Farmington, MO (August 13) – After a two week layoff from racing, St Francois County Raceway returned with a $5.00 Grandstand Night and a big crowd. The staff of Larry Heisel Rental was on hand to witness the clean sweep by points leader in the Jimmy Hurley. Not only was it a $5.00 night, but the moon was in full force. Hurley led the 25 lap affair from start to finish. Surviving a series of caution flags to claim his fourth feature of the season. By winning his heat, the dash and the A-Main, Hurley also collected his second Hat Trick of the season. The defending Champion of the division took off with Jimmy Bridgeman, Joey Montgomery, Tim Montgomery and Jason Keith in tow. Lap 6 found the first caution for a spinning machine of Brad Greer. Then a steady pace was not to be found. A couple of laps at a time until lap22 when the final caution came out for Rod Crabdree. Hurley did hang on for the win. He was chased across the line by Joey Montgomery for second. Steve Short with another fine run placed third. Tommy Worley, Jr after battling in traffic came in fourth and Tim Montgomery brings his car in fifth. In Victory Lane Hurley dedicated his win to Mary Lee Standridge. She is the mother of Robbie and Grandmother to Jeremy. She will be missed by all who new her. Mary was a longtime scorer in the Springfield, Illinois area. She also was a scorer for the United States Auto Club on various occasions and a member of the Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Mrs. Standridge passed away earlier in the evening.
Another fine finish in the A-Modified Division as the combination of Smith and Thompson finished first and second again. Kent Nations and Smith adorned the front row for this event. Nation took his mount to the lead and held for a short time. On lap 3, Smith found a groove to work with and went to the front. Kasey Nations and Brent Thompson were following the leaders and having their own battle for position. Lap 7 caution for a blown off oil filter. Preston Odom dropped the filter on the front straight. This bunched up the field for a restart. On the restart Tommy Worley, Sr had issues with his car. He was broke and out of the event. Matt Dotson, Chad Heady and Tom Vogt all had problem and brought cautions. Meanwhile, Smith would try to open up a lead. Thompson was running the high groove and it was working. However, getting close and passing a car is two different thing. Thompson had to settle for second. Matt Eaton has quietly been in the top five the last few outings, has made big strides to make his car fast and is still looking for his first win. Chris Hayes and Bill Nickelson survived to finish fourth and fifth respectively.
In a race that also saw numerous yellow flags, the feature event in the Modified B Division had plenty of action and a new winner. Greg Swearingem, Bismarck, MO, has made it to the Winners Circle for the first time in his young career. Starting from inside the second row, Swearingem looked very competitive in the early going. Mike Savage looked as if he was going to be the class of the field for the first four laps. Beginning lap 5 the #13 of Savage slowed quickly. Savage had his night come to an end with a broken driveshaft. This turned the lead over to the 2009 Pure Street Champion, Brian Blair. Blair who has limited time in the Modified looked as if he was very comfortable behind the wheel. Using his traditional high line Blair would lead laps 5 thru 8. Eddie Gross would take the lead and lead laps 9 and 10. He slipped to a different area of the track and Swearingem took advantage of this mistake and took over for good on lap 11.Eddie has been very consistent since week two. His talent will take to the Circle before the season is out. Swearingem did have his hands full as Gross tried to battle for the remaining laps only to have 2011 point leader, Kyle Stolzer, go passed for a runner up finish. Gross settled up in the thirds position. July 23rd winner, Shane Blair takes home fourth and C J Wright takes home fifth. This capped off his best run of his season.
Pure Street feature had the usual suspects at the front. Charlie Savage had the pole position for this event with Robbie Wells alongside. Savage built a big lead during the first 8 laps of the event. Behind him Dusty Homan, Chris Boyd, Eric Sarakas and Robbie Williams had a score to settle. However as Savage entered turns three and four, the right rear tire went flat. Savage made it to the infield and out of the way. This turned the lead over to 2 time winner Dusty Homan. The driver from Marquand, MO had his hands busy for the final 6 laps. Chris Boyd drove hard and tried to pressure Homan into a mistake. Homan made no mistakes and claimed the win. Boyd had to settle for second place. Point Leader, Jimmy Farris, ran out of tearoffs and was lucky to keep the leaders insight. He would finish third. Fourth place on the standing belonged to Robbie Williams. Eric Sarakas celebrated a late birthday by completing the top five.
Action will continue next Saturday with the Annual Drive / Fan Appreciation night. Gate admission for the grand stands will be the normal $10. Children under the age of twelve are admitted free with a paying adult. Pit Passes for the event are $25.00. Hot Laps are at 6:00 pm, followed by racing at 7:00.
LARRY HEISEL RENTAL NIGHT
SPRINT DIVISION
Heat #1: 1. Tim Montgomery 2. Jimmy Bridgeman 3. Brad Greer 4. Joey Boyd
Heat #2: 1. Joey Montgomery 2. Steve Short 3. Rod Crabdree 4. Kory Bales
Heat #3: 1. Jimmy Hurley 2. Jason Keith 3. Tommy Worley, Jr 4. Kasey Burch
Dash: 1. Jimmy Hurley 2. Jimmy Bridgeman 3. Joey Montgomery 4. Jason Keith
A-Main: 1. Jimmy Hurley 2. Joey Montgomery 3. Steve Short 4. Tommy Worley, Jr 5. Tim Montgomery 6. Brad Greer 7. Joey Boyd 8. Kasey Burch 9. Rod Crabdree 10. Ryan Kempin
Hat Trick: Jimmy Hurley
A-MODIFIED DIVISION
Heat #1: 1. Billy Smith 2. Kasey Nations 3. Matt Dotson 4. Chris Hayes
Heat #2: 1. Brent Thompson 2. Jeremy Greenwalt 3. Matt Eaton 4. Bill Nickelson
Heat #3: 1. Kent Nations 2. Chad Heady 3. Tom Vogt 4. Mike Abney
Dash: 1. Kent Nations 2. Billy Smith 3. Kasey Nations 4. Brent Thompson
A-Main: 1. Billy Smith 2. Brent Thompson 3. Matt Eaton 4. Chris Hayes 5. Bill Nickelson 6. “Rooster” Griffin 7. Kasey Nations 8. Tom Vogt 9. Matt Dotson 10. Jeff Asher
B-MODIFIED DIVISION
Heat #1: 1. Mike Savage 2. Eddie Gross 3. Brian Blair 4. Kenny Harris
Heat #2: 1. Tim Nash 2. Randy Forster 3. Chuck Huff 4. Terry Kick
Heat #3: 1. Greg Swearingem 2. Shane Blair 3. Kyle Stolzer 4. C J Wright
A-Main: 1. Greg Swearingem 2. Kyle Stolzer 3. Eddie Gross 4. Shane Blair 5. C J Wright 6. Kenny Harris 7. Jeff Frohwitter 8. Brian Blair 10. Mark Dickerson
PURE STREET DIVISION
Heat #1: 1. Charlie Savage 2. Dusty Homan 3. Chris Boyd 4. Jimmy Farris
Heat #2: 1. Robbie Wells 2. Eric Sarakas 3. Robbie Williams 4. Travis Goodman
A-Main: 1. Dusty Homan 2. Chris Boyd 3. Jimmy Farris 4. Robbie Williams 5. Eric Sarakas 6. Robbie Wells 7. John Bohn 8. Travis Goodman 9. Kodi Savage 10. Marvin Keenan, Jr