Our Town Your Town see’s Winners from Different Towns at I-44 Saturday Night
Lebanon, Mo. / Some information contributed by Ronnie Williams. For Immediate Release 6/21/2016 –
Wildwood’s Kevin Donahue grabbed the lead from current point leader Brian Brown on the 11th lap and then survived a late race surge from Brown to capture his third NASCAR WHELEN All American Series Pro Late Model feature win of the season as a huge crowd watched during the 5
th Annual Our Town Your Town Celebration.
As the field took the green, Brown took the opening lead from pole setter Mandy Chick and Donahue followed Brown in the early stages of the 40 lap feature. With Brown setting a quick pace, Donahue quickly found fast qualifier and defending NASCAR Missouri State Champion JC Newell and Mandy Chick following. On lap 4 current Missouri State point leader Kyle Donahue was involved in a spin bunching the field back together. On the restart Brown would find Donahue moving to the inside as Newell was content early to ride in 3rd. After a side by side battle for 5 consecutive laps, the elder Donahue made the pass for the lead coming out of turn 2. Caution waved on lap 14 as last week’s feature winner Steve Holt was involved in a spin while racing for position closing the gap on the entire field once again. On the restart, Donahue pulled away leaving Brown, Newell and Mandy Chick to settle a battle for second spot with five drivers in a tight pack going for position behind them. On lap 30 Donahue had built a straight away advantage before Brown began to reel him back down leaving Newell and Chick to contend for third spot. Brown had the leader caught by lap 35 and was setting-up an attempt for the lead. The final caution waved on lap 37 as a car came to a stop on the backstretch. On the restart, Brown was looking to the top groove and making a pass for the lead when his car got sideways which allowed Newell to make the pass for second place. Donahue was able to pull away gathering his 3rd feature win of the season with Newell, Brown, Chick and Kyle Donahue rallying for 5th. Newell was the fast qualifier in Time Trials stopping the clock with a time of 14.691 seconds with Brennon Willard second quick with a lap of 14.792. The top 7 in qualifying were inverted for the main event.
Modified action saw Ricky Icenhower back-up last week’s feature win by taking advantage of a small bobble from race leader Tim Swearengin on lap 14 to take his second feature win of the season. Terry Taylor took the opening lead from his front row spot as Swearengin followed closely and Icenhower charged from the rear. Taylor was keeping Swearengin at bay in the early stages with the top 3 nose to tail. On lap 8, Swearengin was able to move around Taylor to take the top spot as Icenhower was glued to Taylor for the second spot. After a tight battle, Icenhower took the second place spot on lap 11. The only caution waved on lap 13 as Robert Baltzell slowed and Jimmy Poindexter showed signs of smoke as both drivers were done for the evening. On the restart, Swearengin was keeping Icenhower at bay until the following lap when the current modified point leader slid up the track in turn one which allowed Icenhower to make the pass for the lead and the win. Swearengin, early leader Taylor, Brian Lewis and Kevin Blackburn completed the top 5. Icenhower made it a clean sweep by grabbing the heat race win.
The Hoosier Tire Street Stocks saw a forth different winner for the 2016 season as Aaron Douglas took advantage of his pole position starting spot and then withstood a late caution in taking his first feature win of the season. Douglas took the opening lead with Tony Johnson and Les Mallard following. Douglas quickly opened a large lead as Johnson, Jordan Nisbett, Steve Shaw and the rest of the pack were all battling for second behind him. Nisbett moved into second place on lap 4 bringing Shaw with him as point leader Justin Allen was back in the pack racing for positions. With Douglas all alone up front, the race for second became even tighter as Allen joined the fun on lap 9. The only caution waved on lap 12 bringing the field back together. On the restart, Douglas got the quick jump and pulled away from Nisbett to take his first Street Stock feature win with Nisbett, Allen, Shaw and Tony Johnson completing the top 5 in a tight battle for all of those positions. Douglas and Nisbett captured the heat race wins.
