Bill Frye wins Larry Phillips Memorial, Terry Phillips takes MARS championship

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By Dusty Luthy
Lebanon I-44 Speedway

LEBANON, Mo. - It was a bittersweet night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Saturday night. On the last race of the season, the speedway crowned four winners for the Larry Phillips Memorial Fall Shootout race before rain would cancel the last two events. A grand total of 154 cars raced for the memorial.

Bill Frye won the $10,000 MARS Late Model grand feature race and the memorial trophy, but he knew what this race meant for Phillips and his family.

"As far as Larry's concerned," Frye said, "like I told Terry at the banquet last year, I lost a hero, too.

Terry Phillips had a tough weight on his shoulders as he defended his MARS points lead and raced in memory of his father, Larry Phillips.

Phillips said the win would have been nice, but after winning the MARS championship, back to back season titles can redeem the day.

"I wanted that trophy with the name on it," Phillips admitted. "It's a bad day today, put it that way.

"I guess me and Bill are the only ones that have ever won the titles. But, that's the whole reason you run hard all year...that's the main thing we were here for.

After a celebration of fireworks and a four-wide parade tour, Phillips took the quick jump to first with the waving of the green flag. Frye followed, taking a higher grove in the track with Wendell Wallace and Jack Sullivan driving side by side.

Wallace dug in for third and continued high, taking second from Frye and charging on to Phillips, but Phillips was able to keep him at bay. On lap five, it was Phillips, Wallace, Frye, Sullivan and Stacey Taylor.

Racing was hot and caution free as Phillips entered lap traffic on laps 16 and 17, taking the inside lane against his competitors. Frye saw Phillips with a challenge and took the opportunity to close the gap. Frye began a commanding charge with one wheel on the cushion and took second after a battle with Wallace.

Frye then sped down to the bottom groove and began working on Phillips as both drivers went three-wide with Shane Essary. Both leaders got by Essary and continued to battle as Frye took the lead on lap 25.

Three lap cars made passing difficult, and as Frye tried the inside, Phillips dug his wheels high and took back the lead.

On lap 29, the first yellow flag of the feature was waved and cars got lined up for the restart. Phillips was still in front with Frye, Wallace, Taylor and Dane Dacus filling up the top five spots.

As the track went back to green with 21 laps remaining, Frye wasn't ready to give up. He began to try the outside groove, but found that wasn't working and slipped back down to the bottom to put pressure on Phillips, but Phillips held him off.

Frye stayed inside and roared down the backstretch on lap 36 to take first from Phillips and is able to hold the lead comfortably for a few laps.

Ed Dixon began to put pressure on the top five drivers as he took fifth from Dacus on lap 39. He continued his run and overtook Taylor on lap 41 for fourth and held it for the finish. Dixon's skilled driving took him high in the field, as his left front tire was flat for 47 out of the 50 laps of the feature.

Wallace, who needed the feature win to win the MARS championship, also wasn't going to give up. Wallace began pressure on Phillips and they went door to door on lap 44, but Phillips denied him.

With five laps remaining, Frye encounters lap traffic and maneuvers around on the inside. Phillips gave it one last chance and tried the high side, but Frye found his hole through the cars to hold the lead.

Frye said that even he enjoyed the show.

"That was a race now," he said. "That was a really good race. I thought about lap 30, if the fans aren't enjoying this they're not going to enjoy racing. It's got be really good. About lap 30, it's kind of like, we got to get on the ball. We had a good car, but I was making some mistakes and I guess I got my head on straight and got back by him and held on there for the end."

Phillips said he was not going to use car problems as an excuse for coming in second.

"Well, I just had some problems," he said. "He earned it. I am not going to say that's the problem and why I didn't win. I had some brake problems. I couldn't touch them; they'd lock up. So I just had to start rolling there without any brakes.

"The car was working pretty good, but when you got brake trouble, that's a big part of it. You can't use them to drive in hard and get up hard on the brakes. That just messes the whole program up. Glad to get second and glad to get the championship."

The Modified feature saw Jesse Stovall start at the pole, struggle for his spot, and take the hard-fought win.

"My car started missing about halfway through the race," Stovall said, "and I had an ignition problem and I kept hoping and praying I'd keep on going. Somehow it did. Rex Merritt was there early in the race and pretty tough. I just kind of kept finding and feeling my way out through it and found where I needed to be and just got up there and rode.

Terry Beckham Jr. took the early lead and set a hard pace to follow as Rex Merritt, Stovall, Jeff Cutshaw and Erik Maggard rounded out the top five.

After such a promising start, Beckham slowed down on lap six and went off with disappointing mechanical problems on lap seven.

