Estevan, Saskatchewan no time
Third group
Chase Junghans (18), Manhattan, Kan. 17.526
Terry Phillips (75), Springfield, Mo. 17.726
Justin Asplin (77A), Birch Tree, Mo. 17.893
Pat Doar (11), New Richmond, Wis. 18.044
William Thomas (19), Phenix City, Ala. 18.166
Jordan Yaggy (77), Rochester, Minn. 18.290
Donny Schatz (15), Fargo, N.D. 18.309
Jason Krohn (7k), Slayton, Minn. 18.435
Sean Bray (14), Tucson, Ariz. 18.783
Fourth group
Mason Zeigler (25z), Chalk Hill, Pa. 18.039
A.J. Diemel (58), Elk Mound, Wis. 18.195
Joey Moriarty (51), Phoenix, Ariz. 18.345
Clay Daly (32b), Watsonville, Calif. 18.372
Chris Simpson (32), Oxford, Iowa 18.468
Jason Papich (91p), Nipomo, Calif. 18.499
Trevor Glaser (2), Tangent, Org. 18.556
Rick Ortega (24), Las Cruces, N.M. 19.036
Dave Deetz (98D), Las Cruces, N.M. 19.038
Fifth group
Will Vaught (1v), Crane, Mo. 18.060
Justin Kay (15k), Wheatland, Iowa 18.578
Max Blair (111), Titusville, Pa. 18.650
Tony Toste (91t), Pismo Beach, Calif. 18.666
Morgan Bagley (14m), Longview, Texas 18.675
Rob Sanders (10n), Bakersfield, Calif. 18.780
Dave Smith (06), Edmonton, Alberta 18.872
Terry Belcher (77b), Buckeye, Ariz. 20.104
Marshall Miles (7), Siera Vista, Ariz. 20.168
Sixth group
Tony Jackson Jr. (56), Lebanon, Mo. 18.181
Garrett Alberson (43), Las Cruces, N.M. 18.482
Billy Moyer (21), Batesville, Ark. 18.497
Billy Moyer Jr. (21jr), Batesville, Ark. 18.522
Lance Matthees (90), Winona, Minn. 18.740
Kyle Beard (86), Trumann, Ark. 18.766
Don Shaw (42), Ham Lake, Minn. 18.864
Greg Jelvick (7j), Tucson, Ariz. 19.910
Jeff Whyman (72), Los Lunas, N.M. 20.252