Frye wins feature, claims MARS championship at Lebanon I-44 Speedway
by Andrew McNaughton/Lebanon I-44 Speedway PR

LEBANON, MO (Sept 23) - Bill Frye was contemplating retirement going into night two of the annual Lebanon I-44 Speedway MARS-MLRA Fall Shootout. The Mid-America Racing Series veteran only had to start Saturday's Late Model feature to claim the 2007 championship.

"I thought to myself – I won the championship, so if i can win the race, it might be time to quit," Frye said Saturday night.

Frye won the championship and the race Saturday, but his fans don't need to worry.

"I feel too good right now [to retire]," the 2007 MARS champion said from Victory Lane at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway.

Frye took the lead over from Terry Phillips on lap 19. Philliips #75 Late Model started the 40-lap feature on the pole, and was already lapping cars by lap 7. When the yellow flag came out on lap 16, 9 cars were already one lap down. However, it would not be a repeat win night for the 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial champion. Phillips suffered a blown tire, and restarted back in the pack. After Frye took over the lead, he would never look back.

"It was a good race track," said Frye after his victory. "It had two grooves, it's dry, it's slick, it's what we need."

Frye finished ahead of Friday's winner, Jeremy Payne. Will Vaught came in third, ahead of Lebanon's Brandon McCormick. Terry Phillips, despite his tire problem, salvaged a fifth place finish.

The MARS-MLRA Late Model race was the main event of an exciting night of racing at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway Saturday night, but the supporting classes provided the race fans plenty of thrills to last them through the off-season.

Terry Beckham Jr. came in runner up to Johnny Bone Jr. three weeks earlier at the 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial. Beckham's #118 A-Modified left everyone else in his dust Saturday night, on his way to another feature win at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway.

"We discovered a little something that we thought we'd try tonight, and it paid off, " the Webb City native said following his victory.

Beckham passed Rusty Dukes for the lead on lap 4 of the 20 lap $1,200-to-win A-Modified feature, and never looked back. Bone Jr. finishes second, ahead of Buckhorn's David Hendrix, Eric Turner, and Rusty Dukes.

Jordon Holloway was one of the top drivers in the Factory Stock class at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway early in the 2007 season, but was taken out of competition following a blown motor. Holloway was back Saturday night, and dominated nearly all of the 20-lap feature, until James Flood made a strong push on the last lap.

"We came up on that lapped car, and i had to go a little high, and [Flood[ kind of pinched me coming off of two," Holloway said following the race.

The two Factory Stocks came off of turn four side by side, but Holloway pulled ahead on the front stretch to take the checkered flag. Brian Brown, Derrick Brown, and Chad Smith rounded out the top five finishers.

Rain forced the postponement of the Bomber 500 two weeks ago at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, but it was rescheduled for Saturday night, part of the annual Fall Shootout. Any one of the twenty Bombers on hand were capable of claiming the $500 prize.

Daniel Jessen had recently purchased the #9 bright yellow Bomber that Dean Hensler had driven to victory twice in 2007 at he Lebanon I-44 Speedway, and he charged to the front of the pack, and held off a late push by JC Morton to claim victory Saturday night.

"This is our fourth race car," Jessen said of his new ride. He credited the efforts of his crew. "This is hard work."

The B-Modifieds were divided into two A-Main features Saturday night. Derrick Peterson ran with the top B-Modifieds all year long at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, and finally claimed victory in the "Small Springs" feature, while 2006 A-Modified champion Justin Neuman drove his uncle Jim Hayes's #14 B-Modified to victory in the "Large Springs" feature Saturday night. Meanwhile, Rookie Rich Reynolds won his seventh feature on the year in the $200-to-win feature.

The Lebanon I-44 Speedway will hold its 2007 Banquet at the Mills Center in Lebanon on November 3rd. Details on this event will be announced in the coming weeks. Everyone at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway would like to thank the continuing support by the fan. Randy Mooneyham and his staff look forward to bringing back the fastest racing action in Lebanon in 2008 for the Lebanon I-44 Speedway's 25th Season.

FRIDAY RECAP:



Nearly 40 of the Midwest's fastest Late Models competed for $2,500 on the last weekend of competition for both the MARS Series and the Lebanon I-44 Speedway for 2007, and it seemed that everyone wanted to finish strong. It was Springfield's Jeremy Payne, Rookie teammate of Terry Phillips, who came away with the victory Friday night, after running away with the lead in a crash filled 30-lap A-Main Feature.

"It's been a long time since I've had a late model win, and this was my first MARS win, so I'm just really excited," Payne said from Victory Lane following his dominant win.

Mark Voigt from Marine, Ill., started on the pole, but Jeremy Payne's #74 Late Model only needed 3 laps to take over the lead. He held the lead throughout the 30-lap feature by driving the low line around the high banked Lebanon I-44 Speedway.

"The bottom was definitely the fastest way around the track," said the first-time MARS winner. "I'm just glad I didn't have any flats."

