LEBANON- Factory Stock driver David Hendrix, of Buckhorn, can spend hours on his car each week, taking it apart, changing shocks and springs, and setting it on the scales.
In the past, that time has paid off at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, putting Hendrix second in the season points with 10 wins.
But Saturday night, those long hours spent on his car paid him $2,000 when he won the first-ever Factory Stock Fall Nationals race at the speedway, beating out drivers from all over Missouri and Arkansas.
"It's like the home court advantage," Hendrix said about racing on his home track. "I've raced here for about three years now and I'm getting a good feel for the track. I can kind of take a good look at it before the race and get a good idea of where I should be running."
He laughed and said his hefty check wasn't going to be used to celebrate, but went directly back in to his car to pay his engine builder, Jim Ruble.
Hendrix won his heat race during Friday night qualifying races and also won the trophy dash setting him on the pole for the race.
"I always feel like you're a sitting duck up there and everyone can kind of see, you know," Hendrix said, "when you have pretty equal cars, it seems like the guy in second can always find something a little better or see where you're not getting through the corners as good."
Scott Simmons started on the outside pole with John Turner, Tim Brown and Chad Smith rounding out the starting five for the 20-car feature.
On the start, Brown took the high side of the track, driving his way to third. By lap seven, he had secured second place.
On lap eight, Turner, who was in fourth place, got a little loose, allowing Dee Kelly to come charging with Bobby Maggard Jr. following close behind.
Lake Mooneyham also had momentum working for him as he drove on the outside of the track to take a solid sixth place by lap 10. Mooneyham started the feature 19th after spinning out in his heat race Friday night. He qualified to the main feature after taking third in the B feature.
Maggard continued his run, taking third by lap 16 when he began a charge on the outside, taking second from Brown on lap 18 where he finished the feature.
With only a few laps left in the feature, Mooneyham went three wide in turns one and two with Brown and Maggard, but spun out, ending his run.
Maggard, of Republic, started the feature ninth after winning the qualifying dash Friday night for the ninth through 16th positions.
"There are a lot of tough cars here, but I knew from the start that Hendrix would be the one, I tried to keep my eye on him," Maggard said. I knew from the start he would be the one I would have to deal with at the end. He had a good car; I couldn't run with him on those short runs."
Maggard also had a cool payday of $1,500. "It's good," he said. "We don't run for much during the week, on a weekly show, so it's kind of nice to run for a bigger purse."
Richland's Tim Brown took home third place and $1,000.
"I really can't complain, third's pretty good at any of these bigger races," Brown said. "I mean, I'd like to win, but I'm happy with third."
Brad Looney, of Republic, won the Late Model feature. The track points leader started the feature on the outside pole, but got the lead and kept it for all 20 laps. Dusty Johnston, of Flippin, Ark., started the feature fourth, but was able to drive hard to take second place.
In what could have been called a 20-lap marathon, Jeff Cutshaw, of Cross Timbers, won his ninth Modified feature of the season. The feature was plagued with cautions as several drivers spun out on the dry-slick track.
"It was pretty slick tonight, so you had to be real careful and drive it real smooth," Cutshaw said. "I think that's where a lot of those guys had so much trouble and why we had so many yellow flag laps - they were trying to overdrive those cars. It makes for a long night."
Cutshaw started the feature on the pole, followed by Gary Blackburn, Steve Martin, Tony Jackson Jr. and Dave Elson.
Cutshaw was able to hold first the entire race, but admitted that cautions are not welcomed for the race leader. "Any time you have a caution you lose your focus and you don't hit your marks when you get in the corners and it takes a couple laps to get your rhythm back," Cutshaw said.
By the fifth lap, Crocker's Justin Neuman, who started the feature sixth, had taken second place, but was hotly contested by Jackson, of Lebanon. With two laps remaining in the feature, Jackson went inside to take second place from Neuman for his best finish at the track this season.
Modified chassis builder Scotty Allen was at the track Saturday night to watch the outcome of his drivers and his cars. The top three cars in the feature - Cutshaw, Jackson and Neuman - were all Allen Autosports cars.
"We pretty much run top five cars every week and a lot of times, there are a lot of drivers that help each other and I get feedback from all of them," Allen said. "What one helps me with, we can help another one with and we can keep everyone up there."
