Ware takes first Late Model win of season
By Dusty Luthy

LEBANON, MO. (Aug. 5, 2006) - Dave Ware did something Saturday night that no driver since Terry Phillips has been able to accomplish at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway this season.

Ware took home the first-place Late Model feature trophy, ousting Republic's Brad Looney, who hasn't lost a regular night points feature at the speedway since early May.

"I'm feeling pretty good right now," Ware, of Springfield, said, "We're all going to celebrate later. The track was good; the track was coming to the car. We had a pretty good race tonight."

Looney's luck seemed to run out Saturday night. He had a flat tire in the heat race and, running first, had a flat tire with two laps left in the feature when he scraped the wall on the front straightaway.

"I hate to get beat by a flat tire," Looney said. "If you're going to get beat, you want to get beat and just get outran."

No one likes misfortune, but Looney's bad luck seemed to be Ware's lucky charm.

"It helped a ton," Ware said. "I would have been second tonight."

Looney had no hard feelings, and congratulated Ware on the win after the feature.

"It's good to see someone like him win," Looney said, "because he works on it hard, too."

Looney started on the pole, with Ware on his outside, followed by Dusty Johnston, Gary Webb and Larry Jones. Looney got the jump, but Ware was in constant hot pursuit.

"That's the best we've run in a long time down here," Ware said. "I actually felt pretty competitive. Brad didn't beat me by half a lap. So I feel pretty good."

With Looney in the lead at the start of the feature, Johnston, Webb and Ware went three wide down the back stretch on the first lap. Ware and Johnston were able to come out ahead of Webb and continued to battle for second side by side down the track for several laps.

Ware was able to edge out Johnston for second, as they both continued to run down Looney.

With two laps left and Looney off the track, Ware was able to hold on for the win with Johnston receiving third.

Johnston, who drove a hard second to Ware all evening, said Ware was tough at the top.

"I think he had a little bit more momentum up there," Johnston said. "I was better up there, when I got up there. But it's kind of hard to pass a guy that's in the same lane as you."

In several trips to the speedway, Johnston, of Flippin, Ark., has finished no less than fourth in the Late Model feature and said he's ready for a win.

"The car's pretty good right now," Johnston said. "I don't know how many seconds or thirds in a row that is, but it's getting old."

Jeff Cutshaw, of Cross Timbers, made it win No. 7 for the 2006 Modified season after starting the feature third.

Jimmy Willis, of Macks Creek, started on the pole, followed by Robert Hopkins, of Marshfield.

Cutshaw and Crocker's Justin Neuman, who is the Modified points leader, got the quick jump, with Cutshaw taking the lead and holding it to the end of the 15-lap feature.

Tony Jackson Jr, of Lebanon, had an impressive run for the evening, starting the feature tailback and finishing a strong third place.

Although the win brings defending track champion Cutshaw a little closer to Neuman in points, he said he was completely and utterly unconcerned.

"I don't chase the points, I don't even look at the points," Cutshaw said. "I don't pay attention to points. I don't even know where we're at and don't care where we're at."

Cutshaw said he doesn't chase track championships because of the rifts they can cause between drivers.

"I learned that several years ago, when we were racing at Nevada and Humboldt, we won three track championships in one year and we made a lot of enemies," he said. "People who were friends at one time, we lost friends over the deal. I come to race to have fun and to win the race. If you win races and do good, track championships will be there."

David Hendrix, of Buckhorn, won his 10th Factory Stock trophy in a tough race.

In one of the most competitive Factory Stock features this season, Hendrix started the feature on the pole, where he kept his lead until lap five when Tim Brown of Richland passed him on the outside for the lead.

Points leader Lake Mooneyham started the feature tailback after a flat tire in the heat race and by lap five, was in fifth place. Mooneyham, Derrick Brown and Lonnie Henderson drove three-wide into turn three on lap eight with Mooneyham coming out the leader.

On lap eight, Tim Brown got too high in turn four, allowing Hendrix to go underneath to retake the lead. Hendrix himself also got too high in turn four on lap 10, but was able to stay in control for the lead.

Mooneyham continued his run, charging Tim Brown on the inside of the track to take second in the feature.

The All-State DLRA Legends made another appearance to the speedway with Chuck Comer taking the win. Comer had the quick lead in the feature, but was passed by Tony Hatfield on lap six. Comer took back the lead after Hatfield spun out on lap 13.

Josh Woody, of Laquey, took home the Super Stock win. Woody, who has been out for several races with engine problems, took the lead late in the race. Points leader Ben Newell came in second, followed by Steve Morton, Jeff Scroggins and Tim Ballinger.

Tyler Brown won his second Bomber feature of the season, edging out points leader Jason Huey. J.C. Morton also won his second Rookie feature of the season.

Notes:

Test and tune: After the feature races, Jeff Cutshaw was allowed a few laps to test a new car. Cutshaw's familiar red No. 98 Modified was left in the pits as the new car came onto the track with a white body and red accents created by fellow Modified driver Scotty Roberts.

Cutshaw lost a ground wire in his test and had to be pushed off the track.
"I just wanted to kind of get laps on it tonight for that reason there," he said, "to find the problems before you actually race it."

The Allen Autosports car had been ordered since December and will serve as a back up car, as well as one to run in specials.

