Lebanon, Mo. / Some information contributed by Ronnie Williams. For Immediate Release 8/11/2016 –

Current NASCAR Missouri State and I-44 O’Reilly Auto Parts Pro Late Model point leader Brian Brown took the lead from Stephen Counterman on the 11th lap in taking his third feature win of the season and second consecutive win in a wild Pro Late Model feature.

Kansas City veteran Ronnie Hartford and Counterman brought the field to the green with Counterman grabbing the early lead as Hartford and Brennon Willard followed side by side. Caution waved quickly as Kevin Donahue had a tire go down and slowed before coming to a halt after losing a lap in the process. On the restart Counterman found Hartford pulling beside the leader as Willard and Steve Holt went door to door for the third spot. Veteran Terry Smith, making his first start of the season brought out a caution in turn 2 slowing the pace. On the restart, Willard moved around Hartford for the second place spot with Counterman holding on to the lead. Steve Holt shot into third place by lap five as point’s runner-up Kyle Donahue was following. On lap seven, Donahue went into turn 3 a little too hot and collected Holt sending both drivers to the rear. This set up a dramatic drive to the front as Kevin Donahue was in a position to get his lap back by lining up third on the restart. At the drop of the green, Willard was right on Counterman’s back bumper as Brown had quietly moved from tenth to third. While Counterman and Willard battled, Kevin Donahue went around the leaders putting himself back on the lead lap as Brown followed the Counterman, Willard battle. On lap ten, Willard went top side as Counterman held the middle lane which allowed Brown to make his move around both with Kevin Donahue now trying to catch the tail of the lead pack. With Brown in the lead, lap fifteen saw Kyle Donahue move into the top five. A late caution with Kevin Donahue getting a little greedy under Mandy Chick would set-up another dramatic finish for the Pro Late Models as Kyle Donahue was glued to leader Brown. On the restart, Donahue scraped the front stretch wall as Brown pulled away leaving Kyle Donahue and Willard to battle for 2nd. Willard pulled a power move up high in turn 2 to secure the runner-up spot as Brown crossed the line with his 3 wins on the season. Willard, Donahue, Holt and early leader Counterman completed the top 5 with lot of action all night long. Heat race wins went to Counterman and Kevin Donahue.

With extra money on the line and extra laps for the Ground Pounding Modifieds, Ricky Icenhower pulled a three wide move in turn four in capturing his third win of the season. Three time track champion David Bates returned to action and held back the challenges on point leader Tim Swearengin for the runner-up spot as Terry Taylor and Chris Johnson completed the top five in the 30 lap caution free feature. Bates and Icenhower took home the heat race wins.

Hoosier Tire Street Stock action saw another exciting finish with door to door action as Lebanon’s Michael Juergensen passed leader Steve Shaw with only two laps left in taking his third win of the season. Shaw got the jump on the outside front row starter Les Mallard and was setting the early quick pace with Nick Cherry tucking behind followed by Juergensen. Juergensen moved into second on lap two bringing defending champion Jordan Nisbett, Aaron Wilke and point leader Justin Allen with him along with Cherry as door to door racing was happening throughout the field. Shaw continued to set the pace as Juergensen kept a five car length distance while the action had heated up between Wilke, Nisbett and Allen. The only caution waved on lap nine for a Robert Douglas spin. This brought the field even closer as Shaw got a great restart and Juergensen kept pace as Wilke was fighting to improve position. After a solid three lap door to door battle for the lead Juergensen squeezed by as the white flag flew. Shaw made another run on the new leader, but Juergensen crossed first claiming his third win of the season with Shaw, Wilke, Nisbett and point leader Allen completing the top five. Shaw and Juergensen grabbed heat race wins.

Coca-Cola Charger action saw extra money and laps on the line as rookie Justin Gantt wasted no time on a lap four restart to take his first ever feature win. Tight action on the start saw Gantt get sideways after contact in the pack collected front runners Nik Taylor and Luke Oster. On the restart, Mark Glorfeld jumped to the early lead setting a quick pace on the pack. Glorfeld would lead the opening two laps before Gantt took the top spot. A lap four caution really bunched the pack as Gantt used a smooth restart and pulled away as spots were being swapped by many different drivers throughout the pack. Glorfeld would give up the second place position to Jerry Ellis on lap nine as Billy Taylor was in the hunt just in front of last week’s winner James Ellis and point leader Ronnie Taylor. Lap fourteen saw Jerry Ellis fall off the pace as Ronnie Taylor took the 2nd spot with James Ellis following. As the race went Green the rest of the night, Gantt would take his first NASCAR win with Ronnie Taylor and James Ellis completing the top 3. Heat wins went to James Ellis and Ronnie Taylor.

