Springfield,Mo.-Republic’s Brad Looney must have been watching the Republic Tigers Basketball team this season as the 2011 MARS champion was able to use his offensive shooting ability to gather the pole and placed an outstanding Defensive Stance on Will”The Thrill” Vaught in taking the 1st of three MLRA/MARS Challanges events at the “Quick-Quarter” of the Springfield Raceway in the 1st annual March Madness event Sat night before a standing room only crowd.
After 5 exciting heat races and 2 last chance events,the star-studded regional field saw Looney and Brandon McCormick bring the field to the green.Looney took the opening shot as McCormick,UMP regular Dwayne Keifer and Tony Jackson Jr went side by side.Looney using the top groove would find Keifer moving downstairs and showed him the nose a couple of times as Jackson was finding the high groove to his liking.Behind the leaders,action was normal 3 wide at Springfield as top drivers such as MLRA Champion John Anderson,MARS point leader Jesse Stovall,Springfield kingpin Terry Philips and 2- time Cornbelt Series Champion Chad Simpson were slicing through the field.A couple of early minor yellows kept things really interesting as Keifer would pick the bottom lane of the restarts.Looney was almost perfect on his restarts as Jackson worked around Keifer around lap 11 to take the second place spot and closed in on Looney.Bumper to bumper action and side by side was keeping the standing room only crowd on their feet as Jackson tried several times to overtake Looney.Will Vaught slowly started moving up the leader board and was in a torrid battle with Phillips,rookie contender Kevin Sather and David Turner.Jackson attempted to move around Looney around the 20 lap mark,but couldn’t make the bottom groove stick and lost a few car lengths.With Looney hitting his marks perfect up high,Jackson was finding himself in a battle for position with Vaught,Phillips and a fast moving Jesse Stovall along with Sather.A lap 31 caution bunched the field up as Vaught was able to get underneath Jackson to grab the second place honors and closed quickly on Looney.As the drivers recieved the 5 to go call,Vaught turned up the wick on his car and showed Looney the nose down low.On lap 37,Looney who had been riding the top lane all night,went to the middle groove in turn 1 and then started to diamond the lightning fast quarter-mile banked oval.Vaught then switched to the top groove and as the white flag flew,the crowd never sat down as they could feel another great event at Springfield for the win while Jackson was in a dog-fight with Phillips and Stovall for third place while Sather was flexing his muscle holding off John Anderson.With Looney moving just a small amount down low in turn 1,Vaught decided to keep the top lane to his liking.Looney had a car length advantage going down the bakstretch and kept the middle lane to his liking.Heading out of turn 4,Vaught was carrying alot fo speed up high as Looney placed his car in a perfect spot to use the diamond move and placed the defensive stance over Vaught in grabbing his first ever Springfield Raceway victory as Vaught was right on his bumper for second with Jackson,Phillips and Stovall following.
In Support action the USRA Modifieds were competing for National points as 22 cars took the green flag with last season’s runner-up Erik Magard jumping to the early lead over Jim Body,defending USRA track champion Jackie Dalton and 2010 track champion Mitch Keeter.Maggard was flying on the high banks as Dalton began a charge to grab second from Body.Caution flew early as 2010 Turkey Classic Champion Jody Tillman got collected up in an incident in turn 4 ending his night.On the restart,Maggard was again fast as Dalton,Body,Keeter,Bobby Pearish and others battled for position.Keeter’s night ended quickly as he spun in turn 4 and collected up Rob Muilenburg and a couple of others.With Maggard still showing the way,Dalton and Body found Pearish and a fast moving Jeremy Payne along with 22nd starting Steve Muilenburg and 17th starting Jon Yeoman III and KC area driver Austin Seibert.After an attempt on a double-file restart,officials had to use a single file restart cone rule as Maggard was leading with Dalton,Body,Pearish,Payne and others nose to tail.On the restart,Payne passed before the cone calling for a 2 position penalty either on the next yellow or the final finish.Maggard would continue to lead as Payne was now the man on the move as he got around both Body and Dalton and clsoed on Maggard.On lap 12 the caution flew as Pearish came slowly down the frontstretch and Mickey Burrell had problems.Payne had moved into second,but was moved back 2 spots for the restart.Maggard had Dalton closing quickly as Payne was moving back to the front runners while Matt Thompson was coming quickly.On lap 14,Payne made the low groove stick around Maggard ans grabbed the win with Maggard,Dalton,Body and Muilenburg in the top 5.Joplin’s Wolfman’s scar house added an extra $50 to a mystery spot in which the Junior fan drew at intermission.Steve Milenburg’s 5th place spot took him home that extra money.
