<img src="http://www.stlracing.com/pixs05/johnson-klms05.jpg">
Scott James - Photo by Corey Dunn
Jeffrey A. Bayless
March 4th (Calvert City, KY) The 2005 Northern All-star Late Model Series kicked off with a bang with back to back $10,000 to win shows, the first of which was the 1st Annual Early Bird Classic at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway outside of Calvert City, KY. Sixty one late models signed in for the event and in the end it was Bright, IN native The Silver Shark, Scott James grabbing the checkers in his Dargie Racing Engines powered Rocket Pontiac Grand Prix.
In the first of six heat races, each transferring three to the 50 lap main event, Phil Walker jumped to the early lead and held off several early challenges from Wendell Wallace before cruising away to a comfortable victory. Duane Chamberlain, Timmy Yeager, and John VanDenberg rounded out the top 5. Heat two saw fast qualifier Don O'Neal power from his third starting spot to lead the field through one and two only to be overcome down the backstretch by Ray Cook who went on to lead the entire event. O'Neal, Terry English, Kevin Cole, and Billy James rounded out the top 5. In heat three Randy Korte, Billy Moyer, and Brad Neat quickly separated from the field with Korte grabbing the checkers as Moyer held off Neat for the runner up spot. Matt Taylor and Joe Morris rounded out the top 5. Scott James powered away from the field in the 4th heat but Steve Francis whittled away his lead to only a couple of car lengths by the end of the 10 lap event. Michael England, Dennis Erb Jr., and John Tindale rounded out the top 5. Rodney Melvin cruised to victory in the 5th heat with Joey Mack by passing Chad Zobrist for the runner up spot. Billy Faust and Bill Millikan rounded out the top 5. In the 6th heat pole sitter Whitney McQueary jumped the gun on the initial start and was penalized by being moved back a row giving Dale McDowell the pole. McDowell then led the entire event to grab the heat win with Shannon Babb, McQueary, Jeremy WIlliams, and Brian Shirley rounding out the top 5. This set the stage for 3 last chance races each transferring the winner to the A-main. Timmy Yeager, Dennis Erb Jr., and Jeremy Williams each earned the way to the feature by winning their respective race while Rohn Moon, Steve Barnett, and John Tindale were added to the field as provisionals to complete the 24 car field.
Ray Cook powered past pole sitter Randy Korte to grab the early lead in the main event with Scott James in third followed by Dale McDowell, Steve Francis and Rodney Melvin. Cook motored away to a comfortable lead only to have it negated by a lap 5 caution that allowed Korte to mount a challenge on the restart. Korte would charge to the inside of Cook several laps in a row through the turns only to have Cook reclaim the lead down the straights until Korte sealed the deal on the 11th circuit to claim the lead. One lap later Cook drifted high out of two cutting down a tire and bringing out a caution leaving the top 5 as Korte, James, McDowell, O'Neal, and Francis. Francis tried to drive around the outside of O'Neal on the restart only to make contact and spin in turns three and four and escaped any further harm with several drivers making evasive moves to avoid him as he set facing the wrong way in front of the on coming field. By the half way point the leaders had caught the back markers and the top seven of Korte, James, McDowell, O'Neal, English, Moyer, and Erb were all battling amongst each other racing two, three, and sometimes 4 wide. However, on the 30th circuit Moyer jumped to the high side coming out of two to try and pass O'Neal who was trying to do the same thing to pass English and the two made contact sending Moyer spinning head first into the backstretch wall. Korte pulled away on the restart but James quickly reeled him back in and made the pass on the 32nd circuit while O'Neal got past English and he and McDowell were in a heated battle for third swapping positions several times a lap. The race slowed again on the 36th circuit when English suffered a flat tire and brought out the caution so he could move to the infield and change it. O'Neal used the restart to charge past Korte for the runner-up position but the action was short lived as Francis found trouble in turn 3 ending his night as Erb broke his left front suspension ending his night as well. This left the top 5 as James, O'Neal, Korte, McDowell, and Brad Neat. On the restart O'Neal got up in the marbles in 1 and 2 allowing both Korte and McDowell by but O'Neal was able to get back past McDowell on the next circuit. O'Neal and Korte while battling for position got together cutting down a tire on Korte's machine and he called it a night as O'Neal then set his sights on the leader. With 5 to go O'Neal tried a slide job through turns one and two but was unable to hold the lead as James powered back by at the other end of the track. O'Neal made several more challenges as the race wound down, but in the end it was James crossing the finish line pumping his fist out of the window in celebration. McDowell, Neat, Wallace, McQueary, Barnett, England, Tindale, and English came across the line in positions 3rd through 10th but in post race inspections O'Neal, Neat, and Wallace all failed to make weight and were disqualified.
