by Andrew McNaughton/Lebanon I-44 Speedway PR
(Lebanon) While it was a night of championships Saturday at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, Late Model driver Brad Looney unveiled his new ride and put on a clinic while getting ready for the big two-night 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial MARS-MLRA Fall Shootout this Friday and Saturday. In fact, even as the season points championship came to a close Saturday night, all of the drivers were eagerly looking forward to racing for bonus money all September long at Lebanon's fastest track.
Brad Looney brought out the brand new white painted #14L Saturday night, but his car didn't remain clean for long. Looney and Burl Woods tangled during the 8-lap heat race, which caused some slight cosmetic damage to the Late Model. During the 20-lap feature, Looney wasted little time moving through the field up to the front. He left Chris Smyser and Dustin Mooneyham in his dust on the way to his latest Late Model feature win. Looney was modest in his assessment of his new ride.
"It felt pretty good," the 2006 Late Model champion said from Victory Lane. "I wanted to see if this car was as good as my other car, and I think it might be."
Looney has two extremely fast Late Models to choose from when he comes back to the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Friday and Saturday to compete for $10,000 in the 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial MARS-MLRA Fall Shootout this Friday and Saturday.
Republic driver Dustin Mooneyham has been consistent all year long, and despite not capturing a feature win at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, he claimed the 2007 Allstate Late Model Season Championship Saturday night.
The Lebanon I-44 Speedway is a sanctioned USRA track, and that organization awards points for the A-Modifieds on a different points system than other classes at the speedway. This unfortunately kept the track from being able to crown an A-Modified champion Saturday night, though the championship will either go to Tony Jackson Jr. or
2006 Modified Champion Justin Neuman. Rookie David Hendrix, who won 5 races on the year, suffered engine problems in the past several weeks, which took him out of the championship contention.
Tony Jackson Jr. found little difficulty securing his second feature A-Modified feature win of the year with his fast #56 Modified Saturday night. Justin Neuman came in third, keeping the points chase close.
"We started the year out not going to run for points, but then we wound up right in the middle of it," Jackson Jr. said following his win. "Whoever wins it, they deserve it," he said, praising his closest competition Hendrix and Neuman.
Despite some struggles in recent weeks, Factory Stock driver Kris Jackson capped off his championship season with one more feature win Saturday night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway.
"We had a little mechanical problem last week and it was my fault,"
the Lebanon driver said after the race.
Jackson dominated the Factory Stock class all year long, with feature win streaks of 3- and 4-in-a-row. Saturday night, he left the field well behind him. He does not plan to switch classes in the upcoming off-season.
"I really like this class," the 2007 Factory Stock champion said.
"It's a lot of competition and a lot of fun."
Jackson added that there is some extra incentive to stick with Factory Stocks for 2008: "There's a few of these Bomber drivers that say they'll give me a hard time next year, so I'll probably just stick with this"
B-Modified driver Josh Woody finished third in the 15-lap feature Saturday night to capture the first championship in this new class for 2007. Several weeks back, Woody saw other B-Modified drivers like Jason Otto and Jim Hayes catching up with him in the points standings.
He countered that by knocking off feature wins and Top 3 finishes in nearly all of the remaining races.
"We went to work on the car and got it working better for us," Woody commented on how he was able to run away with the championship in the last several weeks.
Colt Cheevers won the B-Mod feature ahead of Hayes and Woody by driving the high line around the high banked clay. This was his first appearance at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway in 2007, and he was impressed by the competition.
"I had to drive fast to get around Hayes and Woody," Cheevers said from victory lane. "They are awful fast guys."
Meanwhile, Landin Johnson claimed the Bomber championship Saturday night with his fifth place finish in the 12-lap feature. Johnson was elated to be the champion, but also seemed exhausted after competing for the title since mid-April.
"This points racing is a real hard deal," Johnson commented from the pits. "It's on hard the cars by the end of the year."
