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9-3-2005
- Speedbowl Racing Review |
By: Ron Lueck
There was certainly plenty of racing for the $ at 24 Raceway's high-banked dirt
track in Moberly, Missouri. The two-day event of Speed Bowl 2005 brought 132
laps of Stock Car racing in the features alone, not counting the Friday night
heats and then qualifying, nor Saturday's last chance qualifying or any caution
laps. A 60-car count for the four Speed Bowl classes of Hobby Stock, Sportsman
and both A- & B-modifieds showed up Friday evening to try their hand at
qualifying for the first six rows in the Saturday features. This included the
Thunder Trucks show. And then on Saturday night, some 104 race teams made up of
the returnees, and those who missed that Friday night qualifying for the first
six rows for the extended-lap features comprising Speed Bowl. These late comers
making the respective shows started from row 7 on back. The 4 cylinder Hornet
class had all their heat racing and full feature on Saturday in a regular weekly
racing series.
The Joe Gibbs Race team cars, featuring Tony Stewart's orange #20 Home
Depot car, and Bobby Labonte's green #18 Interstate Batteries car, were both
brought in on the same car hauler and displayed at the concession area of the
racetrack early Saturday evening. Plenty of NASCAR souvenirs and photos were
acquired by 24 Raceway patrons and the complimentary picturecards were enjoyed
by all.
Darren Morgan of Paris secured his first pole spot of the season with his
#9 car, painted to resemble a Bill Elliot racing theme. Rob Chase and Jeff
Hilderman of Mexico were the other two winners of their various heats and
started off 2 and 3 in the feature. By lap 5, about a half dozen of the 25
starters were off the track for various repairs. Chase grabbed the lead from the
green flag, and Hilderman was in and out of 2nd place throughout the race,
trading off with the 24/7-car of David Lorton's. In the end, Chase held off both
by staying out front for the entire feature, with Moberly's Lorton placing ahead
of Hilderman. The 55J of Joe Evans, from Jacksonville, hung around 4th for most
of the race and finished there.
Dustin Boling and Mike Wolfe were the Friday night front row qualifiers
for the Hobby Stock 20 lap event. Wolfe, of Madison and driving the #51, led the
first 2 laps until a 360° spin in turn 4 put him to the rear of the field.
Between a couple more spins from Chad Walter, Mike Stout and Boling, all with no
contact but bringing out caution flags, Wolfe was busy moving up in the pack. By
lap 10, Wolfe was back into the lead and then into lapped traffic by lap 14.
Wolfe won the race over Moberly's Clinton Dale who did lead some laps early on.
Tom Elsen of Clarence and Kevin Renzelmann of Moberly were the contenders
finishing 3rd and 4th.
Kenny Mudd of Winfield raced all year long in the A class, but put a
B-modified onto the pole position for the 30-lap B-mod feature. He put his glo-orange
#07x into the lead for the first 7 laps, until season champ Bob Woodrow grabbed
1st on lap 8. Mudd, Gary Wilson of Holliday, Woodrow, Kelly Smith, Kevin Embree
of Paris, and David Holder ran as a pack in front for the early part of the
race. Smith was trying both high and low to get to the front and got ahead of
Wilson's #11 on lap 12, then a few laps later, trying high, low and finally
around the #3 of Woodrow's on lap 17 for the lead. After a few cautions, Embree
found some traction up high to get his #61 into 2nd over Wilson after Woodrow
began to fade back and out of contention. But Wilson came back using the low
groove of the track to grab 2nd behind Smith, the #82 Kirksville Comet, by lap
20. Smith, Wilson, Embree and Mudd ran the last ten laps in their finishing
order, but as a close group.
The Sportsman class had 15 starters for their 25-lap event, with a front
row of Jeff Creed in the #01, and Clinton Dale in the rebuilt #12, after last
week's car-destroying crash. These two ran 1-2 with the #00 of Columbia's Rick
Girard for 10 laps or so. Then the 8-car of Darin Boling came up to battle with
Girard for 2nd, and by lap 11 getting there. Clarence's Boling and Moberly's
Dale ran 2nd and 3rd as late as lap 22, but in the end it was too much Creed, as
he led all laps for the win over Girard's 2nd place finish, and Charlie Rindom's
#42 coming in at 3rd.
Now came the final feature of 40 laps for the A-modified race. The two
heat winners from Friday night on the front row were Quincy, IL native, Hank
Delonjay in the red & white #35, and Vance Wilson of Frankford in the #22c. And,
Friday night, it did not look promising for the rest of the pack, as these two
got really hooked up on the track in their respective heats and extended their
leads whenever possible. Same thing held true in the feature for 2004 Speed Bowl
winner, Delonjay, over Wilson for the first 11 laps until they moved up and into
the back of the field. While moving thru traffic, Delonjay got just a bit
sideways in turn 2, and then around after leading the first 31 laps. Wilson took
the lead at that point, and had some challenge from track champion David Holder
in the #7, but went on to take the win. Holder, from Clarence, finished in 2nd,
with the Track's neighbor to the south and across the highway, Dave Kinder
getting 3rd.
This wrapped up the 2005 version of Speed Bowl at 24 Raceway. Thanks to
Ms. Randolph County, Elaine Stevenson, for the singing of the National Anthem
and trophy presentations, along with Allison Ausmus. A special thanks goes to
Ron Reamy for the use of his new red Chevy Pickup as the "pace truck" for all
the features. And congrats go to the weekly winners of the two bicycles given
away through the 24 Raceway's Jr.Fan Club, courtesy of Hartgrove Bulldozing from
Clarence. On Friday, an 8-year old from Centralia named Abigail Roszell won one,
and the Saturday winner was Ryelee Spidle, also of Centralia. Another bike was
given away in a drawing, only for the kids in the pit area, co-sponsored by
Smith Wrecker Service and push truck operator, Merle Woody. The lucky young
winner from Saturday night's drawing was Keara Wilkerson. The 50/50 ticket
winners in the grandstand area were, on Friday, Mark Tuggle of Higbee for a $55
pot, and on Saturday; Donna Tate of Clarence for $214. Congrats to all the
winners of the prizes donated by track sponsors and drivers alike, and once
again, thanks for your support.
Coming up next Saturday night, September 10, is another special show. The
W.O.W. 360 sprint cars return for a Fall Classic night at 24 Raceway. A
motorcycle is said to be the big prize in a raffle for the night's festivities,
sponsored by W.O.W. in conjunction with a Missouri area speedway. Watch for more
info on this later in the week. Joining the sprints are the A- and B-modifieds,
the Sportsman, Hornet and Hobby Stock classes. All this race action awaits you
at 24 Raceway in Moberly, for a $15 grandstand admission, $5 for kids 6 to 12
yrs. Pit passes are still only $20.
Dirt Track Racing at its Best begins at 7pm, with a driver's meeting,
followed by hot laps, starting at 6:15pm. Please see the website of
www.24racewayinmoberly.com
for additional info regarding the W.O.W. Sprints return on Sept. 10 and the
night's motorcycle drawing, along with the B-modified 30-lap event in its custom
format on Sept. 17.
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