By Ronnie Williams
Lebanon,Mo.-IMCA National LateModel Champion Justin Wells paid a surprise visit to the racing action at the high-banks of the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Sat.Night and came out $1000 richer after taking the lead from current point leader Jason Bodenhamer on the 19th lap and held on to capture the LateModel feature.
The feature had 1988 titlest Darrell Mooneyham grab the lead from his front row pole spot with Brian Schutt and Reggie Jackson in pursuit.On lap 2,Opening night winner Jason Bodenhamer came from his 7th starting spot to grab the second position and the battle was on as Moneyham and Lil Bodee went at it.The next lap Wells came charging through the field to gather third as Rookie Brandon Maggard joined the battle.On lap 6,the yellow waved for Bob Cummings car as the field bunched-up. On the restart, Moneyham, Bodenhamer and Wells were thrilling the crowd with some great high groove,low groove action as Mooneyham kept on the bottom,while Bodenhamer was working the top side.The yellow waved on lap 8 as Veteran Dale Moon stalled in turn 3 as Bodenhamer took over the top spot while Wells powered to the runner-up position.As the Green waved,the lead duo pullede away from the field as Mooneyham had his hands full as Dave Ware,Maggard,and Brain Schutt were battling for position.Ouut in clear track,Bodenhamer pulled as much as 7 car lengths away from Wells,who had is MARS Car out racing for the first time this year.On lap 17,the lead duo began hitting lapped traffic with the low groove being the place to be at this time.Once in traffic,Wells closed up to 2 cars and on lap 19,Bodee rocketed his Buzzard/GRT from the low groove to the high side working traffic and got alittle sideways heading through the traffic on the backstretch.It was there that Wells made the low side pass and began to pull away,keeping lapped traffic between himself and the I-44 point leader Bodenhamer.At the checkered,it was Wells claiming his first ever I-44 win followed by Bodenhamer,Dave Ware,Maggard and Schutt in the top 5.
"This is sweet!"exclaimed Wells.We have been running IMCA very strong and being the National champ is wonderful,but we wanted to try alittle something different,and after running the Show-Me Series last night in Arkansas,I thought maybe running the open show might let me try some different things.This is a different car from our IMCA Car and tonight it was hooked-up.I don't know if I could have caught Jason,but it was going to be a good finish for the fans.I enjoyed racing him tonight.We ran clean and Darell Moneyham gave us a good run early in the race.We will return as this place is a blast to run on!" 11 of the 18 starters finished on the lead lap.
In the Modified feature,Jason Russell took the opening lead,but a crash on the frontstretch involving James Hartzell forced a restart.On the tart,Russell again powered to the front as James Hartman and Erik Maggard followed in tow.Russell looked strong for the opening 4 laps,but then Hartman made a low side move to gather the lead followed closely by Maggard,Jamie Ragland and a fast moving Keith Branson.With Hartman glued to the bottom,Maggard tried several laps to make a move to the front as Hartman held the spot.On lap 11,point leader Eric Hudson began his charge to the front runners gathered third place from Branson on lap 12.With Maggard making several looks up high,Hartman held the low groove in check and captured his first I-44 Modified feature win followed closely by Maggard, Hudson, Branson, and Ragland at the stripe.
The SuperStock feature Had Jason Otto jump to the early lead as looked as if his hard-luck streak would end as he pulled away from the field as much as 14 cars.On lap 2 of the feature, point leader Larry Prewitt moved into second place and began his charge to the front while the battle for third was tight between Tim Brown,Craig Mentz,Tim Petty ,and Joe Miller.On lap 9,Prewitt ran down leader Otto and took control. On the next lap,Otto pulled in with overheating problems as Prewitt recorded his second consectutive feature win followed by Brown, Miller, Mentz, and Tim Petty in a strong battle for positions.