Allen also had nothing but good things to say about Cutshaw and how he fits into the Allen Autosports program.
"Jeff is probably one of my elder racers, one of the older guys on our team" he said. "A lot of my guys are younger racers, but being that he's over the 40-age, that helps us out with a lot of experience and wisdom."
Allen can frequently be seen at I-44 Speedway, wandering around the grandstands and the pits on a Saturday night. He hopes that within a week, he will bring his own car back out on the track to race instead of just watch.
In the Super Stock division, Mike Joplin returned to the track after a long break to take the win in the second night out in his car. Donnie Jackson was able to hold off points-leader Jason Huey to take the win in the Bomber class. J.C. Morton won first in the Rookie division.
NOTES:
---Driver comes back to same track, new surface
Veteran driver Chuck Knight, of Fort Smith, Ark., made the long drive to come race in the Factory Stock Fall Nationals.
"I was wanting to come back to the track I had been to before and see how it changed," he said.
The weekend was the first time Knight had been back to the speedway to race in 15 years. Knight had previously raced at the speedway in 1991 in the Winston Racing Series, driving a pavement Late Model. He said in 1991, he won Rookie of the Year honors and achieved a top three points finish.
Knight also was the crew chief for Jamie McMurray when he raced at the speedway in the mid-1990s.
Knight started the Factory Stock feature 12th and finished 10th, missing his goal of achieving a top-five finish.
"I just missed the set up really," he said. "I was loose getting in and loose getting out. I was just hanging on, waiting for the race to be over. I wasn't going to gain any spots.
"I enjoyed it and hopefully they will do it again and we'll be back," Knight said.
--- Drag racing cars displayed
Jim Ruble and his wife Sally brought the fans a special attraction Saturday night.
Ruble, LeRoy Tarr and Dustin Cline all brought drag racing cars for display Saturday night.
Ruble's pristine 1961 Corvette was just recently completed, sporting an engine he custom built himself. Tarr, who runs a Covette, and Cline, who runs a Lumina, also have Ruble Racing Engines in their cars.
Ruble is a two-time World Champion drag racer in the American Hot Rod Association, winning championships in 1976 and 1982. He has three runner-up world championships in both the AHRA and the National Hot Rod Association and three second runner-up world championships in the AHRA and NHRA.
Ruble's business, Ruble Racing Engines, was the main sponsor of the 2006 Factory Stock Fall Nationals weekend.
---Selfless giving
Factory Stock driver Lonnie Henderson, of Lebanon, qualified for the main feature in the top eight Friday night, but initially thought he wouldn't be able to return for Saturday's feature.
Henderson had extreme engine problems, but good friend and Bomber driver Landen Johnson, of Falcon, stepped up to help. Johnson loaned Henderson the motor out of his own Bomber to allow Henderson to run the feature.
Johnson then borrowed the car of Jacob Fry so he could compete in the points standings in the Bomber class Saturday night.
Henderson came in ninth in the Factory Stock feature and Johnson came in seventh in the Bomber feature.
---MARS action to get hot this weekend
The Mid America Racing Series will start its Missouri swing at Bolivar Speedway USA on Friday night and continue on to I-44 Speedway on Saturday night.
MARS regulars Bill Frye, Terry Phillips and Jeff Floyd should all be on hand racing local drivers like Brandon McCormick and Brad Looney.
Grandstand adult admission will be $15 and gates will open at 5 p.m. Racing will start at 7:30 p.m.
RESULTS
Factory Stock B Feature, top four transferred
1. 45 Robbie Bryant
2. 25ds Dale Senters
3. 5 Lake Mooneyham
4. m18 Ferrell Mansfield
5. 28 Josh Franklin
6. 140 Ed Wilson
DNS 11 Derrick Brown
Factory Stock Main Feature
1. 54 David Hendrix
2. 160 Bobby Maggard Jr.
