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Nemechek Masters the Champion Racing Oil “Master of the Pros” 144

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A Record 43 Drivers Added Their Names to the “Masters of the Pro’s” 144 Entries as Nemechek Takes the Green Jacket

Lebanon, Mo. / Some information contributed by Ronnie Williams as well as JEGS/CRA Officials. For Immediate Release 5/19/2016 –

John Hunter Nemechek overcame many obstacles this weekend en route to collecting his second green jacket at Saturday night’s Champion Racing Oil “Masters of the Pros 144” presented by Empire Energy one of the top Pro Late Model events in the country sanctioned by the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance at Lebanon I-44 Speedway.  The biggest obstacle was actually just getting to the track.

According to Nemechek, getting from Dover International Speedway’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race to Lebanon became quite an ordeal.

“This morning our flight got delayed an hour and a half,” Nemechek told Speed51.com powered by JEGS.  “Flying into Chicago, we missed our connecting flight to Springfield, got on a flight three hours later and made it here for four runs of practice. We didn’t know if we were going to have to qualify for our first laps on the track or not.”

 

2013 and 2014 ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion Travis Braden grabbed the opening lead and set a blistering pace for the first 56 laps touring the 3/8ths mile Asphalt oval with times only 1/2 second off of the new track record set by North Carolina young gun Trevor Noles With Brandon Oakley following closely. The 1st caution waved on lap 6 as 2014 NASCAR Missouri State Rookie of the Year and current track point’s runner-up Kyle Donahue made contact and ended-up against the turn 2 runoff area bunching the field even more.

 

On the restart, Braden flew to the top lane and pulled away as several drivers were swapping spots. Alabama’s Justin South began his charge to the front and moved into 2nd spot setting his sights on Braden. South had caught Braden by lap 30 and tried several attempts to take the lead. On lap 57, Travis Eddy spun bunching the field again as Cody Coughlin and Nemechek were picking up spots. Following the restart, Braden and South continued this tight battle until South finally made the low groove pass to take the top spot as Nemechek was working on Braden for 2nd.

 

The pace slowed for a lap 74 caution. On the restart, South opened the lead as Nemechek moved around Brayden for 2nd spot. South held the lead until lap 97 when Sterling Marlin slowed in turn 4 with problems ending his night which brought the field to the 100 lap break.

 

With many teams only adding fuel and making adjustments, South took off on the restart and seemed to have the car to beat as Nemechek and Noles were battling for 2nd while Bubba Pollard, Cole Williams, and Coughlin were swapping spots as early leader Brayden began to slide backward.

 

The field bunched following a spin and caution as Noles was overtaking Nemechek for position only to find Nemechek battling back. The turning point to the race happened to the leader South as a front suspension part failed while going into turn 3 as the car went head-on to the safety barrier. South would walk away but his night was over on lap 108.

 

Showing the crowd many laps of side by side racing Noles regained the lead with Nemechek on his bumper as the duo excited the crowd swapping the lead back and forth. On two different occasions Noles would take control with the front bumper sending Nemechek in a slide up in turn 4. Following two late restarts where they raced side by side for several laps with a little contact between the two hard racing competitors, Nemechek was able to hold off Noles to become the 1st repeat winner of the $8,000 to win event.

“I really love this place, the track, the fans and this event is just awesome”, remarked Nemechek in victory lane. “I have to thank my crew for all the hard work and my dad for working out the plans to get me here to be able to race and get the win today. It’s awesome to have another green jacket to hang up on the wall next to the other one.  Trophies don’t hurt.”

Trevor Noles felt like they may have had the car to win, but were forced to settle for second. “The car was really good, can’t thank Jamie Yelton enough,” said Noles.  “They gave me a great car this weekend, just came up a little bit short, it’s a bummer for us.  I felt like we had a good enough car for us to win in the end, just wasn’t as good as the eight car.”

Bubba Pollard rallied to a third place finish after making several late passes on restarts.  2013 NASCAR Missouri State and Lebanon I-44 Speedway Champion Cole Williams finished fourth.  2013 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Champion Cody Coughlin rounded out the top five. Twenty two of the twenty eight starters finished on the lead lap as Nemechek took the victory by just a half a second.

