The Midway Spedway in Lebanon,Mo opened its 2012 points battle Sat night with 5 classes competing and some great side by side action.
The Factory Stock feature started the action with Mark Simon and former champion Bob Gustin on the front row following the redraw.Gustin pulled to the opening lead as Lebanon’ Brian Schutt and Simon following closely.With Gustin holding the middle groove and Schutt going top side,former champion Tim Petty came charging from his 3rd starting spot to grab second place on lap 3.With the top 4 so close together,Gustin was determined to keep right in the middle of the track.The 4 car battle up front allowed Donnie Miller,Trevor Ellingson and Brandon Waters to close-up ground.The 1st caution waved on lap 6 as Shawn Whitman spun in turn 1.On the restart,Simon was able to get around Petty and started to challange Gustin.2 laps later,Frank Escamilla broke something in turn 3 and went against the wall up high.On the restart,Petty went back around Simon to regain second place only to have Simon back on the following lap while the top 4 stayed clse.The final caution flew on lap 12 as Simon ducked into the pits with a flat tire and rejoine the rear of the pack.Gustin was holding a straight line as Pety came back to grab second place while Schutt went around for position.In a 3 car dog-fight towards the finish as Whitman was coming quickly.Gustin would hold off many attempts to take the win as Schutt,Petty,Brandon Waters and Whitman followed in the top 5.Whitman croosed the line against the wall as a ball joint broke while he was attempting to get 3rd place.
The B-Modified feature saw last years top winner Shawn Strong going against an undefeated Kris Jackson for 2012.Jackson had won 3 Area race features in 3 attempts this season.The front row found DeWayne Hobbs and Strong with Jason Otto and Jackson in row 2.Strong jumped to the opening lead as Jackson quickly followed as Hobbs,Otto and Michael Jones followed.On lap 2 Jones and Tony Moore got together in turn 2 ending both their nights.On the restart it was Strong holding the bottom groove as Jackson was going upstairs with Hobbs,Otto and Ted Ballinger were fighting for the spot.Ballinger and Otto made contact with Otto getting into the front stretch wall ending with severe damage.On the restart,Strong couldn’t shake Jackson as Jackson was keeping close.From lap 5 until lap 10,it was nip and tuck between the leaders as Jackson took the lead on lap 10 by a front bumper.Heading to lap 11,rookie Robbie Payne spun bringing out the caution.On the final restart,Jackson pulled away to take his 4th win of thallinger and a harde season as Strong,Hobbs,Ballinger and a fast moving Bill Schaar followed.
The Midwest Modified feature was all Sam Petty as Petty took the opening lead on lap 1 from 2-time champion JC Newell and never looked back making it back to back Midway wins after capturing last weeks Spring Fling feature.Newell could never mount a challange and stayed a solid runner-up finish as Tim Jones rallied from an early spin to climb back to third as Travis Hill and Jamie Petty followed.Lebanon’s Bennie Joiner had a solid third place run go bad when he spun late in the feature in turn 2 while running third and restarted at the rear with only 3 laps remaining.
The Pure Stock event featured close racing all night long with last seasons champ Matt Young grabbing the early lead with last weeks winner Tyler Schoen close on his bumper.The caution waved on lap 2 as Young spun while leading and Larry Flaugher spun also.This placed Rob White in the lead with Monk Barker and Shorty Doublin following.Schoen pulled in to the pits with problems ending his night also.White pulled away and never loked back in securing the win as Barker,Young,Bo Alexstates and Flaugher followed.Barker would have technical problems and was Dis-qualified from the final rundown.This placed Young in second place with Alexstates,Flaugher and a slowing Doublin in the top 5.Doublin’s night was good until late in the race when his motor started over-heating and slowed.
Mark Simon took the Street Stock Station wagon to the lead on the opening lap from his third place starting spot from Shawn Schmidt and easily took the win in the Street Stock feature.Defending champion Joe Francis grabbed the second place honors from Schmidt on lap6 but could never mount a challange for the win.Schmidt,Rex Sawyer and Kevin Forshey followed the winner across the line.
Racing action continues next Sat Night featuring Factory Stocks,B-Modifieds,Pure Stocks,Midwest Modifieds and Street Stocks with racing to begin at 7:30 and the gates open at 5PM.
Results
Factory Stocks
Feature-1-Bob Gustin-Osage Beach 2-Brian ScMhutt-Lebanon 3-Tim Petty-Niangua 4-Brandon Waters-Lynchburg 5-Shawn Whitman-Strafford 6-Donnie Miller-Houston 7-Doug Rich-Macks Creek 8-Mark Simon-Buffalo 9-Adrell Sheppard-Camdenton 10-Trevor Ellingson-Lebanon 11-Frank Escamilla-Brighton
Ht 1-1-Petty 2-Simon 3-Ellingson 4-Escamilla 5-Sheppard
Ht 2-1-Schutt 2-Gustin 3-Miller 4-Waters 5-Whitman
B-Modifieds
Feature-1-Kris Jackson-Lebanon 2-Shawn Strong-Billings 3-Dewayne Hobbs-Halfway 4-Ted Ballinger-Halfway 5-Bill Schaar-St Robert 6-Brian Myers-Lebanon 7-Tim Ballinger-Fair Grove 8-Robbie Payne-Licking 9-Toby Thompson 10-Jason Otto-Richland 11-Michael Jones-Lebanon 12-Tony Moore-Lebanon
Ht 1-1-Otto 2-Hobbs 3-Jones 4-Myers 5-Tim Ballinger 6-Schaar
Ht 2-1-Jackson 2-Strong 3-Moore 4-Ted Ballinger 5-Payne 6-Thompson
Pure Stocks
Feature-1-Rob White-Lebanon 2-Matt Young-Lebanon 3-Bo Alexstates-Brumley 4-Larry Flaugher-Eldon 5-Shorty Doublin-Lebanon 6-Stacye Francis-Lebanon 7-Caleb Starnes-Lebanon 8-Tyler Schoen-Halfway 9-Mike Walker-Urbana DNS-Jim Alexstates-Brumley,Jack Hamer-Ava DQ-Monk Barker-Lebanon
Ht 1-1-White 2-Schoen 3-Young 4-B Alexstates 5-Francis 6-Barker
Ht 2-1-Doublin 2-Starnes 3-Flaugher 4-J Alexstates 5-Hamer 6-Walker
Midwest Modifieds
Feature-1-Sam Petty-Niangua 2-JC Newell-Stoutland 3-Tim Jones-Marshfield 4-Travis Hill-Lebanon 5-Jamie Petty-Niangua 6-Bennie Joiner-Lebanon 7-Tim Ballinger Jr-Fair Grove 8-Les Hayes-Camdenton 9-Billy Pierce-Camdenton DNS-Troy Young-lebanon
Ht 1-1-Newell 2-Jones 3-Joiner 4-Pierce 5-Hayes
Ht 2-1-S Petty 2-Hill 3-J Petty 4-Ballinger Jr 5-Young
Street Stocks
Feature-1-Mark Simon-Buffalo 2-Joe Francis-Lebanon 3-Shawn Schmidt-Springfield 4-Rex Sawyer-Ava 5-Kevin Forshey-Dixon 6-Matt Darnell-Buffalo 7-Wayne Bysor-Bolivar 8-Brandon Henderson-Lebanon
Ht 1-1-Simon 2-Schmidt 3-Forshey 4-Henderson
Ht 2-1-Francis 2-Darnell 3-Sawyer 4-Bysor