3. 1 Tim Brown
4. 94 Kenny Carroll
5. 45 Robbie Bryant
6. 8 Darrin Fox
7. 35 Dee Kelly
8. 3t John Turner
9. 76 Lonnie Henderson
10. 12 Chuck Knight
11. 37p Derrick Peterson
12. m18 Ferrell Mansfield
13. 37w Kelly Wallander
14. 06 Scott Simmons
15. 72 Ben Solberg
16. 5 Lake Mooneyham
17. 25ds Dale Senters
18. 25cs Chad Smith
19. 89 Ted Ballinger
DNS 01 Jeremy Huffman
Late Model
Heat 1
1. 60 Darrin Barton
2. 20 Darrell Mooneyham
3. 16 Dusty Johnston
4. 99 Larry Jones
5. 17 Matt Miller
6. 26 Burl Woods
Heat 2
1. 55 Dave Ware
2. 14L Brad Looney
3. 1 Christian Rayburn
4. 28 Leroy Johnson
5. 4a Danny Atkinson
6. 72 Larry Moon
Feature
1. Brad Looney
2. Dusty Johnston
3. Dave Ware
4. Burl Woods
5. Christian Rayburn
6. Matt Miller
7. Larry Moon
8. Danny Atkinson
9. Darrell Mooneyham
10. Larry Jones
11. Leroy Johnson
12. Darrin Barton
Modified
Heat 1
1. 98 Jeff Cutshaw
2. 56 Tony Jackson Jr.
3. 11 Jimmy Willis
4. 2k Robert Kirkland
5. 23 Mook Cunningham
6. 6 Tony Blue
7. 19 Anthony Carnal
Heat 2
1. 21m Steve Martin
2. 71e Dave Elson
3. 44 Robert Hopkins
4. 59 Jimmy Bellamy
5. 4g Bill Glawson
6. 87 Jack Jones
7. 47 Corey Simpson
Heat 3
1. 26 Gary Blackburn
2. 14n Justin Neuman
3. 31 Erik Maggard
4. 88d Rusty Dukes
5. 25v Ted VanZandt
6. 78 Troy Young
7. 0 Jason Meadors
Feature
1. Jeff Cutshaw
2. Tony Jackson Jr.
3. Justin Neuman
4. Bill Glawson
5. Gary Blackburn
6. Rusty Dukes
7. Steve Martin
8. Jimmy Bellamy
9. Ted VanZandt
10. Dave Elson
11. Robert Kirkland
12. Robert Hopkins
13. Anthony Carnal
14. Tony Blue
15. Jimmy Willis
16. Jack Jones
17. Mook Cunningham
18. Erik Maggard
19. Corey Simpson
20. Troy Young
Super Stock
Heat 1
1. 18 Mike Joplin
2. 21 Josh Woody
3. 10 Brent Bartgis
4. 17t Ted Ballinger
5. 5 Steve Rees
6. 85 David Saffeels
Heat 2
1. 83 Ben Newell
2. 41 James Flood
3. 8 Jeff Scroggins
4. 02 Michael Stafford
5. 14 Tim Ballinger
6. t10 Rick Brown
Feature
1. 18 Mike Joplin
2. 41 James Flood
3. 83 Ben Newell
4. 8 Jeff Scroggins
5. 21 Josh Woody
6. 14 Tim Ballinger
7. t10 Rick Brown
8. 17t Ted Ballinger
9. 5 Steve Rees
10. 10b Brent Bartgis
11. 02 Michael Stafford
DNS 85 David Saffeels
Bomber
Heat 1
1. 23 Jason Huey
2. 7m Michael Merritt
3. 32 Joe Francis
4. 42 Donnie Jackson
5. 67 Kevin Morrison
6. 244 Richard Talley
7. 111 Kenny Carter
8. 47 Lance Bahnmiller
Heat 2
1. t10t Tyler Brown
2. 82 Todd McIntyre
3. t10b Brian Miller
4. 5 Landen Johnson
5. 7p Brandon Pister
6. 44 Dennis Harmon
7. 63 Pat Lubbock
DNS 14s Shawn Strong
Feature
1. Donnie Jackson
2. Jason Huey
3. Tyler Brown
4. Brandon Pister
5. Brian Miller
6. Joe Francis
7. Landen Johnson
8. Todd McIntyre
9. Michael Merritt
10. Kenny Carter
11. Pat Lubbock
12. Lance Bahnmiller
13. Dennis Harmon
14. Richard Talley
15. Kevin Morrison
16. Shawn Strong
Rookie
Heat
1. 7r Rich Reynolds
2. 6 J.C. Morton
3. 7L Josh Lewis
4. 07 Tim Hall
Feature
1. J.C. Morton
2. Josh Lewis
3. Tim Hall
4. Rich Reynolds
In the past, that time has paid off at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, putting Hendrix second in the season points with 10 wins.