 

“What a great event this turned out to be. Mother Nature gave us some pretty chilly temps to work with but the race teams and the fans still came out to support the race and I want to thank them for that along with a great partner in Empire Energy. All of the racers had so many great things to say about the facility. I spoke to Bubba after the race in tech and he told me you can run two wide all night long at I-44, you just have to have your car set up to make the passes when they are there” said Lebanon I-44 Speedway General Manager, Kevin Greven.

The top 20 qualifiers were locked into the event. Phil Bozell, Andy Bozell, Austin Kunert and Jack Smith all earned points provisions from 2015 points since this was the series’ first points event of the 2016 season. Kevin Donahue and Matt Wallace finished first and second in the first Last Chance Race to advance to the feature. NASCAR legend Sterling Marlin and Travis Eddy finished first and second in the second Last Chance Race to advance to the feature and fill out the 28 car starting field.

Andy Bozell was the T & K Trucking Hard Charger Award winner after finishing in 11

th from his 22

ndplace starting position. Bozell’s team earned the PitBoxes.com Pit Crew of the Race Award after making some changes to the car on a late pit stop helping Bozell come from the back to get his 11

thplace finish. Travis Eddy was the VanDoorn Racing Development Rookie of the Race. Nemechek and Quinnton Bear earned Great Lakes Tire/Hoosier Performance Awards. Nemechek earned the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award, while Noles won the Sweet Move of the Race Award.

 

In Boyne Machine Qualifying, Noles set a new Pro Late Model Qualifying record with a lap of 14.228 as Michigan’s Trevor Berry also eclipsed the old record with a lap of 14.284. Less than .35 seconds separated the top 20 to secure a starting spot. Last Chance events went to Kevin Donahue over Matt Wallace and Sterling Marlin over Travis Eddy to secure spots in the field.

 

13 year old Mike Clancy Jr. led all 30 laps to get the win in JEGS Performance Challenge event for the teams that didn’t get to race in the “Masters of the Pros” 144. John Bolen was second, Brennon Willard was third, Hope Hornish was fourth and Josh Woody was fifth.

A record 42 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Pro Late Models competed on Saturday as 43 entries were on ground for the 4th annual event which also set a record for the JEGS/CRA-All Star Series as drivers from 16 different states rolled through the gates. The field for the Champion Racing Oil “Masters of the Pros” 144 was full of talent which showed during the event, all 22 cars running at the end of the event were on the lead lap.

In NASCAR Whelen All American Series action, Coca-Cola Charger front runner Ronnie Taylor took advantage of his pole starting spot and won the family feud by topping point leader Jerry Ellis, Billy Taylor and James Ellis in another action packed feature event. Ronnie led all 12 laps as Billy had to hold back the Ellis Brothers in the early laps. The win was Taylor’s 2nd of the season. Qualifying heats went to Ronnie Taylor, Nik Taylor and Justin Gantt.

 

Current NASCAR Hoosier Tire Street Stock point leader Justin Allen played a very patient race and pulled off the final turn victory over defending champion Jordan Nisbett grabbing his 1st ever NASCAR win. Nisbett attempting to capture 5 in a row paced the field on the start in his Camaro as Allen in his Ford followed close behind while the Mopar of Aaron Wilke was glued close behind along with Nick Cherry. The 15 lap feature went caution free as Allen who had lost the feature last week in the final laps, was keeping heavy pressure on Nisbett. Wilke got a tick loose on lap 9 as the lead duo pulled away. On lap 13, Allen pulled to the inside of Nisbett, but Nisbett pulled away on the backstretch. Allen pulled even in turn 3 and as the white flag flew, the duo were dead even. With the crowd going crazy Allen was keeping his car to the inside and just nipped Nisbett by 6″ at the stripe. Following the lead duo were Wilke, Cherry and Dave Jennings. Heats race went to David Douglas and Allen.

 

Action continues Saturday Night May 21st with the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Chase for the Championship featuring Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Street Stocks, Chargers and Sportsman with Racing to start at 6PM.

