Duvall big on Fall Jamboree

The Deer Creek Speedway has always felt like a good fit for Joe Duvall since first visiting the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval for the first time two years ago, and with a top-5 finish over the Labor Day Weekend the team felt confident heading into this past weekend's 17th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree.

Three days of racing kicked off on Thursday with a $5,000-to-win event that also served as the final race of 15 in the Hunt for the USMTS Casey's Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental. A heat race win earned "Big Daddy" a spot in the eight-driver redraw and he started fifth. At the end of the 40-lapper, Duvall brought home a seventh-place finish and ended the season-long campaign alone in seventh in the final USMTS points standings.

With the points battle behind us, drivers were able to relax and just have some fun on Friday. And, boy did we have fun!

Duvall drew the pole for the main event but it was fellow front-row starter Zack VanderBeek who got the jump at the start. After trading “slide jobs” for the first couple of laps, Duvall settled in up front with VanderBeek giving chase.

Churning the thin cushion around the top of the high-banked oval, Duvall was able to stretch his lead to about six car lengths until Terry Phillips suffered mechanical problems just after sliding in front of VanderBeek for second on lap 7.

After the caution, Stormy Scott and Sanders made it three wide with VanderBeek behind Duvall. With Duvall continuing to dance with the concrete wall, Scott worked the low side of the track and led the ninth lap, but Duvall roared back to regain the top spot on lap 10.

Again, Duvall was able to pull away from the pack for the next few laps but Sanders got by Scott and then began to slowly chip away at Duvall’s advantage. At the halfway point it was Duvall, Sanders, Davis, Scott and Hughes filling the first five slots while VanderBeek scrapped with 14th-starting Clayton Wagamon for the sixth position.

Sanders was able to scoot underneath Duvall for the lead with 26 laps in the books, and that’s when things really started to get good. Duvall attempted to throw a slider at Sanders but the 25-year-old was able to slingshot back underneath Duvall to maintain the lead.

With Duvall now searching the low and middle portions of the track for a way back around Sanders, Davis assumed the role of rim-riding around the top side and blasted into second on lap 28. Meanwhile, Hughes was tucked in behind the three front-runners, waiting for his chance to join the party.

Hughes drive by Duvall on lap 32 and then slipped underneath Davis for second on lap 33. After completing the 34th lap, the lead trio exited turn 2 with Hughes underneath Sanders and Davis riding the wall as he screamed by both drivers to take the point. With Davis leading, Hughes and Sanders swapped the second spot four times over the next four laps while Duvall lurked in their tire tracks in fourth. At this time, few even noticed that Brad Waits was now fifth after starting on the outside of the eighth row.

As the leaders came to get the white flag, Davis banged the outside retaining wall. Both right side tires cleared the three feet of concrete and, for a moment, all four wheels came off the ground. Somehow, Davis kept his composure and actually took the white flag as the leader. Damage from the contact, however, was too extensive and Davis began to slow at the top of turn 1 while Hughes, Sanders and Duvall sailed away.

Sanders made one final attempt to get underneath Hughes as they came to the checkered flag, but it was Hughes leading his first lap of the race on the final lap of the race and pocketing his second $5,000 top prize of the weekend. Duvall notched a third-place paycheck with his third straight top-10 finish at the Deer Creek Speedway.

On Saturday, the night didn't start off so good. Duvall was collected in a multi-car melee in the heat and had to start deep in the third "B" Main with only the top three finishers advancing to the big dance. Undaunted, Duvall raced from 11th to second in the 15-lapper and earned himself a spot in the main event for the third straight night. Despite starting 23rd in the 32-car field, he rallied to close out the race with a 14th-placef finish.

"Wow, what a weekend at the Fall Jamboree," Duvall said. "If you're a race fan of any kind you need to put the Jamboree on your bucket list.  The facility is awesome, complete with a campground, the Bear Creek Lutheran pancake breakfast and the weather this year was outstanding. Club 91 had a weekend that can't really be put into words. But I will say anything we do the rest of the year is going to be hard to top this weekend.

"I was asked if I was disappointed about not winning and I answered 'No.'. All racers really want is a shot at competing for the win. When we hot-lapped Wednesday (crew chief) Scott Drake told me he looked at the stop watch and just put it down: we had a shot. From that point on I knew it was up to me and I felt like they were going to have to beat me no matter where we started. Thank you to everyone that has made this possible. I love everyone of you and can't thank you enough.

Thanks to Casey's General Stores, AMP Energy Drinks and all of the fans who supported the Club 91 team and the United States Modified Touring Series for the 2015 Hunt for the Casey's Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental.. Feel free to drop by a Casey's near you and tell them "Big Daddy" sent you.

Up next, the team will compete in the Sooner Showdown this upcoming weekend at Duvall's hometown track, the Salina Highbanks Speedway.