WILLIAMSTON, S.C. - From one Anderson to another, reigning Must See Racing Sprint Car Series champion Jimmy McCune kicked off the 2016 season the same way he ended 2015 — on top of the heap.
McCune charged past outside polesitter Jeff Bloom going down the backstretch on lap 12 of Friday night’s season-opening 50-lap feature at Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamston, S.C. and never looked back, extending his lead out to as much as 3.5 seconds at times before finally crossing 2.475 seconds ahead of two-time series champion Brian Gerster at the twin checkers.
The dominating performance saw the Toledo, Ohio veteran put all but the top five drivers a lap or more down at the finish, en route to his 12th career series victory.
McCune won three times at the quarter-mile Anderson Speedway in Indiana last year, but relished the opportunity to become the first 410 sprint car driver to taste victory at the similarly-named, three-eighths mile South Carolina speed plant.
“Our car was great tonight,” McCune said. “It handled well in clean air, but it was good working behind (slower) cars too and that’s what you want. It started to lose (the handle) a little bit there late in the race, and I had to bide my time making passes and pick the right opportunities, but it all worked out pretty well.
“Jeff was getting real loose up off both ends (of the race track), so I just had to be patient early on until I could get up underneath him. We were really, really strong on the bottom of the race track tonight and I think it showed. This is a great way to kick off our 2016 season — on top, just like we were last year — and hopefully we can keep it going into the rest of the weekend and the rest of the season as well.”
After a five-car inversion put Ike Beasley on the pole and relegated fast qualifier Johnny Bridges to fifth, Beasley led a 15-car field to the green flag with Jeff Bloom to his outside. Bloom took off like a rocketship on the initial start, grabbing the lead and pulling out to a full second’s advantage, while McCune was left to scrap for second with Gerster and Beasley early on.
The race’s only caution flag would erase Bloom’s lead, when Joe Speakman slowed to a stop on the backstretch and drew the yellow flag on lap six.
McCune restarted on Bloom’s tail and nearly got by for the lead on the restart, but Bloom slammed the door in turn one and would lead the next five laps before McCune finally worked clear on lap 12.
Once McCune was clear on the inside of the backstretch, he drove away as Gerster worked over Bloom for the runner-up position. Gerster finally got around Bloom at lap 17, but was hard-pressed to catch McCune for the win with traffic between he and the leader.
Gerster had to settle for second, unable to get through slower traffic as easily as McCune did through the second half of the main event.
“We just never got going at the start as well as Jimmy did, and then the lap cars just killed our chances,” Gerster said. “Hats off to those guys — they beat us heads-up tonight — but this team will regroup and come back stronger tomorrow at Hickory. We were good, he was just a little bit better this go-round.”
Bloom brought home the final podium position in third, with Bridges finishing fourth and Terry Gray in fifth.
Earlier in the day, Bridges scored his first-career MSRSCS Engine Pro Fast Time Award, posting a lap of 13.041 seconds (103.520 mph) that was a thousandth of a second off of his own track record. Gray, Beasley and Bobby Santos III each won their respective 10-lap heat races.
For more information on Must See Racing, visit the series on the web at MustSeeRacing.com.
Must See Racing Sprint Car Series
Anderson Motor Speedway – Williamston, SC
Race Results – April 15, 2016
1. #88 – Jimmy McCune
2. #50- Brian Gerster
3. #26 – Jeff Bloom
4. #07 – Johnny Bridges
5. #10 – Terry Gray
6. #22A – Bobby Santos III
7. #97 – Ike Beasley
8. #81 – Brad Wyatt
9. #12 – Grant Galloway
10. #9L – Chris Lamb
11. #75C – Jerry Caryer
12. #9 – Kris Leming
13. #51 – Jay Dunham
14. #72S – Joe Speakman
DNS: #59 – Johnny Petrozelle