Johnson, however, will be back racing for the remainder of the year, including the Bomber 500 on September 8, where the winner receives $500 in prize money. "Oh yeah, it's mine," Johnson said confidently.
Chris Darnell won his first Bomber feature at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Saturday night,
"It feels great to finally get a win here at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway," said Darnell. "Hopefully it gets me some momentum going into the next two weekends".
He had to hold off a hard charging JC Morton to secure the victory.
"I knew he was right on my bumper," said Darnell of his closest competition. Morton, who won last week, finished second in another strong run.
Capping off the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Season Championship was a down-to-the-wire points battle in the Rookie class between Rich Reynolds and Josh Lewis. Reynolds went into the 12-lap feature 7 points behind Lewis. While Reynolds was able to capture his 6th victory of the year, Lewis was crowned champion thanks to his second place finish Saturday night. Both drivers have brought excitement to the Rookie class all year long.
This Friday and Saturday, the Lebanon I-44 Speedway holds the 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial MARS-MLRA Fall Shootout. Come out to see your favorite MARS drivers like Terry Phillips, Bill Frye, Will Vaught, and Lebanon's Brandon McCormick. Friday night, the Lebanon
I-44 Speedway will hold qualifying heats for the front of the field, plus a qualifying feature, and a $1,000-to-win A-Modified race.
Saturday night, qualifying MARS heats for the back of the field and the 40-lap $10,000-to-win Late Model feature will be held, along with feature races in the Factory Stock, B-Modified, and Bomber classes.
On Friday and Saturday, gates open at 5PM and racing begins at 7:30PM.
As always, kids 12 and under are admitted free at the family friendly Lebanon I-44 Speedway, located off of interstate exit 135, on Old Route 66.
Lebanon I-44 Speedway 8-25-07 Results (Season Championship)
ALLSTATE LATE MODEL
Heat 1 (8 laps):
1. 02 Dustin Mooneyham
2. 14L Brad Looney
3. 66 Justin Wells
4. 26 Burl Woods
5. 113 Cecil Brown
6. 25 Patrick Johnson
7. 6 Bob Cummins
Heat 2 (8 laps):
1. 00S Chris Smyser
2. 20 Darrell Mooneyham
3. 4S Rob Starkey
4. 7W Trace Westling
5. 14B Tim Ballinger
6. 14M Reid Millard
A-Main Feature (20 laps):
1. 14L Brad Looney
2. 00S Chris Smyser
3. 02 Dustin Mooneyham ***Season Champion***
4. 7W Trace Westling
5. 26 Burl Woods
6. 4S Rob Starkey
7. 14M Reid Millard
8. 25 Patrick Johnson
9. 6 Bob Cummins
10. 14B Tim Ballinger
11. 66 Justin Wells
12. 113 Cecil Brown
13. 20 Darrell Mooneyham
A-MODIFIED
Heat 1 (8 laps):
1. 56 Tony Jackson Jr.
