Lebanon, Mo.- Rolla’s Mike Slone put on a classic clinic in taking his 2nd NASCAR Pro Late Model win of the season after taking the lead from Brian Brown on lap 9 after a door to door battle for 3 straight laps in the caution free 30 lap feature
St. Louis rookie Jake Piel and Slone brought the field to the green, but fast qualifier Brian Brown shot to the inside on the opening lap in turn 2 to take command as Piel and Slone kept the side by side race early. On lap 2, Brown had a 2 car length advantage over Slone with Piel close behind while Tim Swearengin was moving through the pack while starting in the 8th position with some close action in the mid pack.
Slone made a move for the lead on lap 4 on Brown on the backstretch, but caught the pit road entrance slowing his charge. This allowed Brown to open back a 4 car length lead, but Slone got up on the wheel and closed the ground quickly as Piel closed-up the difference and was making it a 3 car battle again with Swearengin closing ground. With Brown keeping his car on the upper groove, Slone moved to the middle lane as the duo went went side by side as Piel closed ground with Swearengin now challanging for position with Piel. Once Slonw shot around Brown on lap 9 it was clear sailing for the former 2-time Pro Late Model Champion at I-44 as he recorded a 2.57 secong victory leaving Brown and Piel to settle the race for 2nd place with Brown nipping Piel for the spot with Piel, Swearengin and a fast moving Jimmy Van Zandt completing the top 5. Van Zandt was suffering transmission issues and optioned to start at the rear and made some great strides in getting a top 5. Slone recorded the quickest lap in the feature with a 14.997 second tour of “The High-Banks” and was denied a clean sweep as Brown took his 1st quick time in qualifying with a lap of 14.946. Steve Holt took the qualifying position heat.
NASCAR Street Stock point leader Michael Juergensen of Lebanon had to work hard in taking his 6th feature win of the season after taking the lead from Jordan Nisbett on the 13th lap of the caution free 15 lap event. With Nick Cherry and Camdenton’s Robert Douglas bringing the pack to the green, it was Cherry who jumped to the top spot early with Nisbett and Douglas following. By the 1st completed lap, Nisbett took control with Douglas and Steve Shaw swapping positions as Juergensen who started 8th was letting the pack work around before moving forward. Nisbett opened the sizable lead as Indiana driver Tony Meier was quick to take over 2nd place from Douglas on lap 5 bringing Juergensen with him in the standings. On lap 7, Cherry pulled in with problems as Juergensen had nipped Meier for 2nd place and began his march to the top spot. As Nisbett was driving a flawless feature, Juergensen began to pick away on the leader and was finally able to pull even with Nisbett on lap 11 as the duo went side by side until Juergensen made the winning pass on lap 13 to record a .611 second win. Nisbett, Meier, Shaw and Tony Johnson completed the top 5. Qualifying heats went to Tony Johnson and Nisbett as Juergensen tied his track record in qualifying with a lap of 17.163 seconds.
NASCAR Charger point leader and defending champion Ronnie Taylor found himself back into the winners circle as he stayed glued to leader Jerry Ellis through the opening 4 laps before making the winning move out of turn 4 in taking his 4th win of the season in the 2 lap caution free feature. Richland’s Jerry Ellis jumped to the opening spot as Taylor and Riley Sharp were following while Justin Blake working his way from the 7th starting spot. Taylor had opened-up a 10 car length lead over Ellis as Blake was finally able to take over the runner-up spot from Ellis on lap 9 and then Justin Gantt moved around Ellis to clain the 3rd place position. Trent Harrison took home heat race honors as Jerry Ellis just nipped Taylor in Charger qualifying with a lap of 18.730 seconds for his 1st quick time of the season by turning the 3/8ths mile Asphalt oval .004 thousands of a second quicker than Taylor.
NASCAR Modifieds had the night off in preparing for The Roper Family Classic.
I-44 Speedway will return to action on Saturday Night Aug. 26th with the running of The Roper Family Classic as The NASCAR “Ground-Pounding” Modifieds will help high-light the action with added money and added laps along with NASCAR Pro Late Models, NASCAR Street Stocks and NASCAR Chargers will also be competing. The Roper family classic honors Dean, Tony, Dale and Dale Jr. as all 4 of The Ozarks 1st family of racing turned laps and catured many wins at I-44 Speedway.
Grandstand gates will open on Aug 26th at 6PM as qualifying begins at 6:30 while the popular “Wildside” Tier parking opens at 5:30. For more information visit the website at WWW.I44Speedway.Net and keep updated with The Facebook page.
Results
NASCAR Pro Late Models
A Ft.-1) Mike Slone-Rolla 2) Brian Brown-Strafford 3) Jake Piel-St. Louis 4) Tim Swearengin-Springfield 5) Jimmy Van Zandt-Springfield 6) Ronnie Hartford-Raytown 7) Terry Smith-Belton 8) Bobby Russ Wood-Kansas City 9) Steve Holt-Strafford DNS-Terry Limberopolous-Cuba
Qualifying Ht-1) Holt 2) Smith 3) Van Zandt 4) Hartford 5) Wood
Fast Dash-1) Slone 2) Swearengin 3) Brown 4) Piel
Qualifying Top 4-1) Brown 14.946 2) Slone 14.987 3) Piel 15.085 4) Swearengin 15.135
NASCAR Street Stocks
A Ft.-1) Michael Juergensen-Lebanon 2) Jordan Nisbett-Lebanon 3) Tony Meier- Indiana 4) Steve Shaw-Rogersville 5) Tony Johnson-Lebanon 6) Robert Douglas-Camdenton 7) David Higgins-Parker, KS. 8) Nick Cherry-Springfield DNS-Jimmy Fohn-Eldridge, Ben Johnson-Miller
1st Ht-1) Johnson 2) Douglas 3) Cherry 4) Higgins DNS-Fohn, B. Johnson
2nd Ht.-1) Nisbett 2) Juergensen 3) Meier 4) Shaw
Qualifying Top 4-1) Juergensen 17.163( Ties Record) 2) Meier 17.714 3) Shaw 17.868 4) Nisbett 17.868
NASCAR Chargers
A Ft.-1) Ronnie Taylor-Springfield 2) Justin Blake-Lebanon 3) Justin Gantt-Highlandville 4) Jerry Ellis-Richland 5) Trent Harrison-Crocker 6) Breken Johnson-Lebanon 7) Riley Sharp-Fair Grove
Ht-1) Harrison 2) Taylor 3) Blake 4) Gantt 5) Ellis 6) Sharp 7) Johnson
Qualifying Top 4-1) Ellis 18.730 2) Taylor 18.734 3) Blake 18.813 4) Harrison 18.829