Looney, Cutshaw, Hendrix: 10+ wins

LEBANON, MO. (Sept. 03, 2006) - Late Model driver Brad Looney seemed to defy the laws of mechanics Saturday night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway. Looney, of Republic, won the Late Model feature, even though part of his carburetor was detached for the majority of the feature.

Dusty Johnston of Flippin, Ark., started the feature on the pole after passing five cars in his feature. Denny Woodworth started the feature on the outside pole after he finished second to Johnston in that heat race. Looney started third.

On the start, Woodworth immediately went too high into turns one and two, allowing several cars to get by him, including Larry Jones and Looney. Looney was able to get around Jones and set his sights on closing the gap between he and Johnston.

Parts of Looney's breather and carburetor were then seen dancing across the track on lap seven, but Looney kept charging.

Johnston, working a line at the middle of the track, went a little too high into turns one and two, allowing Looney to take the inside for the lead and his 12th feature win at the track.

After the race, Johnston was visibly disappointed with his finish. The feature was the second time he had won the pole, lost his race lead to Looney and claimed a second place prize.

"We started off real good," Johnston said. "There were just too many driver errors to win. I let the car push out on me a couple times to let Brad get underneath me. Then once he got around, I overdrove it a little more than I needed to."

Woodworth made the long haul from Mendon, Ill. to race at the track, finishing third.

The Modified feature had three restarts before the feature could officially begin and was plagued by several cautions throughout the feature before Jeff Cutshaw, of Cross Timbers, took home win No. 11.

"That makes it tough racing when you have that many yellow flags and that many restarts," Cutshaw said. "It makes it tough and makes it for a long night."

Cutshaw won the pole followed by Tony Jackson Jr., of Lebanon, Terry Beckham Jr., of Webb City, Steve Martin, of Willard, and Justin Neuman, of Crocker.

With every restart, Beckham took the high side, but before he could officially pass Jackson, a red flag or caution would stall his run.

On the fifth-lap restart, Beckham lost power on the front straightaway, causing a several-car pile-up collecting Neuman, Martin and Jason Meadors among others. Beckham was pushed off the track and later said his engine problems were due to a broken cam shaft.

Cutshaw was able to hold off for another victory. Jackson came in second followed by a hard-charging Neuman.

Jackson has come in second to Cutshaw in the past three races with other top-five finishes on the season and said he's ready to win a Modified feature at the track.

"It would mean a lot," Jackson said. "That's what we're working towards. I want to win one before the year's over."

Jackson owns Outlaw Racing Engines out of Camdenton and drives with his own custom-built motor and an Allen Autosports car. He said he is at a loss for what he needs to do to beat Cutshaw.

"I think I'm as fast as he is," Jackson said, "but he is pretty smooth he doesn't ever mess up."

The DLRA Legends made their final appearance to the speedway, putting on one of the most competitive shows of the night.

Tony Hatfield started the feature on the pole, followed by Chuck Comer, Dave Comer, Warren Ropp and Park Jones. Chuck Comer took the early lead and held it several laps.

Hatfield drove several grooves on the track before taking the first position on lap 15.

Travis Ashwood, who started the feature sixth, was able to run an inside groove and take first with three laps to go in the 20-lap feature and held for the win.

Factory Stock drivers Lake Mooneyham and David Hendrix came into Saturday's feature with a four-point difference in the race for the track championship. After winning the feature, Hendrix was able to take back his points lead and add a little cushion, as well, with this 12th feature win at the track.

The two drivers have kept a competitive spirit all season, trading wins and the points lead several times throughout the season.

Hendrix started the feature on the pole with Bob Gustin to his outside. On the start, Gustin drove too high, allowing Mooneyham to take a solid second place.

Mooneyham continued his run, taking first by lap four, but Hendrix was able to reclaim his lead on the next lap where he stayed for the rest of the feature.

Mooneyham suffered an extreme loss of fluid on lap nine, and headed for the pits on the caution on the next lap.

Derek Brown started the feature fourth but was able to climb to a second-place finish. Kenny Carroll took third after starting fifth, Lonnie Henderson took fourth and Gustin took home fifth place.

Mike Joplin took home his second Super Stock victory of the season after winning both the feature and his heat race.

Tyler Brown won the Bomber feature, making it his third victory of the season. Brown, who is currently second in track points, was able to edge out Brian Miller and points-leader Jason Huey.

In the Rookie division, Shawna Brown won her first Rookie feature at the track. At age 15, Brown won both her heat race and the feature. After the race, she was congratulated by her younger brother, Adam Brown, who got second in the feature.

Notes:

Driving debuts

Modified driver Jeff Cutshaw said he will debut his new car at the upcoming I-44 Speedway Modified Fall Nationals. Cutshaw took a few laps with it on the track a few weeks ago before losing a ground wire and said it would need a little work to get it race-ready.

"It hasn't even been out of the trailer since that night," Cutshaw said. "We still got some stuff we need to change on it. We're going to set it up just like we run this car and hopefully everything will work out good."

A crew member and friend, Brent Greenstreet, will be driving Cutshaw's regular car during the special event and Cutshaw hopes to get both cars into the feature.

Up Next
The speedway will be hosting the first-ever Modified Fall Nationals on Friday and Saturday nights. The $2,000 to-win event will qualify on Friday with two trophy dashes. The B features and the main feature will be run on Saturday night.

