(LEBANON, Missouri . . . by Zack Morgan) It was another hot and humid Saturday night of ASA sanctioned racing at Lebanon I-44 Speedway, with young Chrissy Wallace of Concord, North Carolina once again etching her name into the repeat winners list at I-44 in the Late Model class, along with Nixa’s Tyler Scott in the Modifieds. It was also a night of first time winners, as Toby Harden, Joe Bunkers and Josh Ratliff all took their inaugural trips to Monster Energy Victory Lane this season.
It was a race of attrition in the ASA feature division Late Models once again, as I-44 regulars Jeremy Manes, Brian Brown, Mike Slone, Dale Roper Jr, Ken Dickinson, Grant Sharp, Robert Baltzell, Jim Reeves and Chris Beaver couldn’t run the whole racing distance for one reason or the other. Things got started with a bang, as three laps into the race Robert Baltzell of Nixa was involved in a race incident forcing an end to his night. Problems ensued next for championship points leader Ken Dickenson, Camdenton, as he was involved in contact with Wallace around the halfway mark, effectively taking him out of contention. While all this was going on, there was a great battle at the front between Fair Grove campaigner Dale Roper, Jr. and Steve Holt of Strafford. Holt would take the lead from Roper on the bottom, but Roper would grab it right back on the next lap. With three to go, Roper broke a wheel hub and was forced to retire from the event. Holt reassumed the lead, with defending Late Model Champion Mike Slone of Rolla second and Springfield’s Jim Vanzandt riding third. Coming out of turn four after the green there was major contact between Slone and Holt, forcing Slone to retire and Holt to go to the rear of the field. That set the stage for Vanzandt and Wallace to do battle, with Holt running behind them with just two laps to go. Vanzandt held the lead for one lap, but got loose coming out of turn two and sealing the deal for Wallace to get her second victory of the season.
The mighty Modified feature saw Lebanon’s Mike Coryell grabbing the early lead, with Jason Otto of Richland following him. Tyler Scott had to start at the rear of the field, due to his victory in the ‘Hillbilly 50’ Modified feature on the previous Saturday night, and quickly made his way through traffic to follow right behind Otto for the lead. Scott made his way to the topside, passing Otto, and never looked back as he would make it two feature event wins in a row.
The Outlaw Mini Stocks were back again on Saturday night, as Harrisonville hot shoe Joe Bunkers rocketed to an early lead in the. Late in the race a caution flag scrunched the field back together and gave Michael Deschenes of Lees Summit a chance to take the victory. The pair were side by side coming into turn three of the final lap, but in a drag race to the checkers Bunkers was able to pull ahead and take his first trip to victory lane.
In the popular 4-cylinder Charger class, it was a “three horse race” in the 15-lap feature, with Belle’s Shawn Jones, Camdenton’s Seth Jacobs and Rolla’s Josh Ratliff all showing the way at the front of the field. With two laps remaining, however, Ratliff would take the lead and his first victory of the season. And there was no competition for Toby Harden of Ozark in the Sportsman stock car class this week, as he would ride the middle groove for his first victory of the season, while Camdenton newcomer Dustin Reeves bested Rogersville racers Mike Scott and Steve Shaw, driving his way to a career-first feature win in the Road Warrior class.
I-44 Speedway will present the track’s annual Independence Day weekend show next Saturday night, July 2nd, with a special 50-lap main event for Late Models and a full program for all five ASA stock car classes, plus a huge aerial fireworks display. Gates are slated to open at 5:00 pm, with racing beginning at 7:30 and the fireworks following the Late Model ‘Firecracker 50’ feature race. Additional information about Lebanon I-44 Speedway is available online at www.i44speedway.net.
