Last Saturday on the High Banks of Lebanon I-44 Speedway, the engines roared once again for the third event of the 2018 season. The June 16th show featured a special 50-lap Modified division main event, the Hillbilly 50! The Chargers, Street Stocks, Big 10 Late Models and Pro Late Models were also in action, with exciting side-by-side racing in each class!
Chargers
The first class to take to the track were the Chargers. The new inner track was debuted just two short weeks ago, since then, the Willard Asphalt crew went to work and made many small improvements to the track such as adding curbs on the inside of turns two and three, widening the backstretch and adding more lights to make the racing even better on the new super short track. The improvements did just that! The two heat races provided exciting racing with the No. 44 of Chris Albright and the No. 71 of Shannon Geller picking up the wins. In the feature, Jeff Hutton led the field to the green, but the red flag was displayed at the end of the first lap after a collision mid-pack. By the end of lap three the No. 7D of Will Garner had taken over the lead and led the remainder of the race taking home the win. Behind him the battle was on for 2nd, but at the end it was the No. 71 of Geller in the number two spot and the No. 6H of Corey Henson rounding out the top three. The points race is setting up to be a close one in this division!
Big 10 Late Model Series
Next up were the new Big 10 Late Models. In the heat races, the No. 48 of Jimmy Fohn, your points leader, and the No. 7 of Justin Blake managed to take the wins. The No. 21 of Kennie Dickinson kept Blake on his toes throughout the second heat. In the feature, Dickinson and the No. 191 of Dylan Bates led the field to the green flag. Dickinson and Bates were side-by-side throughout most of the first lap, but the Rookie was able to squeeze around and take the lead from Dickinson by the end of the first lap. Last week’s feature winner, Jimmy Fohn, started in the rear but managed to steal third from Justin Blake by the end of the fifth lap. Fohn then went to work on Dickinson for the number two spot. Fohn made his move on lap 7 and then set his eyes on the leader. On lap 8, the caution flag was displayed due to a spin from the No. 7 of Justin Blake. When the green came back out Bates continued to hold a short lead over Fohn. At the end of the 25th lap Bates took the checkered flag collecting his first career win with Jimmy Fohn in the number two spot and Kennie Dickinson rounding out the top 3. Fohn pulled off a solid points night by taking the win in his heat and placing second in the feature maintaining his Championship lead. The Big 10 Division has had three different winners in four features so far this year!
Street Stocks
Next onto the track were the Street Stocks. In the heats the No. 33 of Jordan Nisbett and the No. 2 of Brock Johnson picked up the wins and the added money from Sportsman for the driver that passes the most cars. The heat races set the field for an exciting feature! Your heat race winners, Johnson and Nisbett, led the field to the green and those two drivers went to battle for the first three laps. Nisbett was able to complete the pass and jump out to the early lead. Brock Johnson had to make the hard-right turn for the pits ending his chances of picking up the win. Later in the race, Nisbett was still in control while the No. 1 of Ben Johnson held onto the number two spot until a caution on lap eight that sent the No. 1 car to the pit area. The green flag came back out on lap 9 and the No. 00 of Tony Johnson was able to move into the second position behind Nisbett. For the remainder of the race, Nisbett was able to hold off Tony Johnson for the win while the battle was on between the No. 90 of Steve Shaw and the No. 24 of Trevor Icenhower for the number three spot. Shaw and Icenhower swapped positions a total of five times throughout the race but at the line it was the Rookie, Trevor Icenhower, coming home in third. The No. 9 of Alex Shaw won the added money from Sportsman in the feature by making the most passes. Jordan Nisbett was able to extend his points lead over Brock Johnson by taking home the win on Saturday.