Sportsman point leader Jimmy Fohn got back on track capturing the feature win.

NASCAR Whelen All American Series action continues this Saturday Night with the Roper Family Classic highlighted by a 54 lap O’Reilly Auto Parts Pro Late Model feature paying $1,000 to win and a $500 to win Hoosier Tire Street Stock feature along with action featuring the Modifieds, Chargers and Sportsman. The night will cap off with a huge Fireworks show. Fan Appreciation nights continue as well with special concession prices. Adult admission in both the Grandstand and Wild Side is only $12 with Senior, Military and Junior discounts in both sections. Gates will open at 5pm with NASCAR Short Track Racing action to start at 7:30.

For more information visit the website at www.i44speedway.net and be sure to like us at Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Facebook for updated information on Missouri’s only NASCAR sanction facility and the only weekly asphalt track within 300 miles.

NASCAR Alpha Media Night Results 08/06/2016

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Pro Late Models
A Feature -1) Brian Brown-Strafford 2) Brennon Willard-Sleeper 3) Kyle Donahue-Wildwood 4) Steve Holt-Strafford 5) Steven Counterman-Fair Grove 6) Terry Limberopoulos-Cuba 7) Ronnie Hartford-Raytown 8) Kevin Donahue-Wildwood 9) Mandy Chick-Desoto, KS. 10) Terry Smith-Belton
1st Heat.-1) Counterman 2) Willard 3) Hartford 4) Limberopoulos 5) Chick
2nd Heat.-1) Kevin Donahue 2) Holt 3) Kyle Donahue 4) Brown 5) Smith

NASCAR Ground Pounding Modifieds
A Feature -1) Ricky Icenhower-Fair Grove 2) David Bates-Fair Grove 3) Tim Swearengin-Springfield 4) Terry Taylor-Fair Grove 5) Chris Johnson-Lebanon 6)Chris Kerperien-Lebanon 7) Richard Lewis-Willard 8) Jimmy Poindexter-Willard
1st Heat.-1) Bates 2) Johnson 3) Kerperien 4) Lewis
2nd Heat.-1) Icenhower 2) Swearengin 3) Taylor 4) Poindexter

NASCAR Hoosier Tire Street Stocks
A Feature -1) Michael Juergensen-Lebanon 2) Steve Shaw-Rogersville 3) Aaron Wilke-Bridgeton 4)Jordan Nisbett-Lebanon 5) Justin Allen-Urbana 6) Nick Cherry-Springfield 7) Les Mallard-Fair Grove 8) Tony Johnson-Lebanon 9)Robert Douglas-Camdenton
1st Heat.-1) Shaw 2) Wilke 3) Cherry 4) Mallard 5) Douglas
2nd Heat.-1) Juergensen 2) Nisbett 3) Allen 4) Johnson

NASCAR Coca-Cola Chargers
A Feature -1)Justin Gantt-Highlandville 2) Ronnie Taylor-Springfield 3) James Ellis-Richland 4) Billy Taylor-Bolivar 5) Mark Glorfeld-Springfield 6)Nick Schmidt-Montreal 7) Breken Johnson-Lebanon 8)Kent Cruzan-Springfield 9) Jerry Ellis-Richland 10) Luke Oster-Osage Beach 11) Nik Taylor-Bolivar
1st Heat.-1) James Ellis 2) Gantt 3) Glorfeld 4) Oster 5) Schmidt 6) Cruzan
2nd Heat.-1) R. Taylor 2) B. Taylor 3) Jerry Ellis 4) N. Taylor 5) Johnson

NASCAR Whelen All American Series action continues this Saturday Night with the Roper Family Classic highlighted by a 54 lap O’Reilly Auto Parts Pro Late Model feature paying $1,000 to win and a $500 to win Hoosier Tire Street Stock feature along with action featuring the Modifieds, Chargers and Sportsman. The night will cap off with a huge Fireworks show. Fan Appreciation nights continue as well with special concession prices. Adult admission in both the Grandstand and Wild Side is only $12 with Senior, Military and Junior discounts in both sections. Gates will open at 5pm with NASCAR Short Track Racing action to start at 7:30.

For more information visit the website at www.i44speedway.net and be sure to like us at Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Facebook for updated information on Missouri’s only NASCAR sanction facility and the only weekly asphalt track within 300 miles.
#####