Lebanon,Mo.-Thursday Night Thunder presented by Autozone at the LebanonMidwaySpeedway featuring Nascar driver Kenny Wallace presented some of the finest racing around as 60 cars in 3 classes went to battle for extra dollars with dramatic finishes all night.
The Modified feature event would have Nascar driver Kenny Wallace and Gary Blackburn bring the field down for the green in the $1,000 to win event with Wallace heading the pack into turn 1 with Gary Blackburn along side.Wallace would lead until coming out of turn 4 for the 1st lap,Blackburn made the outside move stick and took command as local runner Tony Jackson Jr would follow along with Danny Crane.Blackburn and Crane battled side by side until lap 4 when Crane took over.The only caution flew as Brian Millsap and Jimmy Willis got together in turn 4 as there night ended.On the restart,Crane would find Blackburn looking down low as the lead pack pulled away as Jackson,Midway Champion Jamie Ragland,Eric Hudson,Bob Test,Rex Merritt and Jason Russell were battling.Crane and Blackburn were giving the fans there moneys worth as wheel to wheel action delighted the large crowd.Ragland who started 8th,moved around Jackson on lap 12 and gave pursuit to the lead du
n lap 16,Ragland made the move around Blackburn to take over 2nd place and had Crane in his sight.On lap 17,Ragland had caught the leader and veteran driver Crane as the duo ran side by side with Blackburn battling Jackson for 3rd while Hudson and Test fought it out for 5th place.Ragland made a low grove move on lap 21 in turn 4 to take control over Crane as Crane stayed close behind as the battle of 3rd place runners Blackburn,Jackson,Eric Hudson and Test had caught the lead duo.Ragland was working lapped traffic as Crane had went behind about 5 car lengths.Heading down the backstretch on lap 22,Ragland got caught in traffic as Crane powered back behind the leader and took control back on lap 23 with Blackburn gaining quickly.With 1 lap to go,Ragland pulled along side of the new leader Crane,but Crane gathered it back and held on to take the win with Ragland,Blackburn,Hudson and Jackson completing the top 5.
"The track was in excellent shape tonight and the Midway staff really put on a great show tonight for everyone on this deal.It was fun racing with Kenny Wallace and Ragland really ran me clean all night"quoted Crane.Modifieds need to take note here,this place is just right for the racer,alittle tight but with racing room and smooth everytime we have been here,I just wish it wasn't so far away from my home in Columbia.
In the LateModel Challange of Show-Me Racin Series and Fastrak,Rookie of the year runner Chad Smith brought the field down for the 25 lap feature with with Kevin Henson on his outside.The Arkansas driver took command early with the Flying Farmer Ken Essary right behind as Roger Wilson and Henson battled for 3rd place.Smith stayed smooth early as Essary was working him hard as Nevada Show-Me winner Lesie Essary was coming form 6th starting spot.The yellow waved on lap 4 as Wesley Briggs and Chad Plye gather together in turn 1 ending Pyle's night.On the restart,Smith looked like anything except a rookie as Ken Essary keep showing him the nose on the high side as Smith keep the middle groove working strong.Wilson and Leslie Essary were battling and on lap 6,Leslie took the spot and set his sights on the lead dun lap 10,Mike Hailmann and Chris Hawkins began a charge forward as Rick LeBow was also making some moves to the front.With Smith still setting a quick pace,Leslie was making the low groove work as Ken was holding of his challanges while battling Smith for the lead.Smith's dreams of capturing the win would end on lap 13 as a right rear tire went down as Leslie moved around Ken to take control.The yellow waved on lap 15 as Frank Tindle lost a driveshaft as the field bunched-up.On the restart,Leslie stayed on the low groove as Ken was looking highside.Hailmann was coming quickly as Wilson and Hawkins battled for 4th with Series points runner-up Lebow challanging alsn lap 22,Ken Essary went upstairs and pulled to Leslie's door,but Leslie founs the bit out of turn 2 to pull ahead.Kevin Henson who spun on lap 6 was coming back quickly through the field and was battling the pack of Wilson,Lebow,Hawkins and Tyler Milner for position.Leslie would keep the car straight for the final 2 laps in recording the feature win with Ken Essary,Hailmann,Wilson and Lebow at the stripe.
