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Ryan Neuharth
TUCSON, Ariz. (January 10) - After a dominating heat race performance earned him the pole for the 30-lap $5000 to win main event, National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Billy Moyer went wire-to-wire in his L&D Trucking/Banner Valley Hauling/Henderson Motorsports/Cooley Transportation/Watters Auto Land/New Vision Graphics /Performance Rod & Custom/Victory Circle M1 Chassis for the win on night two of the Wild West Shootout at USA Raceway.
Moyer lead away from the pole as new GRT House Car pilot Jack Sullivan, night one winner Jimmy Mars and fourth starting Kelly Boen shuffled outside pole sitter Rylan Long back to fifth after just one lap. Boen wasted no time in heading to the front taking third from Mars down the backstretch and then second from Sullivan in turn three on lap two.
Sullivan would quickly fight back and recapture the runner-up slot just one lap later as Long continued to fade back towards the rear of the top 10. With five in Moyer had opened up a straightaway advantage on Sullivan as Boen and Mars gave chase followed by Don Shaw in fifth, Chris Shannon sixth, Terry Phillips went seventh, Jeremy Thornton eighth, Long ninth and Steve Drake rounding out the top 10.
Boen would go side by side with Sullivan on lap six and once again took the second spot, and one lap later Mars shuffled Sullivan back to fourth as Moyer continued his march towards the back of the field. With 10 down the hottest driver on the property was Pat Doar as the Double-One Express moved to the top side and trucked his way to ninth from 13th.
Don Shaw began to apply the pressure to Sullivan as the pair raced wheel to wheel between laps 11 and 13 with Sullivan fighting back the challenge. Closer to the front Mars took the fight to Boen for second as Mars moved to the middle grove and grabbed the slot on lap 14.
The first yellow of the event would appear on lap 15 for debris in turn three erasing Moyer's straightaway advantage on the field. On the Delaware double file restart Moyer would continue to lead as Mars, Boen and Sullivan continued the chase. Phillips would use the restart to his advantage to take fifth from Shaw on lap 15 and fourth from Sullivan just one trip later. Doar then jumped past Shannon for seventh as Shaw and Sullivan engaged in a side by side race for sixth.
Shannon and Doar continued their high/low fight with Shannon winning out 2/3rds into the 30 lapper. With just 10 to go, Moyer continued to lead as Mars distanced himself from Boen and closed on the races only leader. Phillips was a solid fourth as a four way dance developed for the fifth spot currently occupied by Shaw who had Sullivan, Shannon and Doar lurking, while Thornton continued his solid run in ninth with Drake holding down 10th.
Phillips would make the low side move on Boen for third on lap 23 as Shannon & Sullivan, Doar & Thornton, along with 18th starting Will Vaught & Steve Drake racing side by side, three rows deep for sixth through eleventh. The yellow would appear on lap 25 as contact between Thronton and Vaught sent the 48 spinning in turn two, ending a spectacular run for the Tucson, AZ racer.
With just five to go Moyer had clear track in front for the single file restart with Mars, Phillips, Boen and Shaw occupying the top five, Shannon, Sullivan, Doar, Vaught and Drake shuffled themselves in line to round out the top 10. Vaught resumed his torrid pace towards the front, sailing past both Doar and Sullivan for seventh on lap 26 as Drake then engaged that duo in a three wide battle for the eight spot. Drake would pull the same trick as Vaught on lap 27, but up front no one challenged Moyer over the final five laps as he cruised to his second career Wild West Shootout win, the 715th of his 33-year Dirt Late Model career.
A-Main
1 1 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR 5,000
2 6 28 Jimmy Mars Menomonie, WI 2,500
3 9 75 Terry Phillips Springfield, MO 1500
4 4 07 Kelly Boen Henderson, CO 800
5 5 22 Don Shaw Ham Lake, MN 700
6 7 32S Chris Shannon Merced, CA 600
7 18 1V Will Vaught Crane, MO 550
8 8 11X Steve Drake San Luis Obispo, CA 500
9 3 1X Jack Sullivan Greenbriar, AR 450
10 13 11 Pat Doar New Richmond, Wi 400
11 11 5K Mike Kirby Torrance, CA 400
12 16 74 Jeremy Payne Springfield, MO 400
13 2 18 Rylan Long Greenfield, MO 400
14 23 21JR Billy Moyer Jr Batesville, AR 400
15 15 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr Orlan Park, IL 400
16 24 32B Clay Daly Bakersfield, CA 400
17 19 8L John Lowrey Bakersfield, CA 400
18 12 8 Lonnie Parker Jr El Mirage, AZ 400
19 17 90 Lance Matthees Winona, MN 400
20 10 48 Jeremy Thornton Tucson, AZ 400
21 14 51 Joey Moriarty Tucson, AZ 400
22 20 2 John Anderson Omaha, NE 400
23 22 14 Brad Looney Republic, MO 400
24 21 12S Brad Seng Grand Forks, ND 400
A-Main: Moyer, Mars, Phillips, Boen, Shaw, Shannon, Vaught, Drake, Sullivan, Doar, Kirby, Payne, Long, Moyer, Jr, Heckenast, Jr, Daly, Lowry, Parker, Jr, Matthees, Thornton, Moriarty, Anderson, Looney, Seng.
Heat 1: Rylan Long, Mike Kirby, Billy Moyer, Jr, Terry Phillips, Chris Shannon, Grant Junghans, Rob Mayea, Rob Sanders, Jamie Throckmorton, Tommy Hussek
Heat 2: Don Shaw, Lonnie Parker, Jr, Steve Drake, John Anderson, Brad Seng, Dan Henrickson, Andrew McKay, Bill Bartells, Adam Crippen, Jimmy Jelvik
Heat 3: Jack Sullivan, Frank Heckenast, Jr, Jeremy Payne, Kelly Boen, Brad Looney, Ronnie Rihn, Mark Carroll, James Chavez, Jr, David Vennard, Eric Turner
Heat 4: Billy Moyer, Pat Doar, Will Vaught, Cory Hemphill, Dean Moore, John Lowry, Matt Aukland, Brad Williams, Nick Bartells, Logan Drake
Heat 5: Jimmy Mars, Joey Moriarty, Lance Matthees, Jeremy Thornton, Bo Gordon, Paul Mueller, Clay Daly, Jeff Biffle, Randy Korte
B-Main 1: Matthees, Lowry, Seng, Moyer, Jr, Moore, Aukland, Williams, Sanders, Junghans, Hemphill, Mueller, N. Bartells, Biffle, Hussek, Crippen, Turner
B-Main 2: Vaught, Anderson, Looney, Daly, Gordon, Korte, McKay, Henrickson, B.Bartells, Rihn, Throckmorton, L. Drake, Carroll, Mayea, Vennard, Chavez, Jelvik
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