By Brennon Willard
Lebanon, Mo.- Second generation superstar Terry Phillips, of Springfield, Mo., continued his hot streak Saturday night at the high banks of the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, much to the delight of the huge crowd of more than 4,000 people who showed up for a perfect night for racing.
Greenbriar, Arkansas’ Bill Frye started on the pole along side of last years track champion Republic’s Brad Looney of the 40-lap $3,000 to win feature. Frye would lead the first lap, but Phillips, after starting in third position, was glued to his back bumper.
Phillips would not wait long to make his move, after trying Frye on the inside for a couple laps, he moved to the outside and would try to make the pass on the outside. The next few laps saw the two former I-44 Speedway weekly competitors battling it out for the top spot, with Phillips on the top and Frye on the bottom of the very fast and smooth track.
Phillips took the lead for good on lap eight, with Frye still pressuring him. The only caution of the race would come out just as Phillips was working his way through lap traffic for Gary Stobla’s spin in turn four.
Phillips wasted no time to jump out to a commanding lead on the restart, leaving the 19 drivers following well behind him. While the “Terry Phillips Show” was going on out in front, the race for second place became furious, as Arkansas Jeff Taylor got a jump on Frye on the restart and took over second place. Frye would try to retake second, but would not be able to overtake Taylor.
The huge crowd got exactly what they wanted, as crowd favorites Phillips, Frye and Lebanon’s own Brandon McCormick were all in contention for the $3,000 top prize. McCormick quickly made his way up through the field from his 11th starting position to sixth by lap seven. McCormick had his car hooked up on the bottom and would pass “young gun” Will Vaught for fourth position on lap 15.
The top four would pull away from the rest of the field, leaving the battle for fifth between Oklahoma’s Raymond Merrill and Arkansas Jeff Floyd well behind. The two would run side by side for several laps until Floyd finally completed the pass on lap 26 and began trying to run down McCormick.
Taylor tried to run Phillips down in lap traffic, but Phillips had other ideas, as soon as he would carefully and patiently clear the lap cars, Phillips would quickly pull away from Taylor.
Phillips would cruise to the very popular win, with Taylor, Frye, McCormick and Floyd following him to the line.
Philips increased his point lead from ten points coming in to the race to 116 points after the race, after Wendall Wallace was unable to make the trip to Lebanon due to prior commitments.
The modified race saw a familiar face back in victory lane with Erik Maggard taking the victory in dominating fashion. Starting from the pole position, Maggard jumped out to the lead on the first lap and would quickly jump ahead of the field.
The only caution of the race came on lap four when Lebanon’s Reggie Jackson spun his car in turn one. Maggard quickly broke away from the field once again on the restart, leaving everyone else battling for second position.
The battle for second was a five car battle between Steve Martin, Eric Lampe, Lebanon’s Jamie Ragland, rookie Justin Newman and Jason Meadors. The five of them would run three wide and two by two for several laps, with Martin getting second on lap eight.
Martin tired to run Maggard down after taking second place away from Meadors, but would come up shot with Maggard taking the victory. Maggard and Martin were followed to the line by; Lampe, Ragland and Newman rounded out the top five in a very exciting race.
Larry Prewitt finally got win number 14 of the season, starting on the pole and leading every lap of the 15-lap feature. Last weeks winner Josh Woody came charging up from the rear of the field after spinning on the opening lap and looked to have something for Prewitt. Woody needed a caution, but would run out of laps, as point leader Prewitt took the victory. Woody, Mike Joplin, Tim Petty and Dave Bozich would finish in the top five behind Prewitt’s once again dominating performance.
The “wild” race of the night turned out to be the factory stock feature. Sean Williams took the lead form Michael Maggard on the first lap but the field would immediately be slowed by caution for David Hendrix and Matt Miller’s spin in turn one. The field would be stopped four more times the next four laps until everyone finally decided to stop wrecking on lap six.
While all the crashing was going on Sean Williams held the lead with last week’s winner Kevin Brown in hot pursuit. Brown pressured Williams and finally passed Brown on lap eight.
Tim Brown and Rick Lebow came charging to the front and would quickly battle Williams for the second position. Lebow would finally get around Williams after a restart on lap 13 and tried to catch Brown.
Brown held on to win his second feature in a row, followed by Lebow, Williams, Brown and Robbie Bryant finished in fifth place.
Lebanon’s Dusty Rhoades took the victory in the 12-lap caution free bomber feature. Rhoades and Lebanon’s Lonnie Henderson started on the front row and quickly started battling for the top spot with Rhoades taking the lead on lap one and never looked back leading every lap to take the victory.
Points racing will resume next Saturday night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. with racing at 7:30 p.m. The MARS Stars and Cars will be back for the $10,000 to win Second Annual Fall Shootout on September 24 and 25, 2004.
