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September 18 2004
After Wednesday's 4 inch rainfall flooded the pit area with standing
water, the track and facility was in great shape for the 80 race teams coming
out on Saturday night, September 18th. This wouldn't have happened without the
help from the race enthusiasts who came out to help get the pits into race ready
shape for the Fall Racing Series at 24 Raceway. Many thanks go out to this
dozen.
Once again, the Hobby Stock class was the first feature race of the
evening, with the #28 car of season champion
Tim Dawson
gaining the pole starting position. Alan Hultz from Madison, started along side
Callao's Dawson in the front row, took the lead with his #51 car on the first
lap and led the entire race to win for the first time at 24 Raceway. Last week's
winner, Kirksville's
Jerry
Shoemaker in his #88s pushed Hultz for the lead but never had a good passing
opportunity. Dawson came in 3rd, followed by
Mark Forrester
of Macon in a clean, caution free 12-lap race.
Next up, the 4 cylinder Hornets saw the starting row of Clarence
residents Porter
Collins on the pole in the #46, with Jesse Kuntz in the #26 outside. At the
start, yet another Clarence resident,
Dustin Boling
simply blasted his way thru the pack to the front with his #36, followed closely
by the Hornet class season champion,
Rob Chase from
Clark. Chase also charged thru after Boling in his rejuvenated #3 car, but never
got off a pass and finished 2nd to Boling, who led all laps in a race that had
only one caution. Collins got 3rd with Huntsville's John Brown finishing 4th in
his #01.
The A-mod race saw Lancaster's Chris Eggers return to 24 Raceway for his
first visit of the season, and start on the pole in his car numbered 20/20.
David Holder was on the outside of the front row with his #7 car out of
Clarence. The 1st caution came on lap 2 when the #99 car of Lee Hibner from
Chillicothe crossed up Holder's car and the result was a collecting of four
other cars in turn 2. These were: Darrin Walker's brand new #24, Cecil Graves in
his M1, David Melloway driving this week in the #20, and the #43 of newcomer
Kelly Bartz from Quincy, IL. Of these, only Hallsville's Melloway could not
continue. After the delay, Eggers continued with the lead into lap 3, when a
controversial spin in turn 2 put Holder into the lead. Holder swapped the lead
with the #6, driven by Larry Winn of Hallsville, several times during the race
and won, with Winn finishing 2nd. Bowling Green's Walker running close behind,
came in 3rd and Graves from Fulton, got 4th. Holder has some wins in the B-mod
class, but this is his first in his #7 A-modified racecar.
Now, the Thunder Truck class provided for the biggest excitement of the
evening. David Kinder of Moberly started on the pole, led all laps and won in
his #3, with the #18 of Clark's
Rick Thompson,
starting on the outside of the front row and running a strong 2nd throughout the
race. But the race-stopping wreck of the night belonged to Larry Perkins of
Clark. His purple and green #46 Chevy truck rode the back stretch wall and the
pit entrance gate, sideways, for about a hundred feet until finally flipping
back onto the track in an upright position. When Perkins started signaling
immediately that he was fine, his words were "I'm Ok, I'm Ok, but Oh, what a
ride!" Unfortunately, the truck did not come out in as good of a shape as Larry,
as it likely may be done for the season.
In the Sportsman class, Pete Agee started outside in his #14 Malibu,
along side the pole sitter, J.R. Flowers of Perry, in car #18. Huntsville's Agee
led the race from the start, with Flowers coming in 2nd.
Jeff Creed came
up from the middle to finish 3rd in a race that also had no cautions, even with
a 4th turn 360° spin by
Larry Minor.
Minor of Moberly, car kept his #57 car going in the right direction with 3 laps
to go and finished 5th, behind
Darrin Boling
of Clarence. At the photo shoot for the winner, Agee presented his winning check
to the Central Missouri Dream Factory, the night's charity event for helping out
children with a critical or chronic illness, aged 3 thru 18.
The final feature race was the B-modified class.
Kelly Smith started
from the pole in his familiar #82, with the 10x of Keokuk's Jim Gillenwater next
to him on row 1. Bob Woodrow, from Perry, moved into the lead early and ran a
strong race, keeping his #3 car quite a ways up front most of the time, except
during the three cautions. Kirksville's Smith dropped back only as far as 4th,
but the battle was for 2nd place in this class, between Smith, Gillenwater and
the #17 of Chris
Leathers from Macon. Smith took that 2nd, followed by Leathers and then,
Larry Winn in the 11w.