2. 54 David Hendrix
3. 11W Don Luna
4. 9 Sam Petty
5. 14 Justin Neuman
Heat 2 (8 laps):
1. 87 Jack Jones
2. 2 Brian Brown
3. 23 Mookie Cunningham
4. T10 Rick Brown
A-Main Feature (15 laps):
1. 56 Tony Jackson Jr.**
2. 2 Brian Brown
3. 14 Justin Neuman**
4. 87 Jack Jones
5. 11W Don Luna
6. 23 Mookie Cunningham
7. 9 Sam Petty
8. T10 Rick Brown
DNS 54 David Hendrix
**Season Championship Pending Final USRA Points Standing
FACTORY STOCK
Heat 1 (8 laps):
1. 18 Jim Reaves
2. 67 Kevin Crider
3. 72 Tim Petty
4. 89 Justin Grindstaff
5. 76 Lonnie Henderson
6. 72 Ben Solberg
7. 95 Bud Pursley
8. 6W Carl Weaver
Heat 2 (8 laps):
1. 65 Kris Jackson
2. 27 Devin Wolansky
3. 11 Eric Todd
4. 83R Tim Riffle
5. 25 Mike Smith
6. 41J Dennis Jones
7. 01 Darral Martin
A-Main Feature (15 laps):
1. 65 Kris Jackson ***Season Champion***
2. 18 Jim Reaves
3. 83R Tim Riffle
4. 11 Eric Todd
5. 67 Kevin Crider
6. 76 Lonnie Henderson
7. 25 Mike Smith
8. 27 Devin Wolansky
9. 01 Darral Martin
10. 95 Bud Pursley
11. 72 Ben Solberg
12. 72 Tim Petty
13. 41J Dennis Jones
15. 89 Justin Grindstaff
DNS 6W Carl Weaver
B-MODIFIED
Heat 1 (8 laps):
1. 14H Jim Hayes
2. 45 Colt Cheevers
3. 00B Matt Brookshire
4. T10 Tyler Brown
5. 8 Jason Otto
6. 41T TR Phillips
7. 62 John Gardner
Heat 2 (8 laps):
1. 21 Josh Woody
2. 00W Ed Wilson
3. 17T Ted Ballinger
4. 199 Jim Thomas
5. 001 Adam Webber
6. 12 Andy Beauchamp
Heat 3 (8 laps):
1. 14N Shawn Nations
2. 37 Derrick Peterson
3. 52M Adam Brown
4. 73 Mickey Burrell
5. 18 Trent Harrison
6. 60 Josh Johnston
A-Main Feature (15 laps):
1. 45 Colt Cheevers
2. 14H Jim Hayes
3. 21 Josh Woody ***Season Champion***
4. 37 Derrick Peterson
5. T10 Tyler Brown
6. 14N Shawn Nations
7. 73 Mickey Burrell
8. 18 Trent Harrison
9. 8 Jason Otto
10. 41T TR Phillips
11. 12 Andy Beauchamp
12. 17T Ted Ballinger
13. 60 Josh Johnston
14.. 199 Jim Thomas
15. 00B Matt Brookshire
16. 52M Adam Brown
17. 001 Adam Webber
DNS 62 John Gardner
DNS 00W Ed Wilson
BOMBER
Heat 1 (6 laps):
1. 30 Chris Darnell
2. 32 Joe Francis
3. 21 Landin Johnson
4. 18 JC Morton
5. 70 Patrick West
6. 67 Kevin Morrison
Heat 2 (6 laps):
1. 64 Shawn Winfrey
2. 36 John Darnell
3. 14 Shawn Strong
4. 5 Billy Waters
5. 007 Adam Lowrance
6. 99 Mike Slone
A-Main Feature (12 laps):
1. 30 Chris Darnell
2. 18 JC Morton
3. 70 Patrick West
4. 67 Kevin Morrison
5. 21 Landin Johnson ***Season Champion***
6. 5 Billy Waters
7. 14 Shawn Strong
8. 64 Shawn Winfrey
9. 007 Adam Lowrance
10. 36 John Darnell
11. 99 Mike Slone
12. 32 Joe Francis
ROOKIE
Heat 1 (6 laps):
1. 7L Josh Lewis
2. 44 Tom Powers
3. 21 Corey Barker
4. 43 Trent Wagy
5. 41 David Wagy
Heat 2
1. 3 Shawna Brown
2. 7R Rich Reynolds
3. 66 Colt Barker
4. 36 Matt Doublin
5. 52 Kevin Smythe
A-Main Feature (12 laps)
1. 7R Rich Reynolds
2. 7L Josh Lewis ***Season Champion***
3. 66 Colt Barker
4. 21 Corey Barker
5. 44 Tom Powers
6. 36 Matt Doublin
7. 3 Shawna Brown
8. 43 Trent Wagy
9. 41 David Wagy
DNS 52 Kevin Smythe
(Lebanon) While it was a night of championships Saturday at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, Late Model driver Brad Looney unveiled his new ride and put on a clinic while getting ready for the big two-night 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial MARS-MLRA Fall Shootout this Friday and Saturday. In fact, even as the season points championship came to a close Saturday night, all of the drivers were eagerly looking forward to racing for bonus money all September long at Lebanon's fastest track.
