Saturday, May 17, 2002

Everybody was disappointed that last week was rained out, but there was no rain in tonight's forecast. All of last week's rain made the track VERY heavy early in the night ….. and at Spoon River Speedway, a very heavy track is a VERY fast track! Unfortunately a VERY fast track is usually accompanied by a LOT a VERY bad wrecks, and tonight was no exception.

Tonight's venue was a little different than the last couple of weeks. The Thunder Trucks ran their race in between the E-Mods and the Modifieds, splitting the two classes up a little bit. Personally, I liked the change, and I think the most of drivers and crews did too. The two classes are very similar, and splitting them up gave the driver's a chance to watch each other's race, as well as the chance to help each other out. A lot of the teams, and even a few of the individual drivers, run BOTH classes, which is pretty tough when the two races are back to back.

The #34D of Derek Neville started on the pole in Modified Heat #1, and he stayed out front all the way to the checkered flag. They were mixing it up quite a bit behind the race leader, with the #42 of Matt Smith, the #26 of JD Beal, and the #20 of Ed Barth racing each other hard for the 2nd position. Derek Neville brought home the win, followed by the #20 of Ed Barth in 2nd, and the #42 of Matt Smith in 3rd. The #28 of "Jammin'" Jimmy Hibser was certainly jammin' in Modified Heat #2. Jim Hibser was able to hold off all the competition and scored a strong win with his #28 car. Jim's brother, the #4T of Tony Hibser, finished in 2nd, followed by the #34 of Bill Anderson in 3rd. The #96 of Kirk Anderson lined up in the 3rd spot in Modified Heat #3, but he got a GREAT jump on the start, and quickly moved up front and into the lead. Behind him, battling side by side for the 2nd spot, was the #M1 of Dale Munson and the #292 of Bobby Allen. Kirk Anderson kept his #96 out front all the way to the finish and scored the win, followed by the #M1 of Dale Monson in 2nd, and the #292 of Bobby Allen in 3rd. The #98 of Andy Riggins lined up in 3rd, the #48 of Casey Lappin lined up in 5th , and the #M21 of Justin Munson lined up in 6th, they were all moving up in a hurry. Riggins was in the lead by lap #2, with Munson and Lappin racing for position right behind him. With Munson and Lappin battling for position behind him, the #98 of Andy Riggins was able to open up a considerable lead and scored a strong win. The #M21 of Justin Munson finished in 2nd, followed by the #48 of Casey Lappin in 3rd.

The #292 of Brian Allen, making his debut in a Late Model, started in the 2nd position, but jumped to the lead on the first lap. Allen was able to open up a BIG lead by lap #2, but there was a MAJOR traffic jam going on behind him. The Late Models did what I didn't think they could do ………… they drove through turns #1 & #2 FOUR WIDE!! Although they proved it could be done, they also proved it couldn't be done for very long without bringing out a yellow flag. Caution came out on the last lap, allowing the #3G of Goodin and the #10M of Pratt to restart right on Allen's back bumper. Brian Allen kept his #292 in front of the competition and scored the win. The #3G of Bob Goodin finished in 2nd, followed by the #10M of Chad Pratt in 3rd. The #45 of Dwayne Walters started on the pole in Late Model Heat #2, but the #11 of Brad Denney quickly moved into the #1 spot and opened up a BIG lead. Behind the race leaders, the #B12 of Roger Nelson and the #59 of Dave Slayton were racing each other hard for the 3rd spot. With only two laps to go, something went away on Brad Denney's car and he pulled into the pits, and Roger Nelson took a hard hit into the front stretch wall. The #45 of Dwayne Walters took home the checkered flag, followed by the #B12 of Roger Nelson in 2nd, and the #59 of Dave Slayton in 3rd.