 

For more information visit the website at www.i44speedway.net and be sure to like us at Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Facebook for updated information on Missouri’s only NASCAR sanction facility and the only weekly asphalt track within 300 miles. More information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is available at www.cra-racing.com.

 

Qualifying Results for the 4th Annual Champion Racing Oil “Masters of the Pro’s” 144 presented by Empire Energy on May 14, 2016 at Lebanon I-44 Speedway
Pos. Car # Driver Lap Time
1 22 Trevor Noles 14.228
2 1 Trevor Berry 14.284
3 26p Bubba Pollard 14.359
4 26 Travis Braden 14.369
5 51 Brandon Oakley 14.389
6 43 Justin South 14.406
7 18 Casey Rodrick 14.413
8 15 JC Newell 14.415
9 8n John Hunter Nemecheck 14.420
10 46 Cole Williams 14.438
11 1c Cody Coughlin 14.468
12 2 Kyle Donahue 14.503
13 20r Cole Rouse 14.520
14 47a Kaleb Allison 14.526
15 47 Dakota Stroup 14.529
16 h2 Bret Holmes 14.550
17 51n Stephen Nasse 14.587
18 4 Quinnton Bear 14.590
19 71 John VanDoom 14.599
20 14 Chris Davidson 14.599
21 6 Matt Wallace 14.616
22 29 Austin Kunert 14.624
23 114 Sterling Marlin 14.642
24 7d Kevin Donahue 14.646
25 7 Travis Eddy 14.661
26 O4 Phil Bozell 14.685
27 30 Joshua James 14.707
28 3 Brennon Willard 14.716
29 5 Michael Clancy Jr 14.732
30 8 Hope Hornish 14.739
31 83 Andy Bozell 14.757
32 96 Jared Thomas 14.774
33 19 Adam Johnson 14.777
34 67 Jimmy Vanzandt 14.847
35 5w Josh Woody 14.893
36 28 Jack Smith 14.898
37 2b John Bolen 15.023
38 20 Jack Doseey II 15.032
39 23 Mandy Chick 15.046
40 21 Kevin Zielezinski 15.081
41 6l Richard Lewis 15.292
42 56 Jerry Andrews 15.484
43 55 Chuck Barnes Jr DNS
Last Chance Race Results for the 4th Annual Champion Racing Oil “Masters of the Pro’s” 144 presented by Empire Energy on May 14, 2016 at Lebanon I-44 Speedway
LAST CHANCE RACE # 1 LAST CHANCE RACE # 2
1 7d Kevin Donahue 1 114 Sterling Martin
2 6 Matt Wallace 2 7 Travis Eddy
3 5 Michael Clancy Jr 3 5w Josh Woody
4 67 Jimmy Vanzandt 4 8 Hope Hornish
5 2b John Bolen 5 3 Brennon Willard
6 30 Joshua James 6 19 Adam Johnson
7 23 Mandy Chick 7 56 Jerry Andrews
8 6l Richard Lewis 8 21 Kevin Zielezinski
DNS 96 Jared Thomas DNS 20 Jaxk Dossey II
JEGS Performance Challenge Results for the 4th Annual Champion Racing Oil “Masters of the Pro’s” 144 presented by Empire Energy on May 14, 2016 at Lebanon I-44 Speedway
Pos. Car # Driver
1 5 Michael Clancy Jr
2 2b John Bolen
3 3 Brennon Willard
4 8 Hope Hornish
5 5w Josh Woody
6 21 Kevin Zielezinski
7 56 Jerry Andrews
8 30 Joshua James
9 19 Adam Johnson
10 23 Mandy Chick
11 6l Richard Lewis
12 67 Jimmy Vanzandt
Race Results for the 4th Annual Champion Racing Oil “Masters of the Pro’s” 144 presented by Empire Energy on May 14, 2016 at Lebanon I-44 Speedway
Pos. Car # Driver Hometown
1 8n John Hunter Nemecheck Moorsville, NC
2 22 Trevor Noles Faquay-Varina, NC
3 26p Bubba Pollardd Senoia, GA