Brad Looney brought out the brand new white painted #14L Saturday night, but his car didn't remain clean for long. Looney and Burl Woods tangled during the 8-lap heat race, which caused some slight cosmetic damage to the Late Model. During the 20-lap feature, Looney wasted little time moving through the field up to the front. He left Chris Smyser and Dustin Mooneyham in his dust on the way to his latest Late Model feature win. Looney was modest in his assessment of his new ride.
"It felt pretty good," the 2006 Late Model champion said from Victory Lane. "I wanted to see if this car was as good as my other car, and I think it might be."
Looney has two extremely fast Late Models to choose from when he comes back to the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Friday and Saturday to compete for $10,000 in the 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial MARS-MLRA Fall Shootout this Friday and Saturday.
Republic driver Dustin Mooneyham has been consistent all year long, and despite not capturing a feature win at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, he claimed the 2007 Allstate Late Model Season Championship Saturday night.
The Lebanon I-44 Speedway is a sanctioned USRA track, and that organization awards points for the A-Modifieds on a different points system than other classes at the speedway. This unfortunately kept the track from being able to crown an A-Modified champion Saturday night, though the championship will either go to Tony Jackson Jr. or
2006 Modified Champion Justin Neuman. Rookie David Hendrix, who won 5 races on the year, suffered engine problems in the past several weeks, which took him out of the championship contention.
Tony Jackson Jr. found little difficulty securing his second feature A-Modified feature win of the year with his fast #56 Modified Saturday night. Justin Neuman came in third, keeping the points chase close.
"We started the year out not going to run for points, but then we wound up right in the middle of it," Jackson Jr. said following his win. "Whoever wins it, they deserve it," he said, praising his closest competition Hendrix and Neuman.
Despite some struggles in recent weeks, Factory Stock driver Kris Jackson capped off his championship season with one more feature win Saturday night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway.
"We had a little mechanical problem last week and it was my fault,"
the Lebanon driver said after the race.
Jackson dominated the Factory Stock class all year long, with feature win streaks of 3- and 4-in-a-row. Saturday night, he left the field well behind him. He does not plan to switch classes in the upcoming off-season.
"I really like this class," the 2007 Factory Stock champion said.
"It's a lot of competition and a lot of fun."
Jackson added that there is some extra incentive to stick with Factory Stocks for 2008: "There's a few of these Bomber drivers that say they'll give me a hard time next year, so I'll probably just stick with this"
B-Modified driver Josh Woody finished third in the 15-lap feature Saturday night to capture the first championship in this new class for 2007. Several weeks back, Woody saw other B-Modified drivers like Jason Otto and Jim Hayes catching up with him in the points standings.
He countered that by knocking off feature wins and Top 3 finishes in nearly all of the remaining races.
"We went to work on the car and got it working better for us," Woody commented on how he was able to run away with the championship in the last several weeks.
Colt Cheevers won the B-Mod feature ahead of Hayes and Woody by driving the high line around the high banked clay. This was his first appearance at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway in 2007, and he was impressed by the competition.
"I had to drive fast to get around Hayes and Woody," Cheevers said from victory lane. "They are awful fast guys."
Meanwhile, Landin Johnson claimed the Bomber championship Saturday night with his fifth place finish in the 12-lap feature. Johnson was elated to be the champion, but also seemed exhausted after competing for the title since mid-April.
"This points racing is a real hard deal," Johnson commented from the pits. "It's on hard the cars by the end of the year."
