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James Essex
CALVERT CITY, Ky. (March 6) - Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, MI and Scott Weber of Festus, MO took feature wins in their respective divisions on the first night of the 2009 "March Madness" events at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway. VanWormer scored the $5,000 win in the Late Model class and Weber earned $2,000 for winning the open wheel modified divisions main event. A total of 50 Late Models and 72 Modifieds were on hand to race.
VanWormer started on the pole of the 30 lap Late Model feature alongside young Missouri driver Will Vaught. When the green flag dropped to start the main event VanWormer sprinted into turn number one grabbing the lead from Vaught, but the start would soon be negated as Steve Francis had to steer clear of a couple of cars in turn two as he was forced to spin into the infield which would mean the race would have to be restarted as the caution came out.
VanWormer would again take the lead from Vaught as the two drivers sped into the first corner as Ray Cook, Billy Moyer and Jason Feger followed. Feger would lose a couple of positions in the running order on lap two as first year Late Model driver Tommy Weder, Jr. would get by him to take over the fifth spot.
Moyer would pass Cook for third by lap three as the Hall of Famer then set his sights on the high flying two frontrunning cars of VanWormer and Vaught who were starting to pull away from him. VanWormer was setting blistering pace around the track which proved to be racy all night long as he had already picked up the tail end of the field by the 11th circuit.
Vaught then had to contend with Moyer as the drivers who came into the race with 702 career feature wins was all over the young gun in traffic. VanWormer then started to lap cars in a quick fashion as he put three lapped machines between himself and the torrid battle for second between Vaught and Moyer. Moyer would make the pass on Vaught for second on lap 17 after the two ran door-to-door for two circuits.
With 20 laps in the books it was all VanWormer as the 2007 Eldora Speedway track champion had several car lengths between himself and Moyer. Vaught was running in third with ten laps to go with Cook fourth and Steve Casebolt in fifth. Cook then started to slow on the track loosing several positions as a right rear flat tire would spell the end of a possible top five finish as he slowed enough to bring out the caution. Cook would drop into the pit area for a tire change and re-enter the race, but was never a factor after that.
The caution for Cook would come out with 27 laps scored which would then set up a three-lap dash to the finish involving VanWormer, Moyer and Vaught with several spots in the top ten up for grabs in the closing laps. VanWormer would get a good restart and with a clear track in front of him he would set sail and go on to lead all 30 laps and take the $5,000 first place prize for his first ever win at Kentucky Lake and his first win in his new Rocket Chassis Ford Fusion.
In victory lane afterwards VanWormer could not say enough good things about his Rocket Chassis. "The car was just awesome, I felt like I could run anywhere on the race track, but I was sure worried there at the end with the caution, I didn't need that, but the car took off and it was a dream to drive tonight, it was great in traffic and I couldn't be more happier," said the 33-year old who will be chasing the Rookie of the Year honors with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2009.VanWormer's Iron Motorsports #55 has a Cornett Engine providing the horsepower and is sponsored by Bayline Fire Protection, Globe Technologies, Banshee Graphics, Integra Racing Shocks, Port City Racing, VP Racing Fuels and Delph Communications.
Moyer finished in second in his Banner Valley Hauling/Clements Racing Engines/Moyer Victory Circle M1 Chassis with Vaught an impressive third in his Bill Frye Motorsports/Kuntz and Company/GRT by Frye Ford Fusion.
Francis made a nice recovery from his earlier spin to finish fourth in the Tim Logan Racing/Morehead Auto Truck Parts Sales/Rocket by Tim Logan GTO as Casebolt crossed the line in fifth in his Dixie Chopper/Cornett Racing Engines/Rocket Monte Carlo SS. It was a frantic finish for positions four through seventh in the final few laps as Jason Feger finished sixth followed by Tommy Weder, Jr., Jordan Bland, Justin Rattliff and Terry English.
In the open wheel modified division Scott Weber would lead all 25 laps in recording his first win of 2009. The Missouri veteran fought off a late-race challenge from Mike Spatola and Kent Robinson to take the $2,000 victory.
Weber started on the pole and quickly jumped out to a three-car length lead over Richie Biswell and Jay Ledford. The first caution of the race would come out for a spin on lap five and during the caution one of the drivers who was an odds on favorite coming into the race, Joey Kramer would take his car pitside ending his run for the night.
On the restart Weber would see a new contender emerge with Spatola gaining the second slot from Biswell one lap into the restart. Spatola would be just two car lengths behind Weber in the race for the lead when the second caution appeared on lap ten. Again Weber would have a strong restart as he Spatola and 13th starting Kent Robinson were starting to make things quite interesting up front.
Both Spatola and Robinson would stay within striking distance on Weber after the second restart, but then caution number appeared for Randle Sweeney, who stopped on the inside on turn number two. This would only momentarily halt the great race for the lead as Weber would have to withstand two more caution periods the last with just two laps to go.
Spatola would give a great effort in the final two circuits, but Weber was just too strong as he would come home with the win over Spatola, Robinson, Tommie Seets and Jason Miller.
In victory lane Weber was relieved the race was over. "We had such a bad year last year and it's great to get off to a good start this year, the car was just about as perfect as it could be and I want to thank my crew for all of their help, those last two laps were nerve wrecking, but the car was just awesome on the restarts," said the driver of a Sky Rocket Chassis by Kelly Shyrock with a Mullins Racing Engine providing the power and sponsorship from B Auto Parts, High Caliber Graphics and Hudson Freight Brokerage.
Completing the top ten were Gary Cook, Jeff Larson, Guy Taylor, Curt Rhodes and Justin Houston.
Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway-Calvert City, KY
Race Results-Friday Night March 6, 2009
Super Late Models
1 55 Jeep VanWormer Pinconning, MI $5,000
2 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR
3 1V Will Vaught Crane, MO
4 19 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
5 c9 Steve Casebolt Richmond, IN
6 F25 Jason Feger Bloomington, IL
7 02 Tommy Weder Woodward, OK
8 12 Jordan Bland Campbellsville, KY
9 16 Justin Rattliff Campbellsville, KY
10 B1 Terry English Benton, KY
11 88 Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR
12 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
13 43 Jeremy Grady Story City, IA
14 18 Shannon Babb Moweaqua, IL
15 28 Dennis Erb Jr Carpentersville, IL
16 41 Brad Neat Dunnville, KY
17 19J Greg Johnson Bedford, IN
18 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC
19 81 Craig Smith Godfrey, IL
20 73 Zach Johnson Kensington, MN
21 1 Jeff Larson Freeport, IL
22 33 Tim Manville Highland, IL
23 32 Chris Simpson Oxford, IA
24 9 Billy Drake Bloomington, IN
Open Wheel Modifieds
1. Scott Weber, 2. Mike Spatola, 3. Kent Robinson, 4. Tommie Seets, 5. Jason Miller, Gary Cook, Jeff Larson, Guy Taylor, Curt Rhodes, Justin Houston, Butch Weisser, Lucas Lee, Jon Henry, George Aimone, Jay Ledford, Jamie Cobb, Chad Kinder, Paul Miles, Todd Miller, Brandon Dierlam, Trent Young, Tim Hancock, Richie Biswell, Randle Sweeney, Jack Young, B.J. Deal, Michael Asberry, Joey Kramer
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