Being a car sponsor and friend sometimes helps as the FactoryStocks took to the track for there 15 lap feature as 23 strong took the green flag with Ferrell Mansfield taking the early control as Burl Woods,Kenny Carroll,Hobie johnson,Bobby Williams(driving Tim Brown's FactoryStock),and Sonny Nicewanner were battling for position.On lap 3,Woods shot the cheery red bomb to the front with Nicewanner,mansfield,Carroll,Johnson, and Williams in pursuit.Two laps later woods would smoke heavily taking him out of action as Nicewanner took control.On lap 5,Nicewanner pulled in with problems Giving the lead to Bobby Williams.On lap 6,the red came out for an engine fire under Darrin Bonthious car halting the field.On the restart,Williams who sponsors Tim Brown's FactoryStock found himself in front with veteran drivers Hobie Johnson,Carroll,and a fast moving 14 year old Micheal Maggard who had started 20th on the field coming on strong.With 2 to go,Williams kept the nose straight and recorded his first ever victory followed closely by Johnson, Maggard, Carroll,and early leader Mansfield.
The Bomber feature saw plenty of action in the pack as 23 strong took the opening green as Dusty Rhoades took control early and never looked back while the battle for positions were jockeying back and forth between David Nash,Lonnie Henderson, Justin Foust, Donnie Jackson,Richard Weber,and KC Prettyman. With Rhoades staying out in front,the crowd turned to the second place battles as positons were swapped back and forth.On the final lap,Rhoades smoothly worked the lapped traffic in recording his first win this season as the 5 car battle for runner-up spot found Richard Weber sneaking his way to second followed closely by Henderson,Prettyman,and Jackson as Justin Foust spun on the final lap setting up the mad dash to the finish.
The MidWest Limited Sprint Cars would find Scott Wedelstadt jumping to the early lead.A lap 3 red flag for Joe todd,Eric Todd,Matt Tatro,and Judy Juhl would bunch up the field and saw Joe Todd flipping on his wing but returned to action.On the restart,Wedelstadt battled Clint Todd and Terry Moore as Clint took over control and held off Moore's charges in recording his first win this season.Following the lead duo to the stripe were Tatro,Joe Todd,and early leader Wedelstadt.
Racing resumes next Sat Night with the gates opening at 5 and Racing to begin at 7:30 Sharp while the early season point battles heat-up.On May 1st,The O'Reilly AutoParts MARS Super LateModels come into town for there first of 3 visits this season
Results LateModels 1st Ht-Justin Wells-Crane 2)LeRoy Johnson-Brookline 3)Dale Moon-Sedalia 4)Chris Comer-Kansas City
2nd Ht-Jason Bodenhamer-Centerview 2)Brandon Maggard-Willard 3)Darrell Mooneyham-Aurora 4)Brian Schutt-Lebanon
3rd Ht-Dave Ware-Springfield 2)Bob Cummings-Sedalia 3)John Farmer-Clinton 4)Reggie Jackson-Lebanon
A ft-1)Wells 2)Bodenhamer 3)Ware 4)Maggard 5)Schutt 6)Mooneyham 7)Johnson 8)Larry Jones-ElDoradoSprings 9)Comer 10)Steve Oerly-Jamesport
Modifieds
1st Ht-Keith Branson-Springfield 2)Eric Lampe-Springfield 3)Jamie Ragland-Lebanon 4)Eric Hudson-Rolla
2nd Ht-Erik Maggard-Pleasant Hope 2)Jason Russell-Henley 3)James Hartman-Eldridge 4)Chris Johnson-Lebanon
A Ft-1)Hartman 2)Maggard 3)Hudson 4)Branson 5)Ragland 6)Russell 7)Johnson 8)Justin Newman-Waynesville 9)Todd Rainey 10)Lampe
SuperStocks
1st Ht-Dave Bozich-Laurie 2)Craig Mentz-Kansas City 3)Joey Miller 4)Trent Harrison-Crocker
2nd Ht-Larry Prewitt-Jerome 2)Jason Otto-Richland 3)Ben Newell-Camdenton 4)Tim Brown-Stoutland
