(Pevely, MO – 15 Sep 00) Don O'Neal came out smoking on the first night of the I-55 Raceway Pepsi Nationals. O'Neal started the night by qualify 5th fastest which gave him a front row starting spot in the dash. O'Neal jumped out front in the dash and led the entire event and earned a front row starting position in the 25 laps feature. O'Neal jumped out in front of Billy Moyer on the first lap of the feature and never looked back. O'Neal led all 25 laps en route to the victory. Meanwhile, Moyer began to fade and Kevin Weaver moved into the runner up position. Randy Korte moved up through the field and finished third. I-55 track champion Ed Dixon came home fourth, Mike Mullvain finished fifth and Billy Moyer came home sixth.
Gary May provided the big scare of the night in the dash as he climbed the turn two wall and flipped over. Ed Dixon clipped May's car as he was flipping. Both drivers were okay, but it ended May's night. Kevin Weaver set fast time and the heat winners were Matt Taylor, Jim Durbin, Randy Korte and Bob Pierce.
In the UMP Modified division, track champion Scott Weber put on another dominating performance. Weber swept through all his events by winning his heat, dash and feature event. Dean Hoffman ran a comfortable second. Jim Shereck and Brian Collins crossed the line in a dead heat for third with Shereck just edging Collins out. Eric Mabery rounded out the top five. Brian Collins, Eric Mabery, Leroy Haney and Brian Wolfmeier won the other heat races.
The Sportsman division found a brand new winner in the winner's circle as Gary Haynes held off some hard chargers to pick up the victory. An incident on the front stretch as they came down to take the checkered flag shook up the finishing order for the rest of the field. Mark Blanke was running second but lost the left rear axle coming down to take the checkered. Cars scattered to miss the debris causing fourth place runner Dan Dixon to get spun on the front stretch. Scott Stuppy found his way through and finished second. Mark Blanke limped across the line and finished third. Track champion Paul Belken finished fourth and Tory Ernst came home fifth. Heat winners were Ernst, Scott Haynes, Gary Haynes and Mark Blanke. Scott Haynes also won the dash.
| UMP LATE MODELS | UMP MODIFIEDS | AARA SPORTSMAN |
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Other Cars Present 33 Jason Frankel 45 Gary May 87 Ken Rumble 20 Mark Gansmann |
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Other Cars Present 31 Mark Anderson |
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Other Cars Present 51 John Hoffman 128 Tom Smallwood 35 Mark Stolle 18G Jeremy Greenwalt |