Will Gerrits came oh, so close to logging his second career feature win earlier this season, but finished 3rd after letting 2 360 Sprint Champions in Brandon McMullen and Justin Miller get underneath him in lapped traffic.
“Yeah, I wasn’t gonna let that happen this time.” Gerrits said to McMullen after dominating Saturday night’s feature at Plymouth.
The MSA Sprints Championship weekend kicked off on Friday night on the fearsome “Horsepower Half-Mile” at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, WI. Gerrits and his teammate Tyler Brabant were less than optimistic about the race after engine and just general horsepower issues had been plaguing both cars for the entire season, and a big track like Dodge County is not where you want to be down on power. However, some smart racing in a feature that saw only 1 caution, resulted in both cars finishing in the top 10, with Gerrits putting in a sterling drive from 16th on the grid to 10th at the finish, and Brabant also moving forward from 13th to 8th.
The MSA field then moved back home on Saturday night to the Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, WI. A fantastic heat race from Gerrits saw “The Flying Dutchman” rise from 7th to 4th, accumulating enough passing points to start on the outside of the front row for the 25 lap A Main later on in the night, while Brabant finished 3rd in his heat race, also transferring into the main event.
Brabant would struggle in the mostly one-lane A Main, finishing 18th to finish out an up and down season for the #99 car. Meanwhile, Gerrits used his defeat at the hands of lapped traffic and Brandon McMullen as fuel for the fire and impressed in every single way during the 25 lap event.
The Waupun, WI native powered around polesitter Chris Clayton on the initial start and immediately set sail on the pack. By the 5 lap mark into the feature, Gerrits had used the slick bottom groove of the banked ⅓ mile oval to pull over a straightaway lead on Clayton and the rest of the 22 car field. On lap 13 Gerrits hit lapped traffic in the form of Tyler Davis hugging the bottom lane, just as Gerrits was doing. Gerrits learned from his mistakes earlier this season and chose to stick to the fast bottom side rather than try to pass Davis on the extremely slick high side. Unfortunately, even after showing his nose to Davis multiple times, Gerrits simply didn’t have room to clear the #68T. Then, just as now second place running Travis Arenz caught Gerrits, Davis finally gave the GCM #21 some breathing room on the bottom, and Gerrits shot past, maintaining his dwindling lead. However, with 9 laps to go Gerrits caught a massive break in the form of a spinning Justin Miller, bringing out the first and only caution of the race. Gerrits used a fantastic restart to gap Arenz and 3rd place running Ben Schmidt by nearly a straightaway once again, and never falter over the final 9 laps. Will Gerrits crossed the line nearly 15 car links ahead of Arenz in 2nd and Schmidt in 3rd. A dominating performance, and one that the entire GCM/NAPA Racing crew desperately needed.
“It’s just a fantastic way to end the season,” Gerrits began. “I was so happy to get a win with my dad, mom and step mom all there. It meant so much to the whole team to win a race on the last night after how much we’ve all struggled this season with both cars. Thank you so much to all of our sponsors that kept us on track all season long!”
The GCM/NAPA Racing team finished the season strongly, with Gerrits winding up 8th in the final MSA Points Standings, and Brabant in 16th.
GCM/NAPA Racing Team 2020 Final Stats:
#21 Will Gerrits
Top 10’s: 10
Top 5’s: 1
Race Wins: 5
Feature Wins: 1
#99 Tyler Brabant
Top 10’s: 3
Top 5’s: 2
Race Wins: 2
Feature Wins: 0
The team’s plans for 2021 are to run the full MSA 360 schedule once again, with a couple races with the IRA 410’s mixed in. A bright future is on tap for two of the best young guns of the MSA 360 Series.
Will Gerrits Racing Race Results
9/25 Dodge Co. Fairgrounds
#21 Will Gerrits:
Heat: S/4, F/5
Feature: S/16, F/10
#99 Tyler Brabant:
Heat: S/3, F/4
Feature: S/13, F/8
9/26 Plymouth Dirt Track
#21 Will Gerrits
Heat: S/7, F/4
Feature: S/2, F/1
#99 Tyler Brabant
Heat: S/2, F/3
Feature: S/13, F/18
NEXT RACE:
END OF SEASON
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