By: Brennon Willard
Lebanon, Mo.- Shane Essary once again found his way back to victory lane at United Rentals Saturday night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway in front a crowd of over 2,500 people. The night also saw two first time winners as Josh Woody and Justin Foust took home their first ever feature wins.
Young gun Will Vaught took the lead on the opening lap of the $1,100 to win Late-Model feature, looking for his second win of the season. Vaught was still in command when the only yellow flag of the race came out for Wayne Sutton’s spin in turn four. Veteran driver Darrell Mooneyham came up to challenge Vaught immediately after the restart, taking the lead at lap nine. While Vaught and Mooneyham were battling for the lead, Essary patiently made his way to the front on the very bottom of the track. Essary patiently followed Mooneyham for several laps, finally making his move on lap 20, passing Mooneyham on the bottom of the track coming out of turn four. Once around Mooneyham, Essary cruised to the victory. Mooneyham was second, followed by Will Vaught, Danny Atkinson and Dave Ware rounded out the top five.
The super stock feature saw a very popular first win for Waynesville’s Josh Woody. Woody quickly made his way to the lead on lap one and started to try to check out from the rest of the field. The only caution of the race came out on lap three when points leader Larry Prewitt and Dave Bozich got together on the front straightaway. The collision caused damage to both cars, with Bozich getting the worse end of the deal, losing several laps to repairs. When the race resumed, Woody immediately opened up a commanding lead as Jason Otto and Steve Osborn battled for second place. Woody would cruise to his first ever victory; Osborn won the battle for second followed by Otto, Prewitt and Scotty Allen in fifth.
Jeff Cutshaw took the lead on lap one of the 15-lap modified race and never looked back holding off Lebanon’s Jamie Ragland to take the victory. Ragland looked to have something for Cutshaw, but the race went clean and green without a single caution to give Ragland at the win. Cutshaw and Ragland were followed to the checkered flag by: Steve Martin, Jason Medors and Dave Elson.
The factory stock feature looked much like it did on Friday night at Bolivar Speedway as Kevin Brown took the checkered flag for the second night in a row at I-44 Speedway. The win at I-44 Speedway looked a lot easier than the night before, as Brown took the lead on the first lap and ran away from the rest of the pack to take the victory. Point leader Michael Maggard made his way to second place and tried to reel in Brown. While Maggard and Brown were running away from the pack, Tim Brown and Robbie Bryant continued there back and forth battle just like they had the night before at Bolivar Speedway. The field was only slowed once when the red flag for Matt Miller’s spin in turn four on lap11. Kevin Brown would be followed to the checkered flag by; Maggard, Bryant, Tim Brown and Lebanon’s Steve Schultz brought the number five star car home in fifth place.
The sprint cars were also on hand as JP Compton took the victory in the 15-lap feature. John Rowland took the lead on lap one of the feature, only to have Compton pass him on lap two. The strange moment of the night occurred following the first caution on lap three for Andy Gill on lap four when Clint Todd came to stop in turn three for a loose wing. When the race resumed on lap five Rowland quickly broke away from the field, while being pursued by Randy Roberts. Roberts looked to be faster in the closing laps, but the gap was too much to over come as Compton held on to take the victory. Terry Moore followed Compton and Roberts in third and Eric and Joe Todd came in forth and fifth.
The bombers proved why you should never leave the races early putting on one heck of a race. Ronnie Henderson led the first three laps of the 12-lap feature, only to be passed by Justin Foust on lap four. The first of two cautions flew on lap six for debris in turn one, bunching the field back up. The field would once again be slowed by caution, this time for a spin in turn four involving Donnie Jackson and Brandon Knutdson. When the race resumed on lap ten for a three-lap shootout the race became a three-car dogfight for the win between Henderson, Foust and David Hendrix. The three came by to take the white flag three wide and stayed that way into turns one and two. The unavoidable finally happened coming out of turn two when Henderson spun taking him out of contention for the win and dropping him to a disappointing eight-place finish. With Henderson out of contention it was left to settle between Faust on the top and Hendrix on the bottom. The two remained side by side with Faust pulling it out on the top to take his first ever victory in thrilling fashion. Derrick Peterson followed Faust and Hendrix to the line, followed by Knutdson and Landon Johnson in fifth.