A Ft-1)Prewitt 2)Brown 3)Miller 4)Mentz 5)Tim Petty-Marshfield 6)Josh Woody-Waynesville 7)Harrison 8)Shawn Danuser-Linn Creek 9)Otto 10)Rick Brown-Stoutland
FactoryStocks
1st Ht-Hobie Johnson-Sarcoxie 2)Kenny Carroll-Camdenton 3)Ed Schutt-Richland 4)Jason Huey-Swedborg
2nd Ht-Bobby Williams-Olathe,Kansas 2)Lake mooneyham-Republic 3)Rich Allen-Laquey 4)Harvey Quick-
3rd Ht-Steve Schultz-Lebanon 2)Burl Woods-Republic 3)Sonny Nicewanner-Rolla 4)Ferrell Mansfield-Manshfield
A Ft-1)Williams 2)Johnson 3)Micheal Maggard-Springfield 4)Carroll 5)Mansfield 6)Mooneyham 7)Schutt 8)Jason Huey-Richland 9)Jason Reckker-Camdenton 10)Allen
Bombers
1st Ht-Lonnie Henderson-Lebanon 2)Derrick Peterson-Lebanon 3)Brandon Knutdson-Lebanon 4)David Nash-Lebanon
2nd Ht-Pat Lubbock-Lebanon 2)Richard Weber-Cuba 3)David Hndrix-Richland 4)Donnie Jackson-Lebanon
3rd Ht-Dusty Rhoades-Lebanon 2)KC Prettyman-Waynesville 3)Micheal Teeters-Lebanon 4)Justin Foust-Stoutland
A Ft-1)Rhoades 2)Weber 3)Henderson 4)Prettyman 5)Jackson 6)Knutdson 7)Chad Cromer-Lebanon 8)Peterson 9)Rusty Jeffries-Linn Creek 10)Lubbock
305 Sprints
1st Ht-Joe Todd-Falcon 2)Eric Todd-Falcon 3)Mat Tatro-Phillipsburg 4)Scott Bennett-Lebanon
2nd Ht-Terry Moore-Grain Valley 2)Clint Todd-Falcon 3)Chad Johnson-Joplin 4)Jody Juhl-Lebanon
A Ft-Clint Todd 2)Moore 3)Tatro 4)Joe Todd 5)Scott Wedelstadt-Lebanon 6)Bennett 7)Juhl 8)Johnson 9)Doug Rose-Ionia,Mo 10)Doug Fry-Joplin
Lebanon,Mo.-IMCA National LateModel Champion Justin Wells paid a surprise visit to the racing action at the high-banks of the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Sat.Night and came out $1000 richer after taking the lead from current point leader Jason Bodenhamer on the 19th lap and held on to capture the LateModel feature.
The feature had 1988 titlest Darrell Mooneyham grab the lead from his front row pole spot with Brian Schutt and Reggie Jackson in pursuit.On lap 2,Opening night winner Jason Bodenhamer came from his 7th starting spot to grab the second position and the battle was on as Moneyham and Lil Bodee went at it.The next lap Wells came charging through the field to gather third as Rookie Brandon Maggard joined the battle.On lap 6,the yellow waved for Bob Cummings car as the field bunched-up. On the restart, Moneyham, Bodenhamer and Wells were thrilling the crowd with some great high groove,low groove action as Mooneyham kept on the bottom,while Bodenhamer was working the top side.The yellow waved on lap 8 as Veteran Dale Moon stalled in turn 3 as Bodenhamer took over the top spot while Wells powered to the runner-up position.As the Green waved,the lead duo pullede away from the field as Mooneyham had his hands full as Dave Ware,Maggard,and Brain Schutt were battling for position.Ouut in clear track,Bodenhamer pulled as much as 7 car lengths away from Wells,who had is MARS Car out racing for the first time this year.On lap 17,the lead duo began hitting lapped traffic with the low groove being the place to be at this time.Once in traffic,Wells closed up to 2 cars and on lap 19,Bodee rocketed his Buzzard/GRT from the low groove to the high side working traffic and got alittle sideways heading through the traffic on the backstretch.It was there that Wells made the low side pass and began to pull away,keeping lapped traffic between himself and the I-44 point leader Bodenhamer.At the checkered,it was Wells claiming his first ever I-44 win followed by Bodenhamer,Dave Ware,Maggard and Schutt in the top 5.
