7/23/2017
RacinBoys
Brown holds back Swearengin In Lebanon I-44 NASCAR Pro Late Model feature
By Ronnie Williams (Lebanon, MO) -- Defending NASCAR Missouri State and I-44 Speedway Pro Late Model Champion Brown Brown took advantage of his front row starting spot and held back repeated challenges from Tim Swearengin in taking his 2nd feature win of the season in the 30 lap caution free event.
Brown and Mandy Chick brought the field to the green with Brown getting the edge over Chick while all eyes were on current point leader Mike Slone who started the feature 7th on the grid. Chick would hang tight with Brown for the opening 3 laps until Swearengin shot to the inside and took over 2nd place and began his charge to the front spot. On lap 7, Swearengin mounted a burst of speed and pulled even with Brown as Chick was holding a solid 3rd spot while Slone seemed content to ride early.
For the next remaining 23 laps Swearengin kept the pressure on Brown and moved even several times as Slone moved behind Chick by lap 10 as they fought for position. With Brown keepng the high-side hot, Swearengin continued to gather the top spot as the duo of Chick and Slone began to close the gap on the led duo. With 10 laps remaining it was a 4 car battle with Brown keeping Swearengin at bay. On lap 26, Brown slipped just a little high in turn 2 as Swearengin pulled even but Brown gathered it up and took advantage out of the corner as Chick and Slone kept the lead duo honest. As the tight feature finished Brown .164 seconds ahead of Swearengin with Chick, Slone and Ronnie Hartford completed the top 5. Under 1 second separated the top 4 runners. Slone was denied a clean sweep after he captured the Late Model Dash and topped Late Model qualifying with a time of 14.939 seconds.
NASCAR Modified action saw Willard's Richard Lewis grab the led at the start of the 20 lap event with Harrisonville's Joe Bunkers close behind. On lap 2, Brian Lewis moved around Bunkers to take 2nd spot behind his son Richard as point leader and fast qualifier Ricky Icenhower had moved from 9th to glue himself behind Bunkers. A slight contact between the dup saw Icenhower slow as Bunkers slid up into the turn 2 wall with slight damage. On the restart, Icenhower and Brian Lewis were wagging war for the spot as Richard took advantage to open a small lead.The feature went caution free as Richard Lewis was able to speed away to grab his 2nd win of the season with Brian Lewis, Incenhower, Mark Riddle and Chris Johnson completing the top 5. The margin of victory for Lewis was ..750 seconds as the top 3 were only separated by a 1 second margin. Icenhower topped the dash event and also set the mark in qualifying with a time of 15.586 seconds.
NASCAR Street Stock action saw Michael Juergenson make it a clean sweep by topping qualifying, his heat race and the 15 lap feature. Juergensen and former champion Jordan Nisbett brought the pack to the green with a very close side by side battle early until Juergensen took full advantage on lap 3 with Nisbett trying to stay close in the caution free feature leaving some great racing for 3rd place between Aaron Wilke, Steve Shaw, point leader Nick Cherry and Tony Johnson. Wilke, who started the feature 9th tonight really had to charge hard for a podium finish. Up front, Juergensen drove to his 4th feature win of the season finishing 1.564 seconds ahead of Nisbett with Wilke, Steve Shaw and Tony Johnson in the top 5. Juergensen topped qualifying with a lap of 17.310 seconds. Nisbett captured the 1st heat with Juergensen taking the fast car heat.
Bolivar's Nik Taylor started the 2nd half of the season in a better result than the 1st half as he got the jump on pole setter and fast qualifier Justin Blake and held back repeated charges from point leader Ronnie Taylor in grabbing his 1st win of the season. With Blake following close behind Taylor early, it was Ronnie Taylor who providied the competition after lap 6 as he reeled Taylor in the last 4 laps but couldn't pull off the pass. Following the lead duo were Blake, Justin Gantt and Breken Johnson. Blake was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 19.166 seconds for his 1st of the season just nipping Ronnie Taylor at a lap of 19.233. Ronnie Taylor captured the heat race of the evening.
In the much awaited Coaches Rival Challange, Camdeton's Jeff Shore came out on top over Lebanon's Will Chrisian as the duo went door to door in the opening 2 laps until Christian looped it in turn 2 slowing the action. With the duo lined-up in a drag race start side by side restart, Shore smoked the rear tire getting the jump on Christian as the pair kept action close with Shore getting the win.
Racing action continues next Saturday July 29th with a full program of racing action as The Speedway will host Military Appreciation Night, along with The Mike-E Auto Sales Street Stock 30 with extra laps and money and Dirt B-Mods on Asphalt with the Dustin's Dream 20 paying $500 to win and a full program of NASCAR Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Street Stocks and Chargers.
For more information visit the website at WWW.I44Speedway.Net and keep up with information on Facebook.
Results
NASCAR Pro Late Models
A Ft.-1) Brian Brown-Strafford 2) Tim Swearengin-Springfield 3) Mandy Chick-DeSoto, KS. 4) Mike Slone-Rolla 5) Ronnie Hartford-Raytown 6) Steve Holt-Strafford 7) David Lewis-Kilgore, Tx.
Dash-1) Slone 2) Brown 3) Chick 4) Swearengin
Qualifying Top 3-1) Slone 14.939 2) Brown 15.026 3) Chick 15.165
NASCAR Modifieds
A Ft.-1) Richard Lewis-Willard 2) Brian Lewis-Willard 3) Ricky Icenhower-Fair Grove 4) Mark Riddle-Springfield 5) Chris Johnson-Lebanon 6) Michael Juergensen-Lebanon 7) Wayne Lewis-Springfield 8) Joe Bunkers-Harrisonville 9) Jimmy Fohn-Eldridge
Dash- 1) Icenhower 2) R. Lewis 3) B. Lewis 4) Riddle
Qualifying Top 3-1) Icenhower 15.586 2) B. Lewis 15.776 3) R. Lewis 15.993
NASCAR Street Stocks
A Ft.-1) Michael Juergensen-Lebanon 2) Jordan Nisbett-Lebanon 3) Aaron Wike-Bridgeton 4) Steve Shaw-Rogersville 5) Tony Johnson-Lebanon 6) Nick Cherry-Springfield 7) Jimmy Fohn-Eldridge 8) James Ellis-Richland 9) Robert Douglas-Camdenton
1st Ht.-1) Nisbett 2) Cherry 3) Douglas 4) Shaw DNS-Ellis
2nd Ht.-1) Juergensen 2) Wilke 3) Johnson 4) Fohn
Qualifying Top 3-1) Juergensen 17.310 2) Wilke 17.708 3) Fohn 17.837
NASCAR Chargers
A Ft-1) Nik Taylor-Bolivar 2) Ronnie Taylor-Springfield 3) Justin Blake-Osage Beach 4) Justin Gantt-Highlandville 5) Breken Johnson-Lebanon
Ht-1) R. Taylor 2) Blake 3) N. Taylor 4) Gantt 5) Johnson
Qualifying Top 3-1) Blake 19.166 2) R. Taylor 19.266 3) Gantt 19.431
Coach Race- Jeff Shore( Camdenton ) over Will Christian ( Lebanon)
Submitted By: Kirk Elliott