Then, the guys who turn the wrenches for their raceteam, got to turn the
steering wheels. The night's two mechanic races, divided into either a modified
class or one with fenders on the cars, saw Clabe Dougherty from the Higbee area
drive Agee's #14 Chevy Sportsman to a win. And in the second class of open
wheeled cars, Dental Williams from Kirksville, drove the #82 B-mod of Kelly
Smith's to his win. Both of these mechanics showed they know how to drive too!
Watch for coverage on the night's events on KMOU TV 8, Columbia. Thanks
for their reporting. They did some footage on the Central Missouri Dream
Factory's recipient of a great dream-granting, in 12 year old Josh Baysinger of
Kingdom City. Josh got a wish granted of attending the 2004 Daytona 500 back in
February and has made a good friend in Columbia's Carl Edwards, now driving in
both the Nextel Cup series, as well as the Craftsman Truck Series. They
communicate weekly. This week, Josh will get to tell Carl about the duties he
did during the photo shoots of the feature winners at 24 Raceway, as well as
being the flag man for the two mechanic's races. The trophy presentation for the
evening was also handled by the Jr. Miss Randolph County, Kim Wolfe.
This week, a special thanks goes to the Smith-Harris-Williams race team
from Kirksville, for their many prize donations given to the Junior Race Fan
Club. And as Kelly Smith had indicated with something a bit different being
given away, that was just the case. Jessie Perkins from Jacksonville, was the
winner of a Play Station 2, a great prize from the team running the #82
B-modified car.
More thanks are in order for that shiny white pace truck provided by
Bentz GM Country of Macon, for leading all feature races on the pace laps with a
2004 Chevy Club Cab pickup. And the grandstand 50-50 pot of $146 went to Melissa
Ellington, in attendance at 24 Raceway on her anniversary. Seems like a good
present to the Moberly couple. One more item of interest, is the way the flag
was displayed before the events of the evening started out. Channel Daugherty,
12 years old, drove a couple of laps during the playing of the anthem while
carrying the American flag in a mini racecar, built by
Gary Wilson of
Holiday. Thanks to Wilson's Hot Rod Shop for this nice touch.
Results from last Saturday, September 18 can be viewed after each Monday
on the website of
www.24racewayinmoberly.com.
[ Results ]
And now, we get to the upcoming events for the weekend of September 25-26
with the final Fall Racing Series on Saturday night, and also, a Special Sunday
night event: a return of the Winged Outlaw Warriors Sprint Cars, coming this
Sunday September 26 ! Also running in this special with the sprint cars on
Sunday evening will be three classes of the B-modifieds, 4 cylinder Hornets and
Sportsman. Admission for the whole Sunday night show will be $12 to the
grandstands, with kids (6 to 12) getting in for $5. Pit passes remain at $20.
The sprint drivers really do like this track and the fans have made numerous
requests for their return, so come out to see these fast 360 sprints in action.
More info can be viewed on our website, as well as on the W.O.W. sprints'
website www.wowsprints.com. This will be
the second race of this season for the W.O.W. 360 c.i. sprint cars at 24 Raceway
in Moberly, and will be paying $1000 to the winner. Hot laps begin at 5pm with
racing beginning at 6pm. Pit gates open at 3pm/grandstand at 3:30pm. On-site
camping at 24 Raceway's 46 acre facility is available for self contained units,
free of charge. Or, the Best Western/Moberly Inn is just 3 miles west of the
track on U.S. Highway 24 at U.S. Highway 63. Call 660-263-6540 for more info.
But it's still happening again this Saturday night too, at 24 Raceway,
Moberly, Missouri, brought to you in part by Best Western/Moberly Inn and Bentz
GM Country of Macon. For Saturday night, Dirt Track Racing at Its Best begins at
7pm. A driver's meeting, then hot laps, start at about 6pm. Six of the best
stockcar classes of any of the area tracks are taking place again this Saturday,
with the special on Sunday, so don't miss out! Saturday's adult ticket prices
are still $8 and kids are only $3 to get in. Pit passes are $20 with the pit
gates opening at 4pm.
As a final note, don't forget to mark your calendars for the annual
Speedbowl 2004 two day racing events, coming on Saturday AND Sunday, October 2
and 3, complete with a hog roast on the Saturday night following the racing.
More info on this will be posted next week, or you can simply visit our website
of www.24racewayinmoberly.com.
Ron Lueck - Track Spokesman
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