The Stars of the O’Reilly Mid-America Racing Series, (MARS), will make their second appearance of the season next Saturday night in what is sure to be an exciting show. Batesville, Arkansas’ Wendall Wallace, Springfield’s Terry Phillips, Greenbriar, Arkansas’ Bill Frye, Lebanon’s own Brandon McCormick, and many other Super Late Model stars in the nation will be on hand along with local weekly drivers Darrell Mooneyham, Brain Schutt and many more. The MARS points battle is proving to be a great one as Terry Phillips has been on a hot streak ever since his dramatic win at the I-44 Speedway last month and was trailing point leader Wallace by only five points heading into Sunday nights race at Monett Speedway. This will also be the last tune up for the MARS cars heading into next month’s $10,000 to win Fall Shootout to be held September 24 and 25, 2004 at the I-44 Speedway. Gates will open at 5:00 with races at 7:30 p.m. Last months MARS race brought in a packed house, so fans on the “Wild Side” better are prepared to arrive early to get your preferred spot.
Lebanon I-44
Sponsor-Untied Rentals
1100 to win
Lates
1-#15 Shane Essary
2-#20 Darrell Mooneyham
3-#1 Will Vaught
4-#4A Danny Atkinson
5-#55 Dave Ware
6-#46 Barney Bauerfied
7-#14 Reid Millard
8-#91 Chris Comer
9-#15 Brian Schutt
10-#88 Charlie Benedict
11-#31 Bob Hiller
12-#54 Wayne Sutton
13-#01 Jared Harris-DNS
Mods
1-#98 Jeff Cutshaw
2-#15 Jamie Ragland
3-#21 Steve Martin
4-#71 Jason Meadors
5-#71E Dave Elson
6-#2 Eric Hudson
7-#25 Ted VanZandt
8-#11 Don Luna
9-#66 Ernie Walker
10-#4 Don Cable
11-#41 Justin Newman
12-#00 Ferrell Moore
Supers
1-#21 Josh Woody
2-#62 Steve Osborn
3-#8 Jason Otto
4-#22 Larry Prewitt
5-#17 Scotty Allen
6-#18 Mike Joplin
7-#T10 Rick Brown
8-#1 Scott Perkins
9-#99 Dave Bozich
10-#67 Matt Pilant-DNS
11-#84 JC Newell-DNS
12-#83 Ben Newell-DNS
Bombers
1-#1 Justin Faust
2-#54 David Hendrix
3-#37 Derick Peterson
4-#36 Brandon Knutdson
5-#1J Landon Johnson
6-#244 Richard Talley
7-#4 Chuck Avis
8-#76 Lonnie Henderson
9-#5 Sam Reynolds
10-#95 KC Prettyman
11-#Donnie Jackson
12-# 25 Chad Cromer
13-# 14 Bud Pursley-DNS
14-#17 Rich Allen
305 Sprints
1-#61A JP Compton
2-#1R Randy Roberts
3-#11 Terry Moore
4-#21 Eric Todd
5-#1 Joe Todd
6-#10 Clint Todd
7-#24 Andy Gill
8-#49 John Rowland
9-#3 Bill Kee
10-#9 Erik Enneking
11-#7 Scott Wedelstaat
Factory
1-#76 Kevin Brown
2-#160 Michael Maggard
3-#45 Robbie Bryant
4-#1 Tim Brown
5-#5* Steve Schultz
6-#5 Lake Mooneyham
7-#83 Tim Riffle
8-#48 Ward Fredrick
9-#17 Matt Miller
10-#H23 Jimmy Miller
11-#41 Jim Cox
12-#55 Danny Jones
13-#51 Bill Schar
14-#66 Steve Price-DNS
15-#25 Chad Smith-DNS
Lebanon, Mo.- Shane Essary once again found his way back to victory lane at United Rentals Saturday night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway in front a crowd of over 2,500 people. The night also saw two first time winners as Josh Woody and Justin Foust took home their first ever feature wins.