But Saturday night, those long hours spent on his car paid him $2,000 when he won the first-ever Factory Stock Fall Nationals race at the speedway, beating out drivers from all over Missouri and Arkansas.
"It's like the home court advantage," Hendrix said about racing on his home track. "I've raced here for about three years now and I'm getting a good feel for the track. I can kind of take a good look at it before the race and get a good idea of where I should be running."
He laughed and said his hefty check wasn't going to be used to celebrate, but went directly back in to his car to pay his engine builder, Jim Ruble.
Hendrix won his heat race during Friday night qualifying races and also won the trophy dash setting him on the pole for the race.
"I always feel like you're a sitting duck up there and everyone can kind of see, you know," Hendrix said, "when you have pretty equal cars, it seems like the guy in second can always find something a little better or see where you're not getting through the corners as good."
Scott Simmons started on the outside pole with John Turner, Tim Brown and Chad Smith rounding out the starting five for the 20-car feature.
On the start, Brown took the high side of the track, driving his way to third. By lap seven, he had secured second place.
On lap eight, Turner, who was in fourth place, got a little loose, allowing Dee Kelly to come charging with Bobby Maggard Jr. following close behind.
Lake Mooneyham also had momentum working for him as he drove on the outside of the track to take a solid sixth place by lap 10. Mooneyham started the feature 19th after spinning out in his heat race Friday night. He qualified to the main feature after taking third in the B feature.
Maggard continued his run, taking third by lap 16 when he began a charge on the outside, taking second from Brown on lap 18 where he finished the feature.
With only a few laps left in the feature, Mooneyham went three wide in turns one and two with Brown and Maggard, but spun out, ending his run.
Maggard, of Republic, started the feature ninth after winning the qualifying dash Friday night for the ninth through 16th positions.
"There are a lot of tough cars here, but I knew from the start that Hendrix would be the one, I tried to keep my eye on him," Maggard said. I knew from the start he would be the one I would have to deal with at the end. He had a good car; I couldn't run with him on those short runs."
Maggard also had a cool payday of $1,500. "It's good," he said. "We don't run for much during the week, on a weekly show, so it's kind of nice to run for a bigger purse."
Richland's Tim Brown took home third place and $1,000.
"I really can't complain, third's pretty good at any of these bigger races," Brown said. "I mean, I'd like to win, but I'm happy with third."
Brad Looney, of Republic, won the Late Model feature. The track points leader started the feature on the outside pole, but got the lead and kept it for all 20 laps. Dusty Johnston, of Flippin, Ark., started the feature fourth, but was able to drive hard to take second place.
In what could have been called a 20-lap marathon, Jeff Cutshaw, of Cross Timbers, won his ninth Modified feature of the season. The feature was plagued with cautions as several drivers spun out on the dry-slick track.
"It was pretty slick tonight, so you had to be real careful and drive it real smooth," Cutshaw said. "I think that's where a lot of those guys had so much trouble and why we had so many yellow flag laps - they were trying to overdrive those cars. It makes for a long night."
Cutshaw started the feature on the pole, followed by Gary Blackburn, Steve Martin, Tony Jackson Jr. and Dave Elson.
Cutshaw was able to hold first the entire race, but admitted that cautions are not welcomed for the race leader. "Any time you have a caution you lose your focus and you don't hit your marks when you get in the corners and it takes a couple laps to get your rhythm back," Cutshaw said.
By the fifth lap, Crocker's Justin Neuman, who started the feature sixth, had taken second place, but was hotly contested by Jackson, of Lebanon. With two laps remaining in the feature, Jackson went inside to take second place from Neuman for his best finish at the track this season.
Modified chassis builder Scotty Allen was at the track Saturday night to watch the outcome of his drivers and his cars. The top three cars in the feature - Cutshaw, Jackson and Neuman - were all Allen Autosports cars.
"We pretty much run top five cars every week and a lot of times, there are a lot of drivers that help each other and I get feedback from all of them," Allen said. "What one helps me with, we can help another one with and we can keep everyone up there."
Allen also had nothing but good things to say about Cutshaw and how he fits into the Allen Autosports program.