Lebanon’s Kris Jackson showed his Turkey classic win was no fluke as he grabbed the lead on the opening lap from Jeremy Chambers of Kansas and withstood a couple of late caution restarts from Shawn Strong to take the victory in the B-Mods feature.Strong,Chambers,Andy Beauchamp and Steve Muilenburg completed the top 5.Jackson also was the only feature winner to hit a 3 point shot in the basketball March Madness theme hitting nothing but net and taking home an extra $100 for the Speedway as all feature winners took that extra shot.
The Midwest Modz provided plenty of close racing picking up where they left off last season.Last season’s points runner-up Sam Petty had checked out away from the field leading the first 11 of 15 laps.A lap 12 caution allowed 2011 champion Trevor Drake to pull up to the fast moving Petty and the following lap,Drake pulled off the winning pass in taking his frist win of the season.Petty,Rusty Forrest,Todd McGregor and Bobby gough completed the top 5.
THe Kids Young Lions Legend Class saw 4 entries compete in their first ever event as this class is set for kids 12-16 to get a start in racing.Leaders Wesley Smith and Kylan Garner showed the crowd a side by side battle until lap 6 when they made contact.This ended Smith’s night and palced Kyle cox in the lead.Cox withstood Garner’s advances for the next 2 laps before Garner made the winning pass.Cox, Rob Watson Jr and Smith completed the field.
Up next at the Springfield Raceway will be the opening Transport Graphics Season points opener featuring USRA Modifieds,USRA B-Mods,Midwest Modz,Legends,Young Lions Legends,PureStocks and StreetStocks.
For more information visit the website at WWW.SpringfieldRaceway.Com or contact Jerry Hoffman at 417-673-7426.
Results-March Madness-MLRA/MARS Late Models
A Feature (40 Laps): 1. Brad Looney (Republic, MO), 2. Will Vaught (Crane, MO), 3. Tony Jackson, Jr (Lebanon, MO), 4. Terry Phillips (Springfield, MO), 5. Jesse Stovall (Galena, MO), 6. Kevin Sather (Des Moines, IA), 7. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 8. David Turner (Creighton, MO), 9. Mike Collins (Council Bluffs, IA), 10. Dwayne Kiefer, 11. Justin Asplin (Birch Tree, MO), 12. Corey Zeitner (Bellevue, NE), 13. Leroy Johnson (Battlefield, MO), 14. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 15. Bryon Allison (Marshall, MO), 16. Brandon McCormick (Lebanon, MO), 17. Brandon Morton (Broken Arrow, OK), 18. Shane Essary (Aurora, MO), 19. Chad Simpson (Mt Vernon, IA), 20. Brantlee Gotschall (Nevada, MO), 21. Ken Essary (Cape Fair, MO), 22. Dustin Mooneyham (Verona, MO),
Hoosier Racing Tires B Feature 1 (10 laps):1. Brandon Morton (Broken Arrow, OK), 2. Jesse Stovall (Galena, MO), 3. Bill Leighton (Omaha, NE), 4. Mike Collins (Council Bluffs, IA), 5. Leroy Johnson (Battlefield, MO), 6. Mark Dotson (Cameron, MO), 7. Randy Roth (Bentonville, AR), 8. Jarod Hilton (Galena, MO), 9. Jeff Johnson (Joplin, MO), 10. Rylan Long (Greenfield, MO), 11. Justin Wells (Aurora, MO),
Sunoco Racing Fuels B Feature 2 (10 laps): 1. Chad Simpson (Mt Vernon, IA), 2. Justin Asplin (Birch Tree, MO), 3. Dustin Mooneyham (Verona, MO), 4. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 5. Chris Morelock (Springfield, Mo), 6. Jason Magee, 7. Gary Stolba (Willow Springs, MO), 8. Jeff Roth (Bentonville, AR), 9. Ron McCreary, 10. Eric Tinderholt (Lampe, Mo), 11. Pat Cox (Grove, OK), 12. Kaleb Stolba (Willow Springs, MO),