The Coca-Cola Chargers showed why they are perhaps the most competitive class in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at I-44 as a three wide photo finish saw Nik Taylor edge both Jerry Ellis and point leader Ronnie Taylor at the finish line taking his second feature win of the season. The 12 lap caution free feature event saw Taylor move quickly from his 4th starting spot to take the opening lead from Justin Gantt as 2 and 3 wide racing was the norm for the entire race. Jerry Ellis followed Taylor through and kept the pressure on the entire race. With Nik Taylor using the high lane, Ellis made some bold moves down low to try and grab the lead. By lap 3, there were 5 cars battling up front as point leader Ronnie Taylor, Gantt and last week’ winner James Ellis all over the “High-Banks”. On lap 8, Taylor was just barely keeping Ellis at bay with Ronnie Taylor running to the outside lane. On lap 10, Ellis just nipped Taylor at the line to become the leader as R. Taylor was making it a 3 wide battle for the win. As the pack took the white flag, Ellis was scored as the leader with Nik Taylor right by his side. Heading into turn 3, Taylor made a run on the high-side almost hitting the wall and just nipped Ellis for the win with Jerry Ellis, Ronnie Taylor, Justin Gantt and James Ellis completing the top 5 as a blanket could have been thrown over the top 3 at the line. Qualifying heats went to Jesse Poindexter and Gantt.
Sportsman point leader Jimmy Fohn took advantage of Jake Piel’s misfortune late to grab his 5th feature win of the season as Piel took the heat race win.
Action continues during Fan Appreciation night with special prices in both the Grandstand and Wild Side parking as Adult admission is only $10 with Senior and Military discounts being only $8 in both sections. Gates will open at 5pm with NASCAR Short-Track Racing action to start at 7:30.
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.
Lebanon I-44 Speedway Our Town Your Town Results for June 18, 2016
O’Reilly Auto Parts NASCAR Whelen All American Series Pro Late Models
A Feature.-1) Kevin Donahue-Wildwood 2) JC Newell-Stoutland 3) Brian Brown-Strafford 4) Mandy Chick-Desoto, KS. 5) Kyle Donahue-Wildwood 6) Terry Limberopolous-Cuba 7) Steve Holt-Strafford 8) Ronnie Hartford-Raytown 9) Stephen Counterman-Fair Grove 10) Brennon Willard-Sleeper 11) J.J. Sonneveldt- Platte City
Qualifying -1) Newell 14.691 2) Willard 14.792 3) Kevin Donahue 14.801 4) Kyle Donahue 14.807 5) Brown 14.909 6) Chick 14.989 7) Holt 15.007 8) Hartford 15.079 9) Limberopolous 15.108 10) Counterman 15.197
NASCAR Whelen All American Series Modifieds
A Feature -1) Ricky Icenhower-Fair Grove 2) Tim Swearengin-Springfield 3) Terry Taylor-Fair Grove 4) Brian Lewis-Willard 5)Kevin Blackburn-Lebanon 6) Jimmy Poindexter-Willard
Heat.-1) Icenhower 2) Swearengin 3) Lewis 4) Poindexter 5) Taylor 6) Blackburn
NASCAR Whelen All American Series Hoosier Tire Street Stocks
A Feature.-1) Aaron Douglas-Lebanon 2) Jordan Nisbett-Lebanon 3) Justin Allen-Urbana 4) Steve Shaw-Rogersville 5) Tony Johnson-Lebanon 6) Mike Juergensen-Lebanon 7) Nick Cherry-Springfield 8)Les Mallard-Fair Grove
1st Heat.-1) Douglas 2) Shaw 3) Johnson 4) Mallard
2nd Heat.-1) Nisbett 2) Juergensen 3) Allen 4) Cherry
NASCAR Whelen All American Series Coca-Cola Chargers
A Feature.-1) Nik Taylor-Bolivar 2) Jerry Ellis-Richland 3) Ronnie Taylor-Springfield 4)Justin Gantt-Highlandville 5) James Ellis-Richland 6) Billy Taylor-Bolivar 7) Jesse Poindexter-Willard 8)Nick Schmidt-Montreal 9) Luke Oster-Osage Beach 10) Kent Cruzan-Springfield 11) Brekan Johnson-Lebanon DNS-Japheth Nisbett-Rolla, Mark Glorfeld-Springfield
1st Heat.-1) Poindexter 2) James Ellis 3) Schmidt 4) Cruzan 5) Johnson 6) Nisbett DNS-Glorfeld
2nd Heat.-1) Gantt 2) N. Taylor 3) R. Taylor 4) Jerry Ellis 5) B. Taylor 6) Oster
NASCAR Whelen All American Series Sportsman
A Feature-1) Jimmy Fohn-Eldridge 2) Jake Piel-Webster Grove 3) James Fohn-Eldridge
Heat-1) Piel 2) Jimmy Fohn 3) James Fohn
Action continues during Fan Appreciation night with special prices in both the Grandstand and Wild Side parking as Adult admission is only $10 with Senior and Military discounts being only $8 in both sections. Gates will open at 5pm with NASCAR Short-Track Racing action to start at 7:30.
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.
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.
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