"This is sweet!"exclaimed Wells.We have been running IMCA very strong and being the National champ is wonderful,but we wanted to try alittle something different,and after running the Show-Me Series last night in Arkansas,I thought maybe running the open show might let me try some different things.This is a different car from our IMCA Car and tonight it was hooked-up.I don't know if I could have caught Jason,but it was going to be a good finish for the fans.I enjoyed racing him tonight.We ran clean and Darell Moneyham gave us a good run early in the race.We will return as this place is a blast to run on!" 11 of the 18 starters finished on the lead lap.
In the Modified feature,Jason Russell took the opening lead,but a crash on the frontstretch involving James Hartzell forced a restart.On the tart,Russell again powered to the front as James Hartman and Erik Maggard followed in tow.Russell looked strong for the opening 4 laps,but then Hartman made a low side move to gather the lead followed closely by Maggard,Jamie Ragland and a fast moving Keith Branson.With Hartman glued to the bottom,Maggard tried several laps to make a move to the front as Hartman held the spot.On lap 11,point leader Eric Hudson began his charge to the front runners gathered third place from Branson on lap 12.With Maggard making several looks up high,Hartman held the low groove in check and captured his first I-44 Modified feature win followed closely by Maggard, Hudson, Branson, and Ragland at the stripe.
The SuperStock feature Had Jason Otto jump to the early lead as looked as if his hard-luck streak would end as he pulled away from the field as much as 14 cars.On lap 2 of the feature, point leader Larry Prewitt moved into second place and began his charge to the front while the battle for third was tight between Tim Brown,Craig Mentz,Tim Petty ,and Joe Miller.On lap 9,Prewitt ran down leader Otto and took control. On the next lap,Otto pulled in with overheating problems as Prewitt recorded his second consectutive feature win followed by Brown, Miller, Mentz, and Tim Petty in a strong battle for positions.
Being a car sponsor and friend sometimes helps as the FactoryStocks took to the track for there 15 lap feature as 23 strong took the green flag with Ferrell Mansfield taking the early control as Burl Woods,Kenny Carroll,Hobie johnson,Bobby Williams(driving Tim Brown's FactoryStock),and Sonny Nicewanner were battling for position.On lap 3,Woods shot the cheery red bomb to the front with Nicewanner,mansfield,Carroll,Johnson, and Williams in pursuit.Two laps later woods would smoke heavily taking him out of action as Nicewanner took control.On lap 5,Nicewanner pulled in with problems Giving the lead to Bobby Williams.On lap 6,the red came out for an engine fire under Darrin Bonthious car halting the field.On the restart,Williams who sponsors Tim Brown's FactoryStock found himself in front with veteran drivers Hobie Johnson,Carroll,and a fast moving 14 year old Micheal Maggard who had started 20th on the field coming on strong.With 2 to go,Williams kept the nose straight and recorded his first ever victory followed closely by Johnson, Maggard, Carroll,and early leader Mansfield.
The Bomber feature saw plenty of action in the pack as 23 strong took the opening green as Dusty Rhoades took control early and never looked back while the battle for positions were jockeying back and forth between David Nash,Lonnie Henderson, Justin Foust, Donnie Jackson,Richard Weber,and KC Prettyman. With Rhoades staying out in front,the crowd turned to the second place battles as positons were swapped back and forth.On the final lap,Rhoades smoothly worked the lapped traffic in recording his first win this season as the 5 car battle for runner-up spot found Richard Weber sneaking his way to second followed closely by Henderson,Prettyman,and Jackson as Justin Foust spun on the final lap setting up the mad dash to the finish.
The MidWest Limited Sprint Cars would find Scott Wedelstadt jumping to the early lead.A lap 3 red flag for Joe todd,Eric Todd,Matt Tatro,and Judy Juhl would bunch up the field and saw Joe Todd flipping on his wing but returned to action.On the restart,Wedelstadt battled Clint Todd and Terry Moore as Clint took over control and held off Moore's charges in recording his first win this season.Following the lead duo to the stripe were Tatro,Joe Todd,and early leader Wedelstadt.