The Bomber feature with Brian Warner and Jerry Goring bringing the field down but it was Tyler Brown grabbing the opening lead.Tyler making his 1st start this season headed up the pack as Derrek Brown moved from 5th to challange.On lap 4,Derrik moved into the lead as track point leader Shan Winfrey who started 8th charged into 2nd place and set his sights on leader Derrek Brown.A caution waved on lap 9 as Jennifer Crouch and Bill Watters got together with Crouch's car on top of Watters frontend.On the restart,Winfrey would chalange Derrek Brown,but the Jr Hotrod camaro held off repeated chaalanges as the came upon Midway traffic.Joe Francis was holding a strong 3rd place as Chris Johnson who started 18th was coming quickly.In the final lap,Shawn Winfrey went both high and low,but Brown hold hold off the surge to grab his 2nd win of the season.Winfrey,Johnson and early leader Tyler Brown completed the top 5.
Results
Modifieds
1st Ht-1)Rex Merritt-Billings 2)Eric Hudson-Rolla 3)Kenny Wallace-St Louis 4)Rowland Blythe-Ashland 5)Jack Jones-Lebanon 6)Rick Brown-Iberia 7)Wes Long-Springfield 8)Brian Millsap-Lebanon 2nd Ht-1)Jamie Ragland-Lebanon 2)Danny Crane-Columbia 3)Gary Blackburn-Fulton 4)Jason Russell-Henley 5)Jim Roach-St Patrick 6)Terry Schultz-Sedalia 7)Jimmy Willis-Macks Creek 8)Wayne Graybeal-Springfield
3rd Ht-1)Tony Jackson Jr-Lebanon 2)Bob Test-Jefferson City 3)Mich Ketter-Webb City 4)Micheal Maggard-Republic 5)Bobby Ratterree-Mt Grove 6)Chris Johnson-Lebanon 7)Steve Holtzkamper-Gentry,Ark.
A Ft-1)Crane 2)Ragland 3)Blackburn 4)Hudson 5)Jackson 6)Test 7)Merritt 8)Russell 9)Keeter 10)Roach 11)Schultz 12)Blythe 13)Wallace 14)Jones 15)Graybeal 16)Maggard 17)Ratterree 18)Long 19)Johnson 20)Brown 21)Holtzkamper 22)Willis 23)Millsap
LateModels
1st Ht-1-Rick Lebow-Galena 2)Roger Wilson-Aurora 3)Mike Hailmann-Reed Springs 4)Jimmy Greenway-Galena 5)Jeremy-Kelley-Walnut Grove 6)Frank Tindle-Galena
2nd Ht-1)Leslie Essary-Crane 2)Chad Smith-Springdale,Ark. 3)Tyler Milner-Huntsville,Ark.4)Chad Pyle-Wheaton 5)Jarrod Hilton-Crane 6)Scott Fry-Wheaton
3rd Ht-1)Ken Essary-Cape Fair 2)Kevin Henson-Marionville 3)Chris Hawkins-Neosho 4)Mike Berger-Lake Ozark 5)Wesley Briggs-Phillipsburg
A Ft-1)L.Essary 2)K.Essary 3)Hailmann 4)Wilson 5)Lebow 6)Hawkins 7)Henson 8)Milner 9)Greenway 10)Berger 11)Hilton 12)Kelley 13)Fry 14)Briggs 15)Tindle 16)Smith 17)Pyle
Bombers
1st Ht-1)Joe Francis-Lebanon 2)Jennifer Crouch-Lebanon 3)Brian Warner-Phillipsburg 4)Keith Cheever-Lebanon 5)Andrew Cheever-Lebanon 6)Nich Arthur-Rolla 7)Adam Lowrance-Lebanon
2nd Ht-1)Shawn Winfrey-Lebanon 2)Tyler Brown-Richland 3)Jerry Goring-Lebanon 4)Bryan Webster-Richland 5)Joe Gregory-Falcon 6)Larry Franklin-Crocker
3rd Ht-1)Derrek Brown-Stoutland 2)Billy Watters-Lynchburg 3)Wayne Coffman-Lebanon 4)Glen Dismang-Lebanon 5)Brian Goff-Jefferson City 6)Chris Johnson-Lebanon
A Ft-1)D.Brown 2)Winfrey 3)Francis 4)C.Johnson 5)T.Brown 6)K.Cheever 7)Warner 8)Arthur 9)Dismang 10)Lowrance 11)Gregory 12)Webster 13)Goring 14)Watters 15)Crouch 16)Franklin 17)Goff 18)Coffman 19)A.Cheever
The Modified feature event would have Nascar driver Kenny Wallace and Gary Blackburn bring the field down for the green in the $1,000 to win event with Wallace heading the pack into turn 1 with Gary Blackburn along side.Wallace would lead until coming out of turn 4 for the 1st lap,Blackburn made the outside move stick and took command as local runner Tony Jackson Jr would follow along with Danny Crane.Blackburn and Crane battled side by side until lap 4 when Crane took over.The only caution flew as Brian Millsap and Jimmy Willis got together in turn 4 as there night ended.On the restart,Crane would find Blackburn looking down low as the lead pack pulled away as Jackson,Midway Champion Jamie Ragland,Eric Hudson,Bob Test,Rex Merritt and Jason Russell were battling.Crane and Blackburn were giving the fans there moneys worth as wheel to wheel action delighted the large crowd.Ragland who started 8th,moved around Jackson on lap 12 and gave pursuit to the lead du