James, obviously excited with the win jumping to the roof of his car to salute the cheering crowd, exclaimed in victory circle "I've won some $5000 races before but this is the first time I've won 10." When asked about the slide job O'Neal tried toward the end of the race he responded "I was getting through turns 1 and 2 so well I knew he wasn't going to be able to make it stick. I was able to carry enough momentum out of the turn that I was able to get back inside of him and make the pass at the other end." James' entry was sponsored by Powell Motorsports, Baylor Trucking, Welsh Excavating, James Art Designs, Hoosier Tires, VP Race Fuels, Stealth Carbuartors, Dyers Rods, and Delph Communications.
RESULTS
NALMS LATE MODELS
61 Cars
Fast Time 71 Don O'Neal 14.268
Heat 1 (10 laps top 3 transfer)
1. 2 Phil Walker
2. 88 Wendell Wallace
3. 1 Duane Chamberlain
4. R25 Timmy Yeager
5. 5M John Vandenberg
6. 31 Eddie Pace
7. 50 Ed Dixon
8. 9 Blake Chinn
9. 16H Mike Hammerlee
10. 4GH Jeffrey Slone
11. C21 Rex Berry (DNS)
Heat 2
1. 53 Ray Cook
2. 71 Don O'Neal
3. 96 Terry English
4. 81 Kevin Cole
5. 5jr Billy James
6. 55 Jeep VanWormer
7. 34 Steve Hillard
8. 89 Steve Barnett
9. 37 Rod Sandage
10. 22 Chris Dick
Heat 3
1. 00 Randy Korte
2. 21 Billy Moyer Jr.
3. 41 Brad Neat
4. 3L Matt Taylor
5. 83 Joe Morris
6. 56 Rohn Moon
7. 1 Wayne Chinn
8. 1M Mike Matargas
9. 18K Eric Kwasigroh
10. 10 James Burrell
Heat 4
1. 83 Scott James
2. 15 Steve Francis
3. 5 Michael England
4. 28 Dennis Erb Jr.
5. 7 John Tindale
6. T14 Tim Brown
7. 85 James Morrison
8. 25 Kyle Roderick
9. 0 Richie Hedrick
10. 3 Randy Sellars
Heat 5
1. 27 Rodney Melvin
2. 97M Joey Mack
3. 78 Chad Zobrist
4. 26 Billy Faust
5. 14 Bill Millikan
6. 00 Bronson Berry
7. 1 Tony Albright
8. 111 Randy Manos Jr.
9. 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr.
