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Racing Rewind – A Look At LEBANON I-44 SPEEDWAY As The Season Hits The Half Way Mark

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Lebanon-I-44-SpeedwayBy Jordan Kuehne

(LEBANON, Mo.) – The opening half of the 2013 campaign at Lebanon I-44 Speedway has been filled with firsts: First wins, first races, and even the first time for Missouri’s only asphalt oval under the NASCAR banner. With a 2013 campaign inching past the halfway mark and the crazy crashes, close finishes and feature trophies adding up at a rapid pace, it’s time to take a look back at the first half of this season and glimpse toward what promises to be an exciting couple of months.

O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NASCAR LATE MODELS: The feature division at Missouri’s only asphalt oval has also been the youngest with 17-year-old rising star Cole Williams making the eight-hour trek each weekend worth it with four early season victories and a number of solid finishes, including a second in the last feature and an eighth in May 18th’s JEGS/CRA All-Stars special.

The cream of the late model crop has been three teenagers, led by the dominant points leader Williams and also featuring young gun Matt Wallace and Lil’ J.C. Newell, who notched his first feature win in the division two weeks ago after holding off Williams’ late-race charge. The path seems to have been cleared for a new champion and it’s looking like a trio of teenagers, separated by just 48 points in the standings, will be the first to lay their hands on that prize.

BUDWEISER NASCAR MODIFIEDS: A year after the Budweiser Modifieds turned into the ‘Tyler Scott Show’ on a bi-weekly basis, the division has featured perhaps the most wide-open and exciting racing action each week at Lebanon I-44 Speedway. Veteran dirt racer Scotty Allen scored his first two feature asphalt victories in eons and leads the standings by a mere 14 markers over fellow veteran Terry Taylor, who has put together a series of strong runs to contend for a title.

Scott’s had a disappointing season thus far by his lofty standards, but isn’t out of it yet, he is lying just 36 points back in third with fellow young gun Payton Lucas – who grabbed his first career victory in the division after an intense feature battle with Scott – in fifth. Veteran David Bates, who was the Robin to Scott’s Batman last season, sits in fourth waiting to pounce as the season heads toward the final stretch. Contenders like Ricky Icenhower, former Chargers champion Paul Jepson, and Stephen Counterman could steal the show in the second half with feature wins and a strong performance.

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR SPORTSMAN: Robert Reeves was up to his usual tricks over the first couple months of the season in the Monster Energy Sportsman, grabbing a handful of feature wins and racing to an early-season points lead as he eyed a championship in 2013. Recently, however, bad luck and some faulty parts have kept the ‘Rocket’ out of victory lane as Randy Besser, J.C. Newell, and Austin Johnson have all mounted a charge to the top.

Despite Reeves’ recent struggles, he’s still atop the leaderboard by 17 points over Besser as Newell and Johnson will need to score a few more feature wins and more consistency if they hope to complete a miraculous charge to a crown. As of now, the title race looks like a two-man duel between Reeves and the sturdy Besser.

HOOSIER TIRE NASCAR ROAD WARRIORS: No division has stepped its level of competition up in 2013 more than the revitalized Hoosier Tire Road Warriors. With healthy fields broaching double digits on a weekly basis and seemingly a different winner each weekend, the division has captured the fans’ energy and put on a show each week. With the championship battle heating up, it’s a two-man battle at the top between Justin Blake and Carl Harlow, both of whom have feature trophies to their name already. Blake is currently pacing Harlow by just 11 markers, but that can easily change on any given Saturday in a division that’s rising to the challenge as a whole.

COCA-COLA NASCAR CHARGERS: The entry-level class at I-44 has offered the most thrills and spills so far in 2013, with Jimmy Poindexter pouncing on the field and making numerous charges to the front en route to the checkers. Poindexter paces the division by 43 points over Jason Walls with time running out for anyone else to make a charge. Ben White laid claim to a pair of feature wins in the early stages of the season, but a mini vacation cost White the points lead and he will have to rally from over 70 points back to win the title.

The second half of the season kicks off this Saturday night with the Emerson Climate Technologies Night at the races featuring the O’Reilly Auto Parts Late Models, Monster Energy Sportsman and Super Trucks, Hoosier Tire Road Warriors, Coca-Cola Chargers and the Compliance Fire & Safety Baby Grands.

Gates open at 5pm with hotlaps already on the track and NASCAR racing blasts off the 3/8 mile high banked asphalt oval at 7pm. Adults are just $10 in the Budweiser Fan deck or the Monster Energy Grandstands and only $15 on the Budweiser “Wild Side” with discounts for Seniors, Juniors and Military. Kids 10 & under are always FREE at Lebanon I-44 Speedway. Limited eating is also available for some future events in the Central Bank VIP Suites.

Lebanon I-44 Speedway is located four miles east of the Lebanon city limits on Historic Route 66 and Missouri’s only NASCAR sanctioned facility. Patrons using Interstate 44 may take Exit 135 and then drive approximately one mile east on Route 66 to the track’s main entrance. Additional information about this event, including a full schedule of events, the rules being enforced, and a purse distribution, will be released on the facility’s official website, www.i44speedway.net in the coming weeks. Keep up with news about Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Lebanon-I-44-Speedway, and on Twitter (@i44Speedway).

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