n lap 16,Ragland made the move around Blackburn to take over 2nd place and had Crane in his sight.On lap 17,Ragland had caught the leader and veteran driver Crane as the duo ran side by side with Blackburn battling Jackson for 3rd while Hudson and Test fought it out for 5th place.Ragland made a low grove move on lap 21 in turn 4 to take control over Crane as Crane stayed close behind as the battle of 3rd place runners Blackburn,Jackson,Eric Hudson and Test had caught the lead duo.Ragland was working lapped traffic as Crane had went behind about 5 car lengths.Heading down the backstretch on lap 22,Ragland got caught in traffic as Crane powered back behind the leader and took control back on lap 23 with Blackburn gaining quickly.With 1 lap to go,Ragland pulled along side of the new leader Crane,but Crane gathered it back and held on to take the win with Ragland,Blackburn,Hudson and Jackson completing the top 5."The track was in excellent shape tonight and the Midway staff really put on a great show tonight for everyone on this deal.It was fun racing with Kenny Wallace and Ragland really ran me clean all night"quoted Crane.Modifieds need to take note here,this place is just right for the racer,alittle tight but with racing room and smooth everytime we have been here,I just wish it wasn't so far away from my home in Columbia.
In the LateModel Challange of Show-Me Racin Series and Fastrak,Rookie of the year runner Chad Smith brought the field down for the 25 lap feature with with Kevin Henson on his outside.The Arkansas driver took command early with the Flying Farmer Ken Essary right behind as Roger Wilson and Henson battled for 3rd place.Smith stayed smooth early as Essary was working him hard as Nevada Show-Me winner Lesie Essary was coming form 6th starting spot.The yellow waved on lap 4 as Wesley Briggs and Chad Plye gather together in turn 1 ending Pyle's night.On the restart,Smith looked like anything except a rookie as Ken Essary keep showing him the nose on the high side as Smith keep the middle groove working strong.Wilson and Leslie Essary were battling and on lap 6,Leslie took the spot and set his sights on the lead du
n lap 10,Mike Hailmann and Chris Hawkins began a charge forward as Rick LeBow was also making some moves to the front.With Smith still setting a quick pace,Leslie was making the low groove work as Ken was holding of his challanges while battling Smith for the lead.Smith's dreams of capturing the win would end on lap 13 as a right rear tire went down as Leslie moved around Ken to take control.The yellow waved on lap 15 as Frank Tindle lost a driveshaft as the field bunched-up.On the restart,Leslie stayed on the low groove as Ken was looking highside.Hailmann was coming quickly as Wilson and Hawkins battled for 4th with Series points runner-up Lebow challanging alsn lap 22,Ken Essary went upstairs and pulled to Leslie's door,but Leslie founs the bit out of turn 2 to pull ahead.Kevin Henson who spun on lap 6 was coming back quickly through the field and was battling the pack of Wilson,Lebow,Hawkins and Tyler Milner for position.Leslie would keep the car straight for the final 2 laps in recording the feature win with Ken Essary,Hailmann,Wilson and Lebow at the stripe.The Bomber feature with Brian Warner and Jerry Goring bringing the field down but it was Tyler Brown grabbing the opening lead.Tyler making his 1st start this season headed up the pack as Derrek Brown moved from 5th to challange.On lap 4,Derrik moved into the lead as track point leader Shan Winfrey who started 8th charged into 2nd place and set his sights on leader Derrek Brown.A caution waved on lap 9 as Jennifer Crouch and Bill Watters got together with Crouch's car on top of Watters frontend.On the restart,Winfrey would chalange Derrek Brown,but the Jr Hotrod camaro held off repeated chaalanges as the came upon Midway traffic.Joe Francis was holding a strong 3rd place as Chris Johnson who started 18th was coming quickly.In the final lap,Shawn Winfrey went both high and low,but Brown hold hold off the surge to grab his 2nd win of the season.Winfrey,Johnson and early leader Tyler Brown completed the top 5.