Modifieds
Next up was the Hillbilly 50 for the Ground-Pounding Modifieds! In the first heat race, the No. 9 of Brian Lewis held off last year’s Street Stock Champion, Michael Jurgenson for the win. In heat race number two, Ricky Icenhower stalked the No. 14 of Chris Nichols, and the No. 33 of Riley Sharp for the first three laps and then made his move to the lead and brought home the win in the second heat. Modified competitor, Ron Hartford, put up an extra $100 for Ricky Icenhower if he could start from the rear of the field and take home the win in the Hillbilly 50 and Icenhower took the challenge. The mighty Modifieds rolled onto the track with the No. 97 of Ron Hartford and the No. 0 of Michael Juergenson making up the front row. Hartford took the early lead and did his best to check out. Behind him, the No. 9 of Brian Lewis was making moves and made it into the number two spot. Brian was doing everything he could to catch Hartford until lap seven when he had to start playing defense against the Iceman himself, Ricky Icenhower. By the end of lap nine Icenhower took over the number two spot and went to work on Hartford. Just one lap later Icenhower took the lead and never looked back. As the race went on, one of last week’s feature winners, Richard Lewis, was making moves in the top three and managed to pass Hartford for second place on lap 28. A few laps later the caution flag flew putting Icenhower and the No. 6 of Richard Lewis on the front row. 22 laps remained, and Lewis did everything he could to keep Icenhower honest. At the end of the 50-lap special it was all Ricky Icenhower. Icenhower took his $500 paycheck and his $100 bonus straight to the bank. Richard Lewis took home second with his father Brian Lewis in third who battled with Hartford the entire race and finally was able to make the pass with two laps to go. Richard Lewis showed Icenhower that he has what it takes to run up front and compete for the win in the upcoming weeks. We can’t wait to see what the Modifieds have in store for us the rest of the season!
Pro Late Models
Last but not least, the fire-breathing Pro Late Models took to the track! In the first heat race, the No. 67 of Jammin’ Jimmy Vanzandt started on the pole and never looked back on his way to picking up the first heat win. In heat number two, Steve Holt and Jake Piel led the field to the green flag. By the end of lap one Piel, last year’s Pro Late Model Rookie of the Year, was already in control. Piel led until the drop of the checkered flag taking home the win in heat number two. Your Pro Late Model points leader, Kennie Dickinson, and a Corpus Christi Texas Native, Steven Buchanan, led the field to the green flag. Before the first lap was complete, contact was made between the two heat race winners, Vanzandt and Piel, sending Piel around in the middle of turns three and four. The green flag was displayed for the second time and by the end of the first lap Buchanan had moved into the early lead while Dickinson was shuffled back to 3rd behind Joe Ross in the No. 27. On lap eight, Dickinson found his way back around Ross for the number two spot. He then went to work on Buchanan, who was making his first start of the year here at Lebanon I-44 Speedway. Dickinson, in the No. 15, and Buchanan in the No. 151, battled it out, but Dickinson went to the point on lap 16. Buchanan managed to keep Dickinson’s lead very slim and continued to challenge him lap after lap until the No. 151 Pro Late Model jumped sideways out of turn four causing Buchanan to take a wild ride through the infield. He did manage to maintain control of the car, but he lost several spots. About mid-race the No. 07 of Terry Limperopolus went up in flames down the front-stretch. Luckily, Terry was un-injured, and we hope to see him back at the track soon! At the end of the 30 laps Kennie Dickinson brought home his second win of the season extending his Championship lead, with Jimmy Vanzandt in second and Joe Ross rounding out the top three. Steve Holt managed to make several moves throughout the race putting himself in 4th place and taking home the added money from Sportsman.
It was yet another thrilling night on the High Banks last Saturday and we will be doing it again on Saturday, July 7th for the Salute to 75! We will be paying tribute to the legend, Larry Phillips, with a special 75 lap feature for our Pro Late Models! Some big-name drivers are expected to be in attendance, you won’t want to miss it! Plus, there will be a firework display immediately following the races! It is only $12.00 to enter the grandstands and kids 10 and under are always FREE! Racing will start at 7:30! Until then, be sure to head over to our Facebook page or our website at i44speedway.net to keep up with racing news and updates!
By Dylan Bates