Lebanon,Mo.- Following a very successful Mercy Masters Of The Pros Event last weekend, Round number 2 of the Monster Energy Championship Chase picked back up with Caddy Shack Golf Cart Night At The Races as 4 new winners took home their first wins of 2013 with close racing action providing the crowd an outstanding night of Asphalt Racing.
In the O’Reilly Auto Parts NASCAR Late Model Action, young Oklahoma driver Austin Fullerton jumped to the early command with Brian Brown close behind along with Jimmy VanZandt. Brown would head to the pits quickly with problems as Fullerton was setting a blistering pace with VanZandt, 1999 Champion Kenny Dickenson and young Tucker Cory following. On lap 4, Dickinson moved around VanZandt for the runner-up spot and began to close in on Fullerton while Williams had quietly moved from his 6th starting spot and was on Dickinson’s bumper by lap 6 as tight racing kept everyone watching the entire field. On lap 8, Williams moved around the veteran Dickinson and set his sights on the leader Fullerton while opening night winner Matt Wallace was working from his 13th starting spot through the tight pack. As Fullerton kept a 5 car length lead, the features only caution flew on lap 15 for a single car spin. On the restart, Fullerton pulled away again with Williams, Dickinson, VanZandt and Wallace in tow. Williams quickly moved through the corners and made his winning pass on the backstretch on lap 17 after a spirited 2 lap battle with Fullerton. Once in front Williams left the field to race for second place honors as Fullerton, Wallace, Dickinson and last seasons Sportsman Champ Little JC Newell provided plenty of action. While Williams, the Indiana 17 year old speedster would grab win number 1, it was the race for runner-up between early leader Fullerton and Wallace which kept everyone wondering as Wallace would grab the runner-up spot with only 2 laps remaining followed by Fullerton, Dickinson and Newell at the stripe. “I think we could have caught Fullerton without the yellow halfway, but it did help us as his car didn’t seem to go through the corners as strong after the caution. It was really fun racing 2 laps door to door with him and tonight the competition was tough. This was a good points night for us but next week starting towards the rear even more should be exciting for the fans as the quality of talent here is very strong.”
The Budweiser Modified feature really kept everyone excited in the opening laps as veteran Scotty Allen jumped out to the opening lead from his pole spot with Steven Counterman and David Bates following quickly along with 2 time champion Tyler Scott. A quick caution on lap 3 erased the small lead Allen had built early as Scott made quick work of Counterman as Bates followed on the restart. During the green flag run, Allen’s car began to push up in the corners as “The Nixa Nightmare” Scott shot to the inside and grabbed command by lap 7 with Bates keeping pace early. The 25 lap feature would go caution free as Scott pulled away as Bates was fighting an overheating motor issue as his pace began to fall off while Counterman and Terry Taylor closed in for second place. Bates would keep it together enough to hold on to the spot as Scott crossed the line first, but was found to have issues afterwards in tech forcing a disqualification awarding Bates the win with Counterman,Terry Taylor, early leader Allen and last season’s Charger Champion Paul Jepson with the top 5 run down.
The Hoosier Tire Road Warriors have been providing everyone with outstanding wheel to wheel and yet another new winner graced victory lane as Lebanon’s Justin Blake in only his second race ever came from 13th starting spot and took the lead with only 2 laps left by making a high side move in turn 2 over then leader Carl Harlow to grab the win. It was Springfield’s David Jennings grabbed the opening lead with Caston Jones following early. Caution bunched the field together on lap 2 as Les Mallard moved into the runner-up spot while fending off Jones, Chuck Higdon and opening night winner Geoff Ledford. Jennings would give up the top spot on lap 8 as Mallard and Harlow moved around. Harlow would take the lead on lap 10 as caution flew for several cars including Higdon, Mallard,Alan Ellis and Kasey Buckley. This moved Blake into second place and set-up the exciting finish as Blake had worked the top side for 3 solid laps before pulling off the winning pass. Ledford, Mike Funcannon and early leader Jennings followed the lead duo to the stripe.
