It has been way too long since I last visited the lightning-quick highbanks of Moberly's 24 Raceway and that was proven out by the great racing action that I witnessed here on Saturday night. I believe the last time that I was here had to have been back in the early 1990's as Bob Dominacki rode down with us for a Busch All Star Tour event when he was driving the Brannon-Neltner #75 car, although I did attempt to make one of their season ending events a few years back when it literally started raining as soon as I pulled onto the grounds.
Tonight it was the attractive combination of the MLRA Late Models along with the $1,000-to-win Oscar White Memorial for the Modifieds that lured me to town and with thirty cars in each of the featured divisions, this show did not disappoint.
The forty-lap Late Model feature was up first and the twenty-two car starting field barreled into turn one going at least four-wide on the perfectly prepared surface. Front-row starters Mark Voigt and Alan Vaughn battled for the lead down the backstretch only to have third starter John Anderson dive in low underneath them in turn three. As Anderson drifted up the track with the advantage Vaughn cut back low off four and was able to lead the first lap. That would be it though as Anderson used the same move into turns one and two, this time successful, and picked up the point on lap two. With Anderson pulling away Vaughn and Voigt put on an intense battle for second as other drivers tried to march their way to the front.
The first caution of the event flew on lap seventeen when the powerplant on Jeremiah Hurst's #29 let go and on the restart several drivers made some big moves on the bottom while current point leader Al Purkey got shuffled back several spots up on the high side. The scramble sent Jeremy Kelley into the front stretch wall the next lap ending the night for the MLRA's current top rookie-of-the-year candidate. On this restart it was Tommy Elston who made the big move going from sixth to third as he glued the Richard Realty & Auction #15 to the low-side of the speedway. Ricky Frankel was also on the move, but when he made contact with Mark Burgtorf while battling for fourth Frankel dropped back several positions.
The Shop Quik #2 of Anderson was in a class of his own tonight as he pulled away from the field again and when the checkers flew he held nearly a half-lap advantage over the runner-up Vaughn. Elston started eighth and finished third ahead of Burgtorf and Voigt. Frankel may have been the second fastest car at the end as he made up a bunch of ground late to take the sixth spot.
The Modified forty-lapper was up next with the two front row starters waging a battle for the front the entire distance. Vance Wilson is back in the Charlton #22c and looked very comfortable as he eased ahead of David Holder in the Collins Racing #746. For twenty-four laps Holder took measure of the leader before making his move on the highside of turn one to takeover on lap twenty-five. Wilson was not about to accept being second though as on the next lap he pulled even with Holder on the inside going down the backstretch and both drivers went way deeper into turn three than they should have. Somehow they both kept their cars off the wall and Wilson regained the lead. Kevin Blackburn, who is now in the #71 that Holder drove at the start of the year, moved into second only to have his right rear tire go flat heading into turn one causing a caution.
Another caution on lap thirty-two necessitated a fuel stop and on the restart it was once again Holder all over the leader Wilson. Scotty Roberts was now in third and looking to make it a three car battle for the lead only to have his right rear let go just three laps short of the finish. Roberts made it into the infield so the race stayed green as Wilson held off Holder to take the thousand dollar win. Gary Blackburn Jr. took home third-place money with Jason Bodenhammer in fourth and Steven Potter was fifth after starting back in row number eight. Kevin Blackburn used that fresh rubber on the right rear to charge back to sixth and Mark VanWinkle who also pitted and restarted at the rear came back to seventh.
24 Notes.....The Late Model feature field was lined up on the frontstretch and the on-track announcer did something unique. Instead of introducing the field himself he passed the microphone to each driver and allowed them to state their name and hometown themselves. Several drivers threw in a sponsor or two and also thanked the crowd for coming out to watch them compete. Now those of you who have heard me announce know that it is hard to pull the microphone out of my hand once I have it, but I really thought that this was a neat deal as it allowed the crowd to not only see the drivers, but to get a brief glimpse at their personality as well. I may just have to do this the next time I'm working an event that includes on track intros.....Shad Badder was running in the fourth and final transfer spot in the Late Model B-Main before retiring to the pits during a late caution.....The last car to arrive at the track, during hot laps, Brantlee Gotschall went out and won the fourth and final Late Model heat race.....I enjoyed meeting both Sam Harroun and Jeremy Kelley as they were early arrivals tonight. Harroun suffered a nasty rollover a few weeks back at Farley and said that without some extra help from his sponsors he would not have been back racing so soon. The twenty-three-year-old Kelley was very personable and looked great riding the very top groove of the track to finish third in his heat race. I was disappointed to see his night end on the hook.....The Modified feature was lined straight up by the finish of the heats and winning heat number two is what put eventual winner Vance Wilson on the front row. The outcome of the evening may have been completely different if Curt Potter's right rear tire had not exploded while he enjoyed a big lead in that second heat race.....Fourteen Hornets put on an entertaining feature that would have reminded you of a restrictor plate race at Daytona or Talladega. The little four cylinders ran in a tight pack of seven or eight cars through much of the race before Robert Winfrey passed Brook Hassler late for the victory. Mike Denslow shuffled Hassler back to third at the finish and the two traded some paint after the race as well......Tim Dawson dominated the twelve car Hobby Stock field while Derrick Agee, who usually drives a Sportsman car here on Saturday night's, drove the #32 to a second-place finish ahead of Darren Morgan.....To check out photos and full results from tonight's action check out http://www.heartlandmotorsports.com/ as Danny Howk was on hand to capture the action.
Thank you to the pit gate staff at 24 Raceway for their hospitality as this wanderer did not make the decision to end up in Moberly tonight until he was an hour from the track. I also want to thank track announcer Doug Mealy, who has one of the smoothest voices in the business, for the nice plugs that he gave for PositivelyRacing.com. I will make sure that my next visit to Moberly will come again soon. Check their schedule at www.24racewayinmoberly.com as the Winged Outlaw Warriors will be here this coming Saturday July 18th, the USMTS Mods are in town on August 8th and the MLRA Late Models return on August 15th.
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