(LEBANON, Missouri, by Sarah Woodhurst) It was a night jam-packed with exciting racing action as all five ASA classes laid everything on the line for the ‘United Insurors Season Championship Night’. Grant Sharp of Conway picked up the first Late Model feature victory of the night and Mike Slone, Jr. of Rolla won the second Late Model feature. Season points champion, Tyler Scott of Nixa took home the Modified feature event, while Rolla’s Blake Sanford won his second Sportsman feature of the season. Steve Shaw of Rogersville won the Road Warrior feature, and former I-44 Speedway announcer Zack Morgan of Lebanon claimed the checkers in the Charger division.

After the heat races were completed, the first of the Late Model ‘Twin 30’ races – two 30-lap main events sponsored by Lindsay Auto Group of Lebanon and St. Robert – took to the track. Sixteen cars started the race, but the race traffic didn’t phase Sharp as he took a big lead on lap 9 and maintained it for the remaining laps. A caution came out on lap 12 after Terry Smith made contact with the wall coming out of turn four. On the restart, Brian Brown of Springfield and Eric Turner of Hermitage were door to door for second place, while Dale Roper Jr. of Fair Grove, Chrissy Wallace of Concord, NC, and Camdenton’s Ken Dickinson fought for fourth. Roper Jr. suffered car problems on lap 22 ending his race early, as the top runners still tried to track down Sharp. Sharp took the win followed by Brown in second, Turner in third, Dickinson in fourth and Wallace in fifth.

Sharp had a lot of people to thank in Monster Energy Victory Lane as he listed off many sponsors, family and his crew. “It’s definitely deserved,” Sharp said. “Thanks to all the fans. My crowd grows after every race down in the pits.”

The second Late Model feature was the last race of the night, and 14 cars checked into the event. Robert Baltzell of Nixa took the lead on the first lap, but wasn’t able to maintain it as he collided with the front stretch wall on the first lap. The restart featured Slone and Dickinson battling for the lead while Kyle Steffens, Brown, and Steve Holt battled for fourth place. The fourth place battle ended on lap 19 though, as it appeared a tire blew out on the yellow #80 car of Steffens, forcing him to retire to the pits. Another caution came out two laps later as Wallace spun coming out of turn four. Slone had the lead on the final restart of the night with Dickinson right on his heels. Slone was able to drive his #77 car across the finish line first, with Dickinson picking up his second top 5 of the night in second, ‘Jammin’ Jimmy’ VanZandt of Springfield in third, Brown, also with his second top 5 of the night, in fourth, and Holt in fifth.

“We’ve had a real rough year,” Slone said. “Absolutely no luck at all. I blew up two motors, got run over a couple times, well, probably four or five times. Just no luck at all and this feels good. We finished turning the last bolt on this car at 4 this afternoon so I’m pretty happy it came out here and did this good.”

Chrissy Wallace, who finished fifth and seventh in the ‘Twin 30’s’ became the 2011 I-44 Speedway ASA Late Model Points Champion. Wallace finished the season with six feature victories, and celebrated her ‘Monster Energy Chase for the Cup’ with family and friends on the front stretch following the second ‘Lindsay Auto Group Twin 30’.

“It is a huge accomplishment for me,” Wallace said. “First of all, I want to thank the fans for coming out here and supporting us… especially my family, everybody’s here today and it’s a huge deal. I won the championship where my dad won his and started his career.”

Tyler Scott made it look easy in the Modified division as he finished the race almost a half lap ahead of the field. Stephen Counterman of Fair Grove, Lebanon’s Mike Coryell, and ‘Racin’ Jason’ Otto of Richland battled for the second position with Counterman taking home second, Otto in third, Coryell in fourth, and Rocky Rash in fifth. Scott also won the ASA season points championship in the Modifed division, finishing the season with 10 feature wins.

“First of all, I want to give credit to God,” Scott said. “Without Him, I wouldn’t be here and the success wouldn’t be near what it is without His help. I wish I had some sponsors to thank, but hopefully we can get that squared away in the offseason. I just have so many people to thank because this wouldn’t have happened without them.”

In the Sportsman division, Blake Sanford picked up his second win of the season after holding off the Season Points champion Rick Sharp of Fair Grove. Contact causing a spinout between Aaron Douglas of Lebanon and Marshfield’s Toby Harden brought out the only caution of the race. Ben Newell, father of JC Newell, made big advances through the field and looked to challenge Sanford until car trouble sent him to the pits halfway through the race. Sanford took the win followed by Sharp in second, Douglas in third, Stoutland’s JC Newell in fourth, and Tim Lott in fifth.

Rogersville’s Steve Shaw earned his third Road Warrior victory of the season. Lebanon’s Brandon Henderson suffered some bad luck as engine failure ended his night on lap two. Camdenton’s Dustin Reeves had the lead until lap nine when he spun out, and Shaw was able to capitalize. Season points champion Mike Scott of Rogersville finished the race in second, Reeves recovered to a third place, Sam Shaw of Rogersville in fourth, and Adam Lowrance in fifth.

Former Lebanon I-44 Speedway track announcer, Zack ‘Z-Man’ Morgan, won the exciting Charger race in his first feature race ever. John Simms took the early lead, as cars were five-wide at times. The close racing action was what brought out the first and only caution as Gary Davenport of Marshfield and Morgan of Lebanon made contact on the front stretch. After the restart, Simms fell off the pace on lap six putting the lead up for grabs for Amanda Page, Ben Kramer, and Larry Hunter who were fighting for second at the time. These three cars put on a show and so did Morgan as he blasted from the back of the pack and made a power move for the lead down the backstretch on lap eight. The three-wide move paid off for Morgan, as he then gained a big lead over the field. Season Points champion Shawn Jones of Belle finished the race in second, followed by Hunter in third, Kramer in fourth, and Jimmy Poindexter in fifth.

