ANDERSON – The first round of spring championships at Anderson Speedway produced two first-time winners.
In his third year of competition in the Vern’s Concrete Late Models Ryder VanAlst used a veteran move to claim his first feature win.
Cassten Everidge was looking to make it two consecutive feature wins in a row and following qualifying started on the front row with VanAlst alongside.
Everidge charged into the lead chased by VanAlst with the driver on the move early in race was fast qualifier Terry Fisher Jr.
Fisher started seventh in the field and by lap 23 was running third.
Everidge had opened up an advantage over VanAlst, who started to cut into the lead on every lap.
On lap 32 of 35 for the race, VanAlst gave a bump and run move to Everidge to claim the top spot.
He scored the victory when Nash Engdahl spun after the leaders took the white flag.
Everidge came home in second followed by Fisher, Nathan Greene and Jake Hinton.
“I don’t know how we did it,” VanAlst said in victory lane. ‘I didn’t think we would be able to do it. I gave it everything I had.”
VanAlst said his car was really good on the long runs at the end of the feature race.
“I don’t know if I will ever feel this way again,” he said of his first win at Anderson Speedway.
Coming off a strong run in the Knapp Supply Ford Division last week Jaden Tharp won a feature event for the first time.
Tharp started fourth in the 27-car field behind fast qualified Noah Allison, Ronnie Phipps and Colin Grissom.
Allison led the first four laps but on a restart was passed by Phipps, with Allison losing another spot to Tharp.
Phipps led until a caution flag waved on lap 18 when Dalton Owen made contact with the turn two wall.
Phipps pulled into the infield giving the point to Tharp with Korbin Magee starting on the front row.
Tharp went on to win by 1.2-seconds over Magee with Colin Grissom, Randy Owen and Trent Gossar rounding out the top five.
There were good battles throughout the 25-lap event for positions among the top five that include Allison and Curtis Chapman in the mix.
“The last restart was going to important,” Tharp said in victory lane. “I was worried about the 01 (Magee).”
Tharp said the victory was his best experience at Anderson Speedway in his young career.
“We had a strong race a week ago,” he said. “We were coming.”
Veteran driver John Robbins overcame a broken axle during qualifying for the Beaver Contracting Thunder Roadsters and then charged to the front to take the lead from Mark Dietzen.
Robbins had to hold off a closing Doug Dugger throughout much of the race winning by less than half a second with Dietzen coming home in third.