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Will Vaught (Crane, MO), 2. Tony Jackson, Jr (Lebanon, MO), 3. Shane Essary (Aurora, MO), 4. Brantlee Gotschall (Nevada, MO), 5. Leroy Johnson (Battlefield, MO), 6. Ron McCreary, 7. Gary Stolba (Willow Springs, MO), 8. Mark Dotson (Cameron, MO),
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. Dwayne Kiefer, 2. David Turner (Creighton, MO), 3. Justin Asplin (Birch Tree, MO), 4. Corey Zeitner (Bellevue, NE), 5. Jason Magee, 6. Rylan Long (Greenfield, MO), 7. Randy Roth (Bentonville, AR), 8. Kaleb Stolba (Willow Springs, MO),
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. Bryon Allison (Marshall, MO), 2. Ken Essary (Cape Fair, MO), 3. Brandon Morton (Broken Arrow, OK), 4. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 5. Eric Tinderholt (Lampe, Mo), 6. Dustin Mooneyham (Verona, MO), 7. Jeff Roth (Bentonville, AR),
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. Brad Looney (Republic, MO), 2. Terry Phillips (Springfield, MO), 3. Chad Simpson (Mt Vernon, IA), 4. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 5. Jesse Stovall (Galena, MO), 6. Jarod Hilton (Galena, MO), 7. Justin Wells (Aurora, MO),
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. Kevin Sather (Des Moines, IA), 2. Brandon McCormick (Lebanon, MO), 3. Mike Collins (Council Bluffs, IA), 4. Bill Leighton (Omaha, NE), 5. Chris Morelock (Springfield, Mo), 6. Jeff Johnson (Joplin, MO), 7. Pat Cox (Grove, OK),
USRA Modifieds
A Ft-1)Jeremy Payne-Springfield 2)Erik Maggard-Republic 3)Jackie Dalton-Carthage 4)Jim Body-Diamond 5)Steve Muilenburg-Sparta 6)Terry Kirk-Urbana 7)Matt Thompson-Bentonville,Ark 8)John Yeoman III-Granby 9)Brian Green-Pierce City 10)Rob Muilenburg-Sparta 11)Jerry Lankton-Lampe 12)Bobby Pearish-Oronogo 13)Mickey Burrell-Fair Grove 14)Austin Siebert-Grandview 15)Craig DeMasters-Neosho 16)Danny DeMasters-Neosho 17)Tammy Mitchell-Pea Ridge,Ark 18)Mitch Keeter-Webb City 19)Kanyan Methvin-Yellville,Ark 20)Jody Tillman-West Branson 21)Chris Tonoli-Hermitage 22)Jeff Scroggins-Blue springs
1st Ht-1)Maggard 2)Body 3)C DeMasters 4)Burrell 5)Methvin 6)Yeoman 7)Tonoli
2nd Ht-1)Keeter 2)Tillman 3)Pearish 4)Green 5)D DeMasters 6)Mitchell 7)Scroggins
3rd Ht-1)Dalton 2)Siebert 3)Payne 4)R Muilenburg 5)Thompson 6)Lankton 7)Kirk 8)S Muilenburg
B-Mods
A Ft-1)Kris Jackson-Lebanon 2)Shawn Strong-Republic 3)Jeremy Chambers-Oswego,Ks 4)Andy Beauchamp-Springfield 5)Steve Muilenburg-Sparta 6)Gary Rodocker-Willard 7)Tracy Johnson-Lake Preston SD 8)Robert Baltzell-Ozark 9)Blake Ellis-Sarcoxie 10)Shane Bias-Everton 11)Mike Green-Fair Grove 12)Terry Williams-Springfield 13)Tyler Johnson-Sioux Falls SD 14)Miah Christensen-Sioux Falls SD 15)Chuck Becker-Bolivar 16)Michael Maggard-Springfield DNS-stacy Hall-Bolivar,Mike Mansker-Republic
1st Ht-1-Jackson 2)Chambers 3)Beauchamp 4)Williams 5)Mansker 6)Christensen
2nd Ht-1)Johnson 2)Hall 3)Ellis 4)Bias 5)Baltzell 6)Green
3rd Ht-1)Strong 2)Rodocker 3)S Muilenburg 4)Johnson 5)Becker 6)Maggard
Midwest Modz
A Ft-1)Trevor Drake-Webb City 2)Sam Petty-Niangua 3)Rusty Forrest-Ozark 4)Todd McGregor-Clever 5)Bobby Gough-Joplin 6)Dakota Maggard-Republic 7)Taylor Moore-Bois D’Arc 8)Shawn Eggeman-Springfield 9)Craig Keeter-Webb City 10)Elijah Keepper-Hurley 11)Mark Raymond-Fair Grove 12)Austin Johnson -Joplin
1st Ht-1)Petty 2)Drake 3)McGregor 4)Maggard 5)Eggeman 6)Raymond
2nd Ht-1)Gough 2)Forrest 3)Moore 4)Johnson 5)Keeter 6)Keepper
Yong Lions-Legends(Kids 12-16)
A Ft-1)Kylan Garner-Sarcoxie 2)Kyle Cox-Joplin 3)Rob Watson-Clever 4)Wesley Smith-Nixa
Ht-1)Smith 2)Garner 3)Watson 4)Cox