Columbus, MS - A season that had far too many lows for "The Intimagator" Chris Wall was greatly improved on Saturday night at Columbus Speedway with the highest of highs.
The setting would be "The Baddest Bullring in the South" - the event would be the $20,005-to-win 16th Annual Magnolia State 100. The well-over-capacity crowd that made the journey to Columbus Speedway would witness a sure classic race in what has become the Crown Jewel of dirt racing in the Midsouth. 71 Super Late Models were part of the over 200 total race cars in four divisions that would pull to The Bullring for the weekend.
Friday night's racing action had "The Newport Nightmare" Jimmy Owens and 7-time Magnolia State 100 Champion "Mr. Smooth" Billy Moyer sharing the front row for Saturday night's main event. B-Main action on Saturday night saw Tony Morris make an amazing move between Scott Bloomquist and Keith Flurry to take the lead and go on to win the first of the three events. "The Kosciusko Kamikaze" would dominate the second B-Main in classic Rushing style, and David Earl Gentry would take care of business to win the final B-Main. The last-chance qualifier's race saw Anthony Burroughs and Aaron Hatton make it onto the last row of the main event.
At the drop of the green flag for the 60-lap main event, Moyer would head for the rim while Owens dropped low as Ronny Lee Hollingsworth looked in even lower. Moyer and Owens would blast down the backstretch door-to-door, and Moyer would jump into the lead coming off of turn 4 with Hollingsworth and Gill side-by-side for 3rd. The first caution fell with 1 lap in the books for a wreck in turn 1, and Mike Boland and Anthony Rushing would both leave the track and return to the rear before the restart. Moyer, Owens, Hollingsworth, Gill, and Chris Wall would occupy the top five positions for the restart, but Hollingsworth would suffer a flat tire and spin before a full lap could be run, sending him to the pits and then to the rear of the field upon returning.
David Breazeale would dash around Wall and go underneath John Gill for 3rd on the restart, with Owens on the rim but holding onto 2nd place behind Moyer. Owens would go inside Moyer in turns 3 and 4, but Moyer rocketed ahead as Gill moved in to challenge for second as Wall came back in on the top to battle Breazeale. As the two raced side-by-side for the 4th position, caution would fall on lap 3 for Garrett Durrett. Moyer, Owens, Gill, Breazeale, and Wall would hold down the top five as they prepared for what would be 54 consecutive laps of wild green-flag action.
With Moyer still the solid leader, Owens closed the door on Gill to hold on to second place exiting turn 2, and Breazeale would move up into 3rd place. Wall would follow suit, going around Gill to take over 4th as Breazeale went under Owens to challenge for second. Wall would move to the rim to chase after Breazeale as Owens went on after rim-riding Moyer. As Wall went back to the bottom to challenge Breazeale, Owens moved in on Moyer and the two locked horns in a door-to-door battle for the lead.
For several laps the two would run side by side, followed by an ongoing duel for 3rd place. Moyer and Owens would continue battling as they moved into lapped traffic on lap 12, and Owens would take over the lead on lap 13. Owens would begin to separate himself from Moyer, who in turn had moved well ahead of the battling Breazeale and Wall. Rob Litton would move in on Wall and Breazeale on lap 20, just before Wall finally wrestled 3rd place away. Brian Birkhofer would snatch 5th place away from Litton before the driver of the 6X machine was able to challenge Breazeale for 4th, and Litton quickly picked the action back up as the pair simultaneously raced against each other and cut through lapped traffic.
On lap 26, Birkhofer would again put Litton behind him and go after Breazeale, taking away the 4th position on the following lap as Owens seemed to enjoy a comfortable lead out front. At the halfway point, Owens held a comfortable advantage over Moyer, who led Wall by several car lengths as Birkohfer and Breazeale rounded out the top five.