In addition to Modifieds, Friday night will feature Factory Stocks, Bombers and Rookies. Powder Puff and Mechanic's races will also be held.

Saturday night racing will include Factory Stocks, Pro-4s, Super Stocks, Bombers and Rookies. Late Models will not be running on Saturday night.

Gates will open at 5 p.m. with racing to start at 7:30 p.m. Grandstand adult admission is $10 and tier parking admission is $12. Juniors are $5 and children 12 and under are always free.



Results

Late Model

Heat 1

1. 14L Brad Looney
2. 99 Larry Jones
3. 1 Christian Rayburn
4. 26 Burl Woods
5. 4 Danny Atkinson
6. 17m Matt Miller
7. 28 Leroy Johnson



Heat 2

1. 16 Dusty Johnston
2. 45 Denny Woodworth
3. 41 Matt Menzie
4. 55 Dave Ware
5. 31 Bob Hiller
6. 42 James Flood
7. 72 Larry Moon

DNS 87 Trace Westling



Feature

1. Brad Looney
2. Dusty Johnston
3. Denny Woodworth
4. Christian Rayburn
5. Burl Woods
6. Larry Jones
7. Leroy Johnson
8. Danny Atkinson
9. Matt Miller
10. James Flood
11. Bob Hiller
12. Larry Moon
13. Trace Westling
14. Matt Menzie
15. Dave Ware



Modifieds

Heat 1

1. 118 Terry Beckham Jr.
2. L75 Eddie Whitney
3. 12 Scotty Allen
4. 22 Luke Feeback
5. 11jw Jimmy Willis
6. 23 Mook Cunningham



Heat 2

1. 56 Tony Jackson Jr.
2. 21m Steve Martin
3. 33 Steve Muilenburg
4. 11w Don Luna
5. 47 Corey Simpson
6. 44 Bob Hopkins



Heat 3

1. 98 Jeff Cutshaw
2. 14 Justin Neuman
3. 71m Jason Meadors
4. 1 Doug Crider
5. 88 Brandon Linnebarr
6. 71e Dave Elson



Feature

1. Jeff Cutshaw
2. Tony Jackson Jr.
3. Justin Neuman
4. Steve Muilenburg
5. Eddie Whitney
6. Luke Feeback
7. Jimmy Willis
8. Don Luna
9. Corey Simpson
10. Brandon Linnebarr
11. Mook Cunningham
12. Doug Crider
13. Steve Martin
14. Terry Beckham
15. Jason Meadors
16. Bob Hopkins

DNS Scotty Allen, Dave Elson



Factory Stock

Heat 1

1. 5 Lake Mooneyham
2. 11 Derek Brown
3. 94 Kenny Carroll
4. 76 Lonnie Henderson
5. 03 Tim Ellis
6. 37p Derrick Peterson

DNS 140 Ed Wilson



Heat 2

1. 54 David Hendrix
2. 02 Bob Gustin
3. 27 Aaron Gustin
4. 28 Doug Rich
5. 42 Kevin Crider
6. 77x David McDonald



Feature

1. David Hendrix
2. Derek Brown
3. Kenny Carroll
4. Lonnie Henderson
5. Bob Gustin
6. Aaron Gustin
7. Doug Rich
8. Tim Ellis
9. Derrick Peterson
10. Lake Mooneyham

DNS Kevin Crider, Ed Wilson, David McDonald



Super Stock

Heat 1

1. 18 Mike Joplin
2. t10 Rick Brown
3. 83 Ben Newell
4. 21 Josh Woody
5. 14 Tim Ballinger
6. 50 Mike Mitchell
7. 41 James Flood



Feature

1. Mike Joplin
2. Josh Woody
3. James Flood
4. Ben Newell
5. Rick Brown
6. Tim Ballinger
7. Mike Mitchell



Bomber

Heat 1

1. 23 Jason Huey
2. 22 Grant Sharp
3. 44 Dennis Harmon
4. 42 Donnie Jackson
5. t10b Brian Miller
6. 8 James Scroggins
7. 70 John West



Heat 2

1. 64 Shawn Winfrey
2. t10t Tyler Brown
3. 7p Brandon Pister
4. 63 Pat Lubbock
5. 32 Joe Francis
6. 54 Corey Pritchard
7. 244 Richard Talley



Feature

1. Tyler Brown
2. Brian Miller
3. Jason Huey
4. Shawn Winfrey
5. Brandon Pister
6. John West
7. Dennis Harmon
8. Richard Talley
9. Grant Sharp
10. James Scroggins
11. Joe Francis
12. Donnie Jackson
13. Pat Lubbock
14. Corey Pritchard



Rookie

Heat 1

1. 3 Shawna Brown
2. 07 Tim Hall
3. 113 Adam Brown
4. 7r Rich Reynolds
5. 14 Tim Ballinger
6. 33 Corey Dunn
7. 17 Jeff Brown
8. 7L Josh Lewis
9. 0 Dane Bartle



Feature

1. Shawna Brown
2. Adam Brown
3. Josh Lewis
4. Jeff Brown
5. Dane Bartle
6. Rich Reynolds
7. Tim Hall
8. Tim Ballinger
9. Corey Dunn