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Sam Stoecklin
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (May 29) - Summer-time temperatures settled into West-Central Missouri on a perfect night for racing at Warrensburg's own Central Missouri Speedway for night number two of the annual Memorial Day weekend events at the speedway known as the fastest high-banked clay oval in the Midwest. On night one, twelve Modified drivers earned their starting positions for the 40-lap, $3,000-to-win Modified feature event. Then, on Saturday night, twelve more drivers made their way into the main-event lineup. ULMA Late Models and B-Modifieds also joined in for the race program on Saturday night, bringing the three division car count to 63 twelve exciting races for the fans in the stands.
In ULMA late model action, there were 19 cars on hand for competition in the always strong pool of drivers at CMS. Three preliminary heat races using passing points determined the starting positions for the drivers' 20-lap main event. Long-distance hauler Shawn Rayfield, of O'Fallon, MO bested Dave Meyer and Dwight Niehoff in the opening heat race. Overall ULMA point leader Bob Test of Jefferson City claimed heat race number two in a close one over Jason Bodenhamer and Steve Clancy. The final heat race went to Jon Binning of Warrensburg who beat Vance Wilson and Brett Wood to the line to seal the deal. Bodenhamer and Meyer started the 20-lap main event on pole position and early on set the standard for the rest of the field to give chase. Test was involved in an early race caution after contact with Binning sent him to the rear of the field on the restart as Bodenhamer, Meyer, Rayfield, and Binning maintained their top-four positions. The track seemed to get better and better as the laps wore on and drivers began to try different grooves searching for the fast way around the track. Meyer got close to Bodenhamer several times throughout the race but just did not seem to have enough on this night to make the winning move. Bodenhamer was too strong in the end with Meyer settling for second. Binning managed a third-place run just in front of resurging Bob Test who had a nice recovery for fourth. Rayfield crossed the line in fifth; Vance finished sixth with Brian Pipes with his best-ever run at CMS in seventh and R.D. Peterson eighth.
The first special event of the year for the modifieds turned out to be an exciting night for drivers and fans, especially near the end of the 40-lap main event. Before the grand finale of the evening, a few more qualifying events took place to fill the remainder of the field. In preliminary heat-race action, defending track champion Aaron Marrant drove to victory in the first of two modified heats ahead of Jason Thompson and Kevin Blackburn. Basehor, Kansas veteran Tim Karrick bagged the win in heat number two over Lucas Conley and Curt Rackers. With the heat races in the books, the field of remaining drivers then participated in the scramble redraw for starting positions. Jason Thompson, who had originally qualified in the main-event lineup on Friday night, gave up his tenth row starting position to re-qualify and made the decision pay off with a convincing win in the night two 20-lap scramble. As a result, Clinton, Missouri's James Reid earned a starting spot in the main event as the first alternate. Aaron Marrant raced hard to get the win in a fierce battle up front in the night-two scramble that also included Kevin Blackburn. In the end, Thompson crossed the line ahead of Marrant, Blackburn, Conley, Karrick and Justin Johnson to take the win. After the scramble, the field was now set as twelve more cars joined Friday night's transfer cars, which included Dustin Boney, Chad Lyle, Jamie Ragland, Jim Moody, Joshua Stephens, Rick Beebe, Dean Wille, Jake Richards, Shad Badder, Tyler Schmidt, Joey Lile, and James Reid.
