(LEBANON, Missouri, by Sarah Woodhurst) Chrissy Wallace of Concord, North Carolina drove her way to the front of the caution-filled Late Model race Saturday night at Lebanon I-44 Speedway to earn her fifth win of the season. Afternoon thunderstorms at the track threatened racing action, but ended up providing cool temperatures for fans to enjoy while watching another great weekend of competition among all five ASA stock car racing classes. Rogersville’s Sam Shaw pocketed $250 for winning the ‘Road Warrior Brawl’, while Mike Coryell of Lebanon took home the Modified win, Rick Sharp of Fair Grove won the Sportsman feature, and Belle’s Caston Jones won the Charger feature.

The Late Model race featured a 17-car field that was slowed six times by caution flags throughout the 30-lap event. Jim Reeves of Strafford took the early lead with Cole Williams of Sellers, Indiana and Rolla’s Mike Slone right on his heels as the top three. During the battle going on upfront, cars beyond the top three were racing three-wide around the entire track. Slone spun on lap nine which set up the fourth caution of the night and allowed Camdenton veteran Ken Dickinson to break into the top three. After a few more cautions, the race really came alive on a lap 14 restart. Chrissy Wallace jumped from fourth to second within just a few laps, with Justin Jennings of LaGrange following her to the front. Wallace and Jennings worked their way through lap traffic to gain big leads over the field. Once Wallace took the lead, she maintained it for the rest of the race. Jennings finished strong in second, with Reeves, Williams, and Dickinson rounding out the Top Five.

“The race was a long race . . . you know, I didn’t think we were ever going to get through it . . . but to wind up winning, I couldn’t be any happier,” Wallace said in Monster Energy Victory Lane. “That’s our big goal – winning the track championship and going for that ASA National Title. I think, with the help of the guys working on my car, we can do it. The boys have been working really hard on the car and they’ve got it dialed in. The big thing is, every week we’re trying harder and harder to get things right, and finally we got it where we can run on the high side and just take off and go.”

Mike Coryell of Lebanon took the lead from Fair Grove’s Terry Taylor on lap five of the ASA Modified division feature event, and kept it for the remaining 15 laps. Cars were as close to each other as they could get throughout this fast-paced Modified race, as David Bates of Fair Grove, ‘The Nixa Nightmare’ Tyler Scott, Taylor, and Jason Otto of Richland created a four-car battle for the second position. After multiple position swaps, Scott claimed second place over Bates on lap 18. Bates then finished third, followed by Otto in fourth and Taylor in fifth.

The 20-lap ‘Road Warrior Brawl’ did not disappoint Saturday night, as a season-record nine cars showed up to race for the $250 first place prize in a race that was divided into two 10-lap segments. At the first 10-lap mark, Sam Shaw of Rogersville had the lead, followed by brother and fellow Rogersville driver, Steve Shaw in second, Dustin Reeves of Lebanon in third, Nick Moore of Richland in fourth, and yet another Rogersville driver, Mike Scott, in fifth. A first-time I-44 Speedway fan flipped a coin during the mid-race stop, which decided that the top four cars would invert on the restart. Moore pulled off of the track during the mid-race stop, which made Scott the new leader. The race then resumed, but slowed for a caution shortly after as Reeves spun on lap 11 and Steve Shaw was in the wrong place at the wrong time as both cars were forced to head to the pits with front-end damage. Sam Shaw grabbed the lead back on the restart and created a big gap between himself and Scott in second. Gary Ball of Lebanon finished third, while dirt track ‘pure stock’ racers Brandon Henderson and Robert Doublin of Lebanon finished fourth and fifth.

On top of Henderson’s fourth place earnings, he also won a $100 bonus for being the top-finishing dirt track car in the Road Warrior race. Other dirt-trackers joining the pavement I-44 Speedway ‘Road Warriors’ were Doublin and ‘The General’ Dukes of Hazzard-themed # 01 car of Lebanon’s Ricky Cross.

Six cars checked into the 12-lap Sportsman race that featured door-to-door action from start to finish. JC Newell of Stoutland looked like he was the driver to beat for the majority of the race, as he held off five-time feature winner Rick Sharp. Coming out of turn four toward the white ‘last lap’ flag, Sharp gained momentum and passed Newell for the lead. He then held onto the lead and was followed across the line by Newell in second, Toby Harden of Ozark in third, Lebanon’s Aaron Douglas in fourth and Blake Sanford of Rolla in fifth.

“Well, I knew the laps were running out and JC was doing a real good job, and then I saw Toby coming up behind us and I said, ‘well I don’t need to be in a three car race’, so I got with it a little more,” Sharp said in Monster Energy Victory Lane.

Caston Jones of Belle took home his third feature win this season as he finished with a big lead over the 10-car field. Larry Hunter of Laquey made great moves in the beginning of the race, but just couldn’t hold off the #21 car of Josh Ratliff from Rolla who passed Hunter for second place on lap 10. Hunter then held on to the third position, while Shawn Jones of Belle finished in the fourth spot ahead of a great battle between Springfield’s Nick Cherry and Shawn Winfrey, with Cherry finishing in the fifth place position over Winfrey.