Stovall had managed to jump back to first, but on the restart, Merritt took his car to the low side for a smooth run to take first on the next lap.

As Cutshaw was charging out of turn two on lap eight, he took it a little too tight and spun, but managed to get out of the way of traffic, going tailback.

Merritt began to extend his lead on nine as Gary Clark made an outstanding run to take second from his ninth place start.

Merritt and Clark had barely gotten used to their positions when Stovall came barreling around the high side to take first. Clark and Merritt continued to drive door to door, but Clark came out ahead.

With one last charge, Clark attempted to take first from Stovall with a few laps remaining, but Stovall was able to command his Modified to the finish line.

The Factory Stock feature was again one of the most exciting races of the night. Jordan Holloway, the 2005 speedway champion, started the night on the pole with Kenny Carroll starting on his outside.

Carroll and Holloway drove side by side, trading leads the entire feature. Burl Woods was an early contender, but spun out on lap seven and was sent to the back of the 20 cars.

David Hendrix drove a third position most of the night, waiting for his chance to strike at the leaders. After patiently waiting for the right moment and at the sight of the white flag, Hendrix dropped his car onto the low line in front of Carroll. He then sped on that line past Holloway to take the victory.

Hendrix said that his daring move was a desperate situation.

"It's the last race of the year and I was wanting to win this one pretty bad," Hendrix said with a beaming smile on his face after the race. "That's the biggest, best win we've had all year and I just thought if I don't go for it now, it isn't going to happen.

"I got stuck behind those guys going side by side for several laps there and I felt that I was faster and just couldn't find a hole to get through. Just a Kamikaze move, I guess."

Holloway said the loss was just another part of racing.

"We were pretty fast," Holloway said. "Me and Kenny Carroll had a pretty good race, side by side. My clutch started slipping about five laps into the race and the restarts killed me. I had to lag back because it wouldn't start going until 5,000 rpm. But I thought we were pretty fast, and Hendrix got us on the last lap. You win some, you lose some."

Josh Woody won the Super Stock feature. Brad Looney started the feature first with Dustin Moore on his outside. Woody was able to overtake the leader Moore, to win $800 purse.

The Show-Me Late Models and Bomber classes were unable to race due to rain.

RESULTS

MARS Late Models

Heat 1

1. 75 Terry Phillips
2. 54 Dane Dacus
3. 17m Matt Miller
4. y8 Shorty Acker
5. 14jr Steve Rushin
6. 72 Larry Moon
7. F1 Jeff Floyd



Heat 2

1. 66 Bill Frye
2. 18 Jack Sullivan
3. 65 Dewaine Hottinger
4. 10 Justin Wells
5. 5e Leslie Essary
6. 14L Brad Looney
7. 5m John Mitchell
8. 1v Will Vaught



Heat 3

1. g2 David Gibson
2. 60j Jordan Jones
3. 88 Wendell Wallace
4. 15e Shane Essary
5. 42 Brandon McCormick
6. 99 Larry Jones
7. 15s Brian Schutt
8. 71 Jason Meadors



Heat 4

1. 55 Ken Essary
2. 12 Scott Drake
3. 5jr Bill James
4. 2 Dustin Mooneyham
5. 88b David Barker
6. 14m Reid Millard
7. 9m Jimmy Morris
8. 8k T.J. Kuykendall



Heat 5

1. 60 Ed Dixon
2. 7k Michael Kloos
3. 27 Stacey Taylor
4. 33 Gary Stolba
5. 00s Chris Smyser
6. 1cr Christian Rayburn
7. 75a Shannon Anastopolis
8. Steve Johnson 7j



B Mains (top 4 that advanced to Grand Feature)



Main B 1

1. 5e Leslie Essary
2. f1 Jeff Floyd
3. 12d Scott Drake
4. 1v Will Vaught



Main B 2

1. 65 Dewaine Hottinger
2. 42 Brandon McCormick
3. 00s Chris Smyser
4. 14L Brad Looney



Main B 3

1. 54 Dane Dacus
2. 60j Jordan Jones
3. 15e Shane Essary
4. 14jr Steve Rushin



Grand Feature

1. 66 Bill Frye
2. 75 Terry Phillips
3. 88 Wendell Wallace
4. 60 Ed Dixon
5. 27 Stacey Taylor
6. 54 Dane Dacus
7. 00s Chris Smyser
8. 14jr Steve Rushin
9. 5 Leslie Essary
10. 1v Will Vaught
11. f1 Jeff Floyd
12. 10 Justin Wells
13. 18 Jack Sullivan
14. 15 Shane Essary
15. 33 Gary Stolba
16. 60j Jordan Jones
17. 97m Joey Mack
18. 12 Scott Drake
19. 65 Dewaine Hottinger
20. 14L Brad Looney
21. 42 Brandon McCormick
22. 55 Ken Essary