The Fall Shootout, presented by Budweiser & Monster Energy, is up next on Saturday, October 1 at I-44 Speedway, which will feature a special100-lap race for an expected large field of pavement Late Models. The pit gate will open at 1 pm, with grandstand and tier parking opening at 2:30 pm. Races will start at 5 pm, with all five ‘Kickin’ Asphalt’ weekly divisions competing. Complete information about I-44 Speedway’s Fall Shootout, racecar construction specifications and general rules may be found on the track’s official website, www.i44speedway.com, or on the ‘Lebanon I-44 Speedway’ Facebook page.

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RACE RESULTS – LEBANON I-44 SPEEDWAY – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011
LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1) 21 Ken Dickinson
2) 77 Mike Slone
3) 18 Jim Reaves
4) O2 Brian Brown
5) 12 Eric Turner
6) 93W Matt Wallace

HEAT 2
1) 2X Scott Atkinson
2) 10 Dale Roper Jr
3) 2 Grant Sharp
4) 67 Jimmy VanZandt
5) 20 Austin Fullerton

HEAT 3
1) 93 Chrissy Wallace
2) 16 Robert Baltzell
3) 98 Terry Smith
4) 35 Steve Holt
5) 80 Kyle Steffens

LINDSAY AUTO GROUP TWIN 30 # 1
1) 2 Grant Sharp Conway
2) O2 Brian Brown Springfield
3) 12 Eric Turner Hermitage
4) 21 Ken Dickinson Camdenton
5) 93 Chrissy Wallace Concord, NC
6) 77 Mike Slone Rolla
7) 18 Jim Reaves Strafford
8) 67 Jim VanZandt Springfield
9) 35 Steve Holt Marshfield
10) 2X Scotty Atkinson Conway
11) 20 Austin Fullerton Chelsea, OK
12) 16 Robert Baltzell Nixa
13) 80 Kyle Steffens St Charles
14) 93W Matt Wallace Concord, NC
15) 10 DNF Dale Roper Jr Fair Grove
16) 98 DNF Terry Smith Belton

LINDSAY AUTO GROUP TWIN 30 # 2
1) 77 Mike Slone Rolla
2) 21 Ken Dickinson Camdenton
3) 67 Jim VanZandt Springfield
4) O2 Brian Brown Springfield
5) 35 Steve Holt Marshfield
6) 12 Dale Roper Jr Fair Grove
7) 93 Chrissy Wallace Concord, NC
8) 2 Grant Sharp Conway
9) 18 Jim Reaves Strafford
10) 2X Scott Atkinson Conway
11) 20 Austin Fullerton Chelsea, OK
12) 93W Matt Wallace Concord, NC
13) 80 Kyle Steffens St Charles
14) 16 Robert Baltzell Nixa
15) 98 DNS Terry Smith Belton
16) 12 DNS Eric Turner Hermitage

MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1
1) 1 Rocky Rash
2) 5 Mike Coryell
3) 33 Riley Sharp
4) 44 Kevin Blackburn
5) 9 Phil Harris

HEAT 2
1) 57 Tyler Scott
2) 25 Stephen Counterman
3) 8 Jason Otto
4) 26 Payton Lucas

FEATURE
1) 57 Tyler Scott Nixa
2) 25 Stephen Counterman Fair Grove
3) 8 Jason Otto Richland
4) 5 Mike Coryell Lebanon
5) 1 Rocky Rash
6) 26 Payton Lucas Fair Grove
7) 44 Kevin Blackburn Lebanon
8) 9 Phil Harris Nixa
9) 33 DNS Riley Sharp Fair Grove

SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1
1) 84 Ben Newell
2) 7 Aaron Douglas
3) 1 Toby Harden
4) 77 Blake Sanford

HEAT 2
1) 10 Rick Sharp
2) 83 JC Newell
3) 63 Tim Lott

FEATURE
1) 77 Blake Sanford St Charles
2) 10 Rick Sharp Fair Grove
3) 7 Aaron Douglas Lebanon
4) 83 JC Newell Stoutland
5) 63 Tim Lott
6) 1 DNF Toby Harden Marshfield
7) 84 DNF Ben Newell Stoutland

ROAD WARRIOR
HEAT 1
1) 90 Steve Shaw
2) 33 Mike Scott
3) 7 Adam Lowrance
4) 21 Les Mallard

HEAT 2
1) 6 Dustin Reeves
2) 76 Brandon Henderson
3) 98 Sam Shaw

FEATURE
1) 90 Steve Shaw Rogersville
2) 33 Mike Scott Rogersville
3) 6 Dustin Reeves Camdenton
4) 98 Sam Shaw Rogersville
5) 7 Adam Lowrance Lebanon
6) 21 Les Mallard
7) 76 DNF Brandon Henderson Lebanon

CHARGER
HEAT 1
1) 27 Nick Cherry
2) 14 Ben Kramer
3) 5 Jimmy Poindexter
4) 19 Allen Branson
5) 1 Amanda Page
6) 7 Shawn Jones

HEAT 2
1) 21 Zack Morgan
2) 10 Gary Davenport
3) 17 John Simms
4) 34 Caston Jones
5) 74 DNF Larry Hunter

FEATURE
1) 21 Zack Morgan Lebanon
2) 7 Shawn Jones Belle
3) 74 Larry Hunter Laquey
4) 14 Ben Kramer Richland
5) 5 Jimmy Poindexter Willard
6) 1 Amanda Page Springfield
7) 10 Gary Davenport Marshfield
8) 27 Nick Cherry Springfield
9) 19 Allen Bradson
10) 17 DNF John Simms
11) 34 DNS Caston Jones Belle