By Zack Morgan (LEBANON, Missouri, by Zack Morgan) It was a great “Kickin’ Asphalt” night of ASA sanctioned racing at Lebanon I-44 Speedway as the racing community teamed together to raise funds for the tornado victims in nearby Joplin. In a caution-filled Late Model feature division race, Dale Roper Jr. of Fair Grove, Missouri finally broke into Monster Energy Victory Lane. Mike Coryell, Aaron Douglas, Steve Shaw, and Shawn Jones also drove to feature event class wins.
It was a race of attrition as 14 cars started the field with several contenders dropping out early. Mike Slone made it two DNF’s in a row as he has yet to shake the bad luck. Things were looking good for Springfield’s Jimmy Vanzant early as he had the early lead with Roper right behind him but spun on the front stretch and had to rejoin the field at the rear. Last weeks winner Chrissy Wallace was once again involved in an altercation with Grant Sharp forcing Sharp to retire from the event while Wallace was able to return and finish two laps down. Cole Williams and Brian Brown also were forced to retire early in the event. Kenny Dickenson and Roper Jr. were the classes of the field all night long, as both drivers were able to keep their noises clean and Roper Jr. finally making his way to Victory Lane.
The ground pounding Modified stock cars were next as Nixa’s Tyler Scott was looking to make it three feature wins in a row. Lebanon’s Mike Coryell would jump to the early lead, as Riley Sharp and Jason Otto would give chase, and Scott right behind them in 4th. Sharp was looking for running room around the top and the bottom but to no avail, as Coryell would take his first trip to Monster Energy Victory Lane in this young season.
Sportsman class stock cars were next on the calling card, as Fair Grove veteran Rick Sharp looked to remain perfect on the season. Lebanon’s Aaron Douglas would jump to the early lead with Toby Harden riding second. Young JC Newell would battle with Sharp for third as Douglas continued to pull away. Sharp would move into second place, but he would run out of laps, and Douglas would take his first win of the season.
The subcompact, ‘tuner car’ Chargers would roll out with Larry Hunter trying to make it two Victory Lanes in a row. He and Nick Cherry battled it out hard, with Hunter trying the bottom groove in turn four, nicknames “calamity corner”, and both cars were involved in a wreck with Cherry’s car going hard into the turn four wall. That would set up a green-white-checkered finish with Shawn Jones leading the way. Gary Davenport gave chase but ran out of time as Jones nabbed his second victory of the season.
Road Warriors were the last class to take the field, as Steve Shaw was looking to make it two in a row. Young Kristyn Scott of Rogersville would lead the field to the green and jumped to the early lead. She would get into the turn four wall while leading, and cut a tire which forced her to pull in to the pits. That mishap would pave the way for Shaw, as he would indeed win two features in a row.
The five-division, ASA sanctioned “Kickin’ Asphalt” stock car racing show will return to I-44 Speedway next Saturday night, June 11. NASCAR star Mike Wallace will be on hand to watch his15-year-old son Matt compete in his first Modified race. Gates will open at 5:00 pm, with “hot laps” at 6:00 and racing action beginning at 7:30.
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| RACE RESULTS FOR June 4, 2011 | |||||||||||
| LATE MODELS | |||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 46 | Cole Williams | Sellers, Indiana | HEAT 2 | 1) | 77 | Mike Sloan | Rolla | ||
| 2) | 21 | Ken Dickinson | Camdenton | 2) | 93 | Chrissy Wallace | Concord, NC | ||||
