Springfield,Mo.-Oronogo’s Bobby Pearish grabbed the opening lead and withstood a late race challenge from veteran Rex Merritt and a wild full moon night to capture his first SURE Budweiser Modified feature win at the Springfield Raceway of 2012 in the Transport Graphics Championship chase with over 90 race teams in the pits.
Things started very rocky as current track point leader Erik Maggard took a hard barrel roll over in turn 1 as the field was 3-wide when the green flag flew. Also getting caught-up was defending champion Jackie Dalton,2010 champ Mitch Keeter,Jeff Cutshaw,Nick Whitehead.Maggard was able to walk away but his BAS Security/State Farm/Shaw Car was the worst for wear.All the other cars returned to action.On the restart,Pearish took the lead from Corey Weir with Rob Muilenburg following.With the track fast tonight,action was extremely quick on the “Quick-Quarter” as drivers were shuffling back and forth.On lap 3 the second Red Flag was displayed as Josh Woody,Justin Neuman and Tammy Mitchell got together on the front-stretch.On the restart,Muilenburg moved into second and began his chase on the leader Pearish as Brian Green was picking up spots.On lap 5,John Yeoman moved into second place as the yellow flew again for Green’s spin in turn 2.Action picked back-up with Pearish,Yeoman,Muilenburg and 18th starter Rex Merritt battling.Pearish was then able to withstand a 2 lap shootout from Merritt to grab the victory by 2 car lengths as Merritt was riding the top groove quickly.The final top 5 rundown saw Pearish in his Pearish Construction/Hoffman/Yeoman Engines followed by Merritt in his Allen Autosports/Yeoman Engines, Yeoman in the Hoffman/Yeoman Engines 25th Anniversary special, defending champion Jackie Dalton recovering to capture 4th in the Carthage Lock/Garrison/Hoffman and a fast moving Dairian Hendrix from 16th in his Babe’s Drive-In/Hoffman/Yeoman.12 of the 20 starters finished on the lead lap in a wild feature.
In Reliable Chevrolet USRA B-Modified action it also was a wild affair as the full moon caused havic here also.Jon Yeoman Jr grabbed the opening lead with Brandon Maggard driving for former track champion Wayne Graybeal this season following while Jared Thulin was close behind.Several spins and wild action saw the yellow fly often early.Back to green flag action,Yeoman Jr and Brandon Maagard were wheel to wheel.On lap 4,Brandon Maggard grabbed the lead as current point leader Scott Drake was coming forward from his 11th starting spot.Drake made a move to get around Yeoman Jr. and attempted several times to get the lead as Mike Hailman had moved to third place.Maggard withstood a 2 lap shootout to secure the win with Drake,Hailman,Yeoman Jr. and Kaleb Copher completing the top 5.
Casey’s General Stores Midwest Modified action was very tight and provided excellent action with an emotional win for Charlie Gentile.Pole-setter Craig Keeter grabbed the opening lead and was looking inpressive as Austin Johnson was in pursuit.On lap 3,Gentile who had lost a close friend and car owner early in the week pulled even with Keeter as defending champion Trevor Drake followed through.Gentile took the lead the following lap as Drake and current point leader Rusty Forrest followed.Gentile and Drake then showed side by side racing with Drake taking the lead on lap 11 down low,but Gentile grabbed the top spot back on lap 12 with Forrest looking for running room as Gary Krebs and Johnson were wheel to wheel.Drake kept to the low side of the track while Gentile had the top groove working.Drake would try again on the last lap as Forrest was attempting to get around Drake.Gentile took the win with Drake,Forrest,Krebs and Johnson in the top 5.
Wheeler Metals Legend action again provides 3-wide racing as former champion Justin Comer took the opening lead,then veteran Wayne Johnston moved around as 10th place starter Chuck Comer shot to third.On lap 4,J. Comer took back the lead as point leader Mike Hailman moved into third place.On lap 6,the pace slowed as Hailman pulled in with a flat tire and rejoined the rear of the field as did Caleb McDugle.J Comer and uncle Chuck Comer were back and forth as Billy”The Kid”Cottrill was now up to third place.The yellow waved on lap 12 for Gary Hockman and Cottrill as Hailman had charged back to third place.On the restart Justin Comer was looking solid as Hailman was applying pressure.On lap 17,Hailman took back the lead but then Justin Comer back in front on lap 18.Side by side they raced as the white flew with Hailman getting back to the lead.On the final lap Justin Comer tried hard to get around Hailman but Hailman took the win as Justin Comer,Wayne johnston,Chuck Comer and Darrell McWhirter followed in an action feature event.
