(Warrensburg, MO) Unsettled weather with showers in the area into early evening led to an action-packed yet delayed race program last night at Central Missouri Speedway (CMS). However, after three-consecutive weeks of canceled events, Earl Walls and his CMS crew provided members of the dirt-racing fraternity a place to satisfy their dirt-racing fix during one of the most difficult starts to a Midwest race season in recent memory.
After just missing several heavy downpours throughout the day, including one gully washer just 3 miles south of the track late in the afternoon, a menacing shower fell for several minutes shortly after the driver’s meeting concluded in the six o’clock hour shortly before the program was to begin.
Even though it looked like CMS would lose another event to the wet stuff, the staff kept a watchful eye on the skies and noticed a gap in the weather in which the program could be completed. Earl Walls then called for all drivers to report to the tech barn and asked them what they would like for him and the staff to do.
Once all drivers arrived for the meeting, rain tapered off and just as quickly as they gathered for the impromptu meeting, the drivers just as quickly and unanimously told Walls “we want to race.” In the end, that’s exactly what Walls provided, a place to race, only just a few hours delayed!
After weeks of less than desirable weather that has thrown about every curveball imaginable to track prep man and sometimes magician Don Abney, he went to work on the surface and whipped it back into shape with the first green flag waving shortly after 10 p.m.
Only a few drivers chose to leave while those who competed and rode out the delay along with the dedicated fans, witnessed a smooth, fast, and obviously tacky track, due mostly in part to Abney’s prior work in the weeks leading up to now of establishing a solid foundation under the race surface.
First to hit the track for racing was the Pure Stock division, Jeremiah Wilson and Jason Ryun claimed heat race victories to set the stage for the main event. A solid car count of 14 drivers checked in for racing and all of them took the green flag for the 12-lap race.
Ryun and Wilson led the field to the green flag with Ryun leading the way. Ryun’s teammate, Darrin Christy, hounded him for the early race lead and eventually grabbed the point through a series of furious side-by-side laps. It looked as though Christy was on his way to victory but a late-race tussle with some lapped cars coming for the checkered flag allowed Ryun to retake the lead just as the leaders crossed the finish line. Christy settled for second with Wilson, Don Johnson, Leroy Morrison and Roger Detherage rounding out the top six.
Twenty-two B-Mod competitors raced throughout the evening with heat-race victories going to Kaleb Bray, Jacob Ebert, and Dean Wille. Bray and Ebert led the field to the initial start of the main event with Wille and Davis Givens close behind.
Ebert has been simply unbeatable this season and he quickly shot out to an early race lead with Wille initially right on his bumper through the early stages of the event. Meanwhile Jake Richards, who was making a rare appearance at CMS began making his way through the field by mid-race. Wille’s night came to an early end while he ran up front allowing Ebert to settle in as the race leader.
It looked as though the race may go green to checkers; however, a late-race caution restacked the field but it wasn’t enough to prevent Ebert from going to victory lane once again. Richards advanced to second from seventh on the grid while Cody Frazon, twelfth-starting Troy Carlyle, David Givens and Kaleb Bray rounded out the top six.
Lightning Sprints competed in not only their regularly weekly race program, but also their $1500-to-win previously postponed event. For the makeup event it was an all Layne family front row with veteran Bobby Layne in position one and nephew Tony Layne to his outside.
The younger lane faired the best at the start of the event and quickly established himself as the man to beat as he shot to the lead. With the track surface still extremely tacky but smooth, the Lightning Sprints proved worthy of their name as the competitors clicked off some extremely fast laps. In the end, Tony Layne collected his first CMS win of the year over Uncle Bobby who maintained a solid hold on second. Zach Morehead, Beau Heavelow, Jared Solomon and Ryan Kent rounded out the top six.
During the regular Lightning Sprint weekly competition, Beau Heavelow bested Tony Layne in heat one while Bobby Layne claimed the victory of Morehead in heat two. For this event, Heavelow and Bobby Layne led the field to green for the 15-lap main event but a shakeup at the front of the field during the start allowed Morehead to claim the initial lead.
