Lebanon,Mo.-Despite 2 early morning light rain showers and cool temps,the drivers at the LebanonMidwaySpeedway really heated-up the fans with some outstanding side by side racing action all night long on a track that provided plenty of action.
Hermitage’s Mike Streigel make his trip down from Hermitage worth his wild as he fended off Lebanon’s Kris Jackson in the final 2 laps in grabbing the Aaron’s Modified feature event.
The Modified feature saw Charlie Gentile jump to the opening lead with 3 wide racing behind.On lap 2, current point leader Michael Stake grabbed the lead from his 5th starting spot as Gentile and Kris Jackson followed closely.By lap 4,Tyler Brown had charged to the third place spot and the action up front was wild and crazy as Stake and Jackson battled it out.On lap 6,Jackson dove to the inside of Stake and Brown came roaring along side as the trio went three wide and hammer down.Contact was made by all 3 front runners as Stake spun along with Jackson and Brown slowed down and gheaded for the pits.Stake went to the pits under the caution for repairs as Jackson tagged to the rear putting Streigel in the top spot with Gentile following.On the double-file restart,Streigel wasted no time in pulling away as all eyes were on the back of the pack as Jackson and Stake were both coming forward.A couple of cautions brought the field together as by lap 9 Jackson had moved into second place.During the green flag runs towards the finish,Jackson was on Streigel’s back bumper on lap 12 and the battle was on.Jackson would try several attempts to go low on Streigel but Streigel would shut the door.On lap 13,Jackson went high to overtake the leader,but Streigel wouldn’t budge.On the final lap,Jackson again dove low but Streigel shut the door and grabbed his first Midway win on 2011 while Jackson,Stake,Gentile and Tony Moore followed.
The  Central Bank FactoryStock feature was an outstanding feature as former Midway Champion Dylan Keepper brought the field to the green flag with point leader Tyson Troutman following.Keepper making his first start of the season was in control for the opening 2 laps,but problems sent the car to the infield as Troutman took over the lead on lap 3 while Brandon Waters was running the high-side in second place with Chip Shaddox,Randy Gilmore and a fast moving Brad Gideon following.On lap 5,Waters spun in turn 1 collecting Shaddox with him and Mike Murzynski spun in turn 4 bringing out the caution.With Troutman leading,brother-in law and two time winner Donnie Miller moved around Gilmore to take second place while newcomer Michael Plummer and Gideon went to battle.THe Familt fued lasted until lap 8 went Miller shot to the top groove while Troutman stayed close while Gilmore was closing quickly and Bradley McDowell moved into the top 5.Early contender Gideon pulled-in with problems ending his night as Waters was hooking the top side and coming quickly.
This battle up front last until the final lap as Troutman tried several moves around Miller,but Donnie who started 7th tonight grabbed win number 3 of the season while Troutman,Gilmore,Waters and McDowell followed.
The StreetStocks again have been the hot part of Midway’s features and again this Friday was nothing short of outstanding early.Brandon Waters grabbed the opening lead with Trevor Ellingson following and Brandon Knudtson along side.On lap 2,Ellingson took over but Waters regained on lap 3 as the top 6 were all together.Last weeks winner Mark Simon had charged from 10th to second place by lap 4 and was trying for the lead as Knudtson moved into the top spot on lap 5 over Waters after a caution for point leader Joe Francis spinning.Just like last Friday,Simon and Knudtson went wheel to wheel with Simon taking over the lead on lap 7 and pulled away leaving the battle for second place.Knudtson started a late charge and in the last 3 laps began to close in on Simon,but Simon never made a mistake in grabbing another feature win with Knudtson,Waters,Francis and Josh Lewis in the top 5.
The Energy Company PureStock action would show Kolt Barker taking the win leading all 15 laps,but it wasn’t easy as Monk Barker and Kory Barker closed up the ground in the final 3 laps providing side by side racing.Kory in his father’s car tonight came from third place and several car lengths behind to close up.Kolt fended the challanges off to grab the win while Monk Barker,Kory Barker,point leader and last weeks winner Matt Young and Bill Allen completed the top 5 as racing was tight all throughout the pack.
