Lebanon,Mo.-Even with a full moon overhead,the racing action at the LebanonMidwaySpeedway was fast,close and exciting in all 5 classes as Shawn Strong headlined the Aaron’s modified feature and Sundance Keepper recovered from a wreck last week to collect the FactoryStock win.
The Aaron’s Modifieds saw Ted Ballinger and Tyler Brown on the front row,but by lap 1,Shawn Strong took the opening lead just nipping Brown at the finish line.Last weeks winner Kris Jackson who started 11th was up to 5th place by lap 2 and closing in on Strong.Caution waved on lap 5 as an incident in turn 2 collected points runner-up JC Newell,Ballinger,Darren Fullerton,Clinton Betts and Clinton Gann.On the restart,Strong pulled away with Jackson closing quickly on the leader with an outstanding battle between Tyler Brown,Brian Webster and point leader Michael Stake driving Brennon Willard’s car to keep in the points chase.During the long green run,Strong began to pull away from Jackson and would never look back despite 2 late cautions to grab his 7th Midway win of the season with Jackson a solid second place.The real race was the battle for third place as Webster,Brown,Stake and Tommy McBridge went wheel to wheel for positions as Brown would overtake Webster in the closing 2 laps to secure third while Webster and Stake completed the top 5.
Central Bank FactoryStock action saw another outstanding field of cars as Brad Gideon and West 32 Repair and Body Shop dash winner Sundance Keepper brought the field to the green.Keepper grabbed the opening lead with gideon and Shelby Thacker following close behind. With Keepper setting a smooth,fast pace,Thacker grabbed second fron Gideon and tried to keep pace with the leader while point leader Tyson Troutman moved into third place.The full moon effect began to take place around lap 7 as front runner Donnie Miller and Mark Davis went by the wayside after contact with Miller returning to compete and on the restart,Troutman slowed with problems as front running Bob Gustin and Shawn Whitman made contact.Only Gustin returned to compete.On the restart,Thacker slide low in turn 2 as Gideon went to the second place spot and Brandon Waters and Brian Schutt moved up quickly as Miller and Gustin were charging forward.Gideon’s great run ended on lap 13 while running second as a caution flew and he went to the pits.THe final double-file restart saw Keepper hold off challanges and collect the win as Schutt,Gustin,Waters andMiller completed the top 5.
A new feature winner in the Energy Company PureStocks saw current point leader Matt Young take the lead on lap 2 from lady driver Karla Lampe and hold off several challanges from Kolt Barker and defending champion Kory Barker in a race that went caution free and featured racing all over the racetrack with side by side action.Young who had just put in a new motor this week found issues with a blow-by problem on Thursday night and he and friends worked late Thursday night and early Friday Afternoon to get another motor in place.Young kept his Darell Waltrip Throwback color scheme on the high-side all 15 laps and never made a mistake all night long.Kolt Barker tried several laps down low as Kory Barker closed in the final 3 laps but couldn’t find running room.Young extended his point lead from 12 to 15 over Kory Barker with the win.Monk Barker and Karla Lampe making her first ever racing start completed the top 5.
A new winner in the Rocky Ridge Construction Midwest Modz feature saw Travis Hill finding himself in the right place at the right time on the final laps to take the feature win.The former SuperStock driver has been running up front since returning to action in the last 3 weeks.Hill took advantage of leaders Earl Muilenburg and Tim Jones making contact in turn 1 sending both drivers to the back and withstood the last lap shootout from Bill Joiner and Rich Reynolds in securing the win.Muilenburg had grabbed the lead from Hill on the opening lap.Points runner-up Sam Petty fell out on lap 6 with problems as the pack was tight.During the almost caution free race,Jones the former FactoryStock front runner,paced himself and by lap 12 had moved t othird place.He caught Muilenburg by the following lap and overtook the next lap.Contact made during the pass sent both to the rear.Following Hill to the stripe was Joiner,Reynolds,point leader JC Newell and Muilenburg.
The Transport Graphics StreetStocks provided plent of excitment and last lap action as Mark Simon charged from his 11th starting spot to claim a last lap,last turn victory over Brandon Knudtson as both cars almost came across the line sideways after contact in turn 4.Knudtson jumped to the early lead from his pole spot with andrew Neil following.On lap 2,Melvin Smith pulled high with a flat tire bringing out the caution flag.Knudtson again pulled away as Brandon Waters moved to challange.On lap 4,Rodney yost moved into second place but pulled into the pits 1 lap later as point leader Joe Francis moved into second place with Waters,Simon and Kevin Forshey following.With Knudtson staying in the middle groove,Francis moved upstairs while Simon slung down low.On lap 9,Simon moved into second place while Knudtson was still leading.For the next 3 laps,Simon tried Knudtson down low,but Knudtson shut the door.On lap 13,Simon moved to the top groove and side by side was the call of the race.On the final lap,simon got a run on Knudtson in turn 3 as they went wheel to wheel.Knudtson tried to keep the middle groove solid as the duo touched coming out of turn 4.With both cars almost sideways,Simon kept the gas petal to the floor and edged Knudtson by less than 1/2 a car length.Francis,Waters and Melvin Smith followed te leaders to the finish.