"Jeff is probably one of my elder racers, one of the older guys on our team" he said. "A lot of my guys are younger racers, but being that he's over the 40-age, that helps us out with a lot of experience and wisdom."
Allen can frequently be seen at I-44 Speedway, wandering around the grandstands and the pits on a Saturday night. He hopes that within a week, he will bring his own car back out on the track to race instead of just watch.
In the Super Stock division, Mike Joplin returned to the track after a long break to take the win in the second night out in his car. Donnie Jackson was able to hold off points-leader Jason Huey to take the win in the Bomber class. J.C. Morton won first in the Rookie division.
NOTES:
---Driver comes back to same track, new surface
Veteran driver Chuck Knight, of Fort Smith, Ark., made the long drive to come race in the Factory Stock Fall Nationals.
"I was wanting to come back to the track I had been to before and see how it changed," he said.
The weekend was the first time Knight had been back to the speedway to race in 15 years. Knight had previously raced at the speedway in 1991 in the Winston Racing Series, driving a pavement Late Model. He said in 1991, he won Rookie of the Year honors and achieved a top three points finish.
Knight also was the crew chief for Jamie McMurray when he raced at the speedway in the mid-1990s.
Knight started the Factory Stock feature 12th and finished 10th, missing his goal of achieving a top-five finish.
"I just missed the set up really," he said. "I was loose getting in and loose getting out. I was just hanging on, waiting for the race to be over. I wasn't going to gain any spots.
"I enjoyed it and hopefully they will do it again and we'll be back," Knight said.
--- Drag racing cars displayed
Jim Ruble and his wife Sally brought the fans a special attraction Saturday night.
Ruble, LeRoy Tarr and Dustin Cline all brought drag racing cars for display Saturday night.
Ruble's pristine 1961 Corvette was just recently completed, sporting an engine he custom built himself. Tarr, who runs a Covette, and Cline, who runs a Lumina, also have Ruble Racing Engines in their cars.
Ruble is a two-time World Champion drag racer in the American Hot Rod Association, winning championships in 1976 and 1982. He has three runner-up world championships in both the AHRA and the National Hot Rod Association and three second runner-up world championships in the AHRA and NHRA.
Ruble's business, Ruble Racing Engines, was the main sponsor of the 2006 Factory Stock Fall Nationals weekend.
---Selfless giving
Factory Stock driver Lonnie Henderson, of Lebanon, qualified for the main feature in the top eight Friday night, but initially thought he wouldn't be able to return for Saturday's feature.
Henderson had extreme engine problems, but good friend and Bomber driver Landen Johnson, of Falcon, stepped up to help. Johnson loaned Henderson the motor out of his own Bomber to allow Henderson to run the feature.
Johnson then borrowed the car of Jacob Fry so he could compete in the points standings in the Bomber class Saturday night.
Henderson came in ninth in the Factory Stock feature and Johnson came in seventh in the Bomber feature.
---MARS action to get hot this weekend
The Mid America Racing Series will start its Missouri swing at Bolivar Speedway USA on Friday night and continue on to I-44 Speedway on Saturday night.
MARS regulars Bill Frye, Terry Phillips and Jeff Floyd should all be on hand racing local drivers like Brandon McCormick and Brad Looney.
Grandstand adult admission will be $15 and gates will open at 5 p.m. Racing will start at 7:30 p.m.
RESULTS
Factory Stock B Feature, top four transferred
1. 45 Robbie Bryant
2. 25ds Dale Senters
3. 5 Lake Mooneyham
4. m18 Ferrell Mansfield
5. 28 Josh Franklin
6. 140 Ed Wilson
DNS 11 Derrick Brown
Factory Stock Main Feature
1. 54 David Hendrix
2. 160 Bobby Maggard Jr.