4 46 Cole Williams Sellersburg, IN
5 1c Cody Coughin Delaware, OH
6 1 Trevor Berry Clio, MI
7 47a Kaleb Allison Mexico, MO
8 18 Casey Roderick Lawrenceville, GA
9 4 Quinnton Bear Avon, IN
10 51n Stephen Nasse Pinellas Park, FL
11 83 Andy Bozell Portage, MI
12 15 JC Newell Stoutland, MO
13 47 Dakota Stroup Owensboro, KY
14 h2 Bret Holmes Munford, AL
15 O4 Phil Bozell Portage, MI
16 7d Kevin Donahue Wildwood, MO
17 26 Travis Braden Wheeling, WV
18 29 Austin Kunert Batavia, IL
19 7 Travis Eddy Beaverton, MI
20 14 Chris Davidson Pearland, TX
21 20r Cole Rouse Fort Smith, AR
22 51 Bradon Oakley Beavercreek, OH
23 6 Matt Wallace Concord, NC
24 28 Jack Smith Clyde, OH
25 71 John VanDoom Fruitport, MI
26 43 Justin Smith Leeds, AL
27 114 Sterling Marlin Columbia, TN
28 2 Kyle Donahue Wildwood, MO
NASCAR Hoosier Tire Street Stock Results for the 4th Annual Champion Racing Oil “Masters of the Pro’s” 144 presented by Empire Energy on May 14, 2016 at Lebanon I-44 Speedway
HEAT 1 HEAT 2
Pos. Car # Driver Pos. Car # Driver
1 77 David Douglas 1 1 Justin Allen
2 27 Nick Cherry 2 8 Aaron Wilke
3 0 Tony Johnson 3 33 Jordan Nisbett
4 85 Robert Douglas 4 OO Michael Juergursen II
5 30 David Jennings
FEATURE
Pos. Car # Driver Hometown
1 1 Justin Allen Urbana, MO
2 33 Jordan Nisbett Rolla, MO
3 8 Aaron Wilke East Troy, WI
4 27 Nick Cherry Springfield, MO
5 30 David Jennings Springfield, MO
6 0 Tony Johnson Lebanon, MO
7 85 Robert Douglas Flint, MI
DNS OO Michael Juergensen Lebanon, MO
DNS 77 David Douglas Lebanon, MO
NASCAR Coca-Cola Charger Results for the 4th Annual Champion Racing Oil “Masters of the Pro’s” 144 presented by Empire Energy on May 14, 2016 at Lebanon I-44 Speedway
HEAT 1 HEAT 2
Pos. Car # Driver Pos. Car # Driver
1 12 Ronnie Taylor 1 21 Nik Taylor
2 31 Billy Taylot 2 83 James Ellis
3 44 Ben White 3 28 Ty Allison
4 15 John Hunn 4 24 Jerry Ellis
5 52 Nick Schmidt 5 74 Larry Hunter
HEAT 3
Pos. Car # Driver
1 4 Justin Gantt
2 2 Japheth Nisbett
3 40 Mark Glorfeld
4 25 Luke Oster
5 0 Breken Johnson
FEATURE
Pos. Car # Driver Hometown
1 12 Ronnie Taylor Springfield, MO
2 24 Jerry Ellis Richland, MO
3 31 Billy Taylor Bolivar, MO
4 83 James Ellis Richland, MO
5 4 Justin Gantt Highlandville, MO
6 44 Ben White Rolla, MO
7 15 John Hunn Rolla, MO
8 28 Ty Allison Mexico, MO
9 74 Larry Hunter Laquey, MO
10 21 Nik Taylor Willard, MO
11 OO Breken Johnson Lebanon, MO
12 25 Luke Oster Osage Beach, MO
13 40 Mark Glorfeld Springfield, MO
14 2 Japeth Nisbett Rolla, MO
DNS 52 Nick Schmidt Montreal, MO

 

For more information visit the website at www.i44speedway.net and be sure to like us at Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Facebook for updated information on Missouri’s only NASCAR sanction facility and the only weekly asphalt track within 300 miles. More information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is available at www.cra-racing.com.

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