Johnson, however, will be back racing for the remainder of the year, including the Bomber 500 on September 8, where the winner receives $500 in prize money. "Oh yeah, it's mine," Johnson said confidently.
Chris Darnell won his first Bomber feature at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Saturday night,
"It feels great to finally get a win here at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway," said Darnell. "Hopefully it gets me some momentum going into the next two weekends".
He had to hold off a hard charging JC Morton to secure the victory.
"I knew he was right on my bumper," said Darnell of his closest competition. Morton, who won last week, finished second in another strong run.
Capping off the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Season Championship was a down-to-the-wire points battle in the Rookie class between Rich Reynolds and Josh Lewis. Reynolds went into the 12-lap feature 7 points behind Lewis. While Reynolds was able to capture his 6th victory of the year, Lewis was crowned champion thanks to his second place finish Saturday night. Both drivers have brought excitement to the Rookie class all year long.
This Friday and Saturday, the Lebanon I-44 Speedway holds the 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial MARS-MLRA Fall Shootout. Come out to see your favorite MARS drivers like Terry Phillips, Bill Frye, Will Vaught, and Lebanon's Brandon McCormick. Friday night, the Lebanon
I-44 Speedway will hold qualifying heats for the front of the field, plus a qualifying feature, and a $1,000-to-win A-Modified race.
Saturday night, qualifying MARS heats for the back of the field and the 40-lap $10,000-to-win Late Model feature will be held, along with feature races in the Factory Stock, B-Modified, and Bomber classes.
On Friday and Saturday, gates open at 5PM and racing begins at 7:30PM.
As always, kids 12 and under are admitted free at the family friendly Lebanon I-44 Speedway, located off of interstate exit 135, on Old Route 66.
Lebanon I-44 Speedway 8-25-07 Results (Season Championship)
ALLSTATE LATE MODEL
Heat 1 (8 laps):
1. 02 Dustin Mooneyham
2. 14L Brad Looney
3. 66 Justin Wells
4. 26 Burl Woods
5. 113 Cecil Brown
6. 25 Patrick Johnson
7. 6 Bob Cummins
Heat 2 (8 laps):
1. 00S Chris Smyser
2. 20 Darrell Mooneyham
3. 4S Rob Starkey
4. 7W Trace Westling
5. 14B Tim Ballinger
6. 14M Reid Millard
A-Main Feature (20 laps):
1. 14L Brad Looney
2. 00S Chris Smyser
3. 02 Dustin Mooneyham ***Season Champion***
4. 7W Trace Westling
5. 26 Burl Woods
6. 4S Rob Starkey
7. 14M Reid Millard
8. 25 Patrick Johnson
9. 6 Bob Cummins
10. 14B Tim Ballinger
11. 66 Justin Wells
12. 113 Cecil Brown
13. 20 Darrell Mooneyham
A-MODIFIED
Heat 1 (8 laps):
1. 56 Tony Jackson Jr.
