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Sam Stoecklin
SEDALIA, Mo. (June 4) - On a hot summer night at Missouri State Fair Speedway (MSFS) that featured a lit up northern skyline and an ultra fast and smooth racing surface for the drivers with the intestinal fortitude to race at the Historic Half Mile, three drivers found their way to the Specialty Sportswear Winner's Circle. In the Rick Ball Ford 360 Sprint Cars, Randy Martin of California, MO drove to his second feature win at the speedway this season. Matt Johnson of Archie, MO found his way to the winner's circle in the Subway Late Models while Austin Siebert of Grandview, MO claimed his first-ever dirt modified and first-ever win at the speedway in the W-K Chevrolet Modifieds.
In the Subway late models, sixteen competitors sorted out their heat races to determine the main event lineup for later in the evening. Chris Smyser started the night off strong with a victory in heat number one over Larry Clawson, and a pair of Marshall, MO drivers, Bryon Allison and Randy McGraw. For heat two, Matt Johnson took the win over David Turner, Jon Binning and Dave Meyer. By virtue of passing points, Johnson and Smyser started at the front of the field for the 20-lap feature event. Shortly after the green flag fell, Dustin Walker, Dick Weber and Alan Vaughn were all at the wrong place at the wrong time with Walker's car taking the brunt of the damage after hitting the guardrail in turn one nearly head on to force a complete restart. Late arriving Alan Vaughn of Belton, MO experienced trouble from the get go and was not able to make repairs in time to compete in the feature race. With a fast and furious pace over the field, Johnson led from the onset and by lap four; the leaders were experiencing lapped traffic. The race was slowed a few times as Johnson continued to school the rest of the competition. Lancaster, MO's Chris Smyser was up front with Johnson the entire race distance with Adrian's David Turner holding down third. The three front-runners quickly distanced themselves over fourth-running Larry Clawson, who had his own hands full with Bryon Allison close behind. As the laps wore down and the lead trio experienced lapped traffic, it appeared that Smyser was ready to pounce; however, on this night it was Johnson's win for the taking as he sailed onto victory with Smyser in second and Turner in third. Bryon Allison ran a very solid fourth position, which was his best run of the season after many weeks of disappointments. Dave Meyer moved up to take the fifth position from his eighth starting position, his best finish in the late model at MSFS this year. Larry Clawson crossed the Miller Lite finishing line in sixth at the conclusion of event
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