10. 21E Caley Emerson (DNS)
Heat 6
1. 17M Dale McDowell
2. 18 Shannon Babb
3. 5M Whitney McQueary
4. 8 Jeremy Williams
5. 3S Brian Shirley
6. 57 Timothy Hamburg
7. 11 Pat Doar
8. 41J Jarryd Holshouser
9. 45DW Dennis Woodworth
10. B12 Kevin Weaver
Conci 1 (10 laps Winner Transfer)
1. R25 Yeager
2. 5JR James
3. 55 Van Wormer
4. 81 Cole
5. 5M VanDenberg
6. 34 Hillard
7. 89 Barnett
8. 50 Dixon
9. 37 Sandage
10. 16H Hammerlee
11. 22 Dick
12. 9 Chinn
13. 4GH Slone
Conci 2
1. 28 Erb
2. 3L Taylor
3. 83 Morris
4. 7 Tindale
5. 1 Chinn
6. T14 Brown
7. 56 Moon
8. 18K Kwasigroh
9. 1M Mataragas
10. 25 Roderick
11. 10 Burrell
12. 0 Hedrick
Conci 3
1. 8 Williams
2. 3S Shirley
3. 57 Hamburg
4. 00 Berry
5. 11 Doar
6. 45DW Woodsworth
7. 41J Holshouser
8. 99Jr Heckenast
9. 111 Manos
10. 1 Albright
11. 26 Faust
Feature (50 laps $10,000 to win)
1. 83 James (4)
2. 17M McDowell (6)
3. 5M McQueary (18)
4. 89 Barnett (23)
5. 5 England (16)
6. 7 Tindale (24)
7. 96 English (14)
8. 56 Moon (22)
9. R25 Yeager (19) DNF
10. 00 Korte (1)
11. 28 Erb (20)
12. 15 Francis (10)
13. 27 Melvin (3)
14. 21 Moyer (9)
15. 78 Zobrist (17)
16. 1 Chamberlain (13)
17. 8 Williams (21)
18. 97M Mack (11)
19. 18 Babb (12)
20. 2 Walker (5)
21. 53 Cook (2)
22. 71 O'Neal (8) DQ original finish 2
23. 41 Neat (15) original finish 4
24. 88 Wallace (7) original finish 5
Contingency Awards
K-Motion Feature Winner: Scott James
Petersen Aluminum Fast Time: Don O'Neal
PPM Racing Products Hard Charger: Steve Barnett
Wick Oil & Sunoco Hard Luck: Brian Shirley
Scott Performance Wire Heat Race Winner: Rodney Melvin
Dyer's Rods Pole Award: Randy Korte
Scroggin Racing Products Last Place In Feature: Ray Cook
PFM Racing Products 2nd Place Feature: Dale McDowell
Scott James - Photo by Corey Dunn
Jeffrey A. Bayless
March 4th (Calvert City, KY) The 2005 Northern All-star Late Model Series kicked off with a bang with back to back $10,000 to win shows, the first of which was the 1st Annual Early Bird Classic at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway outside of Calvert City, KY. Sixty one late models signed in for the event and in the end it was Bright, IN native The Silver Shark, Scott James grabbing the checkers in his Dargie Racing Engines powered Rocket Pontiac Grand Prix.
In the first of six heat races, each transferring three to the 50 lap main event, Phil Walker jumped to the early lead and held off several early challenges from Wendell Wallace before cruising away to a comfortable victory. Duane Chamberlain, Timmy Yeager, and John VanDenberg rounded out the top 5. Heat two saw fast qualifier Don O'Neal power from his third starting spot to lead the field through one and two only to be overcome down the backstretch by Ray Cook who went on to lead the entire event. O'Neal, Terry English, Kevin Cole, and Billy James rounded out the top 5. In heat three Randy Korte, Billy Moyer, and Brad Neat quickly separated from the field with Korte grabbing the checkers as Moyer held off Neat for the runner up spot. Matt Taylor and Joe Morris rounded out the top 5. Scott James powered away from the field in the 4th heat but Steve Francis whittled away his lead to only a couple of car lengths by the end of the 10 lap event. Michael England, Dennis Erb Jr., and John Tindale rounded out the top 5. Rodney Melvin cruised to victory in the 5th heat with Joey Mack by passing Chad Zobrist for the runner up spot. Billy Faust and Bill Millikan rounded out the top 5. In the 6th heat pole sitter Whitney McQueary jumped the gun on the initial start and was penalized by being moved back a row giving Dale McDowell the pole. McDowell then led the entire event to grab the heat win with Shannon Babb, McQueary, Jeremy WIlliams, and Brian Shirley rounding out the top 5. This set the stage for 3 last chance races each transferring the winner to the A-main. Timmy Yeager, Dennis Erb Jr., and Jeremy Williams each earned the way to the feature by winning their respective race while Rohn Moon, Steve Barnett, and John Tindale were added to the field as provisionals to complete the 24 car field.
