Lebanon, Mo.- 2014 I-44 Track and NASCAR Missouri State Champion Kaleb Allison grabbed the broom and made a clean sweep of the competition Saturday Night at ” The High-Banks” of The I-44 Speedway Saturday Night in The NASCAR Pro Late Model competition which included former 2 time Daytona Champion Sterling Marlin.
The 30 lap feature had Allison and Marlin on the front row with Rollas Mike Slone and defending track and NASCAR Missouri State Champion Brian Brown making up row 2. On the warm-up laps, Marlin slowed and ducked into the pits to change a slow leaking tire. He returned before the start to restart 12th.
Allison brought the field to the green with Slone, Brown and Rookie Jake Piel following as Marling was making his charge from the rear. By lap 4, Marlin had charged to the 8th place and was picking-off positions with Allison setting a blistering pace as Slone and Brown were dicing for second place. Marlin hd moved into 5th by lap 9 and was trying to close the gap on Piel while hoping for a caution to close ground. With Allison extending a half a stright lead, Marlin moved around Piel for 4th spot on lap 16 and began to close on 3rd place running Brown. After a 5 lap battle, Marlin took over 3rd from Brown and closed on Slone but the laps were winding down in the caution free feature.
For Allison the win meant a clean sweep as he set fast time over Marlin and captured the Fast Dash after a close battle with Marlin in which contact sent Marlin spinning to the infield. Following Allison to the finish was Slone, Marlin, Brown and Jake Piel. Terry Limberopolous won the other Late Model heat
In NASCAR Modified action, Richard Lewis placed himself in the right spot for the right time as he overtook the lead from Chris Johnson on the 21nd lap to take his 1st win of the young season after setting out almost all of the 2016 season. The 25 lap affair saw former 3 time champion David Bates grab the opening lead from pole setter Johnson and Lewis on the 1st lap as last weeks winner and current point leader Ricky Icenhower followed close behind while Johnson and Lewis were dicing for 3rd spot. The battle up front was tight as Icenhower tried several times to make the move around Bates but to no avail. The race pace and positions changed on lap 15 as Icenhower went to attempt the pass for the lead coming out of turn 2 as contact between the 2 leaders sent Bates spinnig around bringing out the only caution of the feature. With both drivers going to the end of the lead lap car lines, Lebanon’s Chris Johnson assumed the top spot with Lewis on his bumper. Johnson looking for his 1st ever NASCAR Modified win was hold Lewis at bay until lap 21 when Lewis shot to the inside in turn 4 while Bates was using the high-line to get back in contention while battling Mark Riddle. Lewis would open-up a 3 car length lead, but Johnson started to close-up with only 2 laps remaining while holding back Bates. That gave Lewis some room to pull away and take the victory as Johnson, Bates, Riddle and Icenhower completed the top 5. For Lewis, it wasn’t all that easy as a sticking throttle would hamper the winner around the midway point of the feature. Icenhower set fast time in qualifying and captured the Modified dash pulling a 3 which inverted the fastest 3 in qualifying for the action packed feature as he lined-up outside row 2 for the feature.
Lebanon’s Aaron Douglas recovered from a parts issue last week and found himself in a tight battle early on to grab the lead from Jordan Nisbett on lap 8 and taking the NASCAR Street Stock feature event. Nisbett the 2015 track champion powered by Tony Johnson on the opening cicuit as Douglas followed through as the duo pulled a small gap from Johnson, Steve Shaw and Riley Sharp filling-in for Les Mallard. Douglas tried for 2 laps straight to move around Nisbett but couldn’t pull off the pass as Shaw moved around Johnson on lap 6 to take the spot. Up front, Douglas used a low move pass going into turn 3 and completed the pass to take the lead as Nisbett stayed closed behind as Shaw was starting to close ground on the leaders. Douglas would finally open some ground on Nisbett in the later stages in taking his 1st win of the season with Nisbett, Shaw, Nick Cherry and Riley Sharp completing the top 5. Fast qualifier and point leader Michael Juergensen was involved in an incident during the fast car heat and was forced to scratch for the feature. Heat race went to Douglas and Sharp.