A first time winner ever in the Pepsi Pure Stock class saw second year driver Philip Schloesser take the opening lead and never looked back in recording the victory as last season rookie of the year Bret Testerman came late in the feature but never could catch Schloesser.Following the lead duo to the line were David Moellering,15 year old Tyler Thulin and first time ever lady driver Elizabeth Jolley.Current point leader and defending champion Jack Hamer suffered a stuck throttle on the opening lap and pulled to the pits and returned to action a few laps down.
Another first time ever winner in the Williams Lawn Care Street Stock class as the feature was action packed had Springfield’s Jim Reid take advantage of Bryan Tillman’s flat tire to take the win by holding off point leader Wayne morris in a last lap near photo finish.Reid grabbed the opening lead with Shawn Schmidt right beside him.On lap 3,Schmidt took the top spot as Tillman pulled even and took over on lap 4.It was 3-wide action the entire feature.With 2 laps to go,Tillman pulled high in turn 4 bringing out the yellow putting Reid back in the lead.Reid then had to hold off morris for the win his first ever in his Larry Andrus/McCroskey Tribute car as morris,Schmidt,Wayne Bysor and Tillman completed the top 5.
Wesley Smith took the lead on lap 2 from Ty McWhirter to take his second straight Young Lions Kids Legends feature.Kylan Garner suffered car problems at the start forcing him to the pits early.Smith was flawless tonight in his 44 car as this class gets stronger each week.Jeremy Watson and Garner rounded out the field as early night contender Graysen cox had problems and could not start the feature.
Next up for Springfield Raceway is the 6th annual John Kuntz Memorial presented by Andy’s Frozen Custard Late model special featuring the showdown between MLRA and MARS Super Late models along with a full points shows in the Transport Graphics Championship Chase as extra money is provided in all classes.USRA Modifieds compete for $600 to win and $90 to start while the Late Model event is slated for 40 laps and $3,000 to the winner.
Go to WWW.SpringfieldRaceway.Com for more details or like us on Facebook.
Results
Budweiser USRA Modifieds
A Ft-1)Bobby Pearish-Oronogo 2)Rex Merritt-Billings 3)John Yeoman III-Granby 4)Jackie Dalton-Carthage 5)Dairan Hendrix-Joplin 6)Mitch Keeter-Webb City 7)Robbie Bryant-Willard 8)Rob Muilenburg-Sparta 9)Corey Wier-Nixa 10)Nick Whitehead-Ozark 11)Billy Dalton-Exeter 12)Fred Slagle-Pierce City 13)Scott Symmonds-Bolivar 14)Jeff Cutshaw-Cross Timbers 15)Justin Neuman-Crocker 16)Brian Green-Pierce City 17)Jerry Lankton-Lampe 18)Josh Woody-Laquey 19)Tammy Mitchell-Pea Ridge,Ark. 20)Erik Maggard-Brighton DNS-Rusty Weir
1st Ht-1)Yeoman III 2)Maggard 3)B Dalton 4)Weir 5)Woody 6)Symmonds 7)Merritt
2nd Ht-1)Dalton 2)Whitehead 3)Cutshaw 4)Green 5)Lankton 6)Hendrix 7)Slagle