Wall began to pick up steam and by lap 31 had pulled up on Moyer's rear. Wall would look under Moyer on the next lap and the two would run alongside each other until Wall took the spot away on lap 33 and quickly began reeling in Owens, who had been well ahead of the other leaders. Wall would catch Owens on lap 36 as Breazeale moved in and passed Moyer for 3rd place, then gave the position right back. Wall would drive inside Owens looking for the lead on lap 29, and Moyer caught the pair on lap 40 with an attempt at regaining second place from Wall. Owens had shed Wall and began to build another cushion, but Wall wasted little time in going right back after the leader.
On lap 42, Wall had once again run down Owens, looking outside in turn 4 and inside in turns 1 and 2 with traffic ahead. Wall would draw even with Owens on lap 45 and the two would race each other around the speedway until Wall grabbed the lead on lap 47. Owens would counter by driving back in under Wall, but Wall would cut through the 3-wide pack of lapped cars just ahead and begin to pull away with the lead well in hand.
Moyer would then come after Owens, driving inside the #20 machine on lap 53 with Breazeale breathing down his neck and Wall increasing his advantage with each lap. The final caution of the event would fall on lap 57, setting up a dramatic 3-lap dash to glory made even more interesting by the "choose your line "double-file restarts that had been used in all Super Late Model races for the event. Wall would have 3 laps to hold off some of the hottest names in racing and take the biggest win of his career as Owens, Moyer, Breazeale, and Gill bunched up behind him for the final restart.
There would be no real challenge for the lead. Wall would rocket off of turn two and down the backstretch after the final green flag flew, with Moyer on his heels but unable to mount a challenge. Action was wild and chaotic from then on as John Gill moved into third and challenged Moyer for second place ahead of a three-way battle between Shane Clanton (up from 13th), Owens, and Breazeale. The popular Holden, LA, alligator farmer Wall would lead the way to take a crowd-pleasing victory in his Wall-2-Wall Spec-powered Stuckey Mastersbilt sponsored by C&M Gator Farms and claim the $20,005 prize. Moyer, Gill, Clanton, and Owens would somehow shake down into the top five, while Breazeale, Scott Dedwylder, Brain Birkhofer, Rob Litton, and Jimmy Mars would round out the top ten. Last-place starter Aaron Hatton would earn the Hard Charger award presented by Harold Barton and Owanna Wheeler.
Chris Moore would overcome what was nearly a ten-lap battle with Shay Knight to grab the lead in the $2,005-to-win Modified Magnolia State Championship. Jack Sullivan would move up to challenge Knight, taking second place away in the final laps. Sullivan would have no chance to chase after Moore, who went on to take the win and become the 2005 Magnolia State Modified Champion. Sullivan, Knight, Greg Wilhite, and Jason Brock took home top-five honors.
Jamie Tollison would spend most of the Late Model Stock event chasing and then trying to go around early leader Ben McCreary. Tollison would seal the deal in the later stages of the $1,200-to-win event and go on to take the Magnolia State Late Model Stock Championship. McCreary, Chad Nickoles, Ray Mauldin, and Terry Mosely would complete the top five.
In Street Stock action, David Honeycutt would once again rise to the top in a big-race setting to take the $1,000 winner's share and the Magnolia State Street Stock Championship. TK King, James Elfring, Terry King, and Robert Jennings would finish in the top five.
Columbus area racing picks back up in two weeks at Magnolia Motor Speedway on October 21st and 22nd for the 2nd Annual Cotton Pickin' 100 paying $15,000-to-win. Stop by www.MagnoliaMotorSpeedway.net for details. The next race at Columbus Speedway will be the 5th Annual Possum Town Grand Prix on November 25th and 26th. Visit the Columbus Speedway website located at www.ColumbusSpeedway.net for event details and other information.