NASCAR Charger driver Jesse Poindexter was forced to miss last week”s opening night due to work, but made-up for it by leading all 15 laps of the Charger feature with point leader and defending champion Ronnie Taylor applying pressure the entire distance. Rolla’s Ben White and Poindexter brought the field to the green as Poindexter got the jump on White as Taylor stayed close behind while White, Nik Taylor and Jerry Ellis folowing. Taylor tried several times early to make a pass as Poindexter kept the high groove to his advantage. The only caution flew on lap 8 when 4th place running Nik Taylor spun in turn 2 when something went a miss under the rear of his 21 car ending his strong run for the night. On the restart, Taylor again would try high and low to get around Poindexter as White closed ground on the lead duo with tight racing in the pack. When the checkered flew, Poindexter came out on top with the feature win followed by Ronnie Taylor, White, Jerry Ellis nd a fast moving Justin Gantt.
Action continues Saturday night May 20th with Military Appreciation night presented By Navy Federal Credit Union featuring kids bike races, Action will feature the NASCAR Pro Late Models, NASCAR Modifieds, NASCAR Street Stocks, NASCAR Chargers and the 6 shooter class. Retired and Active Military are admitted Free to the Grandstands.
Gates open at 6PM with Qualifying to start at 6:30 and racing at 7:30. For more information visit the website at WWW.I44Speedway.Net and keep updated on Facebook.
Results-Waynesville Snack A Pack Program Night
NASCAR Pro Late Models
A Ft.1) Kaleb Allison-Mexico 2) Mike Slone-Rolla 3) Sterling Marlin- Columbia, Tenn. 4) Brian Brown-Strafford 5) Jake Piel-St. Louis 6) Terry Limberopolous-Cuba 7) Mandy Chick-DeSoto, Ks. 8) Memphis Villarealla-Corpus Christy, Tx. 9) Tim Swearengin-Springfield 10) Steve Holt-Strafford 11) Sam Johnson- St. Peters 12) Ronnie Hartford-Raytown DNS-Jimmy Van Zandt-Springfield
Fast Dash-1) Allison 2) Slone 3) Brown 4) Piel 5) Villarealla 6) Marlin
Position Ht-1) Limberopolous 2) Swearengin 3) Hartford 4) Holt 5) Chick 6) Johnson DNS-Van Zandt
NASCAR Modifieds
A Ft.-1) Richard Lewis-Willard 2) Chris Johnson-Lebanon 3) David Bates-Fair Grove 4) Mark Riddle-Springfield 5) Ricky Icenhower-Fair Grove 6) Brian Lewis-Willard 7) Phil Harris-Springfield 8) Wayne Lewis-Springfield 9) Chris Kerperian-Lebanon DNS-Terry Taylor
Modified Dash-1) Icenhower 2) Bates 3) R. Lewis 4) Johnson 5) Riddle 6) Harris 7) .Lewis 8) Kerperien
NASCAR Street Stocks
A Ft.1) Aaron Doglas-Lebanon 2) Jordan Nisbett-Lebanon 3) Steve Shaw-Rogersville 4) Nick Cherry-Springfield 5) Riley Sharp-Fair Grove 6) Tony Johnson-Lebanon 7) Rocky Teske-Lebanon 8) Robert Douglas-Camdenton 9) James Ellis-Richland 10) Aaron Wilke-Bridgeton DNS-Michael Juergensen-Lebanon
Fast Ht. 1) A. Douglas 2) Nisbett 3) Juergensen 4)Cherry 5) Shaw
2nd Ht. 1) Sharp 2) Teske 3) Johnson 4) R. Douglas 5) Ellis 6) Wilke
NASCAR Chargers
A Ft.-1) Jesse Poindexter-Willard 2) Ronnie Taylor-Springfield 3) Ben White-Rolla 4) Jerry Ellis-Richland 5) Justin Gantt-Highlandville 6) John Hunn-Rolla 7) Parker Ellis-Richland 8) Luke Oster-Osage Beach 9) Nick Schmidt-Montreal 10) Nik Taylor-Bolivar DNS-Travis Watson-Lebanon, Kent Cruzan-Springfield
1st Ht.-1) White 2)N. Taylor 3) Schmidt 4) Oster 5) P.Ellis 6) Hunn 7) Cruzan
2nd Ht.-1) Poindexter 2) R. Taylor 3) J. Ellis 4) Gantt 5) Watson