There were several crashes that brought out the caution. Perhaps the most spectacular was when Chris Smyser's #30 Late Model slid off turn two, and was momentarily air born, before he slammed the car's right side into the concrete retaining. While Smyser did not suffer any injuries, he said it was a hard hit all the same. There was a multi-car crash on Lap 9, involving Trace Westling, Gary Stolba, and Patrick Johnson, amongst other.

These cautions gave points leader Bill Frye repeated shots at race leader Payne, but Payne's late model was too fast. He was able to jump out ahead of the pack on every restart, but Payne was unaware how dominant his car was.

"My guys were telling me that on the restarts that they were keeping up with me pretty good," Payne said. "I was just driving the wheels off of it."

Frye, Voigt, Payton Taylor, and Al Purkey finished in the Top 5. Lebanon's Brandon McCormick came from deep in the 24-car field to finish 6th. He was racing with a new body to the car, following bad wreck several weeks ago. Terry Phillips, who claimed victory at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway three weeks ago during the 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial, struggled during the feature race Friday night, and managed a 7th place finish. Lebanon I-44 Speedway 2007 A-Modified Champion Tony Jackson Jr. drove his #56 Late Model to an 11th place finish.



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COMPLETE LEBANON I-44 SPEEDWAY "FALL SHOOTOUT" RESULTS
Friday, September 21 and Saturday, September 22


MARS-MLRA LATE MODEL

A-MAIN FEATURE (40 laps -- 9/22, $3,000-to-win):
1. Bill Frye
2. Jeremy Payne
3. Will Vaught
4. Brandon McCormick
5. Terry Phillips
6. Jack Sullivan
7. Payton Taylor
8. Al Purkey
9. Justin Wells
10. Mark Voigt
11. Denny Woodworth
12. Gary Stolba
13. David Turner
14. Burl Woods
15. Alan Vaughn
16. Craig Smith
17. Tony Jackson
18. Trace Westling
19. Ricky Frankel
20. Darrell Mooneyham
21. Christian Rayburn
22. Jason Bodenhamer
23. Larry Clawson

B-MAIN FEATURE (12 laps -- 9/22):
1. Jason Bodenhamer
2. Craig Smith
3. Alan Vaughn
4. Burl Woods
5. Leroy Johnson
6. Steve Grotz
7. Darrell Mooneyham
8. Gary Stolba
9. Ricky Frankel
10.PJ Haskins

HEAT RACE WINNERS (10 laps -- 9/22):
#1 Will Vaught
#2 Terry Phillips
#3 Jack Sullivan

A-MAIN FEATURE (30 laps -- 9/21, $2,500 to win):
1. 74P Jeremy Payne
2. 66F Bill Frye
3. 30V Mark Voigt
4. 14JR Payton Taylor
5. 33P Al Purkey
6. 42M Brandon McCormick
7. 15T David Turner
8. 75P Terry Phillips
9. 22V Alan Vaughn
10. 45W Denny Woodworth
11. 56J Tony Jackson Jr.
12. 8K Jason Bodenhamer
13. 1CJR Christian Rayburn
14. 1V Will Vaught
15. 33F Ricky Frankel
16. 33S Gary Stolba
17. 7W Trace Westling
18. 18S Jack Sullivan
19. 25J Patrick Johnson
20. 30S Craig Smith
21. 20M Darrell Mooneyham
22. 00S Chris Smyser
23. L88 Larry Clawson
24. 66W Justin Wells

B-MAIN FEATURE 1 (12 laps -- 9/21):
1. 75P Terry Phillips
2. 42M Brandon McCormick
3. 8K Jason Bodenhamer
4. 26W Burl Woods
5. 33F Ricky Frankel
6. 75H PJ Haskins
7. 15G Donnie Gemes
8. 99J Larry Jones

B-MAIN FEATURE 2 (12 laps -- 9/21):
1. 00S Chris Smyser
2. 33S Gary Stolba
3. 28 Leroy Johnson
4. 11J Steve Johnson
5. 18S Jack Sullivan
6. 1V Will Vaught
7. 27T Stacy Taylor

HEAT WINNERS (10 laps -- 9/21):
#1. 30S Craig Smith
#2. 74P Jeremy Payne
#3. 30V Mark Voigt
#4. 14JR Payton Taylor


A-MODIFIED

A-MAIN FEATURE (20 laps -- 9/22, $1,200-to-win)
1. 118 Terry Beckham Jr.
2. 12B Johnny Bone Jr.
3. 54 David Hendrix
4. 99T Eric Turner
5. 88D Rusty Dukes
6. 25 Rex Merritt
7. 11W Don Luna
8. 71 Jason Meadors
9. 31M Erik Maggard
10. 2 Brian Brown
11. 98G Brent Greenstreet
12. 11 Jimmy Willis
13. 23 Mookie Cunningham
14. 12M Christopher Moon
15. 01 Darren Fullerton
16. 15R Jamie Ragland
17. 87 Justin Stoufer
18. 17M Matt Miller
19. 98C Jeff Cutshaw
DNS 14 Justin Neuman
DNS 48 Brian Darrell
DNS T98 Wayne Graybeal

