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October-3-2004
The second day of Speedbowl 2004 had another superb cloudless day,
which as those of you in the know of dirt track racing, tends to sometimes lend
itself to dusty conditions. Forty-three cars qualified and ran in the Sunday
afternoon main show for the Speedbowl's three classes of Sportsman, B and
A-modifieds at 24 Raceway in Moberly. Some of these actually got their
qualifying runs in on Saturday. And the Hobby Stocks brought in another dozen
race teams for their race on Sunday, too.
The 40-lap main event for the A-modified class was quite a show from the 24
race teams, albeit a bit later than planned due to those dry conditions mentioned
a bit earlier. Using a golf analogy here, a "mulligan" was taken when two laps
into the race, the dust got too thick for a safe racing condition with these
fast, high-powered racecars. After a break to re-water the deteriorated track
surface from the previous 70 some laps of racing, the A-mod event was ready to
go under the lights. In a first lap slide into the turn 2 outside wall, the #25
car of Scotty Roberts of Columbia collected the cars of Danny Lake from
Elsberry, and Lonnie Hibner of Chillicothe. On the restart, the #30 car of
Columbia's Keith Davis held the pole position he qualified for on Saturday, for
about one lap. Hank Delonjay charged into the lead on the next lap in his red &
white #35 from Quincy, Illinois, and left the battle to go on for second place.
Those fighting it out for 2nd, included: Davis; the #26 of Fulton's Gary
Blackburn, Jr.; Gary Wilson, now in the #66 from Bowling Green; Brandon Lennox
of New London in his #17; and the #0 car from Kirksville, driven by the always
hard-charging Kelly Smith. Cautions came and went, with one on lap 11 coming
from Wilson getting into the backend of a the lapped car #97 when the group of
front-runners entered into lapped traffic. A planned red flag/fuel stop on lap
25 gave Smith another chance from his flat right rear tire to pit, get a new
tire and not lose too many places. With Delonjay firmly in control, Davis ran 24
laps in 2nd place until this restart, when he fell off the pace and back to 6th
in turn 2. Blackburn and Lennox put on a great nose-to-tail show for a most of
the remaining laps. And that was how they finshed, behind Delonjay, in 2nd and
3rd respectively. Even a last lap scrape of the turn 3 wall didn't slow Delonjay
down, as he went on to claim the $1500 first place prize money.
Earlier, Jeff Creed and Pete Agee started side by side on the front row for the
25-lap Sportsman class event, with Creed's #01 taking the lead over Agee's #14
Malibu at the green flag start. On lap 3, Huntsville's Agee spun (with a little
help), but by lap 8 was back into 3rd position, following the 28k of Don
Kanselaar from Centerville, Iowa. When Kanselaar left the track on lap 13 from
engine problems, Agee went into second to stay, leaving Cairo native Creed
leading the entire race to the win for the $400.
The B-modifieds, with 12 starters for their 30-lap feature, saw Chris Leathers
from Macon in the front row pole position and with Larry Winn on the outside in
the 11w. Dental Williams, driving the #82 car from Kirksville and fresh from his
mechanic's race victory a few weeks ago, charged into the lead from row 2. Winn,
from Hallsville took over the lead early on with Williams falling from 2nd to
3rd on lap 12. That was when Perry's own Bob Woodrow came charging through to
2nd place. By lap 25, Winn was still the leader as the #3 of Woodrow put on a
good battle for 2nd place with the #21, driven by Kelly Smith. From lap 19 thru
lap 29, that was the running order: Winn, Woodrow & Smith. On white flag lap 29,
Woodrow made a little contact with Winn and passed on the last lap for his 3rd
win in three weekends. Winn came in 2nd with Tyler Hibner of Chillicothe taking
3rd in his #89 car. Woodrow picked up $500 for his effort.
For the start of the afternoon's features, the Hobby Stock class kicked it off
with the #51 of Wayne Walter on the pole. Next to this Jacksonville resident was
Moberly's Kevin Renzelmann in his #24. After a first lap restart from from
Robbie Dodge getting into the inside wall, Walter then spun and caused a 2nd
restart. Renzelmann and Matt Snyder from Green City put on a good fight for 1st,
with the #24 car leading the first 5 laps, and Snyder in his #22 car leading the
last 10. And even with Renzelmann bumping Snyder twice on the last lap, Snyder
kept his car under control and held on for the exciting win in a 10 lap feature
race, shortened by the many caution laps from an intended 15 lap race.
Results
Thanks to Bentz GM Country of Macon and Best Western/Moberly Inn for their
sponsorship of Speedbowl 2004.
Eight year old Michael Chase from Clark, won the new red & blue bicycle as the
winner from the Junior Race Fan Club on Saturday, sponsored by 24 Raceway. On
Sunday, another bike winner was Kiersten Pratt, a 5 year old from New London,
this time sponsored by Higbee Auto Salvage and Towing. And thanks once again to
all the sponsors for their many prizes donated and won by both adults and kids
alike. The 50/50 ticket winner for Saturday was Osroe Atterberry of Moberly in
the grandstand, with the winning ticket worth $34. Sunday's grandstand winning
ticket was won by Kenny Davis, also of Moberly, and worth $105.
Editor's note: On September 25, it was noted that Porter Collins got a
disqualification for some rough driving in the 4 cylinder Hornet class. This was
later found not to be the case, as Collins was simply fined for a drive in the
pit area with someone riding on the hood. And riding on the cars is not
tolerated at the track, due to insurance safety requirements, even if the human
hood ornament is a cute one.
Next Saturday night will be the last chance for watching stockcar racing "live"
in northeast to north-central Missouri, as this is the final show of the 2004
season at 24 Raceway. It's the October 9 "Cheater's Night", and about the only
thing not allowed will be a dropping back to a lower class for competition. That
is to say, A-mods will not be allowed to race in the B-mod class, and similarly,
Sportsman cars will not be allowed to enter the Hobby Stock class, and so on.
Dirt Track Racing at Its Best begins at 7pm. A driver's meeting, then hot laps,
start at 6pm. Six of the best stockcar classes of any of the area tracks are
taking place for the last time at 24 Raceway this year, so don't miss it! Adult
ticket prices are $8 and kids are only $3 to get in. Pit passes are $20 with the
pit gates opening at 4pm. Remember, it's the season ending race night!
Ron Lueck - Track Spokesman
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