(LEBANON, Missouri, by Sarah Woodhurst) Justin Jennings of LaGrange collected his first ASA feature division Late Model stock car victory of the season at I-44 Speedway on Saturday night. “Racin’ Jason” Otto of Richland took home the win in the Modified division, while Ozark’s Toby Harden claimed the feature event trophy in the Sportsman class. The Road Warrior winner was Dustin Reeves of Lebanon, the Charger winner was Josh Ratliff of Rolla, and Michael Deschenes of Lee Summit made it two in a row in the ‘Outlaw’ Mini Stock feature.

Before the feature racing action began, four pastors from local churches competed in the first annual ‘Faster Pastor’ race, consisting of 6 laps in four-cylinder subcompact Charger race cars. Brad Reed, pastor of Faith Pentecostal Church in Lebanon, won the 6-lap dash and gained a trophy and Sunday morning pulpit bragging rights. David Douglas, pastor of the Second Free Will Baptist Church in Lebanon, finished in a close second place. Third place went to Greg Olson, the pastor of Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church in Lebanon, who is also radio personality ‘The Rev’ from 107.9 ‘The Coyote’ (KCLQ-FM). Marsha Vincent, pastor of the United Methodist Church in Sleeper, finished fourth.

Fifteen Late Models checked in Saturday to what seemed like a ‘race of attrition’ that saw many cautions among the 30-laps of feature event racing. Dale Roper Jr. of Fair Grove started out strong and had the early advantage until lap 17 when Jennings, the 2010 I-44 Speedway Fall Shootout winner, made a high-side pass for the lead. The #93 car driven by Chrissy Wallace of Concord, NC and Ken Dickinson of Camdenton, driving Robert Baltzell’s #16 car, collided on lap eighteen, leaving Dickinson spinning and both drivers being forced to the back of the pack. On the restart, Austin Fullerton of Claremore, Oklahoma spun to the infield grass on the front stretch causing damage to his #20 car and ending his night. The final restart of the night featured Grant Sharp of Conway, Brian Brown of Springfield, and Neosho’s Crispen Beaver forming their own battle for third place, with the three drivers on each other’s bumpers the entire time. Jennings continued to lead the remaining laps, with Roper Jr. finishing second, Sharp in third, Brown fourth, and Beaver taking home fifth place.

“It’s pretty awesome to come down here twice and get second,” Jennings said regarding his previous two races at I-44 Speedway. “We just missed it by a little bit, but now we were stronger tonight and just dead-on. It was a tough battle, but we put up a good fight. It was a lot of fun battling him (Roper, Jr.) and passing, and after we got by him it was smooth sailing from there.”

Only eight cars were on hand for the Modified feature event, but competition was close for the majority of the 20-lap event. Otto had his car dialed in as he broke off into a big early lead and continued to lead every lap. Payton Lucas of Fair Grove grabbed the second position and was able to maintain the spot for the rest of the race. The main battle was for third place between Terry Taylor of Fair Grove, Kevin Blackburn of Lebanon, Tyler Scott of Nixa, and David Bates of Fair Grove. On a lap 7 caution restart, Bates jumped up to third with Scott right behind him. Scott then passed Bates and Lucas for second place and worked his way up to the bumper of leader, Otto. It looked like it was going to be a close fight between Otto and Scott for the win until bad luck struck Scott, with his car going up in smoke from a broken power steering hose on lap 18. This misfortune sent Scott to the pits as Otto took the checkers. Lucas finished in second, followed by Bates in third, Stephen Counterman of Fair Grove in fourth, and Riley Sharp of Strafford in fifth.

“I wasn’t sure what happened,” Otto said about Scott not finishing the race. “I hate to see him have bad luck because that was a heck of a race we were having. I had some bad luck in the heat race and Mike Coryell, he wasn’t able to race tonight, he came down and helped me set my car up, him and Chad Barber. I’m telling you, we had her pretty close in the feature so we were having a good time.”

Toby Harden of Ozark led all 12 laps of the Sportsman feature race. Points leader, Rick Sharp of Fair Grove, moved from fifth to third in the first lap and passed JC Newell of Stoutland for second on lap three. Newell didn’t give up the position easily though as he took the position back on lap four. Sharp hung on to the third position until pulling off the track on lap nine with engine problems. Newell finished the race second behind Harden, followed by Blake Sanford of Rolla in third and Tim Lott in fourth.

Rolla’s Josh Ratliff won his fourth Charger race of the season, driving to the front of the super-competitive field of 4-cylinder subcompacts. The race began with cars four-wide for most of the journey around the track. Ratliff and Larry Hunter of Laquey put on a show for first place, as their cars were door-to-door, with Hunter on the high side and Ratliff on the low side. Ratliff took the lead away from Hunter on lap six and maintained it for the remaining laps. Hunter finished second, with Shawn Jones of Belle in third, Caston Jones, also from Belle, in fourth, and Gary Davenport of Lebanon in fifth place.

The full-size, steel-body Road Warrior stock car class put on another great show for I-44 Speedway fans with local Lebanon racer, Dustin Reeves, taking the win. Points leader, Gary Ball, was unable to finish the race as his motor blew up on lap ten. On a green, white, checkered restart, Steve Shaw of Rogersville passed the previous week’s winner, brother Sam Shaw, also of Rogersville, as Reeves pulled away with the lead. Dirt track racers Brandon Henderson of Lebanon and Josh Lewis finished fourth and fifth, with a $70 bonus going to Henderson for being the highest-finishing dirt-track racer and a $30 bonus going to Lewis for second-highest.