THE 16TH ANNUAL MAGNOLIA STATE 100
$20,005-TO-WIN
SUPER LATE MODELS
1ST 71 CHRIS WALL
2ND 21 BILLY MOYER
3RD 75 JOHN GILL
4TH 25 SHANE CLANTON
5TH 20 JIMMY OWENS
6TH 54 DAVID BREAZEALE
7TH 33 SCOTT DEDWYLDER
8TH 15B BRIAN BIRKHOFER
9TH 6X ROB LITTON
10TH 28 JIMMY MARS
11TH 19 GREG JOHNSON
12TH 44 CLINT SMITH
13TH 222 MIKE BOLAND
14TH B12 KEVIN WEAVER
15TH 12 JASON INGALLS
16TH 33 AARON HATTON
17TH 66 BILL FRYE
18TH 0 SCOTT BLOOMQUIST
19TH 70 1/2 ANTHONY RUSHING
20TH 18 JACK SULLIVAN
21ST 8 DENNIS DUNCAN
22ND 56 DAVID GENTRY
23RD 58¢ GARRETT DURRETT
24TH 18 RONNY LEE HOLLINGSWORTH
25TH 121 ANTHONY BURROUGHS
26TH 31 TONY MORRIS
MODIFIED
$2,005-TO-WIN
Top 10
1ST 17 CHRIS MOORE
2ND 18 JACK SULLIVAN
3RD 3 SHAY KNIGHT
4TH W7 GREG WILHITE
5TH 4 JASON BROCK
6TH 12 RUSTY DUNCAN
7TH 98 ERIC HICKERSON
8TH 1S JEREMY SHAW
9TH 15 DAVID HONEYCUTT
10TH 90 BRIAN RICKMAN
LATE MODEL STOCK
$1,200-TO-WIN
Top 10
1ST 327J JAMIE TOLLISON
2ND 21 BEN MCCREARY
3RD 11 CHAD NICKOLES
4TH 9 RAY MAULDIN
5TH 7T TERRY MOSLEY
6TH 60 ALAN JAYNES
7TH KD1 B.B. DYE
8TH 82 JASON SANDERFORD
9TH 5 RODNEY WEAVER
10TH 911 CHRIS REED
STREET STOCK
$1,000-TO-WIN
Top 10
1ST 15 DAVID HONEYCUTT
2ND 6 TK KING
3RD 45 JAMES ELFRING
4TH 5 TERRY KING
5TH 11 ROBERT JENNINGS
6TH 47 DANNY GABLE
7TH 7 ASHLEY HERRON
8TH 02 BRYAN KILGORE
9TH 68 JASON BOLEWARE
10TH 5 MIKE HANSEL
The setting would be "The Baddest Bullring in the South" - the event would be the $20,005-to-win 16th Annual Magnolia State 100. The well-over-capacity crowd that made the journey to Columbus Speedway would witness a sure classic race in what has become the Crown Jewel of dirt racing in the Midsouth. 71 Super Late Models were part of the over 200 total race cars in four divisions that would pull to The Bullring for the weekend.
Friday night's racing action had "The Newport Nightmare" Jimmy Owens and 7-time Magnolia State 100 Champion "Mr. Smooth" Billy Moyer sharing the front row for Saturday night's main event. B-Main action on Saturday night saw Tony Morris make an amazing move between Scott Bloomquist and Keith Flurry to take the lead and go on to win the first of the three events. "The Kosciusko Kamikaze" would dominate the second B-Main in classic Rushing style, and David Earl Gentry would take care of business to win the final B-Main. The last-chance qualifier's race saw Anthony Burroughs and Aaron Hatton make it onto the last row of the main event.
At the drop of the green flag for the 60-lap main event, Moyer would head for the rim while Owens dropped low as Ronny Lee Hollingsworth looked in even lower. Moyer and Owens would blast down the backstretch door-to-door, and Moyer would jump into the lead coming off of turn 4 with Hollingsworth and Gill side-by-side for 3rd. The first caution fell with 1 lap in the books for a wreck in turn 1, and Mike Boland and Anthony Rushing would both leave the track and return to the rear before the restart. Moyer, Owens, Hollingsworth, Gill, and Chris Wall would occupy the top five positions for the restart, but Hollingsworth would suffer a flat tire and spin before a full lap could be run, sending him to the pits and then to the rear of the field upon returning.