3. 1 Tim Brown
4. 94 Kenny Carroll
5. 45 Robbie Bryant
6. 8 Darrin Fox
7. 35 Dee Kelly
8. 3t John Turner
9. 76 Lonnie Henderson
10. 12 Chuck Knight
11. 37p Derrick Peterson
12. m18 Ferrell Mansfield
13. 37w Kelly Wallander
14. 06 Scott Simmons
15. 72 Ben Solberg
16. 5 Lake Mooneyham
17. 25ds Dale Senters
18. 25cs Chad Smith
19. 89 Ted Ballinger
DNS 01 Jeremy Huffman
Late Model
Heat 1
1. 60 Darrin Barton
2. 20 Darrell Mooneyham
3. 16 Dusty Johnston
4. 99 Larry Jones
5. 17 Matt Miller
6. 26 Burl Woods
Heat 2
1. 55 Dave Ware
2. 14L Brad Looney
3. 1 Christian Rayburn
4. 28 Leroy Johnson
5. 4a Danny Atkinson
6. 72 Larry Moon
Feature
1. Brad Looney
2. Dusty Johnston
3. Dave Ware
4. Burl Woods
5. Christian Rayburn
6. Matt Miller
7. Larry Moon
8. Danny Atkinson
9. Darrell Mooneyham
10. Larry Jones
11. Leroy Johnson
12. Darrin Barton
Modified
Heat 1
1. 98 Jeff Cutshaw
2. 56 Tony Jackson Jr.
3. 11 Jimmy Willis
4. 2k Robert Kirkland
5. 23 Mook Cunningham
6. 6 Tony Blue
7. 19 Anthony Carnal
Heat 2
1. 21m Steve Martin
2. 71e Dave Elson
3. 44 Robert Hopkins
4. 59 Jimmy Bellamy
5. 4g Bill Glawson
6. 87 Jack Jones
7. 47 Corey Simpson
Heat 3
1. 26 Gary Blackburn
2. 14n Justin Neuman
3. 31 Erik Maggard
4. 88d Rusty Dukes
5. 25v Ted VanZandt
6. 78 Troy Young
7. 0 Jason Meadors
Feature
1. Jeff Cutshaw
2. Tony Jackson Jr.
3. Justin Neuman
4. Bill Glawson
5. Gary Blackburn
6. Rusty Dukes
7. Steve Martin
8. Jimmy Bellamy
9. Ted VanZandt
10. Dave Elson
11. Robert Kirkland
12. Robert Hopkins
13. Anthony Carnal
14. Tony Blue
15. Jimmy Willis
16. Jack Jones
17. Mook Cunningham
18. Erik Maggard
19. Corey Simpson
20. Troy Young
Super Stock
Heat 1
1. 18 Mike Joplin
2. 21 Josh Woody
3. 10 Brent Bartgis
4. 17t Ted Ballinger
5. 5 Steve Rees
6. 85 David Saffeels
Heat 2
1. 83 Ben Newell
2. 41 James Flood
3. 8 Jeff Scroggins
4. 02 Michael Stafford
5. 14 Tim Ballinger
6. t10 Rick Brown
Feature
1. 18 Mike Joplin
2. 41 James Flood
3. 83 Ben Newell
4. 8 Jeff Scroggins
5. 21 Josh Woody
6. 14 Tim Ballinger
7. t10 Rick Brown
8. 17t Ted Ballinger
9. 5 Steve Rees
10. 10b Brent Bartgis
11. 02 Michael Stafford
DNS 85 David Saffeels
Bomber
Heat 1
1. 23 Jason Huey
2. 7m Michael Merritt
3. 32 Joe Francis
4. 42 Donnie Jackson
5. 67 Kevin Morrison
6. 244 Richard Talley
7. 111 Kenny Carter
8. 47 Lance Bahnmiller
Heat 2
1. t10t Tyler Brown
2. 82 Todd McIntyre
3. t10b Brian Miller
4. 5 Landen Johnson
5. 7p Brandon Pister
6. 44 Dennis Harmon
7. 63 Pat Lubbock
DNS 14s Shawn Strong
Feature
1. Donnie Jackson
2. Jason Huey
3. Tyler Brown
4. Brandon Pister
5. Brian Miller
6. Joe Francis
7. Landen Johnson
8. Todd McIntyre
9. Michael Merritt
10. Kenny Carter
11. Pat Lubbock
12. Lance Bahnmiller
13. Dennis Harmon
14. Richard Talley
15. Kevin Morrison
16. Shawn Strong
Rookie
Heat
1. 7r Rich Reynolds
2. 6 J.C. Morton
3. 7L Josh Lewis
4. 07 Tim Hall
Feature
1. J.C. Morton
2. Josh Lewis
3. Tim Hall
4. Rich Reynolds