| 3) | 10 | Dale Roper | Fair Grove | 3) | 27 | Joe Ross | Independence | ||||
| 4) | 35 | Steve Holt | Strafford | 4) | 67 | Jimmy Vanzandt | Springfield | ||||
| 5) | 16 | Robert Baltzell | Ozark | 5) | 69 | Caleb Hall | |||||
| 6) | 18 | Jim Reaves | Strafford | 6) | 98 | Terry Smith | Belton | ||||
| 7) | 2 | Grant Sharp | Conway | 7) | 7 | Jeremy Manes | Nixa | ||||
| 8) | O2 | Brian Brown | Springfield | ||||||||
| FEATURE | 1) | 10 | Dale Roper | Fair Grove | |||||||
| 2) | 21 | Ken Dickinson | Camdenton | ||||||||
| 3) | 27 | Joe Ross | Independence | ||||||||
| 4) | 16 | Robert Baltzell | Ozark | ||||||||
| 5) | 18 | Jim Reaves | Strafford | ||||||||
| 6) | 35 | Steve Holt | Strafford | ||||||||
| 7) | 69 | Caleb Hall | |||||||||
| 8) | 98 | Terry Smith | Belton | ||||||||
| 9) | 7 | Jeremy Manes | Nixa | ||||||||
| 10) | 93 | Chrissy Wallace | Concord, NC | ||||||||
| 11) | 67 | Jimmy Vanzandt | Springfield | ||||||||
| 12) | 2 | Grant Sharp | Conway | ||||||||
| 13) | 46 | Cole Williams | Sellers, IN | ||||||||
| 14) | 77 | Mike Sloan | Rolla | ||||||||
| 15) | O2 | Brian Brown | Springfield | ||||||||
| MODIFIEDS | |||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 66 | Terry Taylor | HEAT 2 | 1) | 5 | Mike Coryell | Lebanon | |||
| 2) | 8 | Jason Otto | Richland | 2) | 26 | Payton Lucas | Fair Grove | ||||
| 3) | 7 | Ricky Icenhower | Fair Grove | 3) | 33 | Riley Sharp | Fair Grove | ||||
| 4) | 57 | Tyler Scott | Nixa | 4) | 25 | Stephen Counterman | Fair Grove | ||||
| 5) | 44 | Kevin Blackburn | Lebanon | ||||||||
| FEATURE | 1) | 5 | Mike Coryell | Lebanon | |||||||
| 2) | 33 | Riley Sharp | Fair Grove | ||||||||
| 3) | 57 | Tyler Scott | Nixa | ||||||||
| 4) | 8 | Jason Otto | Richland | ||||||||
| 5) | 26 | Payton Lucas | Fair Grove | ||||||||
| 6) | 25 | Stephen Counterman | Fair Grove | ||||||||
| 7) | 66 | Terry Taylor | |||||||||
| 8) | 44 | Kevin Blackburn | Lebanon | ||||||||
| 9) | 7 | Ricky Icenhower | Fair Grove | ||||||||
| SPORTSMAN | |||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 10 | Rick Sharp | Fair Grove | |||||||
| 2) | 83 | JC Newell | Stoutland | ||||||||
| 3) | 7 | Aaron Douglas | Lebanon | ||||||||
| 4) | 1 | Toby Harden | |||||||||
| 5) | 29 | Rex Sawyer | Ava | ||||||||
| 6) | 63 | Chuck Higdon | Strafford | ||||||||
| FEATURE | 1) | 7 | Aaron Douglas | Lebanon | |||||||
| 2) | 1 | Toby Harden | |||||||||
| 3) | 10 | Rick Sharp | Fair Grove | ||||||||
| 4) | 83 | JC Newell | Stoutland | ||||||||
| 5) | 29 | Rex Sawyer | Ava | ||||||||
| 6) | 63 | Chuck Higdon | Strafford | ||||||||
| ROAD WARRIOR | |||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 9 | Missy Shaw | Rogersville | |||||||
| 2) | 90 | Steve Shaw | Rogersville | ||||||||
| 3) | 12 | Nick Moore | Richland | ||||||||
| 4) | 35 | Gary Ball | Lebanon | ||||||||
| 5) | 34 | Krystin Scott | Rogersville | ||||||||
| FEATURE | 1) | 90 | Steve Shaw | Rogersville | |||||||
| 2) | 12 | Nick Moore | Richland | ||||||||
| 3) | 35 | Gary Ball | Lebanon | ||||||||
| 4) | 9 | Missy Shaw | Rogersville | ||||||||
| 5) | 34 | Krystin Scott | Rogersville | ||||||||
| CHARGERS | |||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 7 | Shawn Jones | Belle | |||||||
| 2) | 74 | Larry Hunter | Laquey | ||||||||
| 3) | 5 | Jimmy Poindexter | Willard | ||||||||
| 4) | 27 | Nick Cherry | Springfield | ||||||||
| 5) | 10 | Gary Davenport | Marshfield | ||||||||
| 6) | 14 | Ben Kramer | Richland | ||||||||
| FEATURE | 1) | 7 | Shawn Jones | Belle | |||||||
| 2) | 10 | Gary Davenport | Marshfield | ||||||||
| 3) | 5 | Jimmy Poindexter | Willard | ||||||||
| 4) | 14 | Ben Kramer | Richland | ||||||||
| 5) | 27 | Nick Cherry | Springfield | ||||||||
| 6) | 74 | Larry Hunter | Laquey | ||||||||