Lebanon, Mo.-The Bandit Big Rig Series rolled into The “High-Banks of The Lebanon I-44 Speedway for the 1st ever series event and Young Colorado racer Tommy Boileau captured his 3rd consecutive feature win coming from the 12th starting position aftera door to door battle with then race leader Allen Boles.
As the Big Rigs came down to the start before the standing room only crowd, it was The General Lee Big Rig of Penn. driver Chris Kikelen grabbing the opening lead for the 1st 4 laps from his 4th starting spot as North Carolina’s Allen Boles in hot pursuit as the duo were swapping the lead while running side by side as Boileau was charging hard to the front. Boles took to the high side on lap 5 to grab the lead while Kikelen and Boileau were bringing the crowd to their feet each lap with outstanding racing for 2nd place as Oklahoma’s Justin Ball was quietly coming forward. The 1st of 2 cautions flew as Jonathan Lisenbee sp[un in turn 2 and retired from competition bunching the already tight field even tighter as points runner-up Mike Morgan, point leader Ricky Rude and Modified ace Mark Noble were up to the lead pack. On the restart, Boileau was working the inside groove on Boles, but Boles was rolling strong to the high side lane. On lap 21 just as Boileau took the lead, The General Lee 01 of Kikelen clip the edge of the turn 1 wall and slid sideway slowing the pace. On the restart, Boles again grabbed the top spot with Boileau working the low side. After a spirited door to dor battle, Boileau finally overtook the led on lap 26 as Morgan was overtaking Boles with Ball following. 14 of the 16 starters finished on the lead lap and provided outstanding side by side action for the 11,000LBS. Rigs.
The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Action, Modified points runner-up Richard Lewis took advantage of the front row starting spot and held back several challanges from point leader Ricky Incenhower to take his 3rd win of the season in the caution free feature event with Lebanon’s Chris Johnson completing the top 3. Icenhower was going for the clean sweep as he topped qualifying over Tim Swearengin and captured the dash over Brian Lewis.
NASCAR Street Stock point leader Michael juergensen had to work hard to get his 8th win of the season as a late race caution allowed Juergensen a chance to move to the top groove over leader Tony Johnson as Johnson who took the lead from Robert Douglas on lap 8 was keeping the Lebanon driver at bay. Robert Douglas jumped to the opening lead over Nick Cherry with rookie Brock Johnson following. Points runner-up Jordan Nisbett dropped out of action on lap 3 with transmission issues as Robert Douglas would find Tony johnson on his bumper on lap 4 in an outstanding race for the top spot. as Cherry and Juergensen were dueling for position. The only caution flew for a single car spin on lap 13 setting-up the close finisih between the Lebanon teammates with Robert Douglas holding on to a solid 3rd place run. Juergensen topped qualifying and also made it a clean sweep by grabbingt the fast car heat while Robert Douglas took the other heat win.
NASCAR Charger action saw a new winner in 2017 as Crocker’s Trent Harrison set a new qualifying mark in time trials ut was finding himself running second to Justin Blake until the final lap when something on Blake’s car coming to the white flag broke in turn 4 ending his chance for a win. Blake had taken the lead at the start and opened as big as a 5 car advantage as Harrison and Justin Gantt were giving chase. Harrison had tried for 3 straight laps to overtake Blake but Blake was stronger coming off turn 4 until the failure happened. Gantt and point leader Ronnie Taylor followed behind. Blake top the heat race honors.
INEX Legend Cars came to the Speedway in search of bringing Awareness to Racing For A Cause and Iowa’s David McCalla swapped the lead 5 different times with Brady Rhode before edging Rohde out for the win in the 15 lap feature.
Up Next for THe I-44 Speedway will be a Full NASCAR Whelen Series points show featuring Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Street Stocks and Chargers. The Dirt-tracking B-Mods will take to The Asphalt Oval in search of a $500 to win Dustin’s Dream II nd area pastors will compete in the 1st ever Faster Pastor event.
For more information visit WWW.I44Speedway.Net and keep updated on The popular Facebook page.
Results
Bandit Big Rig Series
A Ft-
16 Tommy Boileau
88 Mike Morgan
17 Justin Ball
3 Allen Boles
14 Ricky Rude
55 Craig Kruckeberg
54 Mark Noble
63 Tyler Kruckeberg
27 Darren Proffitt
4 Scott Treadway
01 Chris Kikelhan
00 Bob Boileau
02 Cody Slowinski
26 Travis Buckner
29 Joey Seaman
7 Jonathan Lisenbee

Heat Race #1 Finishing Order
54 Mark Noble
88 Mike Morgan
3 Allen Boles
17 Justin Ball
14 Ricky Rude
55 Craig Kruckeberg
01 Chris Kikelhan
7 Jonathan Lisenbee

16 Tommy Boileau
27 Darren Proffitt
00 Bob Boileau
63 Tyler Kruckeberg
26 Travis Buckner
4 Scott Treadway
02 Cody Slowinski
29 Joey Seaman
16 Tommy Boileau
88 Mike Morgan
17 Justin Ball
63 Tyler Kruckeberg
7 Jonathan Lisenbee
4 Scott Treadway
3 Allen Boles
55 Craig Kruckeberg
Challenge Race #2 Finishing Order
14 Ricky Rude
54 Mark Noble
27 Darren Proffitt
01 Chris Kikelhan
00 Bob Boileau
02 Cody Slowinski
26 Travis Buckner
29 Joey Seaman

NASCAR Modifieds
A Ft- 1)Richard Lewis-Willard 2) Ricky Icenhower-Fair Grove 3) Chris Johnson-Lebanon 4) Joe Bunkers-Harrisonville 5) Brian Lewis-Willard 6) Wayne Lewis-Springfield 7) Tim Swearengin-Springfield DNS-Terry Taylor-Fair Grove
NASCAR Street Stocks
A Ft-1) Michael Juergensen-Lebanon 2) Tony Johnson-Lebanon 3) Robert Douglas-Camdenton 4) Jimmy Fohn-Eldridge 5) Steve Shaw-Rogersville 6) Nick Cherry-Springfield 7) James Ellis-Richland 8) Brock Johnson-Miller 9) Shawn Schmidt-Springfield 10) Jordan Nisbett-Lebanon
NASCAR Chargers
A Ft-1) Trent Harrison-Crocker 2) Justin Gantt-Highlandville 3) Ronnie Taylor-Springfield 4) Jerry Ellis-Richland 5) Breken Johnson-Lebanon 6) Justin Blake-Lebanon
Legends
A Ft-1) David McCalla 2) Brady Rhoade 3) Warren Ropp 4) Steven Legan 5) Eddy Legan 6) Brandon Legan 7) Stacy Legan DNS-Terry Legan