The OMSRA ‘Outlaw’ Mini-Stock racing series joined the I-44 Speedway program again, and provided excitement with multiple position changes among the six-car field. Michael Deschenes of Lee Summit passed Kevin Hunt of Spring Hills, Kansas for the lead while taking the white ‘last lap’ flag. Ashley Deshenes and Joe Bunkers of Harrisonville joined Michael Deschenes and Hunt as the four cars were glued to each other across the finish line. Michael was first across the line followed by Hunt in second, Ashley in third, Bunkers in fourth, and JW Blankenship of Warrensburg in fifth.

Lebanon I-44 Speedway’s ‘Kickin’ Asphalt’ show next Saturday, August 13 will be ‘Hardee’s Night at the Races’, a Salute to Scouting, and will include a special extended-laps ‘Charger Mania’ feature event for the Charger class, plus kids rides on the track during intermission. All five ASA stock car classes will be racing, as the ASA National Points Championship chase heats up for the Late Models. Gates will open at 5 pm, with racing beginning at 7:30. Additional information about upcoming events, racecar construction rules and championship points is available online at the track’s official website, www.i44speedway.net.

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THE RESULTS . . .
LATE MODELS

HEAT 1
1) 16 Ken Dickinson
2) 45 Chris Beaver
3) 93 Chrissy Wallace
4) 66 Brian Woods
5) 18 Jim Reeves
6) 20 Austin Fullerton
7) 98 Terry Smith
8) 11 Eric Turner

HEAT 2
1) 77 Mike Slone
2) 56 Justin Jennings
3) 10 Dale Roper
4) O2 Brian Brown
5) 69 Caleb Hall
6) 2 Grant Sharp
7) 67-DNS Jimmy Vanzandt

FEATURE
1) 56 Justin Jennings LaGrange
2) 10 Dale Roper Fair Grove
3) 2 Grant Sharp Conway
4 O2 Brian Brown Springfield
5) 45 Chris Beaver Neosho
6) 93 Chrissy Wallace Concord, NC
7) 16 Ken Dickinson Camdenton
8) 66 Brian Woods
9) 98 Terry Smith
10) 11 Eric Turner
11) 69 Caleb Hall Lee Summit
12) 20 Austin Fullerton Claremore, OK
13) 77 Mike Slone Rolla
14) 18 Jim Reeves Strafford
15) 67-DNS Jimmy Vanzandt Springfield

MODIFIEDS

HEAT 1
1) 33 Riley Sharp
2) 25 Stephen Counterman
3) 66 Terry Taylor
4) 8 Jason Otto

HEAT 2
1) 57 Tyler Scott
2) 91 David Bates
3) 26 Payton Lucas
4) 44 Kevin Blackburn

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

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1
1) 10 Rick Sharp
2) 83 JC Newell
3) 77 Blake Sanford
4) 63 Tim Lott
5) 1 Toby Harden

FEATURE
1) 1 Toby Harden Marshfield
2) 83 JC Newell Stoutland
3) 77 Blake Sanford Rolla
4) 63 Tim Lott
5) 10 Rick Sharp Fair Grove

ROAD WARRIORS

HEAT 1
1) 6 Dustin Reeves
2) 90 Steve Shaw
3) 12 Nick Moore
4) 35 Gary Ball

HEAT 2
1) 98 Sam Shaw
2) 76 Brandon Henderson
3) 7x Josh Lewis
4) 7 Adam Lowrance

FEATURE
1) 6 Dustin Reeves Lebanon
2) 90 Steve Shaw Rogersville
3) 98 Sam Shaw Rogersville
4) 76 Brandon Henderson Lebanon
5 7x Josh Lewis
6) 33 Mike Scott Rogersville
7) 35 Gary Ball Lebanon
8) 12 Nick Moore Richland
9) 7 Adam Lowrance

CHARGERS

HEAT 1
1) 21 Josh Ratliff
2) 7 Shawn Jones
3) 1 Amanda Page
4) 19 Allan Branson

HEAT 2
1) 74 Larry Hunter
2) 34 Caston Jones
3) 10 Gary Davenport

FEATURE
1) 21 Josh Ratliff Rolla
2) 74 Larry Hunter Laquey
3) 7 Shawn Jones Belle
4) 34 Caston Jones Belle
5) 10 Gary Davenport Lebanon
6) 1 Amanda Page Springfield
7) 19 Allan Branson

OMSRA ‘OUTLAW’ MINI STOCKS

HEAT 1
1) 86 Michael Deschenes
2) 12 Ashley Deschenes
3) 26 Kevin Hunt
4) 27 Tyler Berry
5) 4 Joe Bunkers
6) 80 JW Blankenship

FEATURE
1) 86 Michael Deschenes Lee Summit
2) 26 Kevin Hunt Spring Hills, KS
3) 12 Ashley Deschenes Lee Summit
4) 4 Joe Bunkers Harrisonville
5) 80 JW Blankenship Warrensburg
6) 27 Tyler Berry Spring Hills, KS