2. 54 David Hendrix
3. 11W Don Luna
4. 9 Sam Petty
5. 14 Justin Neuman
Heat 2 (8 laps):
1. 87 Jack Jones
2. 2 Brian Brown
3. 23 Mookie Cunningham
4. T10 Rick Brown
A-Main Feature (15 laps):
1. 56 Tony Jackson Jr.**
2. 2 Brian Brown
3. 14 Justin Neuman**
4. 87 Jack Jones
5. 11W Don Luna
6. 23 Mookie Cunningham
7. 9 Sam Petty
8. T10 Rick Brown
DNS 54 David Hendrix
**Season Championship Pending Final USRA Points Standing
FACTORY STOCK
Heat 1 (8 laps):
1. 18 Jim Reaves
2. 67 Kevin Crider
3. 72 Tim Petty
4. 89 Justin Grindstaff
5. 76 Lonnie Henderson
6. 72 Ben Solberg
7. 95 Bud Pursley
8. 6W Carl Weaver
Heat 2 (8 laps):
1. 65 Kris Jackson
2. 27 Devin Wolansky
3. 11 Eric Todd
4. 83R Tim Riffle
5. 25 Mike Smith
6. 41J Dennis Jones
7. 01 Darral Martin
A-Main Feature (15 laps):
1. 65 Kris Jackson ***Season Champion***
2. 18 Jim Reaves
3. 83R Tim Riffle
4. 11 Eric Todd
5. 67 Kevin Crider
6. 76 Lonnie Henderson
7. 25 Mike Smith
8. 27 Devin Wolansky
9. 01 Darral Martin
10. 95 Bud Pursley
11. 72 Ben Solberg
12. 72 Tim Petty
13. 41J Dennis Jones
15. 89 Justin Grindstaff
DNS 6W Carl Weaver
B-MODIFIED
Heat 1 (8 laps):
1. 14H Jim Hayes
2. 45 Colt Cheevers
3. 00B Matt Brookshire
4. T10 Tyler Brown
5. 8 Jason Otto
6. 41T TR Phillips
7. 62 John Gardner
Heat 2 (8 laps):
1. 21 Josh Woody
2. 00W Ed Wilson
3. 17T Ted Ballinger
4. 199 Jim Thomas
5. 001 Adam Webber
6. 12 Andy Beauchamp
Heat 3 (8 laps):
1. 14N Shawn Nations
2. 37 Derrick Peterson
3. 52M Adam Brown
4. 73 Mickey Burrell
5. 18 Trent Harrison
6. 60 Josh Johnston
A-Main Feature (15 laps):
1. 45 Colt Cheevers
2. 14H Jim Hayes
3. 21 Josh Woody ***Season Champion***
4. 37 Derrick Peterson
5. T10 Tyler Brown
6. 14N Shawn Nations
7. 73 Mickey Burrell
8. 18 Trent Harrison
9. 8 Jason Otto
10. 41T TR Phillips
11. 12 Andy Beauchamp
12. 17T Ted Ballinger
13. 60 Josh Johnston
14.. 199 Jim Thomas
15. 00B Matt Brookshire
16. 52M Adam Brown
17. 001 Adam Webber
DNS 62 John Gardner
DNS 00W Ed Wilson
BOMBER
Heat 1 (6 laps):
1. 30 Chris Darnell
2. 32 Joe Francis
3. 21 Landin Johnson
4. 18 JC Morton
5. 70 Patrick West
6. 67 Kevin Morrison
Heat 2 (6 laps):
1. 64 Shawn Winfrey
2. 36 John Darnell
3. 14 Shawn Strong
4. 5 Billy Waters
5. 007 Adam Lowrance
6. 99 Mike Slone
A-Main Feature (12 laps):
1. 30 Chris Darnell
2. 18 JC Morton
3. 70 Patrick West
4. 67 Kevin Morrison
5. 21 Landin Johnson ***Season Champion***
6. 5 Billy Waters
7. 14 Shawn Strong
8. 64 Shawn Winfrey
9. 007 Adam Lowrance
10. 36 John Darnell
11. 99 Mike Slone
12. 32 Joe Francis
ROOKIE
Heat 1 (6 laps):
1. 7L Josh Lewis
2. 44 Tom Powers
3. 21 Corey Barker
4. 43 Trent Wagy
5. 41 David Wagy
Heat 2
1. 3 Shawna Brown
2. 7R Rich Reynolds
3. 66 Colt Barker
4. 36 Matt Doublin
5. 52 Kevin Smythe
A-Main Feature (12 laps)
1. 7R Rich Reynolds
2. 7L Josh Lewis ***Season Champion***
3. 66 Colt Barker
4. 21 Corey Barker
5. 44 Tom Powers
6. 36 Matt Doublin
7. 3 Shawna Brown
8. 43 Trent Wagy
9. 41 David Wagy
DNS 52 Kevin Smythe