The E-Mod Feature was next on the agenda, and I lost count of the number of caution flags early in the race. The #M17 of Brent Munson started on the pole, but after a couple of cautions and only 2 laps, the #4 of John Winters got around Munson to move into the lead position. Behind them, the #29 of Chad Terwillger, the #7W of Mark Branch, and the #M3 of Chuck McDonald were battling side by side for the 3rd spot. Caution after caution came out, and I didn't think we would ever get past lap #5. Brent Munson probably felt the same way. Each restart Winters would get a good run through turns #1 & #2, but Munson would go high and get a better run out of turns #3 & #4, and Munson would move into the lead by the start/finish line. Unfortunately, the cautions just kept coming, and the laps didn't count, and the two of them would line up over and over again in 1st and 2nd spots, battling for lead lap after lap. By lap #7, they finally got a good "green flag" run going, and Munson passed Winters for one last time. Once out front, Brent Munson was able to use the high side and put some breathing room between himself and Winters. Brent Munson took home the checkered flag with his #M17 MRE car, followed by the #4 of John Winters in 2nd by a nose over the #M3 of Chuck McDonald in 3rd place. The #85E of Oscar Everett steered his way through the many cautions to bring home a strong 4th place finish, followed by the #27W of Greg Ward in 5th.

Next on the agenda was the Modified Feature. I was amazed earlier in the night to see the Late Models running three wide through the turns ………. heck, that was nothing! The field of 25 Modifieds all came down the front stretch together, and they were FIVE WIDE coming out of turn #2, and they made it through clean with no caution! The track had dried out considerably and was getting pretty slick. The dust was flying, and so were the cars on the track! The #M1 of Dale Munson, who started 4th, was up front and in the lead on the first lap, and the #4T of Tony Hibser, who started back in 5th, was right behind him by lap #3! A few other cars were also on the move. The #M21 of Justin Munson, the #28 of Jim Hibser, the #25 of Butch Weisser, and the #48 of Casey Lappin all started deep in the field, but by a lap #6 restart, they were all right behind the #34 of Bill Anderson in a battle for the 4th spot. There was A LOT of shuffling for position going on, with the #292 of Bobby Allen, the #M21 of Justin Munson, and the #17 of Rick Scott all moving their way into the top 5 by lap #11. Hibser tried every line there was to try, but couldn't close in on the race leader, Dale Munson. They old saying "Like father, Like son" certainly proved itself true tonight. Just like his son, Brent, in the E-Mod Feature, Dale Munson got his MRE car out front and kept it out front all the way to the checkered flag to score Modified Feature win. The #292 of Bobby Allen and the #17 of Rick Scott were both able to get around Hibser on the last lap to finish 2nd and 3rd. The #28 of Jim Hibser finished in the 4th spot, followed by the #C40 of Mike Chasteen in 5th.

Once again, tonight's Pro Street Feature only had 4 cars in it. While all 4 cars ran good, hard laps all the way through, it's just not as exciting to watch , and especially not as much fun to read about, when there are so few cars in the race. The #81K of Mark Ross started in the 2nd position, but he was in the lead in the first corner, and he was there to stay. There was some good side by side racing early in the race for the 2nd spot between the #12T of Tom Turnbull and the #18 of Terry Pratt, but Turnbull spun in turns #1 & #2, and had to go to the back of the pack. By lap #4, the cars were spread out over half the racetrack, and Mark Ross had a BIG lead. Mark Ross took his #81K Pro Street to victory lane with another VERY convincing Feature win. The #18 of Terry Pratt finished in the 2nd spot, followed by the #12T of Tom Turnbull in 3rd , and the #4S of Justin Smith in 4th.

I'd like to mention what great job the track officials did getting to Dwayne Walters after the crash on the front stretch. ALL the track officials swarmed on the #45 car in a matter of seconds, and they didn't hesitate for a moment to climb inside the car and help Dwayne out of his restraints. Although we may not agree with every call that is made by the officials, we need to remember that they are always the first ones at the scene of every crash, and they are always willing to risk their own safety to help out a driver in need. NICE JOB GUYS!!!!