It has been over 15 race seasons since Monster Energy Sportsman driver Randy Besser of Branson has tasted victory lane, but Saturday night ended that drought as Besser showed alot of patience and made the right adjustments to car as he took the lead from Austin Johnson on lap 6 and then held back several challenges from Robert Reeves to grab win number 1 this season. Johnson and longtime area favorite :The Gentile Giant” JC Newell brought the field to the green with Newell using that high fast outside groove, but fluids coming from the car sent him to the pits quickly. Austin Johnson quickly opened a big lead as Besser and Reeves went nose to tail along with Aaron Douglas. The only caution of the feature flew on lap 5 as Douglas went spinning in turn 1 as rear end problems ended his night early. This bunched the field together eliminating Johnson’s big lead. Besser made quick work after the restart of the leader Johnson as Reeves followed quickly. Reeves tried several attempts from laps 9-13 to move around Besser, but Besser had the car set strong for the long runs holding off Reeves. Following Besser and Reeves to the finish would be early leader Johnson, Jimmy Fohn and Newell would recover to gather a top 5 run.
Action continues next Saturday Night with NASCAR Short-Track action on Missouri’s only Asphalt oval with the gates opening at 5PM and Racing to begin at 7PM. Grandstand Admission is only $10 while Juniors ages 11-15 only $4 and kids 10 and under Free. Discounts are also given to Seniors and Military with ID, While Tier parking is only $15 for Adults while Juniors ages 11-15 are $7 and 10 and under Free with discounts also for Seniors and Military with ID. Take Advantage of the special family packages in both the Grandstands and Wildside Tier Parking area and experience the family fun and atmosphere.
Results
O’Reilly Auto Parts Late Models
Feature-1)Cole Williams-Sellersburg, Indiana 2) Matt Wallace-Concord, N.C. 3) Austin Fullerton-Chelsea, Oklahoma 4) Kenny Dickinson-Camdenton 5) Little JC Newell-Stoutland 6) Grant Sharp-Conway 7) Jimmy VanZandt-Springfield 8) Steve Holt-Springfield 9) Terry Limberopoulos-Cuba 10) Dale Roper Jr- Fair Grove 11) Brennon Willard-Sleeper 12) Tucker Cory-Quincy, ILL. 13) Caleb Allison-Mexico 14) Brian Brown-Strafford
1st Ht-1) Williams 2) Wallace 3) Cory 4) Brown 5) Limberopoulos 6) Willard 7) Allison
2nd Ht-1) Newell 2) Dickinson 3) VanZandt 4) Fullerton 5) Sharp 6) Holt 7) Roper Jr
Budweiser Modifieds
Feature-1) David Bates-Fair Grove 2) Stephen Counterman-Fair Grove 3) Terry Taylor-Fair Grove 4) Scotty Allen-Urbana 5) Paul Jepson-Rolla 6) Darren Fullerton-Fair Grove 7) Joe Bunkers-Harrisonville 8) Kevin Hunt-Spring Hill, Kansas 9) Richard Lewis-Willard 10) Payton Lucas-Fair Grove DQ-Tyler Scott-Nixa DNS-Chris Kerperien-Ft Wood
1st Ht-1) Scott 2) Fullerton 3) Jepson 4) Hunt 5) Lucas DNS-Kerperien
2nd Ht-1) Taylor 2) D Bates 3) Counterman 4) Allen 5) Bunkers 6) Lewis
Hoosier Tire Road Warriors
Feature- 1) Justin Blake-Lebanon 2) Carl Harlow-Exeter 3) Geoff Ledford-Neosho 4) Mike Funcannon-Cassville 5) David Jennings-Springfield 6) Caston Jones-Belle 7) Alan Ellis-Strafford 8) Les Mallard 9) Chuck Hidgon-Strafford 10) Kasey Buckley-Farmington 11) Brian Lewis-Willard 12) Michael Juergensen-Lebanon 13) Gary Burrows-Versailles
1st Ht-1) Ellis 2) Funcannon 3) Higdon 4) Jones 5) Burrows 6) Ledford 7) Lewis
2nd Ht-1) Blake 2) Juergensen 3) Mallard 4) Jennings 5) Harlow 6) Buckley
Monster Energy Sportsman
Feature-1) Randy Besser-Branson 2) Robert Reeves-Camdenton 3) Austin Johnson-Inola,Okla. 4) Jimmy Fohn-Lebanon 5) JC Newell-Decatureville 6) Aaron Douglas-Lebanon DNS-Justin Darby-Urbana, Dustin Reeves-Osage Beach, Jake Piel-St Louis
Heat- 1) Besser 2) Douglas 3) R. Reeves 4) Newell 5) Johnson 6) D. Reeves 7) Darby DNS-Fohn, Piel