Racing continues next Friday night Sept 16th with 5 exciting classes competing with racing at 8PM sharp.
Results
FactoryStocks
A Ft-1)Sundance Keepper-Everton 2)Brian Schutt-Lebanon 3)Bob Gustin Osage Beach 4)Brandon Waters-Lynchburg 5)Donnie Miller-Houston 6)Shelby Thacker-Eldon 7)David McDonald-Camdenton 8)Mike Murzynski-St Robert 9)Wayne Bysor-Bolivar 10)Tim McMurtry-Warsaw 11)Brad Gideon-Nixa 12)Tyson Troutman-Houston 13)Mark Davis-Grovesprings 14)Shawn Whitman-Strafford
1st Ht-1)Miller 2)Gideon 3)Whitman 4)Waters 5)Murzynski 6)McMurtry 7)McDonald
2nd Ht-1)Thacker 2)Keepper 3)Davis 4)Troutman 5)Gustin 6)Schutt 7)Bysor
West 32 Auot And body Dash For Cash-1)Keepper 2)Gideon 3)Davis
Modifieds
A Ft-1)Shawn Strong-Republic 2)Kris Jackson-Lebanon 3)Tyler Brown-Stoutland 4)Brian Webster-Richland 5)Michael Stake-Phillipsburg 6)Tommy McBride-Lebanon 7)Ted Ballinger-Halfway 8)Bill Schaar-St Robert 9)Brian Myers-Lebanon 10)Greg Strong-Nixa 11)Clint Gann-Camdenton 12)JC Newell-Decatuville 13)Darren Fullerton-Fair Grove 14)Clinton Betts-Stoutland DNS-Tim Ballinger-Fair Grove
1st Ht-1)Webster 2)Jackson 3)Strong 4)Ted Ballinger 5)McBride 6)Schaar 7)Gann 8)Betts
2nd Ht-1)Stake 2)Newell 3)Brown 4)Fullerton 5)Myers 6)G Strong DNS-Tim Ballinger
PureStocks
A Ft-1-Matt Young-Lebanon 2)Kolt Barker-Lebanon 3)Kory Barker-Lebanon 4)Monk Barker-Lebanon 5)Karla Lampe-Fair Grove 6)Chad Hufft-Lebanon 7)Bill Allen-Urbana 8)Wayne Day-Warsaw 9)Christopher Sawyer-Urbana
1st Ht-1)M Barker 2)Young 3)Day 4)Allen 5)Sawyer
2nd Ht-1)Kory Barker 2)Kolt Barker 3)Hufft 4)Lampe
Midwest Modz
A Ft-1)Travis Hill-Lebanon 2)Bill Joiner-Lebanon 3)Rich Reynolds-Halltown 4)JC Newell-Stoutland 5)Earl Muilenburg-Sparta 6)Justin Allen-Urbana 7)Tim Jones-Marshfield 8)Sam Petty-Niangua DNS-Jamie Petty-Niangua,Les Hayes-Camdenton
1st Ht-1)Joiner 2)Jones 3)S Petty 4)Hill 5)J Petty
2nd Ht-1)Newell 2)Reynolds 3)Muilenburg 4)Allen 5)Hayes
StreetStocks
A Ft-1)Mark Simon-Buffalo 2)Brandon Knudtson-Lebanon 3)Joe Francis-Lebanon 4)Brandon Waters-Lynchburg 5)Melvin Smith-Buffalo 6)Kolt Barker-Lebanon 7)Josh Lewis-Lebanon 8)Andrew Neil-Walnut Grove 9)Ricky Brashears-Richland 10)Kevin Forshey-Dixon 11)Jerry Goring-Lebanon 12)Rodney Yost-Squires 13)Kory Barker-Lebanon DNS-Keith Cheever-Lebanon
1st Ht-1)Smith 2)Yost 3)Simon 4)Knudtson 5)Kory Barker 6)Brashears 7)Goring
2nd Ht-1)Francis 2)Waters 3)Neil 4)Kolt Barker 5)Forshey 6)Lewis DNS-Cheever