Defending champion and current point leader JC Newell made a high groove pass over Sam Petty on lap 10 to capture the Midwest Modz event.Petty jumped to the early lead on lap 1 as Newell and Rich Reynolds battled on lap 1.As Petty was setting a fast pace,Newell closed-in and the lead duo pulled away fro the field.This battle last wheel to wheel until the features only caution waved on lap 10.with Petty setting the pace,Newell got the jump on Bill Joiner and started his move to the lead on the high-side.Out in front Newell began to pull away,but in the closing 3 laps,Petty closed up the gap again and tried several timesto take back the lead.Newell fended off the challanges to capture the win with Petty,Rich Reynolds,Bill Joiner and Tim jones all battling for third place honors.
Next up the Midway on Friday Night Sept 23rd will be the season championships in all 5 classes while Racing will continue also on Friday Sept 30th before wrapping up the season on October 6th and 7th with the 7th annual Fall Brawl.
Results
FactoryStocks
A Ft-1)Donnie Miler-Houston 2-Tyson Troutman-Houston 3)Randy Gilmore-Warsaw 4)Brandon Waters-Lynchburg 5)Bradley McDowell-Eldon 6)Michael Plummer-Warsaw 7)Mark Davis-Grovesprings 8)Mike Murzynski-St Robert 9)Jim Keeran-California 10)Shawn Whitman-Strafford 11)Tim McMurtry-Warsaw 12)Brian Schutt-Lebanon 13)Brad Gideon-Nixa 14)Chip Shaddox-Hermitage 15)Dylan Keepper-Hurley
1st Ht-1)Keepper 2)Gideon 3)Gilmore 4)Miller 5)McMurtry 6)McDowell 7)Davis 8)Schutt
2nd Ht-1)Troutman 2)Shaddox 3)Waters 4)Plummer 5)Whitman 6)Murzynski 7)Keeran
Modifieds
A Ft-1)Mike Streigel-Hermitage 2)Kris Jackson-Lebanon 3)Michael Stake-Phillipsburg 4)Charlie Gentile-Ozark 5)Tony Moore-Lebanon 6)JC Newell-Decaturville 7)Ted Ballinger-Halfway 8)Clint Gann-Camdenton 9)Brian Myers-Lebanon 10)Greg Strong-Nixa 11)Tyler Brown-Stoutland 12)Bill Schaar-St Robert
1st Ht-1)Stake 2)Brown 3)Gentile 4)Ballinger 5)Moore 6)Gann
2nd Ht-1)Jackson 2)Streigel 3)Strong 4)Newell 5)Myers 6)Schaar
StreetStocks
A Ft-1)Mark Simon-Buffalo 2)Brandon Knudtson-Lebanon 3)Brandon Waters-Lynchburg 4)Joe Francis-Lebanon 5)Josh Lewis-Lebanon 6)Ricky Brashears-Richland 7)Melvin Smith-Buffalo 8)Michael Strafford-Bolivar 9)Rodney Yost-Squires 10)Trevor Ellingson-Lebanon
1st Ht-1)Francis 2)Simon 3)Waters 4)Yost 5)Smith
2nd Ht-1)Knudtson 2)Ellingson 3)Brashears 4)Lewis 5)Stafford
PureStocks
A Ft-1)Kolt Barker 2)Monk Barker-Lebanon 3)Kory Barker-Lebanon 4)Matt Young-Lebanon 5)Bill Allen-Bolivar 6)Chad Hufft-Lebanon 7)Carla Lampe-Fair Grove
Ht-1)Kolt Barker 2)Young 3)M Barker 4)Kory Barker 5)Hufft 6)Lampe 7)Allen
Midwest Modz
A Ft-1)JC Newell-Stoutland 2)Sam Petty-Niangua 3)Rich Reynolds-Halltown 4)Bill Joiner-Lebanon 5)Tim Jones-Marshfield 6)Travis Hill-Lebanon 7)Brian Warner-Phillipsburg 8)Justin Allen-Urbana 9)Earl Muilenburg-Sparta 10)Jamie Petty-Niangua
1st Ht-1)Newell 2)Reynolds 3)J Petty 4)Allen 5)Warner
2nd Ht-1)Joiner 2)S Petty 3)Jones 4)Hill 5)Muilenburg