Lebanon, Mo.- Second generation superstar Terry Phillips, of Springfield, Mo., continued his hot streak Saturday night at the high banks of the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, much to the delight of the huge crowd of more than 4,000 people who showed up for a perfect night for racing.
Greenbriar, Arkansas’ Bill Frye started on the pole along side of last years track champion Republic’s Brad Looney of the 40-lap $3,000 to win feature. Frye would lead the first lap, but Phillips, after starting in third position, was glued to his back bumper.
Phillips would not wait long to make his move, after trying Frye on the inside for a couple laps, he moved to the outside and would try to make the pass on the outside. The next few laps saw the two former I-44 Speedway weekly competitors battling it out for the top spot, with Phillips on the top and Frye on the bottom of the very fast and smooth track.
Phillips took the lead for good on lap eight, with Frye still pressuring him. The only caution of the race would come out just as Phillips was working his way through lap traffic for Gary Stobla’s spin in turn four.
Phillips wasted no time to jump out to a commanding lead on the restart, leaving the 19 drivers following well behind him. While the “Terry Phillips Show” was going on out in front, the race for second place became furious, as Arkansas Jeff Taylor got a jump on Frye on the restart and took over second place. Frye would try to retake second, but would not be able to overtake Taylor.
The huge crowd got exactly what they wanted, as crowd favorites Phillips, Frye and Lebanon’s own Brandon McCormick were all in contention for the $3,000 top prize. McCormick quickly made his way up through the field from his 11th starting position to sixth by lap seven. McCormick had his car hooked up on the bottom and would pass “young gun” Will Vaught for fourth position on lap 15.
The top four would pull away from the rest of the field, leaving the battle for fifth between Oklahoma’s Raymond Merrill and Arkansas Jeff Floyd well behind. The two would run side by side for several laps until Floyd finally completed the pass on lap 26 and began trying to run down McCormick.
Taylor tried to run Phillips down in lap traffic, but Phillips had other ideas, as soon as he would carefully and patiently clear the lap cars, Phillips would quickly pull away from Taylor.
Phillips would cruise to the very popular win, with Taylor, Frye, McCormick and Floyd following him to the line.
Philips increased his point lead from ten points coming in to the race to 116 points after the race, after Wendall Wallace was unable to make the trip to Lebanon due to prior commitments.
The modified race saw a familiar face back in victory lane with Erik Maggard taking the victory in dominating fashion. Starting from the pole position, Maggard jumped out to the lead on the first lap and would quickly jump ahead of the field.
The only caution of the race came on lap four when Lebanon’s Reggie Jackson spun his car in turn one. Maggard quickly broke away from the field once again on the restart, leaving everyone else battling for second position.
The battle for second was a five car battle between Steve Martin, Eric Lampe, Lebanon’s Jamie Ragland, rookie Justin Newman and Jason Meadors. The five of them would run three wide and two by two for several laps, with Martin getting second on lap eight.
Martin tired to run Maggard down after taking second place away from Meadors, but would come up shot with Maggard taking the victory. Maggard and Martin were followed to the line by; Lampe, Ragland and Newman rounded out the top five in a very exciting race.
Larry Prewitt finally got win number 14 of the season, starting on the pole and leading every lap of the 15-lap feature. Last weeks winner Josh Woody came charging up from the rear of the field after spinning on the opening lap and looked to have something for Prewitt. Woody needed a caution, but would run out of laps, as point leader Prewitt took the victory. Woody, Mike Joplin, Tim Petty and Dave Bozich would finish in the top five behind Prewitt’s once again dominating performance.
The “wild” race of the night turned out to be the factory stock feature. Sean Williams took the lead form Michael Maggard on the first lap but the field would immediately be slowed by caution for David Hendrix and Matt Miller’s spin in turn one. The field would be stopped four more times the next four laps until everyone finally decided to stop wrecking on lap six.
While all the crashing was going on Sean Williams held the lead with last week’s winner Kevin Brown in hot pursuit. Brown pressured Williams and finally passed Brown on lap eight.
Tim Brown and Rick Lebow came charging to the front and would quickly battle Williams for the second position. Lebow would finally get around Williams after a restart on lap 13 and tried to catch Brown.
Brown held on to win his second feature in a row, followed by Lebow, Williams, Brown and Robbie Bryant finished in fifth place.
Lebanon’s Dusty Rhoades took the victory in the 12-lap caution free bomber feature. Rhoades and Lebanon’s Lonnie Henderson started on the front row and quickly started battling for the top spot with Rhoades taking the lead on lap one and never looked back leading every lap to take the victory.
Points racing will resume next Saturday night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. with racing at 7:30 p.m. The MARS Stars and Cars will be back for the $10,000 to win Second Annual Fall Shootout on September 24 and 25, 2004.