"We've had this one ordered for a long time and we've had a lot of parts laying around that we weren't using so we just went ahead and built another car out of it," Cutshaw said.

"We mainly built this one for USMTS races," he said. "It has a little bigger motor in it and a little different stuff on it so we can run with those guys better than we have been with this car.
Contest conclusion: Those who wish to participate in the Wildest Wild Side Ride contest will have only one more week. The contest will conclude Saturday, Aug. 12. For decorating a vehicle with signs, flags, banners, or other items, the winner will receive two free tickets to a regular night race and $20 from Hoffman Race Cars.



RESULTS



Late Models:

Heat 1

1. 55 Dave Ware
2. 16 Dusty Johnston
3. 4a Danny Atkinson
4. 51 Donnie Gemes
5. 28 Michael Barger



Heat 2

1. 14 Brad Looney
2. 56 Gary Webb
3. 99 Larry Jones
4. 28j Leroy Johnson
5. 31 Bob Hiller



Feature

1. 55 Dave Ware
2. 16 Dusty Johnston
3. 56 Gary Webb
4. 99 Larry Jones
5. 28j Leroy Johnson
6. 4 Danny Atkinson
7. 14 Brad Looney
8. 51 Donnie Gemes
9. Bob Hiller
10. 28 Michael Barger



Modified

Heat 1

1. 98 Jeff Cutshaw
2. 14 Justin Neuman
3. 21 Steve Martin
4. 47 Corey Simpson
5. 87 Jack Jones
6. 56 Tony Jackson Jr.



Heat 2

1. 11 Jimmy Willis
2. 44 Robert Hopkins
3. 75 Eddie Whitney
4. 7jr Corky Waters
5. 23 Mook Cunningham
6. 19 Anthony Carnal



Feature

1. 98 Jeff Cutshaw
2. 14 Justin Neuman
3. 56 Tony Jackson
4. 11 Jimmy Willis
5. 21 Steve Martin
6. 44 Robert Hopkins
7. 87 Jack Jones
8. 23 Mook Cunningham
9. 19 Anthony Carnal
10. 75 Eddie Whitney
11. 7 Corky Waters
12. 47 Corey Simpson



Factory Stock

Heat 1

1. 1tb Tim Brown
2. 25 Chad Smith
3. 11 Derrick Brown
4. 37 Derrick Peterson
5. 58 DJ England
6. 68 Brian Monnahan



Heat 2

1. 54 David Hendrix
2. 140 Ed Wilson
3. 76 Lonnie Henderson
4. 1kb Kevin Bowling
5. 8 Darrin Fox
6. 5 Lake Mooneyham



Feature

1. 54 David Hendrix
2. 5 Lake Mooneyham
3. 1tb Tim Brown
4. 11 Derrick Brown
5. 76 Lonnie Henderson
6. 37 Derrick Peterson
7. 140 Ed Wilson
8. 68 Brian Monnahan
9. 1kb Kevin Bowling
10. 58 DJ England
11. 25 Chad Smith



Legends

Heat 1

1. 83 Chuck Comer
2. 12 Dave Comer
3. 18 Tony Hatfield
4. 23 Travis Ashwood
5. 25 Patrick Johnson
6. 87 Cassie Hutchinson
7. 43 Rhonda Casey



Heat 2

1. 20 Chad Shields
2. 12j Justin Comer
3. 22 Park Jones
4. 71 Paul Horton
5. 5 Rob Watson
6. 8 Tony Jensen
7. 31 Ryan Crabtree



Feature

1. Chuck Comer
2. Chad Shields
3. Justin Comer
4. Dave Comer
5. Rob Watson
6. Travis Ashwood
7. Patrick Johnson
8. Cassie Hutchinson
9. Tony Jensen
10. Tony Hatfield
11. Ryan Crabtree
12. Rhonda Casey
13. Paul Horton
14. Park Jones



Super Stock

Heat 1

1. 21 Josh Woody
2. 32 Steve Morton
3. 83 Ben Newell
4. 8 Jeff Scroggins
5. 17 Ted Ballinger
6. 14 Tim Ballinger



Feature

1. Josh Woody
2. Ben Newell
3. Steve Morton
4. Jeff Scroggins
5. Tim Ballinger
6. Ted Ballinger



Bomber

Heat 1

1. 23 Jason Huey
2. t10b Brian Miller
3. 32 Joe Francis
4. 63 Pat Lubbock
5. 47 Lance Bahnmiller



Heat 2

1. t10 Tyler Brown
2. 21 Landen Johnson
3. 7 Brandon Pister
4. 44 Dennis Harmon
5. 67 Kevin Morrison



Feature

1. Tyler Brown
2. Jason Huey
3. Joe Francis
4. Landen Johnson
5. Dennis Harmon
6. Brandon Pister
7. Donnie Jackson
8. Brian Miller
9. Kevin Morrison
10. Lance Bahnmiller



Rookie

Heat 1

1. 6 J.C. Morton
2. 7L Josh Lewis
3. 14 Shawn Strong
4. 7r Rich Reynolds
5. 07 Tim Hall
6. 17 Jeff Brown
7. 63d Justin Dame



Feature

1. J.C. Morton
2. Shawn Strong
3. Rich Reynolds
4. Justin Brown
5. Tim Hall
6. Josh Lewis
7. Jeff Brown