Bobby Layne hounded Morehead for several laps with Morehead having a very strong run leading the way. For the first seven circuits Morehead set the pace until Layne grabbed the lead by lap eight. Layne held on to take the win making it an all-Layne sweep of Lightning Sprint competition. Morehead finished in second with Beau Heavelow, Ryan Kent, Tony Layne, and Jared Solomon finishing in that order at race end.
Up next were the Street Stocks drivers for their program, 14 cars competed in a pair of heat races won by Knob Noster, Missouri’s Troy Turley over John Brooks in heat one with John Jay Prevete claiming victory in heat two ahead of Clayton Campbell.
Prevete and Turley led the field to the green flag for the Street Stock 15-lap main event with several hungry competitors close behind including Campbell, Brooks, and defending track champion Brett Wood. Prevete established his own zip code out front easily pacing the initial laps and leaving the rest of the field to sort out second position.
In a furious battle for the runner-up position while Prevete distanced himself from the battle for second, Turley, Brooks, Wood, Campbell, and a hard-charging Jeremiah Wilson entertained the crowd with some close racing. The main event was going at a great pace until late in the event when Campbell fell from competition near the front.
Shortly after a tussle in the turn three area ultimately led to a multi-car incident in turn four, Brooks’ night came to a close along with Kevin Perkins who had raced his way toward the front after several cars came together off turn four. Wilson’s charge to the top three also ended early as he retired to the pit area.
In one of the most heartbreaking turn of events in recent Street Stock main event history, Prevete’s car stalled on the late-race restart while he was the leader and he fell from contention after dominating the race to that point. Brett Wood and Troy Turley were one-two at the restart with Brian Inlow now inside the top three. Wood was once again too hard to handle for the rest of the competitors as he claimed yet-another CMS Street Stock win. Turley settled for second with Inlow recording a solid third-place finish. Larry Norris, Darace Meads, and Casey Meads rounded out the top six.
USRA Modifieds highlighted the evening with not just their regular race program, but also a makeup $1,500-to-win race that was postponed from Memorial Day weekend. For the make-up event, Burlingame, Kansas driver Josh Everhart and Sedalia’s Terry Schultz led the field to the start of the 30-lap event. Schultz and Everhart set an early blistering pace with Richard Layne and Jim Moody having a close battle of their own just behind the leaders. Early in the race, it was eighteenth-starting Aaron Marrant who turned the most heads by first moving inside the top ten followed by a torrid run inside the top five in the race’s later stages.
Meanwhile, Everhart and Schultz continued their battle for the lead as Jim Moody joined in on the three-car breakaway. Gunner Martin and nineteenth-starting Shad Badder, along with Dean Wille also raced hard with Layne, Mike Eisenhut and Dean Bachner inside the top ten.
Ultimately, Schultz asserted himself as the clear leader and went on to record his first CMS win of the year and fourth overall on the USRA circuit, where he is the National USRA Points Leader. Everhart recorded one of his strongest-ever CMS runs with a solid run to second while Moody came away third, Marrant advanced to fourth with Gunner Martin and Shad Badder rounding out the top six.
For the regular USRA Modified race program, 25 cars signed in for competition in four heat races and a main event. Moody captured the first heat race ahead of a strong-running Steve Twenter while Marrant came away the victor ahead of youngster Josiah Stephens. Heat three had its fair share of troubles as Terry Schultz and Tyler Schmidt were the lone cars to finish the race as a multi-car incident unfortunately ended the night for Kyle Westerhold and Shad Badder while Tim Karrick and Darren Shaw also did not finish. The fourth and final heat race went to Richmond, Missouri’s David Wood over Topeka, Kansas driver Mike Eisenhut.