David Breazeale would dash around Wall and go underneath John Gill for 3rd on the restart, with Owens on the rim but holding onto 2nd place behind Moyer. Owens would go inside Moyer in turns 3 and 4, but Moyer rocketed ahead as Gill moved in to challenge for second as Wall came back in on the top to battle Breazeale. As the two raced side-by-side for the 4th position, caution would fall on lap 3 for Garrett Durrett. Moyer, Owens, Gill, Breazeale, and Wall would hold down the top five as they prepared for what would be 54 consecutive laps of wild green-flag action.
With Moyer still the solid leader, Owens closed the door on Gill to hold on to second place exiting turn 2, and Breazeale would move up into 3rd place. Wall would follow suit, going around Gill to take over 4th as Breazeale went under Owens to challenge for second. Wall would move to the rim to chase after Breazeale as Owens went on after rim-riding Moyer. As Wall went back to the bottom to challenge Breazeale, Owens moved in on Moyer and the two locked horns in a door-to-door battle for the lead.
For several laps the two would run side by side, followed by an ongoing duel for 3rd place. Moyer and Owens would continue battling as they moved into lapped traffic on lap 12, and Owens would take over the lead on lap 13. Owens would begin to separate himself from Moyer, who in turn had moved well ahead of the battling Breazeale and Wall. Rob Litton would move in on Wall and Breazeale on lap 20, just before Wall finally wrestled 3rd place away. Brian Birkhofer would snatch 5th place away from Litton before the driver of the 6X machine was able to challenge Breazeale for 4th, and Litton quickly picked the action back up as the pair simultaneously raced against each other and cut through lapped traffic.
On lap 26, Birkhofer would again put Litton behind him and go after Breazeale, taking away the 4th position on the following lap as Owens seemed to enjoy a comfortable lead out front. At the halfway point, Owens held a comfortable advantage over Moyer, who led Wall by several car lengths as Birkohfer and Breazeale rounded out the top five.
Wall began to pick up steam and by lap 31 had pulled up on Moyer's rear. Wall would look under Moyer on the next lap and the two would run alongside each other until Wall took the spot away on lap 33 and quickly began reeling in Owens, who had been well ahead of the other leaders. Wall would catch Owens on lap 36 as Breazeale moved in and passed Moyer for 3rd place, then gave the position right back. Wall would drive inside Owens looking for the lead on lap 29, and Moyer caught the pair on lap 40 with an attempt at regaining second place from Wall. Owens had shed Wall and began to build another cushion, but Wall wasted little time in going right back after the leader.
On lap 42, Wall had once again run down Owens, looking outside in turn 4 and inside in turns 1 and 2 with traffic ahead. Wall would draw even with Owens on lap 45 and the two would race each other around the speedway until Wall grabbed the lead on lap 47. Owens would counter by driving back in under Wall, but Wall would cut through the 3-wide pack of lapped cars just ahead and begin to pull away with the lead well in hand.
Moyer would then come after Owens, driving inside the #20 machine on lap 53 with Breazeale breathing down his neck and Wall increasing his advantage with each lap. The final caution of the event would fall on lap 57, setting up a dramatic 3-lap dash to glory made even more interesting by the "choose your line "double-file restarts that had been used in all Super Late Model races for the event. Wall would have 3 laps to hold off some of the hottest names in racing and take the biggest win of his career as Owens, Moyer, Breazeale, and Gill bunched up behind him for the final restart.
There would be no real challenge for the lead. Wall would rocket off of turn two and down the backstretch after the final green flag flew, with Moyer on his heels but unable to mount a challenge. Action was wild and chaotic from then on as John Gill moved into third and challenged Moyer for second place ahead of a three-way battle between Shane Clanton (up from 13th), Owens, and Breazeale. The popular Holden, LA, alligator farmer Wall would lead the way to take a crowd-pleasing victory in his Wall-2-Wall Spec-powered Stuckey Mastersbilt sponsored by C&M Gator Farms and claim the $20,005 prize. Moyer, Gill, Clanton, and Owens would somehow shake down into the top five, while Breazeale, Scott Dedwylder, Brain Birkhofer, Rob Litton, and Jimmy Mars would round out the top ten. Last-place starter Aaron Hatton would earn the Hard Charger award presented by Harold Barton and Owanna Wheeler.