Young gun Will Vaught took the lead on the opening lap of the $1,100 to win Late-Model feature, looking for his second win of the season. Vaught was still in command when the only yellow flag of the race came out for Wayne Sutton’s spin in turn four. Veteran driver Darrell Mooneyham came up to challenge Vaught immediately after the restart, taking the lead at lap nine. While Vaught and Mooneyham were battling for the lead, Essary patiently made his way to the front on the very bottom of the track. Essary patiently followed Mooneyham for several laps, finally making his move on lap 20, passing Mooneyham on the bottom of the track coming out of turn four. Once around Mooneyham, Essary cruised to the victory. Mooneyham was second, followed by Will Vaught, Danny Atkinson and Dave Ware rounded out the top five.
The super stock feature saw a very popular first win for Waynesville’s Josh Woody. Woody quickly made his way to the lead on lap one and started to try to check out from the rest of the field. The only caution of the race came out on lap three when points leader Larry Prewitt and Dave Bozich got together on the front straightaway. The collision caused damage to both cars, with Bozich getting the worse end of the deal, losing several laps to repairs. When the race resumed, Woody immediately opened up a commanding lead as Jason Otto and Steve Osborn battled for second place. Woody would cruise to his first ever victory; Osborn won the battle for second followed by Otto, Prewitt and Scotty Allen in fifth.
Jeff Cutshaw took the lead on lap one of the 15-lap modified race and never looked back holding off Lebanon’s Jamie Ragland to take the victory. Ragland looked to have something for Cutshaw, but the race went clean and green without a single caution to give Ragland at the win. Cutshaw and Ragland were followed to the checkered flag by: Steve Martin, Jason Medors and Dave Elson.
The factory stock feature looked much like it did on Friday night at Bolivar Speedway as Kevin Brown took the checkered flag for the second night in a row at I-44 Speedway. The win at I-44 Speedway looked a lot easier than the night before, as Brown took the lead on the first lap and ran away from the rest of the pack to take the victory. Point leader Michael Maggard made his way to second place and tried to reel in Brown. While Maggard and Brown were running away from the pack, Tim Brown and Robbie Bryant continued there back and forth battle just like they had the night before at Bolivar Speedway. The field was only slowed once when the red flag for Matt Miller’s spin in turn four on lap11. Kevin Brown would be followed to the checkered flag by; Maggard, Bryant, Tim Brown and Lebanon’s Steve Schultz brought the number five star car home in fifth place.
The sprint cars were also on hand as JP Compton took the victory in the 15-lap feature. John Rowland took the lead on lap one of the feature, only to have Compton pass him on lap two. The strange moment of the night occurred following the first caution on lap three for Andy Gill on lap four when Clint Todd came to stop in turn three for a loose wing. When the race resumed on lap five Rowland quickly broke away from the field, while being pursued by Randy Roberts. Roberts looked to be faster in the closing laps, but the gap was too much to over come as Compton held on to take the victory. Terry Moore followed Compton and Roberts in third and Eric and Joe Todd came in forth and fifth.
The bombers proved why you should never leave the races early putting on one heck of a race. Ronnie Henderson led the first three laps of the 12-lap feature, only to be passed by Justin Foust on lap four. The first of two cautions flew on lap six for debris in turn one, bunching the field back up. The field would once again be slowed by caution, this time for a spin in turn four involving Donnie Jackson and Brandon Knutdson. When the race resumed on lap ten for a three-lap shootout the race became a three-car dogfight for the win between Henderson, Foust and David Hendrix. The three came by to take the white flag three wide and stayed that way into turns one and two. The unavoidable finally happened coming out of turn two when Henderson spun taking him out of contention for the win and dropping him to a disappointing eight-place finish. With Henderson out of contention it was left to settle between Faust on the top and Hendrix on the bottom. The two remained side by side with Faust pulling it out on the top to take his first ever victory in thrilling fashion. Derrick Peterson followed Faust and Hendrix to the line, followed by Knutdson and Landon Johnson in fifth.