Ray Cook powered past pole sitter Randy Korte to grab the early lead in the main event with Scott James in third followed by Dale McDowell, Steve Francis and Rodney Melvin. Cook motored away to a comfortable lead only to have it negated by a lap 5 caution that allowed Korte to mount a challenge on the restart. Korte would charge to the inside of Cook several laps in a row through the turns only to have Cook reclaim the lead down the straights until Korte sealed the deal on the 11th circuit to claim the lead. One lap later Cook drifted high out of two cutting down a tire and bringing out a caution leaving the top 5 as Korte, James, McDowell, O'Neal, and Francis. Francis tried to drive around the outside of O'Neal on the restart only to make contact and spin in turns three and four and escaped any further harm with several drivers making evasive moves to avoid him as he set facing the wrong way in front of the on coming field. By the half way point the leaders had caught the back markers and the top seven of Korte, James, McDowell, O'Neal, English, Moyer, and Erb were all battling amongst each other racing two, three, and sometimes 4 wide. However, on the 30th circuit Moyer jumped to the high side coming out of two to try and pass O'Neal who was trying to do the same thing to pass English and the two made contact sending Moyer spinning head first into the backstretch wall. Korte pulled away on the restart but James quickly reeled him back in and made the pass on the 32nd circuit while O'Neal got past English and he and McDowell were in a heated battle for third swapping positions several times a lap. The race slowed again on the 36th circuit when English suffered a flat tire and brought out the caution so he could move to the infield and change it. O'Neal used the restart to charge past Korte for the runner-up position but the action was short lived as Francis found trouble in turn 3 ending his night as Erb broke his left front suspension ending his night as well. This left the top 5 as James, O'Neal, Korte, McDowell, and Brad Neat. On the restart O'Neal got up in the marbles in 1 and 2 allowing both Korte and McDowell by but O'Neal was able to get back past McDowell on the next circuit. O'Neal and Korte while battling for position got together cutting down a tire on Korte's machine and he called it a night as O'Neal then set his sights on the leader. With 5 to go O'Neal tried a slide job through turns one and two but was unable to hold the lead as James powered back by at the other end of the track. O'Neal made several more challenges as the race wound down, but in the end it was James crossing the finish line pumping his fist out of the window in celebration. McDowell, Neat, Wallace, McQueary, Barnett, England, Tindale, and English came across the line in positions 3rd through 10th but in post race inspections O'Neal, Neat, and Wallace all failed to make weight and were disqualified.
James, obviously excited with the win jumping to the roof of his car to salute the cheering crowd, exclaimed in victory circle "I've won some $5000 races before but this is the first time I've won 10." When asked about the slide job O'Neal tried toward the end of the race he responded "I was getting through turns 1 and 2 so well I knew he wasn't going to be able to make it stick. I was able to carry enough momentum out of the turn that I was able to get back inside of him and make the pass at the other end." James' entry was sponsored by Powell Motorsports, Baylor Trucking, Welsh Excavating, James Art Designs, Hoosier Tires, VP Race Fuels, Stealth Carbuartors, Dyers Rods, and Delph Communications.
RESULTS
NALMS LATE MODELS
61 Cars
Fast Time 71 Don O'Neal 14.268
Heat 1 (10 laps top 3 transfer)
1. 2 Phil Walker
2. 88 Wendell Wallace
3. 1 Duane Chamberlain
4. R25 Timmy Yeager
5. 5M John Vandenberg
6. 31 Eddie Pace
7. 50 Ed Dixon
8. 9 Blake Chinn
9. 16H Mike Hammerlee
10. 4GH Jeffrey Slone
11. C21 Rex Berry (DNS)
Heat 2
1. 53 Ray Cook
2. 71 Don O'Neal
3. 96 Terry English
4. 81 Kevin Cole
5. 5jr Billy James
6. 55 Jeep VanWormer
7. 34 Steve Hillard
8. 89 Steve Barnett
9. 37 Rod Sandage
10. 22 Chris Dick
Heat 3
1. 00 Randy Korte
2. 21 Billy Moyer Jr.
