11 year-old Jackson grabs first checkered flag at Laird

It was a day to remember for 11-year-old Dustin Jackson at Laird International Raceway.

The youngest Stock Car driver on record according to the Guiness Book of Records now has a victory to his name as well. Jackson won the Stock 4 heat race, bringing the crowd in attendance to their feet and receiving congratulations from many of his fellow drivers, who came onto the track to salute the youngster.

Jackson proceeded to take the lead in the feature later in the afternoon after starting in the front row. Chelsea Pace pulled to within a car-length of the 11-year-old after Jackson got caught up in lapped traffic but Pace couldn’t catch the youngster, who capped off his most successful day at LIR with the feature win.

In the Outlaw Modified Division, George Wilson set the standard early thanks to a new track record in qualifying. Wilson ran a qualifying time or 13.899 seconds, eclipsing the mark set a week earlier by Tristan Anderson, who ran a lap of 14.093 seconds last week. It also marked the fourth time the track record had been reset this season. Jordan Sims originally set the mark in week eight when he ran a 14.258 lap. Wilson topped the mark a week later with a lap of 14.100 before Anderson beat that mark last week.

In the feature, Wilson found himself in a battle with Keith King and passed the young driver in the final five laps and cruised to the victory. Florida-native John Sappriacone, who saw seat time at Laird earlier in the summer, won the dash and the heat race.

The Late Model feature saw some carnage early on when Paul McLean, Darcy Reid and King came together coming out of turn two on lap three. The incident led to King being sent to the back and McLean, the divisional point leader coming into the night, suffering some heavy front-end damage. Donnie Varcoe and Terry McClelland found themselves in a heated battle for first. McClelland took over the lead from Varcoe, who fell off the pace and was passed by Corey Furkey and King. Furkey proceeded to put some pressure on the race leader with eight laps remaining but couldn’t make the pass as McClelland held on for the win.

Donnie Varcoe took the heat race victory while Terry McClelland was the fast-car dash winner.

In the 25-lap Laird Modified lap feature, Chris Miller held the early lead but was forced to the rear of the field after bringing out an early caution and allowing Nick Kozak to inherit the lead. Miller was ultimately forced pitside due to a leak. Kozak then found himself in a battle with Mav MacDonald Jr. for the lead. MacDonald kept things close but didn’t have the time to pass Kozak, who held on to top spot.

Kozak was the heat race winner while MacDonald won the dash.

In the Factory Stock Division, Jamie Fox was the feature winner while Marty Devon took home the heat and dash victories.

The Super 4 Division was split into a pair of groups as Jakob Bourdage and Brandon Servant were mixed in as “Outlaw” Super 4’s while the rest of the group also ran with the two drivers. Jakob Bourdage won the Outlaw division feature, while Servant was the heat winner. Tyler McMillan won the regular divisional heat while Steve Ibbitson was the dash winner.

Action continues with one final show for the season at LIR. Labour Day Monday will see a full race program. Qualifying is at 5 p.m. with the rest of the program getting underway at 6 p.m.