Once the main event got underway, it was clearly evident that someone was going to have to be awfully strong to beat Dustin Boney. The Kansas City driver has been on a hot streak lately after winning the feature event the previous week and then following up the win with the scramble win on Friday evening. From the drop of the green flag, Boney shot out to an early race lead with Chad Lyle and Aaron Marrant in tow. Boney comfortably led the field with Lyle every now and then sneaking up to his back bumper as the pair maneuvered their way through lapped traffic. A caution fell over the field just past the half way point, which regrouped the field and set up a fierce battle for position throughout the entire field. By midway, there were still twenty-two cars remaining on the field from the original starting lineup of twenty-four. Lyle again tried to put pressure on the leader but found himself in a battle for second as Marrant snuck up to third place. The pair actually got together on the restart with Marrant getting the worst end of the deal as he took on heavy driver's-side damage but was still able to soldier on throughout the race. Meanwhile, Jamie Ragland of Lebanon, MO ran strong inside the top five as Thompson slipped back a bit through the field from his original outside starting pole position to eighth. Josh Stephens and Tim Karrick made some contact while racing hard in a fierce battle for the fifth and sixth positions with Rick Beebe just behind the dueling duo. Lucas Conley and Dean Wille also found themselves inside the top ten by the thirty-lap marker. Late in the race, as Boney and Lyle continued to maneuver the lapped cars, Boney had a scary moment on lap 37 when he lost the lead to a surging Lyle, who led the lap just as the two approached the lapped machine of Luke Driskell. Boney made a little contact with the lapped car but was able to stay right with Lyle and when Lyle could not hold the preferred line off of corner two, Boney snuck back by and went on to take the big-money win. Boney also won the Memorial Day weekend race back in 1999 and celebrated in victory lane with family, the 22 deuces wild crew, and friends by thanking his crew and sponsors for putting him into Waterloo Storage Products victory lane for the second-consecutive week. Lyle finished a strong second followed by Marrant, Ragland, Stephens, Karrick, Beebe, Thompson, Conley, and Wille to round out the top ten.
B-Modified qualifying heats set the main event lineup with three heats on the line. Jacob Ebert drove to a convincing win in the opening heat ahead of Troy Carlyle and last week's feature winner, Dalton Kirk. Point leader Brad Smith picked up the win in heat two with defending track champion Ethan Isaacs second and Chris Brockway third. Bronson Combs made his first 2010 CMS appearance a good won by taking heat three over Jason Billups and Mark Evinger. For the main event, all drivers had one thing on their minds, and that was to beat Brad Smith who started at the head of the field by virtue of his heat win passing points. Ethan Isaacs didn't take too much time to let the field know how strong his self-built car was and came on strong to grab the lead away from Smith early on the event. Behind Isaacs and Smith, Ebert, Brockway, and Kirk swapped positions inside the top five for several laps as it appeared to be anyone's race. On this particular evening, the defending champ was too strong for the rest of the field and went on to take his first CMS victory of the year and a brand-new toolbox courtesy of Waterloo Storage Products. Kirk ran an excellent race and moved up to take second position late in the event just in front of Jacob Ebert in third. Smith faded a bit back to the fourth spot at the line with Brockway fifth. Jeremy Lile moved up nicely from his starting position to finish sixth, Cody Brill was seventh, Lucas Isaacs eighth, Rusty Trimble ninth and Troy Carlyle tenth.
Next weekend be sure to take in all the exciting race action on Saturday night June 5 for Comfort Inn Race Night at the speedway. Comfort Inn Warrensburg Station is one of the Speedway's great Business Partners for the year and offers special discount prices to the racers for their lodging needs. Pit gates will open at 4:30, spectator gates at 5; hot laps start at 7, and racing gets underway at 7:30. For more information call the Track Report line at (660) 747-2166 or visit the track's official Web site at www.centralmissourispeedway.net. Results, standings, schedule of events, and High Fly-N Photos are all available on the Web site.
Business partners at Central Missouri Speedway include, Waterloo Storage Products, KOKO AM 1450 Radio , Comfort Inn - Warrensburg Station, KMMO Radio, LJS Graphics, the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, 98.5 FM The Bar, RSC Equipment Rental, Heartland Waste, KDKD FM 95.3, and Midwest Coating.