HEAT 1 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 118 Terry Beckham Jr.
2. 12B Johnny Bone Jr.
3. 98C Jeff Cutshaw
4. 54 David Hendrix
5. 11 Jimmy Willis
6. 01 Darren Fullerton
7. 14 Justin Neuman
8. 23 Mookie Cunningham

HEAT 2 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 88D Rusty Dukes
2. 31M Erik Maggard
3. 11W Don Luna
4. 2 Brian Brown
5. 12M Christopher Moon
6. 48 Brian Darrell
7. 71 Jason Meadors

HEAT 3 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 15R Jamie Ragland
2. 99T Eric Turner
3. 25 Rex Merritt
4. 98G Brent Greenstreet
5. 87 Justin Stoufer
6. 17M Matt Miller
7. T98 Wayne Graybeal


FACTORY STOCK

A-MAIN FEATURE (20 laps -- 9/22, $600-to-win):
1. 21 Jordon Holloway
2. 42 James Flood
3. 69 Brian Brown
4. 11B Derrick Brown
5. 25 Chad Smith
6. 83R Tim Riffle
7. 67 Kevin Crider
8. 1 Tim Brown
9. 11S Steve Schultz
10. 8W Justin Wilson
11. 76 Lonnie Henderson
12.5. 95 Mike Smith
13. 01 Darral Martin
14. 49 George Myer
15. 31D Marc Davis
16.2. 72 Ben Solberg
17. 65 Kris Jackson
18. 8C John Coats
19. 18 Jim Reeves
DNS 27G Erin Gustin
DNS 83 James Ellis
DNS 27W Devin Wollansky

HEAT 1 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 18 Jim Reeves
2. 42 James Flood
3. 69 Brian Brown
4. 83R Tim Riffle
5. 95 Mike Smith
6. 25 Chad Smith
7. 67 Kevin Crider

HEAT 2 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 21 Jordon Holloway
2. 76 Lonnie Henderson
3. 27G Erin Gustin
4. 8W Justin Wilson
5. 83 James Ellis
6. 11B Derrick Brown

HEAT 3 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 65 Kris Jackson
2. 72 Ben Solberg
3. 1 Tim Brown
4. 8C John Coats
5. 11S Steve Schultz
6. 31D Marc Davis
7. 27W Devin Wollansky


B-MODIFIED

A-MAIN "LITTLE SPRING" (15-lap -- 9/22, $600-to-win)
1. 37 Derrick Peterson
2. 7 Brandon Pister
3. 60 Wayne Johnston
4. T10 Brian Shutt
5. 38 Ken Mallard
6. 001 Adam Webber
7. 71 Greg Strong

A-MAIN "BIG SPRING" (15-lap -- 9/22, $600-to-win)
1. 14H Justin Neuman
2. 00B Matt Brookshire
3. 45 Colt Cheever
4. 26 Randy Lebow
5. 18 Trent Harrison
6. 21 Josh Woody
7. 29 Jeff Kinsley
8. 2 Tom Gerleve
9. 00W Ed Wilson
10. 14N Shawn Nations
11. 86 Jeff Albright Jr.
12. 78 Troy Young
DNS 199 Jimmy Thomas

HEAT 1 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 14N Shawn Nations
2. 37 Derrick Peterson
3. 29 Jeff Kinsley
4. 2 Tom Gerleve
5. 78 Troy Young
DNS 71 Greg Strong

HEAT 2 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 14H Justin Neuman
2. 26 Randy Lebow
3. 00B Matt Brookshire
4. 00W Ed Wilson
5. 86 Jeff Albright Jr.
6. 199 Jimmy Thomas

HEAT 3 (8 laps -- 9/21):
1. 45 Colt Cheever
2. 18 Trent Harrison
3. 38 Ken Mallard
4. 7 Brandon Pister
5. T10 Brian Shutt
6. 60 Wayne Johnston


BOMBER

FEATURE WINNER (20 laps -- 9/22, $500-to-win)
#9 Daniel Jessen

HEAT 1 (6 laps -- 9/21):
1. 22 Scott Atkinson
2. 21 Landin Johnson
3. 70 Patrick West
4. 77 Lance Bahnmiller
5. 64 Shawn Winfrey
6. 25 Chad Cromer
7. 8 Jeff Scroggins
8. 18 JC Morton

HEAT 2 (6 laps -- 9/21):
1. 32 Joe Francis
2. 36 John Darnell
3. 30 Chris Darnell
4. 81 Josh Shepard
5. 67 Kevin Morrison
6. 111 Kenny Carter
7. 7M Michael Merritt
8. 42 Donnie Jackson


ROOKIE

FEATURE (10 laps -- 9/22, $200-to-win):
1. 7R Rich Reynolds
2. 18 Dustin Hooten
3. 7L Josh Lewis

HEAT 1 (6 laps -- 9/21):
1. 7R Rich Reynolds
2. 30-06 Luke Mason
3. 18 Dustin Hooten
4. 17 Jeff Brown
5. 7L Josh Lewis
DNS 69G Michael Warnow