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Jeffries Jets to First Career BOSS Win

With the 2013 Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series tour heading toward a climactic ending, several tour regulars have risen to the top. Never was it more evident than Saturday night when the series made its fourth career visit to the "Monster Half Mile" at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. Westerville, Ohio driver Kirk Jeffries picked up his first career tour victory in the "Make-it-Fit" Foundation #59J racing for autism awareness. The victory was made sweeter by the fact Jeffries drew the worst pill possible for the redraw, and the former flat track motorcycle star had to charge from the 9th starting spot to secure the win.

The evening began with 26 traditional wingless sprint cars signed in for the nights activities. preliminary heat races were won by tour regulars Aaron Middaugh, Tony Beaber, and Mike Miller. The top 3 cars in each heat race would redraw for starting positions with Tony Beaber and Mike Miller drawing the front row. The stage was set for a dramatic night as series points leader Brandon Spithaler would roll off from 8th and eventual winner Jeffries pulled the "9" pill. The 2012 race winners with BOSS at Pittsburgh would also have a tough road ahead as Andre Layfield would start from 10th and Jack Sodeman Jr rolling off from 25th. With the quality of the cars in attendance, BOSS officials and PPMS promoter Matt Miley reached an agreement to start all 26 cars in the main event.

At the drop of the green flag, Tony Beaber set sail in hopes of repeating his fete of winning the spring event. On the very first lap, Aaron Middaugh narrowly averted sure disaster as he climbed the wheel of the #08 machine of Andy Feil. Middaugh was able to make the save and continue with cars 4 wide through turn 3 and 4. Completing lap 2, the cars on the move were Jeffries who was already to 3rd from his 9th starting spot and Michael Fischesser who was already up to 5th from hi 11th starting position. But the action with 26 cars running so close together was sensory overload for the fans and working lap 3, the inevitable happened.

As the field thundered into the first turn on the third lap, Fischesser spun collecting Feil and points leader Brandon Spithaler. Spithaler, in the Tom Burkey #57B flipped toward the outside wall while Feil's disabled mount limped along. Then, Canadian racer Dick Mahoney approached the scene at near full speed, clipping Fischesser, then drilling Feil's disabled car directly in the fuel tank. Steve Little and Charlie Cornelius also became involved in the melee. It was a tense few moments as several cars sat in a pool of methanol with Mahoney also resting upside down after the vicious hit. Thankfully all drivers were able to walk away but several cars were severely damaged
and Spithaler was left helpless to watch Tony Beaber take over the series points lead.

After a 30 minute red flag to clean up the accident, the drivers wasted little time in heating back up. Beaber opened up another lead on the restart, but Kirk Jeffries immediately moved to the high side to slingshot past Mike Miller for the runner-up spot. Local crowd pleaser Brandon Matus also began to flex some muscle as he moved up to wage a torrid battle with Jeffries in the early stages. At this point, the race up front settled down with Beaber, Jeffries, Matus, Miller and Aaron Middaugh running in the top 5.

Around the halfway point, things clearly began to change as Jeffries closed on Beaber and the pair made contact on the 11th lap. Both continued but this allowed Matus to close in on the lead battle. Just when it appeared Jeffries was around Beaber, the race's only caution flag flew when Andre Layfield spun and collected Chad Wilson in turn 3 and 4. With scoring reverting back a lap, Beaber was able to retain the lead.

On the restart, Beaber opened up yet another lead and would show the way through lap #13. But the Westerville Wonder was determined that this would be his night. Jeffries rolled the car deep into the first turn on the 14th lap and flirted dangerously with the unforgiving Pittsburgh guardrail as he rim rode past Beaber to take command. But the final six laps had the local fans on their feet as Matus followed Jeffries past Beaber and then hounded the leader over the final six circuits. However, there was no denying this was Kirk Jeffries' night as he rolled on to victory over Matus. The late race drama found Middaugh charging to third over Beaber who held on to forth to take over the points lead and California driver Kody Swanson cracking the top 5 late in the going. The rest of the top 10 included Mike Miller who was 6th, Jack Sodeman wrapped up a dramatic run with a 25th to 7th place run to claim the Hard Charger Award. Tim Hunter, Adam Miller, and Arnie Kent rounded out the top 10 finishers.

The next event for the BOSS series is this Saturday, October 5th at Fremont Speedway in Fremont, Ohio. The series then wraps up on the high banks of the ultra fast Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio on Saturday, October 12th. For more information on these events or on the series, log on to www.buckeyesprints.com or phone 740-703-3768.