3rd Ht-1)Pearish 2)Keeter 3)Muilenburg 4)Bryant 5)Neuman 6)Mitchell DNS-R Weir
Reliable Chevrolet USRA B-Mods
A Ft-1)Brandon Maggard-Springfield 2)Scott Drake-Webb City 3)Mike Hailman-Reed Springs 4)Jon Yeoman Jr-Granby 5)Kaleb Copher-Webb City 6)Charlie Gentile-Ozark 7)Andy Beauchamp-Springfield 8)Ryan Stacye-Fair Grove 9)Blake Ellis-Sarcoxie 10)Jared Thulin-Miami,Okla.11)Gary Rodocker-Willard 12)Michael Maggard-Springfield 13)Bobby Maggard Jr.-Republic 14)Ron McClellan-Jasper 15)Jeff Scroggins-Brookline 16)Don Luna-St James 17)Jeremy Thulin-Miami,Okla.18)Aaron Speck-Republic DNS-Thomas Hylton-Joplin,Darren Danner-Joplin
1st Ht-1)Brandon Maggard 2)Drake 3)Rodocker 4)J Thulin 5)Scroggins 6)Beauchamp 7DNS-Hylton
2nd Ht-1)Yeoman Jr 2)M Maggard 3)Copher 4)McClellan 5)Danner 6)Thulin 7)Speck
3rd Ht-1)B Maggard Jr 2)Gentile 3)Luna 4)Hailman 5)Ellis 6)Stacye
Caseys General Stores Midwest Modz
A Ft-1)Charlie Gentile-Ozark 2)Trevor Drake-Webb City 3)Rusty Forrest-Ozark 4)Gary Krebs-Clever 5)Austin Johnson-Joplin 6)Todd McGregor-Clever 7)Taylor Moore-Bois D’Arc 8)Nathan Gold-Willard 9)Craig Keeter-Webb City 10)Rusty Adams-Miami,Okla 11)Steve Moore-Springfield 12)Michael Page-Webb City 13)Billy Pearce-Camdenton 14)Robert Tosh- 15)Bobby Gough-Joplin 16)Jordan Green-Rolla 17)Dakota Maggard-Republic 18)Ken Walker-Springfield 19)Shawn Eggeman-Willard
1st Ht-1)Forrest 2)Krebs 3)Green 4)Johnson 5)Pearce 6)Maggard 7)Page
2nd Ht-1)Drake 2)T Moore 3)Keeter 4)Gentile 5)Gough 6)Adams
3rd Ht-1)Eggeman 2)Thulin 3)Walker 4)Gold 5)S Moore 6)Tosh
Wheeler Metals Legends
A Ft-1)Mike Hailman-Reed Springs 2)Justin Comer-Joplin 3)Wayne Johnston-Rolla 4)Chuck Comer-Joplin 5)Darrell McWhirter-Bentonville,Ark.6)Caleb McDugle-Quapaw,Okla 7)Rob Watson-Billings 8)Calvin Garner-Sarcoxie 9)Bill Cottrill-Joplin 10)Rick Nichols-Cassville 11)Nichole Cottrill-Joplin 12)Billy Cottrill-Joplin 13)Gary Hockman-Rolla 14)Larry Smoot-Joplin 15)James McDugle-Quapaw,Okla
1st Ht-1)Hailman 2)Johnston 3)C Comer 4)Nichols 5)Billy Cottrill 6)Garner 7)Smooth 8)N Cottrill
2nd Ht-1)Johnston 2)J Comer 3)C McDugle 4)Watson 5)McWhirter 6)Hockman 7)Bill Cottrill
Pepsi-Pure Stocks
A Ft-1)Philip Schloesser-Everton 2)Bret Testerman-Miami,Okla 3)David Moellering-Billings 4)Tyler Thulin-Miami,Okla 5)Elizabeth Jolley-Springfield 6)Danny Vasquez-Springfield 7)Jack Hamer-Ava
1st Ht-1)Hamer 2)Jolley 3)Thulin 4)Vasquez
2nd Ht-1)Testerman 2)Schloesser 3)Moellring
Williams Lawn Care Street Stocks
A Ft-1)Jim Reid-Springfield 2)Wayne Morris-Miami,Okla 3)Shawn Schmidt-Springfield 4)Wayne Bysor-Bolivar 5)Bryan Tillman-Branson 6)Joe Gracia-Bolivar
Ht-1)Tillman 2)Schmidt 3)Reid 4)Morris 5)Bysor 6)Giradi
Young Lions Kids Legends
A Ft-1)Wesley Smith-Nixa 2)Ty McWhirter-Bentonville,Ark 3)Jeremy Watson-Billings 4)Kylan Garner-Sarcoxie DNS-Grasyn Cox-Joplin
Ht-1)Smith 2)Cox 3)McWhirter 4)Watson 5)Garner