ULMA LATE MODELS
Heat Race # 1
1st- 18R- Shawn Rayfield, O'Fallon
2nd- 9- Dave Meyer, Concordia
3rd- 9d- Dwight Neihoff, Lockwood
Heat Race # 2
1st- 1- Bob Test, Jefferson City
2nd- 88- Jason Bodenhamer, Centerview
3rd- 12c- Steve Clancy, Odessa
Heat Race # 3
1st- 65- Jon Binning, Warrensburg
2nd- B1- Vance Wilson, Frankford
3rd- 7- Brett Wood, Warrensburg
Feature
1- 88- Jason Bodenhamer, Centerview
2- 9- Dave Meyer, Concordia
3- 65- Jon Binning, Warrensburg
4- 1- Bob Test, Jefferson City
5- 18R- Shawn Rayfield, O'Fallon
6- B1- Vance Wilson, Frankford
7- 28- Brian Pipes, Lone Jack
8- 2p- R.D. Peterson, Springfield
9- 33- Bryan Montgomery, Oak Grove
10- 4w- Dustin Walker, Peculiar
11- 9d- Dwight Neihoff, Lockwood
12- 28b- Wesley Briggs, Phillipsburg
13- 68- John Pipes, Oak Grove
14- 52- Joe Bartlett, Centerview
15- 22- Kevin Coyne, Kingsville
16- 56- Travis Jellum, Lexington
17- 7- Brett Wood, Warrensburg
18- 42- Lane Ehlert, Foristell
19- 12c- Steve Clancy, Odessa
MODIFIEDS
Heat Race # 1
1st- 70- Aaron Marrant, Orrick
2nd- 20- Jason Thompson, Concordia
3rd- 26k- Kevin Blackburn, Fulton
Heat Race # 2
1st- 1k- Tim Karrick, Basehor, KS
2nd- 17- Lucas Conley, Spring Hill, KS
3rd- 22R- Curt Rackers, Holts Summit
Scramble
1- 20- Jason Thompson, Concordia
2- 70- Aaron Marrant, Orrick
3- 26k- Kevin Blackburn, Fulton
4- 17- Lucas Conley, Spring Hill, KS
5- 1k- Tim Karrick, Basehor, KS
6- 17j- Justin Johnson, Gardner, KS
7- 22R- Curt Rackers, Holts Summit
8- 34- Mark Schafman, Edwardsville, KS
9- 39- Luke Driskell, Stilwell, KS
10- 10- Johnny McGinnis, Hardin
11- 7j- Shayne Bailey, Plattsburg
12- 0- Joe Cobb, Kansas City, KS
Feature
1- 22- Dustin Boney, Kansas City
2- 96- Chad Lyle, Oak Grove
3- 70- Aaron Marrant, Orrick
4- 15R- Jamie Ragland, Lebanon
5- 09- Joshua Stephens, Buckner
6- 1k- Tim Karrick, Basehor, KS
7- 22B- Rick Beebe, Shawnee, KS
8- 20- Jason Thompson, Concordia
9- 17- Lucas Conley, Spring Hill, KS
10- 68- Dean Wille, Warrensburg
11- 34- Mark Schafman, Edwardsville, KS
12- 9L- Joey Lile, Higginsville
13- 26k- Kevin Blackburn, Fulton
14- 17j- Justin Johnson, Gardner, KS
15- 22R- Curt Rackers, Holts Summit
16- 66T- Tyler Schmidt, Easton, KS
17- 39- Luke Driskell, Stilwell, KS
18- 10- Johnny McGinnis, Hardin
19- 0- Joe Cobb, Kansas City, KS
20- 00- Jim Moody, Odessa
21- 73b- Shad Badder, Oak Grove
22- 4j- Jake Richards, Kansas City, KS
23- 91- James Reid, Clinton
24- 7j- Shayne Bailey, Plattsburg
B-MODIFIEDS
Heat Race # 1
1st- 94- Jacob Ebert, Oak Grove
2nd- 44- Troy Carlyle, Kearney
3rd- 30k- Dalton Kirk, Gardner, KS
Heat Race # 2
1st- 99- Brad Smith, Belton
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