The Stars of the O’Reilly Mid-America Racing Series, (MARS), will make their second appearance of the season next Saturday night in what is sure to be an exciting show. Batesville, Arkansas’ Wendall Wallace, Springfield’s Terry Phillips, Greenbriar, Arkansas’ Bill Frye, Lebanon’s own Brandon McCormick, and many other Super Late Model stars in the nation will be on hand along with local weekly drivers Darrell Mooneyham, Brain Schutt and many more. The MARS points battle is proving to be a great one as Terry Phillips has been on a hot streak ever since his dramatic win at the I-44 Speedway last month and was trailing point leader Wallace by only five points heading into Sunday nights race at Monett Speedway. This will also be the last tune up for the MARS cars heading into next month’s $10,000 to win Fall Shootout to be held September 24 and 25, 2004 at the I-44 Speedway. Gates will open at 5:00 with races at 7:30 p.m. Last months MARS race brought in a packed house, so fans on the “Wild Side” better are prepared to arrive early to get your preferred spot.
Lebanon I-44
Sponsor-Untied Rentals
1100 to win
Lates
1-#15 Shane Essary
2-#20 Darrell Mooneyham
3-#1 Will Vaught
4-#4A Danny Atkinson
5-#55 Dave Ware
6-#46 Barney Bauerfied
7-#14 Reid Millard
8-#91 Chris Comer
9-#15 Brian Schutt
10-#88 Charlie Benedict
11-#31 Bob Hiller
12-#54 Wayne Sutton
13-#01 Jared Harris-DNS
Mods
1-#98 Jeff Cutshaw
2-#15 Jamie Ragland
3-#21 Steve Martin
4-#71 Jason Meadors
5-#71E Dave Elson
6-#2 Eric Hudson
7-#25 Ted VanZandt
8-#11 Don Luna
9-#66 Ernie Walker
10-#4 Don Cable
11-#41 Justin Newman
12-#00 Ferrell Moore
Supers
1-#21 Josh Woody
2-#62 Steve Osborn
3-#8 Jason Otto
4-#22 Larry Prewitt
5-#17 Scotty Allen
6-#18 Mike Joplin
7-#T10 Rick Brown
8-#1 Scott Perkins
9-#99 Dave Bozich
10-#67 Matt Pilant-DNS
11-#84 JC Newell-DNS
12-#83 Ben Newell-DNS
Bombers
1-#1 Justin Faust
2-#54 David Hendrix
3-#37 Derick Peterson
4-#36 Brandon Knutdson
5-#1J Landon Johnson
6-#244 Richard Talley
7-#4 Chuck Avis
8-#76 Lonnie Henderson
9-#5 Sam Reynolds
10-#95 KC Prettyman
11-#Donnie Jackson
12-# 25 Chad Cromer
13-# 14 Bud Pursley-DNS
14-#17 Rich Allen
305 Sprints
1-#61A JP Compton
2-#1R Randy Roberts
3-#11 Terry Moore
4-#21 Eric Todd
5-#1 Joe Todd
6-#10 Clint Todd
7-#24 Andy Gill
8-#49 John Rowland
9-#3 Bill Kee
10-#9 Erik Enneking
11-#7 Scott Wedelstaat
Factory
1-#76 Kevin Brown
2-#160 Michael Maggard
3-#45 Robbie Bryant
4-#1 Tim Brown
5-#5* Steve Schultz
6-#5 Lake Mooneyham
7-#83 Tim Riffle
8-#48 Ward Fredrick
9-#17 Matt Miller
10-#H23 Jimmy Miller
11-#41 Jim Cox
12-#55 Danny Jones
13-#51 Bill Schar
14-#66 Steve Price-DNS
15-#25 Chad Smith-DNS
