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The Month of July Came to a Close Saturday Night at Lebanon I-44 Speedway

Last weekend at Lebanon I-44 Speedway, race cars took to the track for the final time in the month of July. The Championship battles continue to intensify as only four races remain in the 2019 Championship Chase. Saturday night featured the first ever race on the new Roval, the first repeat winner in the Big 10 Late Model class, and the first weekly race for the Pro Late Model division following several rainouts.
Hornets
The Hornets kicked off the night on the new Roval track. The Roval is a half road course, half oval, hybrid track. The Roval exceed our expectations and created the best three car battle for the lead we have seen! Each car was better on different ends of the racetrack which made for a very strategic race and an exciting finish! In the heat race, Shyanne Bauman started on the pole and put on a show while leading the first three laps. On lap 6, Chris Albright made the pass for the lead and Dustin Atkinson followed him passed Bauman to take the second position. Jeffery Albright was able find some speed and move into second with two laps to go in the heat. At the line, Chris Albright picked up the heat win with his brother Jeffery in second and Dustin Atkinson in third. In the feature, Chris and Jeffery Albright led the field to the green and Chris took the early lead. Brothers Albright and Dustin Atkinson were now nose to tail battling for the lead and they stayed this way throughout the entire 12-lap feature. On lap 5, Big brother Jeffery made the pass on little brother and tried to check out, but no luck. Behind him, Chris Albright and Dustin Atkinson were each trying to find a way around the leader, but no luck. Atkinson was able to make the pass on Chris Albright and take over second. Atkinson wasn’t stopping there as he began applying pressure to the leader. On the last lap, in the bus stop turn on the backstretch, Atkinson tried to make the pass until contact was made bunching up all three of the lead cars. When the smoke cleared, Chris Albright jumped from third to the lead and led the last half lap and picked up the win. Dustin Atkinson was second and Jeffery Albright rounded out the top three. Chris Albright was able to extend the points lead to 8 points over his brother Jeffery. Behind them, Nick Bradshaw has now climbed into the top three after engine troubles sidelines Mason Mundy.
Street Stocks
Next, the always exciting Street Stocks took to the racetrack. In the heat race, point leader Trevor Icenhower started on the pole with Breken Johnson to his outside. Icenhower dropped the hammer and took control of the first three laps until Matt Pilant, who started third row inside, made the pass on lap four. Pilant went on to take the win with Icenhower in second and Chris Johnson in third. When feature time came around, Tony Johnson started on the pole with Breken Johnson on his outside. Tony Johnson dropped the hammer and was able to control the first lap. By the end of lap 2, Matt Pilant moved into the lead and shuffled Tony Johnson back to second. Behind them, Icenhower was doing his best to slice through the field before Pilant built up a big lead. By lap 5, Icenhower had found his way into second and set his focus on the leader of Pilant. Pilant was able to lead the remining 10 laps and picked up his third of the season. Icenhower finished second and was able to hold onto the points lead by just two points. Tony Johnson finished third and maintained third place in the Championship.
Big 10 Late Models
In the first heat race for the Big 10 Late Models, Jordan Nisbett brought the field to green with Justin Rice on his outside. Nisbett smashed the gas pedal and took control for the first three laps. Jimmy Fohn made his way into the lead on lap four and Justin Blake moved into second on lap five. The two of them went on to finish first and second in the first heat with Nisbett in third. In the second heat, Dylan Bates started on the pole with Nick Cherry on the outside. Bates held on to the lead off the start and JC Newell followed him into second place. Bates went on to win the eight-lap feature with JC Newell in second and Nick Cherry in third. In the feature, Justin Blake led the field to the green with Nick Cherry on his outside. After a few cautions on the first lap including a wreck with JC Newell and a spin from Chris Albright, the field was able to go green. Blake to early control of the race and Fohn followed him into second. Blake and Fohn began to battle for the lead, but Blake seemed to have the better car. Behind them, the winner of our last race, Dylan Bates, was battling through the field after starting in the 10th position. Bates jumped into third behind Fohn and Blake. After a few laps, Bates was able make the pass on Fohn and move into second place. Bates and Fohn continued to battle for the rest of the race while Blake maintained his lead. Fohn was able to get back around Bates until two laps to go when Fohn got loose out of four and made contacted with the wall which allowed Bates to jump back up into second. After an exciting battle inside the top three, the checkered flag finally waved, and Justin Blake was able to come home with his second win of the season and became the first driver in the class with two wins this year. Bates brought his car home in second with Jimmy Fohn in the third spot. With Blake’s win, he has now taken control of the Championship by just one point over Jimmy Fohn and Nick Cherry was able to move into the top three after Ken Dickinson was not able to attend this week’s race.
Modifieds
Next, the ground-pounding Modifieds took to the track. In the heat race, Michael Juergenson started on the pole with Ricky Icenhower to his outside. Icenhower hammered down on the top lane and led the field after the first lap and shuffled Juergenson back into second where he ran until lap seven when Richard Lewis was able to sneak by. At the line it was Icenhower picking up the win, with Richard Lewis second and Michael Juergenson third. In the feature, Juergenson again brought the field to the green, but this time with Chris Nichols on his outside. Juergenson led the first lap until Icenhower was able to power from third and into first place. Icenhower then dropped the hammer before the field had a chance to catch up. On lap 5, Juergenson lost second place to Richard Lewis who was looking to reel in Icenhower. Behind these two, Brian Brown was trying to find his way to the front of the field after starting tailback due to his win at the last race. Brown worked on Juergenson for a while for the third spot until he was able to get by and try to go to work on Lewis. But just a few short laps later, Icenhower went on to pick up his second win of the season while Richard Lewis brought his car home in second and Brian Brown in third. Richard Lewis now has a 33-point lead in the Championship over Brian Brown and a 36-point lead over Michael Juergenson with four races remaining.
Pro Late Models
Finally, the first weekly show for the Pro Late Models was about to set sail. We were guaranteed a new winner in this class at the Ozark’s Asphalt Late Model Series had the week off. All of these drivers were hungry, and it showed on the racetrack Saturday night. In the heat race, Brennon Willard started on the pole with Ryu Taggart on his outside. The green flag waved, and Willard took the early lead with Taggart in second. On lap 4, Terry Limberopolous was able to jump into second and set target on the No. 3 of Willard, but no such luck. Willard came away with the heat win with Limberopolous second and Steve Holt third. In the feature, Steve Holt started on the pole with Ryu Taggart again on the outside of row number one. Holt jumped out to the early lead and looked like he had a fast hot rod, but Terry Limberopolous Brennon Willard were on the move. Then, coming out of turn four, the leaders took a look at going three-wide, until contact was made between the three of them which allowed Willard to check up and make the pass for the lead while Holt and Limberopolous were shuffled back. The yellow flag then came out and for Limberopolous who had some major issues with the right front suspension. The field went back green and Willard kept digging. At this point, Joe Ross was able to move up and into second place. As the race went on, Willard and Ross seemed to get better and better, but Ross needed just a little more to catch Willard. The checkered flag finally waved for Brennon Willard as he picked up his first win of the season with Joe Ross in second and Ryu Taggart in third.
Be sure to head over to our website at i44speedway.net to check out the full championship break down and detailed results from each class as well as pricing for upcoming events. Our next race will be on August 10th, the Back to School Bash and the kids bicycle race! Until then, like us on Facebook to keep with any track news and updates!
By Dylan Bates

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