A pair of former track champions made up the front row for the 25-lap main event with Marrant and Schultz showing the way in front of Moody and Wood. In the initial stages it was Schultz who quickly shot out with Marrant and Moody close behind. Earlier in the night while the track was being worked, Schultz stated, “Once they get this done, this is going to be a great track.” His prophecy couldn’t have rang more true as he went on to capture his second win within a three-hour span and with his earlier $1,500-to-win make-up victory coupled with his victory in the $1,000-to-win weekly program, Schultz went home with a cool $2,500 for his efforts!
Behind Schultz the battle for the runner-up spot was furious with Marrant and Moody racing hard but clean as would be expected from these two professionals, never leaning on each other too much and thrilling the early morning crowd with clean racing and a fierce side-by-side battle. Moody ultimately, captured the runner-up finish with Marrant settling for third. Dalton Kirk advanced from thirteenth to fourth while Tyler Schmidt turned in a solid performance in fifth with Twenter also producing a great run to round out the top six.
CMS wishes to thank all of the drivers and fans who stayed the course with us Saturday into Sunday, we are glad you were there with us! We also want to say a special thank you to our concessions staff for putting in the long hours of hard work and also to our officiating staff and crew, who were able to pull off an amazing feat by completing the program after some difficult circumstances. Drivers, you voted unanimously to race, we gave that to you and in return you gave us some exciting events. Full results from last night’s events may be found at www.speednetdirect.com.
Next Saturday, June 20th, CMS returns to action with another big-money USRA ‘Mighty’ Modified Race as drivers once again compete for a $1,500-to-win first place payout and increased purse on KMZU 100.7 FM night at the races. The event is a stand-alone event for the USRA Modifieds who will compete in an all-new series of preliminary events to determine the starting grid for the 24-car starting field. Note about this event, although it is a make-up of the second of two $1,500-to-win USRA Modified events rained out over the Memorial Day weekend, it is an all-new program open to any and all participating USRA Modified drivers.
USRA Modified Payout for June 20, 2014: 1) $1,500, 2) $1,000, 3) $700, 4) $600, 5) $500, 6) $450, 7) $400, 8) $350, 9) $300, 10) $375, 11) $350, 12) $235, 13) $225, 14) $220, 15) $215, 16) $210, 17) $205, 18) $200, 19) $195, 20) $195, 21) $195, 22) $175, 23) $175, 24) $175.
There is an entry fee for drivers entering the event. For those drivers who already paid for their entry fee into the originally planned twin $1,500-to-win events over Memorial Day weekend, they will only pay a pit pass. For any new drivers entering the event
USRA Modified Entry: $100 if driver has raced twice at CMS in at least two CMS weekly race programs in a USRA Modified PRIOR TO Saturday, June 20th. If driver has not raced in at least two CMS weekly race program events in a USRA Modified PRIOR TO Saturday, June 20th, the entry fee is $150. Entry fee does not include driver pit pass! Drivers will compete for USRA Modified National Points! All Modified drivers must be USRA licensed or purchase $10 temporary license on site.
On Saturday, June 27th, the Pure Stock division takes the spotlight for their $500-to-win special event; this night also includes all regular weekly racing divisions in addition to the make-up for Street Stocks from their previously delayed main event from the Memorial Day weekend. The field is already locked in place for this event; however, any new Street Stocks attending that night can enter in the all-new program for the Street Stock division that night. CMS regular Street Stock payout is in effect for both the makeup and the regularly scheduled program.
Pit Gates open at 4:30, Admission Gates open at 5, driver’s pill draw cutoff is at 6:15 (no passing points awarded to driver if late draw), Drivers Meeting at 6:30, Hot Laps at 7, and Racing at 7:30!
Visit CMS online at www.centralmissourispeedway.net or on race day call the track at 660-747-2166. CMS is located just past the round-a-bout on Hwy 13 three and a half miles north of Warrensburg, Missouri from the junction of Highways 50 and 13. From the Interstate 70 Higginsville/Warrensburg Hwy 13 exit, the track is located 12.5 miles south on Hwy 13.