I-44 Speedway announcer Zack Morgan fulfilled a life-long dream on Saturday night, racing Ratliff’s car in the first qualifying Heat race for the Charger class. It was Morgan’s final show as a track announcer, with the vivacious18-year old beginning his collegiate career at ‘Mizzou’ next week.

The Outlaw Mini Stock racecars will be back next Saturday, August 6th for the ‘Kickin’ Asphalt’ show at the 3/8-mile high-banked paved Lebanon I-44 Speedway, along with the five ASA stock car racing classes and a special “Faster Pastor” race featuring four local ministers. Gates will open at 5 pm, with racing action beginning at 7:30. Additional information about upcoming events, racecar construction rules and championship points is available online at www.i44speedway.net.

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LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1) 56 Justin Jennings
2) 9 Phil Sharp
3) 2 Grant Sharp
4) 7 Jeremy Manes
5) 18 Jim Reeves
6) 25 Zach Zeugin

HEAT 2
1) 77 Mike Slone
2) 45 Crispin Beaver
3) 35 Steve Holt
4) 3 Tucker Cory
5) 21x Rodney Phillips
6) 67 Jimmy Vanzandt

HEAT 3
1) 93 Chrissy Wallace
2) 21 Ken Dickinson
3) 46 Cole Williams
4) 20 Austin Fullerton
5) 10 Dale Roper Jr

FEATURE
1) 93 Chrissy Wallace Concord, NC
2) 56 Justin Jennings LaGrange
3) 18 Jim Reeves Strafford
4) 46 Cole Williams Sellers, IN
5) 21 Ken Dickinson Camdenton
6) 2 Grant Sharp Conway
7) 45 Crispin Beaver Neosho
8) 10 Dale Roper Jr Fair Grove
9) 67 Jimmy Vanzandt Springfield
10) 7 Jeremy Manes Nixa
11) 9 Phil Harris Springfield
12) 21x Rodney Phillips
13) 77 Mike Slone Rolla
14) 25 Zach Zeguin
15) 3 Tucker Cory
16) 20 Austin Fullerton
17) 35 Steve Holt

MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1
1) 91 David Bates
2) 26 Payton Lucas
3) 44 Kevin Blackburn
4) 66 Terry Taylor
5) 25-DNS Stephen Counterman

HEAT 2
1) 57 Tyler Scott
2) 8 Jason Otto
3) 5 Mike Coryell
4) 29 Roderick Icenhower
5) 33 Riley Sharp

FEATURE
1) 5 Mike Coryell Lebanon
2) 57 Tyler Scott Nixa
3) 91 David Bates Fair Grove
4) 8 Jason Otto Richland
5) 66 Terry Taylor Fair Grove
6) 29 Roderick Icenhower Fair Grove
7) 26 Payton Lucas Fair Grove
8) 33 Riley Sharp Strafford
9) 44 Kevin Blackburn Lebanon
10) 25-DNS Stephen Counterman Fair Grove

SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1
1) 10 Rick Sharp
2) 7 Aaron Douglas
3) 1 Toby Harden
4) 83 JC Newell
5) 77 Blake Sanford
6) 63 Chuck Higdon

FEATURE
1) 10 Rick Sharp Fair Grove
2) 83 JC Newell Stoutland
3) 1 Toby Harden Ozark
4) 7 Aaron Douglas Lebanon
5) 77 Blake Sanford Rolla
6) 63 Chuck Higdon Strafford

ROAD WARRIOR
HEAT 1
1) 90 Steve Shaw
2) 33 Mike Scott
3) 98 Sam Shaw
4) 35 Gary Ball

HEAT 2
1) 6 Dustin Reeves
2) 12 Nick Moore
3) 76B Brandon Henderson
4) 36 Robert Doublin

FEATURE
1) 98 Sam Shaw Rogersville
2) 33 Mike Scott Rogersville
3) 35 Gary Ball Lebanon
4) 76B Brandon Henderson Lebanon
5) 36 Robert Doublin Lebanon
6) O1 Ricky Cross Lebanon
7) 90 Steve Shaw Rogersville
8) 6 Dustin Reeves Lebanon
9) 12 Nick Moore Richland

CHARGERS
HEAT 1
1) 10 Gary Davenport
2) 34 Caston Jones
3) 42 Shawn Winfrey
4) 1 Amanda Page
5) 21 Zack Morgan

HEAT 2
1) 7 Shawn Jones
2) 74 Larry Hunter
3) 27 Nick Cherry
4) 5 Jimmy Poindexter
5) 14 Ben Kramer

FEATURE
1) 34 Caston Jones Belle
2) 21 Josh Ratliff Rolla
3) 74 Larry Hunter Laquey
4) 7 Shawn Jones Belle
5) 27 Nick Cherry Springfield
6) 42 Shawn Winfrey
7) 10 Gary Davenport Lebanon
8) 5 Jimmy Poindexter Willard
9) 1 Amanda Page Springfield
10) 14 Ben Kramer Richland