Racing resumes next Sat Night with the gates opening at 5 and Racing to begin at 7:30 Sharp while the early season point battles heat-up.On May 1st,The O'Reilly AutoParts MARS Super LateModels come into town for there first of 3 visits this season
Results LateModels 1st Ht-Justin Wells-Crane 2)LeRoy Johnson-Brookline 3)Dale Moon-Sedalia 4)Chris Comer-Kansas City
2nd Ht-Jason Bodenhamer-Centerview 2)Brandon Maggard-Willard 3)Darrell Mooneyham-Aurora 4)Brian Schutt-Lebanon
3rd Ht-Dave Ware-Springfield 2)Bob Cummings-Sedalia 3)John Farmer-Clinton 4)Reggie Jackson-Lebanon
A ft-1)Wells 2)Bodenhamer 3)Ware 4)Maggard 5)Schutt 6)Mooneyham 7)Johnson 8)Larry Jones-ElDoradoSprings 9)Comer 10)Steve Oerly-Jamesport
Modifieds
1st Ht-Keith Branson-Springfield 2)Eric Lampe-Springfield 3)Jamie Ragland-Lebanon 4)Eric Hudson-Rolla
2nd Ht-Erik Maggard-Pleasant Hope 2)Jason Russell-Henley 3)James Hartman-Eldridge 4)Chris Johnson-Lebanon
A Ft-1)Hartman 2)Maggard 3)Hudson 4)Branson 5)Ragland 6)Russell 7)Johnson 8)Justin Newman-Waynesville 9)Todd Rainey 10)Lampe
SuperStocks
1st Ht-Dave Bozich-Laurie 2)Craig Mentz-Kansas City 3)Joey Miller 4)Trent Harrison-Crocker
2nd Ht-Larry Prewitt-Jerome 2)Jason Otto-Richland 3)Ben Newell-Camdenton 4)Tim Brown-Stoutland
A Ft-1)Prewitt 2)Brown 3)Miller 4)Mentz 5)Tim Petty-Marshfield 6)Josh Woody-Waynesville 7)Harrison 8)Shawn Danuser-Linn Creek 9)Otto 10)Rick Brown-Stoutland
FactoryStocks
1st Ht-Hobie Johnson-Sarcoxie 2)Kenny Carroll-Camdenton 3)Ed Schutt-Richland 4)Jason Huey-Swedborg
2nd Ht-Bobby Williams-Olathe,Kansas 2)Lake mooneyham-Republic 3)Rich Allen-Laquey 4)Harvey Quick-
3rd Ht-Steve Schultz-Lebanon 2)Burl Woods-Republic 3)Sonny Nicewanner-Rolla 4)Ferrell Mansfield-Manshfield
A Ft-1)Williams 2)Johnson 3)Micheal Maggard-Springfield 4)Carroll 5)Mansfield 6)Mooneyham 7)Schutt 8)Jason Huey-Richland 9)Jason Reckker-Camdenton 10)Allen
Bombers
1st Ht-Lonnie Henderson-Lebanon 2)Derrick Peterson-Lebanon 3)Brandon Knutdson-Lebanon 4)David Nash-Lebanon
2nd Ht-Pat Lubbock-Lebanon 2)Richard Weber-Cuba 3)David Hndrix-Richland 4)Donnie Jackson-Lebanon
3rd Ht-Dusty Rhoades-Lebanon 2)KC Prettyman-Waynesville 3)Micheal Teeters-Lebanon 4)Justin Foust-Stoutland
A Ft-1)Rhoades 2)Weber 3)Henderson 4)Prettyman 5)Jackson 6)Knutdson 7)Chad Cromer-Lebanon 8)Peterson 9)Rusty Jeffries-Linn Creek 10)Lubbock
305 Sprints
1st Ht-Joe Todd-Falcon 2)Eric Todd-Falcon 3)Mat Tatro-Phillipsburg 4)Scott Bennett-Lebanon
2nd Ht-Terry Moore-Grain Valley 2)Clint Todd-Falcon 3)Chad Johnson-Joplin 4)Jody Juhl-Lebanon
A Ft-Clint Todd 2)Moore 3)Tatro 4)Joe Todd 5)Scott Wedelstadt-Lebanon 6)Bennett 7)Juhl 8)Johnson 9)Doug Rose-Ionia,Mo 10)Doug Fry-Joplin