3. 41 Brad Neat
4. 3L Matt Taylor
5. 83 Joe Morris
6. 56 Rohn Moon
7. 1 Wayne Chinn
8. 1M Mike Matargas
9. 18K Eric Kwasigroh
10. 10 James Burrell
Heat 4
1. 83 Scott James
2. 15 Steve Francis
3. 5 Michael England
4. 28 Dennis Erb Jr.
5. 7 John Tindale
6. T14 Tim Brown
7. 85 James Morrison
8. 25 Kyle Roderick
9. 0 Richie Hedrick
10. 3 Randy Sellars
Heat 5
1. 27 Rodney Melvin
2. 97M Joey Mack
3. 78 Chad Zobrist
4. 26 Billy Faust
5. 14 Bill Millikan
6. 00 Bronson Berry
7. 1 Tony Albright
8. 111 Randy Manos Jr.
9. 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr.
10. 21E Caley Emerson (DNS)
Heat 6
1. 17M Dale McDowell
2. 18 Shannon Babb
3. 5M Whitney McQueary
4. 8 Jeremy Williams
5. 3S Brian Shirley
6. 57 Timothy Hamburg
7. 11 Pat Doar
8. 41J Jarryd Holshouser
9. 45DW Dennis Woodworth
10. B12 Kevin Weaver
Conci 1 (10 laps Winner Transfer)
1. R25 Yeager
2. 5JR James
3. 55 Van Wormer
4. 81 Cole
5. 5M VanDenberg
6. 34 Hillard
7. 89 Barnett
8. 50 Dixon
9. 37 Sandage
10. 16H Hammerlee
11. 22 Dick
12. 9 Chinn
13. 4GH Slone
Conci 2
1. 28 Erb
2. 3L Taylor
3. 83 Morris
4. 7 Tindale
5. 1 Chinn
6. T14 Brown
7. 56 Moon
8. 18K Kwasigroh
9. 1M Mataragas
10. 25 Roderick
11. 10 Burrell
12. 0 Hedrick
Conci 3
1. 8 Williams
2. 3S Shirley
3. 57 Hamburg
4. 00 Berry
5. 11 Doar
6. 45DW Woodsworth
7. 41J Holshouser
8. 99Jr Heckenast
9. 111 Manos
10. 1 Albright
11. 26 Faust
Feature (50 laps $10,000 to win)
1. 83 James (4)
2. 17M McDowell (6)
3. 5M McQueary (18)
4. 89 Barnett (23)
5. 5 England (16)
6. 7 Tindale (24)
7. 96 English (14)
8. 56 Moon (22)
9. R25 Yeager (19) DNF
10. 00 Korte (1)
11. 28 Erb (20)
12. 15 Francis (10)
13. 27 Melvin (3)
14. 21 Moyer (9)
15. 78 Zobrist (17)
16. 1 Chamberlain (13)
17. 8 Williams (21)
18. 97M Mack (11)
19. 18 Babb (12)
20. 2 Walker (5)
21. 53 Cook (2)
22. 71 O'Neal (8) DQ original finish 2
23. 41 Neat (15) original finish 4
24. 88 Wallace (7) original finish 5
Contingency Awards
K-Motion Feature Winner: Scott James
Petersen Aluminum Fast Time: Don O'Neal
PPM Racing Products Hard Charger: Steve Barnett
Wick Oil & Sunoco Hard Luck: Brian Shirley
Scott Performance Wire Heat Race Winner: Rodney Melvin
Dyer's Rods Pole Award: Randy Korte
Scroggin Racing Products Last Place In Feature: Ray Cook
PFM Racing Products 2nd Place Feature: Dale McDowell