Chris Moore would overcome what was nearly a ten-lap battle with Shay Knight to grab the lead in the $2,005-to-win Modified Magnolia State Championship. Jack Sullivan would move up to challenge Knight, taking second place away in the final laps. Sullivan would have no chance to chase after Moore, who went on to take the win and become the 2005 Magnolia State Modified Champion. Sullivan, Knight, Greg Wilhite, and Jason Brock took home top-five honors.
Jamie Tollison would spend most of the Late Model Stock event chasing and then trying to go around early leader Ben McCreary. Tollison would seal the deal in the later stages of the $1,200-to-win event and go on to take the Magnolia State Late Model Stock Championship. McCreary, Chad Nickoles, Ray Mauldin, and Terry Mosely would complete the top five.
In Street Stock action, David Honeycutt would once again rise to the top in a big-race setting to take the $1,000 winner's share and the Magnolia State Street Stock Championship. TK King, James Elfring, Terry King, and Robert Jennings would finish in the top five.
Columbus area racing picks back up in two weeks at Magnolia Motor Speedway on October 21st and 22nd for the 2nd Annual Cotton Pickin' 100 paying $15,000-to-win. Stop by www.MagnoliaMotorSpeedway.net for details. The next race at Columbus Speedway will be the 5th Annual Possum Town Grand Prix on November 25th and 26th. Visit the Columbus Speedway website located at www.ColumbusSpeedway.net for event details and other information.
THE 16TH ANNUAL MAGNOLIA STATE 100
$20,005-TO-WIN
SUPER LATE MODELS
1ST 71 CHRIS WALL
2ND 21 BILLY MOYER
3RD 75 JOHN GILL
4TH 25 SHANE CLANTON
5TH 20 JIMMY OWENS
6TH 54 DAVID BREAZEALE
7TH 33 SCOTT DEDWYLDER
8TH 15B BRIAN BIRKHOFER
9TH 6X ROB LITTON
10TH 28 JIMMY MARS
11TH 19 GREG JOHNSON
12TH 44 CLINT SMITH
13TH 222 MIKE BOLAND
14TH B12 KEVIN WEAVER
15TH 12 JASON INGALLS
16TH 33 AARON HATTON
17TH 66 BILL FRYE
18TH 0 SCOTT BLOOMQUIST
19TH 70 1/2 ANTHONY RUSHING
20TH 18 JACK SULLIVAN
21ST 8 DENNIS DUNCAN
22ND 56 DAVID GENTRY
23RD 58¢ GARRETT DURRETT
24TH 18 RONNY LEE HOLLINGSWORTH
25TH 121 ANTHONY BURROUGHS
26TH 31 TONY MORRIS
MODIFIED
$2,005-TO-WIN
Top 10
1ST 17 CHRIS MOORE
2ND 18 JACK SULLIVAN
3RD 3 SHAY KNIGHT
4TH W7 GREG WILHITE
5TH 4 JASON BROCK
6TH 12 RUSTY DUNCAN
7TH 98 ERIC HICKERSON
8TH 1S JEREMY SHAW
9TH 15 DAVID HONEYCUTT
10TH 90 BRIAN RICKMAN
LATE MODEL STOCK
$1,200-TO-WIN
Top 10
1ST 327J JAMIE TOLLISON
2ND 21 BEN MCCREARY
3RD 11 CHAD NICKOLES
4TH 9 RAY MAULDIN
5TH 7T TERRY MOSLEY
6TH 60 ALAN JAYNES
7TH KD1 B.B. DYE
8TH 82 JASON SANDERFORD
9TH 5 RODNEY WEAVER
10TH 911 CHRIS REED
STREET STOCK
$1,000-TO-WIN
Top 10
1ST 15 DAVID HONEYCUTT
2ND 6 TK KING
3RD 45 JAMES ELFRING
4TH 5 TERRY KING
5TH 11 ROBERT JENNINGS
6TH 47 DANNY GABLE
7TH 7 ASHLEY HERRON
8TH 02 BRYAN KILGORE
9TH 68 JASON BOLEWARE
10TH 5 MIKE HANSEL
