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Dan Robinson
BUCKNER, Mo. (November 24) - The O'Reilly MLRA Presented by Lucas Oil Products awarded nearly $50,000 in cash and contingencies at the Annual MLRA Championship Banquet held this past Saturday at the Argosy Casino in Riverside, Missouri. Coffeyville, Kansas' Al Purkey became the MLRA's only 6-Time Champion taking home the $10,000 Champion's share. Purkey's Car Owner Bill Koons accepted his first Championship as a Car Owner as he also Thanked his crew by presenting them their own Championship Trophies. Archie, Missouri's Matt Johnson finished a strong 7th in points earning the Rookie of the Year Title.
A social hour and wonderful buffet dinner kicked off the evenings festivities prior to getting underway with the presentation of the Championship hardware. Trenton Berry from Racinboys.com began the awards presentation with a word of prayer as he was also the emcee for the event. Each of the MLRA Series Sponsors and MLRA Tracks were recognized to start out the banqet with each receiving commerative plaques.
The MLRA honors the Top 20 at the banquet that have competed in at least 70% of the MLRA races and are MLRA Members. Rookie of the Year Candidate Rylan Long from Greenfield, Missouri occupied the 20th spot in the season standings and was the first to take the stage to accept his awards. In addition to cash and contingencies, each Driver received an embroidered coat from Hoosier Tire, a Crystal MLRA Mug, a Commerative Plaque, and a "Victory Lane" Check from Impact Signs. Next up was another Rookie Candidate from Walnut Grove, Missouri Jeremy Kelley. Jeremy not only recieved the awards for his 19th place finish but he also received the Impact Signs Hard Luck Award as Jeremy will receive a complete Wrap from Impact Signs including design, fabrication, and installation.
Yet another Rookie of the Year Candidate Brett Wood from Warrensburg, Missouri took the stage to accept his awards for 18th Spot in the final standings. The 17th spot went to North Kansas City, Missouri Veteran Larry Clawson. 13th through 16th in points were taken by Kyle Berck, Terry Phillips, Eric Turner, and Jeremy Payne but although these drivers had outstanding seasons, they were not eligible for post season awards. Bill Koons not only was the Championship winning Car Owner, he also occupied the 12th place in the final standings driving his familiar #29. Council Bluffs, Iowa's Mike Collins was unable to attend the banquet but he was 11th in the final finishing order as he scored 2-Top 5's and 5-Top 10's in 18 starts.
Next up was the Top 10 as Mendon, Illinois' Denny Woodworth occupied the 10th spot with 2-Top 5's and 8-Top 10's. Former 5-Time MLRA Champion and Belton, Missouri resident Alan Vaughn was 9th at year's end despite not being able to attend every race in 2009. One memorable moment this season was Alan racing his way into the lucrative Diamond Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway in May to claim one of the coveted starting spots. Next up was Corning, Iowa's Bryant Goldsmith as his piloted his familiar #24 to the 8th spot.
Archie, Missouri's Matt Johnson driving a GRT by Phillips had an outstanding season as he not only finished 7th in the final points but also claimed the Rookie of the Year Title in 2009. Matt will contend for wins in 2010 as he has quickly learned how to steer these Dirt Late Models to the front. Lancaster, Missouri's Chris Smyser was next up on the stage as he was 6th in points at season's end. Chris thanked Al Purkey for helping get his program straightened out mid season and expects to be a championship contender in 2010.
"Everybody's Friend" David Turner toughed it out to score a Top-5 points finish despite destroying a brand new Rocket Chassis during the season at Lucas Oil Speedway. David was forced back into his backup car for the remainder of the season and made 19 of the 20 features with 1-Top 5 and 7-Top 10's.
Perhaps the region's new busiest man Jason Bodenhamer from Centerview, Missouri was next up on stage to accept his goods for 4th place in the standings. Jason recently announced that he would be promoting the State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Missouri in 2010 along with Jefferson City, Missouri's Reid Millard.
Omaha, Nebraska resident and Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Joe Kosiski had one of his best seasons in recent memory scoring a 3rd place finish at season's end by virtue of 3-Top 5's, 9-Top 10's and also scoring an emotional win at Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa.
Defending Champion John Anderson from Omaha, Nebraska was next to take the stage as the bridesmaid this year missing the Championship by just 10 points. John scored 4 wins, 11 Top-5's, and 16 Top 10's for an amazing season but a string of mechanical difficulties near the end of the season erased the 58 point cushion he had allowing Purkey to regain the lead and the Championship.
The final act of the night belonged to the newly crowned 6-Time MLRA Championship from Coffeyville, Kansas Al Purkey. Al hooked up with Car Owner Bill Koons this year to run the full MLRA Schedule after running a part time schedule in his own equipment last year. The combination proved to be a tandem to be reckoned with early on as despite not winning a single feature race in 2009, Purkey scored an amazing 13 Top 5's and 15-Top 10's. Purkey led the points early on but his own string of bad luck had allowed Anderson to retake the lead late in the season. During his acceptance speech Al offered that the Koons/Purkey Team would be switching to Larry Shaw Chassis and Hatfield Racing Engines as their combination of choice for 2010. "Mark Richards and Rocket Chassis have been great to us this year" stated Al "but we want to have the best spec tire chassis around and will be a force to be reckoned with for wins in 2010."
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