Sam Stoecklin
ULMA Public Relations
May 2, 2012
Lucas Cattle Company ULMA drivers returned to action last weekend at Callaway Raceway and Lucas Oil Speedway. Racing in the month of April came to a close with current point leader Jason Russell taking the victory in race number six on the year while defending ULMA champion Rylan Long claimed race number seven.
Callaway Raceway in Fulton, Missouri, was finally able to host another night of racing last Friday after two straight rain cancellations. Although the track ran its program, Mother Nature made her presence known as a hearty crowd braved the elements on a cool and windy Friday. Just seven late models competed in one heat race and a main event, which featured several cross-over maneuvers between Jason Russell and former ULMA champion Vance Wilson. Brandon Imhoff wait ran close behind the lead duo in the initial stages of the race. Russell has quickly asserted himself as a championship contender this season and it did not take him long to grab the lead from Wilson on this night and sail on to his second ULMA feature win of the year. Russell became the second driver this season to claim multiple wins. Wilson was second with Imhoff holding on for third by fending off a late charge from Jake Griffin in fourth. Zeke Langley and Chris Cox also represented ULMA with finishes at the end of the night. The lone race for ULMA drivers to possibly earn points this weekend takes place at Callaway Raceway on Friday. Drivers and fans may log onto the track’s official website for start times, directions, and general information at www.callawayraceways.com.
Just one week ago, defending ULMA champion Rylan Long failed to make the feature event after struggling throughout the night in heat race and b-main action. Long was admittedly down about his team’s performance during the evening and he did not even stick around for the night’s main event. This week, Long turned things around in a big way at the track where he is also the defending champion. Once again, a stellar car count was on hand, in fact the largest weekly racing late model car count for two weeks running in any of Missouri’s bordering and neighboring states has occurred during ULMA action at Lucas Oil Speedway. There were 32 drivers on hand for four heat races, a b-main, and a main event. Lane Ehlert continued a series of strong runs by claiming one of the heat races with Harlan Kennedy and R.D. Peterson also finding victory lane in preliminary action. Joe Walkenhorst, in a new Swartz late model, took the win in the b-main.
For the main event with the strong field of cars narrowed down to 24, things got off to a rocky start early on as there were two red-flag situations, ultimately leading to the event being shortened by five laps. As the field came down the front stretch to begin lap two, several cars running from fifth on back made contact and went for a series of varying spins. Miraculously, the nine cars involved all re-started the event. However, just one lap later, Alan Westling’s car became hooked on another down the front stretch and when the two cars separated, Westling’s car violently turned left and careened into the turn one barrier tire. His car went airborne, cart-wheeling and barrel rolling with the car eventually landing on its hood. Westling’s Father, Trace, who was running just behind the incident immediately steered his car to the infield in order to check on his son. It was a few moments of breath-holding but eventually the young driver was able to crawl from his car to be reunited with his Father. Although shaken up, Westling talked about his disappointing night as he worked under his car to prepare it for loading into the race hauler. He relayed it had been a bad week for him and his family as someone had poised to death two of three of the family’s dogs and although he was bummed about the outcome of the night, he was thankful he was seriously injured in the violent crash.
Once the track crew cleared the wreckage from the incident, track officials cut the race to 15 laps. From lap three on, the action was near perfect on the immaculately prepared track. Long charged from his fourteenth-starting position to assume the lead on lap seven. Meanwhile Harlan Kennedy, Ehlert, and Jeremy Kelley ran strong near the front. Long built up a near straightaway lead on the rest of the field by lap twelve, as several cars jockeyed for position behind him. Jeremy Kelley, who like long came from deep in the field into the top five looked strong for the second-consecutive week. However, by race end, no one had anything for Long as he claimed his first Lucas Cattle Company ULMA win of the year. Kennedy, Kelley, and Ehlert finished among the top five with Brett Wood, Larry Jones, Brandon Imhoff, Chris Hawkins, and last week’s winner, Tommy Cordray rounding out the top ten. This weekend, the track hosts the ASCS Warrior Region Winged Sprints plus POWRi Midgets and B-Modifieds; for start times and ticket information visit www.lucasoilspeedway.com. ULMA next appears at the speedway on Mother’s Day weekend, Saturday, May 12.
Late model action returns to Valley Speedway on Friday, May 11 when ULMA drivers make their second appearance of the year at the Kansas City metro track; learn more online by checking out www.valleyspeedway.com. While online, visit ULMA’s official website at www.ulmaracing.com for results, point standings, and more. Like ULMA on Facebook to stay current on the latest racing developments leading up to and after association events. ULMA’s sanctioned tracks this season include weekly racing at Lucas Oil Speedway and Callaway Raceway as well as select Friday night racing at Valley Speedway and special events at Double X Speedway and Missouri State Fair Speedway.
ULMA’s title sponsor is Lucas Cattle Company. Contingency sponsors are Rod End Supply and Buyraceparts.com. Affiliate sponsors include Imhoff Construction, PhotoGraphics by Shelly Payne, General Fence LLC, and Midland Printing. ULMA is a proud supporter of Homes for Our Troops. To join the team, or to request an addition to ULMA’s email group, send your request to unitedlatemodelassociation@hotmail.com.
Upcoming ULMA Races:
Friday, May 4th – Callaway Raceway
Friday, May 11th – Valley Speedway
Friday, May 11th – Callaway Raceway
Saturday, May 12th – Lucas Oil Speedway
Friday, May 18th – Callaway Raceway
Saturday, May 19th – Lucas Oil Speedway
Friday, May 25th – Callaway Raceway
Friday, May 25th – Valley Speedway
Friday, June 1st – Callaway Raceway
Friday, June 8th – Callaway Raceway
Saturday, June 9th – Lucas Oil Speedway
ULMA Point Standings
POS CAR # NAME STARTS POINTS
1st 2J Jason Russell 6 611
2nd 86 Brandon Imhoff 5 550
3rd 133 Chris Hawkins 4 459
4th 23Z Zeke Langley 5 450
5th 22 Kevin Coyne 4 437
6th 7 Brett Wood 4 423
7th 1T Chris Cox 4 400
8th 99 Larry Jones 3 336
9th 42 Lane Ehlert 3 321
10th 9M Jimmy Morris 3 318
11th 20 Alan Westling 3 294
12th 71 Trace Westling 3 282
13th 25 Chris Morelock 3 275
14th 45 Bob King 3 263
15th 65 Jon Binning 3 255