2018 Round 15: Iowa

After an intense race at Charlotte. We had the closest finish in Hardee's National Series history. Eric Demax broke a winless streak and ended up winning by a hundreth of a second over Jake West. This as a result as caused a tie in the championship between Jake West and TJ Martin. Both have shown considerable strength throughout the season, and with races winding down, championship contenders could be gradually knocked out of the hunt.

It is a double header weekend, this time at Iowa. The short track had plenty of incidents, but was notorious for late race traffic that cost Bobby Jones at a shot at winning the race last time around. Defending winner Cody Llamas will be piloting the #34, and is back after a massive crash at Chicago in the Sony Cup side. How will Llamas fare, and what will the other competitors do in order to catch the top 2 in the points? That is for many to decide as it will be a day race instead of a night race. The track conditions will be much different compared to last year's race, which was held at night, it will be a challenge for many drivers to overcome.

Entry list:
#0 - Hannah Allen (R)
#2 - Matt Daleo
#4 - Jake West
#5 - Eric Demax
#6 - Sean Angel (R)
#7 - Caleb Farrell (R)
#8 - Alex Benyacko (R)
#9 - Chris Louviere
#05 - Alexander Rowe
#07 - Emmett Juckem
#12 - Blaze McKinney
#14 - Cory Williams
#15 - Jake Rogers (R)
#17 - James Richardson
#22 - Jeffrey White (R)
#26 - Hayden Kline
#27 - Bobby Jones
#29 - Max Ledger (R)
#34 - Cody Llamas
#36 - Kyle Keith (R)
#39 - Daniel Olson (R)
#40 - James Shelly
#51 - Rob Evans (R)
#53 - Jon Bunnell
#59 - Jack Hallec (R)
#60 - Aiden Shepherd (R)
#61 - Bradley Bishop Jr.
#62 - Samet Ozkan
#65 - Patrick Smith (R)
#66 - Anthony Marchesi (R)
#69 - Paul Jackson (R)
#70 - Carlie McDowell
#71 - TJ Martin
#74 - Robert Harrison
#81 - Elisheva Stolarz
#82 - Jonathan Wong
#86 - Kyle Basaglia
#88 - John Arndt
#92 - Will Lewis
#94 - Nick Samon
#95 - Jek Porkins (R)
#96 - Eric Monaco (R)
#99 - Vance Caldwell (R)

Shepherd to the top, Martin and West struggle to reach the top 10

Aidan Shepherd after a rocky race at Charlotte snatched the pole over Eric Demax, who is coming off of his win at Charlotte. Hannah Allen will start in the 3rd spot, while teammate John Arndt will start 6th. Points rivals of Jake West and Martin qualified outside the top 10, in which West would qualify 13th, while TJ Martin would qualify 15th.

Cody Llamas on his return to racing will start 9th on the grid, showcasing the progress that Llamas has had this year, as well as an indication on how fast he has recovered.

P # DRIVER TIME
1 60 Aidan Shepherd 22.442
2 5 Eric Demax 22.503
3 0 Hannah Allen 22.505
4 6 Sean Angel 22.509
5 17 J Richardson 22.513
6 88 John Arndt 22.513
7 14 Cory Williams 22.527
8 8 Alex Benyacko 22.549
9 34 Cody Llamas 22.563
10 95 Jek Porkins 22.592
11 66 A Marchesi 22.598
12 05 Alexander Rowe 22.624
13 4 Jake West 22.651
14 40 James Shelly 22.660
15 71 TJ Martin 22.676
16 2 Matt Daleo 22.686
17 92 Will Lewis 22.696
18 12 Blaze McKinney 22.706
19 86 Kyle Basaglia 22.731
20 07 Seth Cole 22.737
21 22 Jeffrey White 22.758
22 70 Carlie McDowell 22.770
23 94 Nick Samon 22.793
24 53 Jon Bunnell 22.819
25 82 Jonathan Wong 22.829
26 7 Caleb Farrell 22.845
27 62 Samet Ozkan 22.848
28 27 Bobby Jones 22.885
29 26 Hayden Kline 22.891
30 81 E Stolarz 22.900
31 65 Patrick Smith 22.901
32 29 Max Ludger 22.909
33 96 Eric Monaco 22.971
34 36 Kyle Keith 23.012
35 59 Jack Hallec 23.021
36 61 B Bishop Jr. 23.045
37 39 Daniel Olson 23.046
38 69 Paul Jackson 23.067
39 51 Rob Evans 23.157
40 15 Jake Rogers 23.237
41 9 Chris Louviere 23.546
42 99 Vance Caldwell 23.584

DNQ: #74 Robert Harrison

Really impressive qualify by us 24th

And we really maintained our position throughout and got our first lead lap finish since Road America. 26th