Results
Modifieds
1st Ht-1)Rex Merritt-Billings 2)Eric Hudson-Rolla 3)Kenny Wallace-St Louis 4)Rowland Blythe-Ashland 5)Jack Jones-Lebanon 6)Rick Brown-Iberia 7)Wes Long-Springfield 8)Brian Millsap-Lebanon 2nd Ht-1)Jamie Ragland-Lebanon 2)Danny Crane-Columbia 3)Gary Blackburn-Fulton 4)Jason Russell-Henley 5)Jim Roach-St Patrick 6)Terry Schultz-Sedalia 7)Jimmy Willis-Macks Creek 8)Wayne Graybeal-Springfield
3rd Ht-1)Tony Jackson Jr-Lebanon 2)Bob Test-Jefferson City 3)Mich Ketter-Webb City 4)Micheal Maggard-Republic 5)Bobby Ratterree-Mt Grove 6)Chris Johnson-Lebanon 7)Steve Holtzkamper-Gentry,Ark.
A Ft-1)Crane 2)Ragland 3)Blackburn 4)Hudson 5)Jackson 6)Test 7)Merritt 8)Russell 9)Keeter 10)Roach 11)Schultz 12)Blythe 13)Wallace 14)Jones 15)Graybeal 16)Maggard 17)Ratterree 18)Long 19)Johnson 20)Brown 21)Holtzkamper 22)Willis 23)Millsap
LateModels
1st Ht-1-Rick Lebow-Galena 2)Roger Wilson-Aurora 3)Mike Hailmann-Reed Springs 4)Jimmy Greenway-Galena 5)Jeremy-Kelley-Walnut Grove 6)Frank Tindle-Galena
2nd Ht-1)Leslie Essary-Crane 2)Chad Smith-Springdale,Ark. 3)Tyler Milner-Huntsville,Ark.4)Chad Pyle-Wheaton 5)Jarrod Hilton-Crane 6)Scott Fry-Wheaton
3rd Ht-1)Ken Essary-Cape Fair 2)Kevin Henson-Marionville 3)Chris Hawkins-Neosho 4)Mike Berger-Lake Ozark 5)Wesley Briggs-Phillipsburg
A Ft-1)L.Essary 2)K.Essary 3)Hailmann 4)Wilson 5)Lebow 6)Hawkins 7)Henson 8)Milner 9)Greenway 10)Berger 11)Hilton 12)Kelley 13)Fry 14)Briggs 15)Tindle 16)Smith 17)Pyle
Bombers
1st Ht-1)Joe Francis-Lebanon 2)Jennifer Crouch-Lebanon 3)Brian Warner-Phillipsburg 4)Keith Cheever-Lebanon 5)Andrew Cheever-Lebanon 6)Nich Arthur-Rolla 7)Adam Lowrance-Lebanon
2nd Ht-1)Shawn Winfrey-Lebanon 2)Tyler Brown-Richland 3)Jerry Goring-Lebanon 4)Bryan Webster-Richland 5)Joe Gregory-Falcon 6)Larry Franklin-Crocker
3rd Ht-1)Derrek Brown-Stoutland 2)Billy Watters-Lynchburg 3)Wayne Coffman-Lebanon 4)Glen Dismang-Lebanon 5)Brian Goff-Jefferson City 6)Chris Johnson-Lebanon
A Ft-1)D.Brown 2)Winfrey 3)Francis 4)C.Johnson 5)T.Brown 6)K.Cheever 7)Warner 8)Arthur 9)Dismang 10)Lowrance 11)Gregory 12)Webster 13)Goring 14)Watters 15)Crouch 16)Franklin 17)Goff 18)Coffman 19)A.Cheever