| RACE RESULTS FOR June 25, 2011 | ||||||||||||
| LATE MODELS | ||||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 10 | Dale Roper Jr | HEAT 2 | 1) | 35 | Steve Holt | |||||
| 2) | 21 | Ken Dickinson | 2) | 67 | Jimmy Vanzandt | |||||||
| 3) | 77 | Mike Slone | 3) | 16 | Robert Baltzell | |||||||
| 4) | 93 | Chrissy Wallace | 4) | 45 | Chris Beaver | |||||||
| 5) | 20 | Austin Fullerton | 5) | O2 | Brian Brown | |||||||
| 6) | 2 | Grant Sharp | 6) | 18-DNS | Jim Reeves | |||||||
| 7) | 7-DNS | Jeremy Manes | 7) | |||||||||
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| FEATURE | 1) | 93 | Chrissy Wallace | Concord NC | ||||||||
| 2) | 67 | Jimmy Vanzandt | Springfield | |||||||||
| 3) | 35 | Steve Holt | Strafford | |||||||||
| 4) | 20 | Austin Fullerton | Chelsea OK | |||||||||
| 5) | 77 | Mike Slone | Rolla | |||||||||
| 6) | 10 | Dale Roper Jr | Fair Grove | |||||||||
| 7) | 21 | Ken Dickinson | Camdenton | |||||||||
| 8) | 2 | Grant Sharp | Conway | |||||||||
| 9) | 7 | Jeremy Manes | Nixa | |||||||||
| 10) | 16 | Robert Baltzell | Nixa | |||||||||
| 11) | 18 | Jim Reeves | Strafford | |||||||||
| 12) | 45-DNS | Chris Beaver | ||||||||||
| 13) | O2-DNS | Brian Brown | ||||||||||
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| MODIFIEDS | ||||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 57 | Tyler Scott | HEAT 2 | 1) | 26 | Payton Lucas | |||||
| 2) | 5 | Mike Coryell | 2) | 66 | Terry Taylor | |||||||
| 3) | 8 | Jason Otto | 3) | 25 | Stephen Counterman | |||||||
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| FEATURE | 1) | 57 | Tyler Scott | Nixa | ||||||||
| 2) | 5 | Mike Coryell | Lebanon | |||||||||
| 3) | 8 | Jason Otto | Richland | |||||||||
| 4) | 66 | Terry Taylor | Fair Grove | |||||||||
| 5) | 26 | Payton Lucas | Fair Grove | |||||||||
| 6) | 25 | Stephen Counterman | Fair Grove | |||||||||
| 7) | 45-DNS | Mike Winfrey | Waynesville | |||||||||
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| SPORTSMAN | ||||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 10 | Rick Sharp | HEAT 2 | 1) | # | NAME | |||||
| 2) | 7 | Aaron Douglas | 2) | |||||||||
| 3) | 1 | Toby Harden | 3) | |||||||||
| 4) | 83 | JC Newell | 4) | |||||||||
| 5) | 63 | Chuck Higdon | 5) | |||||||||
| 6) | 29 | Rex Sawyer | 6) | |||||||||
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| FEATURE | 1) | 1 | Toby Harden | Ozark | ||||||||
| 2) | 10 | Rick Sharp | Fair Grove | |||||||||
| 3) | 7 | Aaron Douglas | Lebanon | |||||||||
| 4) | 83 | JC Newell | Stoutland | |||||||||
| 5) | 63 | Chuck Higdon | Strafford | |||||||||
| 6) | 29 | Rex Sawyer | Ava | |||||||||
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| ROAD WARRIOR | ||||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 90 | Steve Shaw | HEAT 2 | 1) | # | NAME | |||||
| 2) | 34 | Mike Scott | 2) | |||||||||
| 3) | 6 | Dustin Reeves | 3) | |||||||||
| 4) | 35 | Gary Ball | 4) | |||||||||
| FEATURE | 1) | 6 | Dustin Reeves | Camdenton | ||||||||
| 2) | 34 | Mike Scott | Rogersville | |||||||||
| 3) | 90 | Steve Shaw | Rogersville | |||||||||
| 4) | 35 | Gary Ball | Lebanon | |||||||||
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| CHARGERS | ||||||||||||
| HEAT 1 | 1) | 10 | Gary Davenport | HEAT 2 | 1) | 21 | Josh Ratliff | |||||
| 2) | 17 | John Sims | 2) | 25 | Seth Jacobs | |||||||
| 3) | 5 | Jimmy Poindexter | 3) | 7 | Shawn Jones | |||||||
| 4) | 34 | Caston Jones | 4) | |||||||||
| 5) | ||||||||||||
| FEATURE | 1) | 21 | Josh Ratliff | Rolla | ||||||||
| 2) | 25 | Seth Jacobs | Camdenton | |||||||||
| 3) | 7 | Shawn Jones | Belle | |||||||||
| 4) | 10 | Gary Davenport | Lebanon | |||||||||
| 5) | 5 | Jimmy Poindexter | Willard | |||||||||
| 6) | 34 | Caston Jones | Belle | |||||||||
| 7) | 17 | John Sims | Springfield | |||||||||
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| OMSRA Outlaw Mini Stocks | ||||||||||||
| Heat 1 | 1) | 86 | Michael Deschenes | 1) | 4 | Joe Bunker | ||||||
| 2) | 12 | Ashley Deschenes | 2) | 27 | Tyler Berry | |||||||
| 3) | 26 | Kevin Hunt | 3) | 80 | JW Blankenship | |||||||
| 4) | 71 | Tiffany Stewart | 4) | |||||||||
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| Feature | 1) | 4 | Joe Bunkers | Harrisonville | ||||||||
| 2) | 86 | Michael Deschenes | Lees Summit | |||||||||
| 3) | 12 | Ashley Deschenes | Lees Summit | |||||||||
| 4) | 26 | Kevin Hunt | Springhill KS | |||||||||
| 5) | 27 | Tyler Berry | Springhill KS | |||||||||
| 6) | 80 | JW Blankenship | Warrensburg | |||||||||
| 7) | 71 | Tiffany Stewart | Warrensburg | |||||||||
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—
Zack Morgan