Modified



Heat 1

1. 00 Jesse Stovall
2. 73 Shawn Walsh
3. 14 Justin Neuman
4. 66t Darryl Turner
5. 16 Dusty Johnston
6. 33 Steve Muilenburg
7. 4s Billy Street
8. 71e Dave Elson



Heat 2

1. 25m Rex Merritt
2. 160 Michael Maggard
3. 31m Erik Maggard
4. 25v Ted VanZandt
5. 59 Jimmy Bellemy
6. 37g Dan Gilbert
7. 21m Steve Martin
8. 45 Marvin Forrest



Heat 3

1. 98 Jeff Cutshaw
2. 118 Terry Beckham Jr.
3. 4g Gary Clark
4. 9k Robert Knaebel
5. 20 Tyson Twedt
6. 96 Ron Hoffman
7. 12d Scott Drake
8. 66b Brandon Maggard

Feature

1. 00 Jesse Stovall
2. 4g Gary Clark
3. 25m Rex Merritt
4. 16 Dusty Johnson
5. 73 Shawn Walsh
6. 21 Steve Martin
7. 12 Scott Drake
8. 66b Brandon Maggard
9. 31m Erik Maggard
10. 98 Jeff Cutshaw
11. 25v Ted VanZandt
12. 33 Steve Muilenburg
13. 71e Darryl Turner
14. 26 Gary Blackburn
15. 45 Marvin Forest
16. 4s Billy Street
17. 20 Tyson Twedt
18. 9k Robert Knaebel
19. 160 Michael Maggard
20. 96 Ron Hoffman
21. 59 Jimmy Bellemy
22. 118 Terry Beckham Jr.
23. 14 Justin Neuman



Factory Stock

Heat 1

1. 21 Jordan Holloway
2. 22 Terry Green
3. 25 Chad Smith
4. 54 David Hendrix
5. 55 Melvin Bresse
6. 24 Roger Flood
7. 1w David Wallace
8. 20 Jared Thulin



Heat 2

1. 94 Kenny Carroll
2. 11m Rob Muilenburg
3. 78 Bill Schoen
4. 37c Gary Chambers
5. 95 James Ellis
6. 41c Jim Cox
7. 41s Don Stark
8. 27 Corey Pope



Heat 3

1. 17 Chip Abromovitz
2. 14p Dennis Price
3. 76 Lonnie Henderson
4. 8 Jason Reckker
5. 4e Jason Eisenburger
6. 89s Joe Sandford

DNS Trent Harrison



Heat 4

1. 26w Burl Woods
2. 26L Randy Lebow
3. 06 Eric Lampe
4. 41r Robert Rydeen
5. 41t T.R. Phillips
6. 23v Sam Vaught
7. 37p Derrick Peterson



Feature

1. 54 David Hendrix
2. 21 Jordan Holloway
3. 94 Kenny Carroll
4. 22 Terry Green
5. 26w Burl Woods
6. 26L Randy Lebow
7. 17 Chip Abromovitz
8. 25 Chad Smith
9. 55 Melvin Bresse
10. 76 Lonnie Henderson
11. 1w David Wallace
12. 37p Derrick Peterson
13. 37c Gary Chambers
14. 14p Dennis Price
15. 8 Jason Reckker
16. 95 James Ellis
17. 24 Roger Flood
18. 11m Rob Muilenburg
19. 06 Eric Lampe
20. 78 Bill Schoen



Super Stock

Heat 1

1. 114 Brad Looney
2. 8 Jeff Scroggins
3. 17t Ted Ballinger
4. 22 Tim Petty
5. 13 Jamey Petty
6. 4c Chuck Avis
7. 34 Fred McAdams



Heat 2

1. 000 Dustin Moore
2. 24 Stacey Hall
3. 21 Josh Woody
4. 32 Steve Morton
5. 14 Tim Ballinger
6. 69 Sam Petty
7. 39 Richard Taylor



Feature

1. 21 Josh Woody
2. 000 Dustin Moore
3. 24 Stacy Hall
4. 38 Bobby Menzie
5. 29 Steve Sanders
6. 22 Tim Petty
7. 34 Fred McAdams
8. 14 Tim Ballinger
9. 69 Sam Petty
10. 4c Chuck Avis
11. 8 Jeff Scroggins
12. 13 Jamey Petty
13. 114 Brad Looney
14. 32 Steve Morton
15. 17t Ted Ballinger
 




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