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Stovall Tops DLRA/MARS Challange At I-44 LEBANON, MO (July 3) - Coming off of his first ever DLRA Allstate Insurance LateModel win,Jesse Stovall proved to everyone that he is not only one of the top Modified drivers in Southwest Missouri,but he is quickly climbing the ladder in the Open LateModel ranks as he took control on the opening lap and withstood several challanges in grabbing the $3000 to win DLRA/MARS LateModel challange Thursday Night at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway. Despite over 3 inches of rain that fell in Lebanon Thursday Morning and a newly laid dirt surface,the 40 lap feature provided plenty of action all night long with 3 and sometimes 4 wide racing. Stovall jumped to the early control from his outside front row starting spot as DLRA Point leader Jeremy Payne and Wendell Wallace followed side by side.Stovall was setting a fast pace with Payne and Wallace staying within striking distance as Terry Phillips,Bill Frye,Steve Rushing and others were swapping spots. Around lap 11,Payne began his charge to the front spot as he used the low side of the track while Stovall was using the middle line.This battle lasted until lap 14 when Payne began to checkout and opened a 10 car length lead.On lap 16,Payne spun in turn 4 ending his strong run and putting Stovall back in the top spot with Wallace now applying pressure while Terry Philillps,Bill Frye,Rushing and Lebanon's Brandon McCormick battled.Wallace tried several low move passes in the corners,but Stovall powered ahead.Wallace's charge would end in turn 3 as a small puff of smoke came from behind the car and 1 lap later Phillips would pull up high with a flat tire.On the restart,Frye was making a strong charge to the front as McCormick as Joey Mack began a charge to the front along with Rusty Dukes. Up front Stovall was not to be denied as all eyes were on Phillips making his charge from the rear of the field and coming quickly.Stovall went on to grab the win with Phillips nipping Frye for the runner-up honors while McCormick and Dukes completed the top 5. In other action the USRA Modifieds took the green with Rex Merrittt getting the jump on pole setter Eric Hudson and Scotty Drake right behind the lead duo with Justin Neuman and Jamie Ragland close behind.With Merritt using the middle groove and Drake diving down low the battle for the top spot was close as Eric Turner began his charge to the front on lap 5 after starting 6th in the field.Merritt kept the lead after Drake applied pressure several times and on lap 9 would find Turner moving into the runner-up spot and began his charge using the low side.On lap 11,Merritt began to slow as a driveshaft went out on the leader putting Turner into the top spot with Drake,Hudson,Neuman and Ragland battling for position as Bobby Williams began his drive to the front after starting 20th in the field.Turner wouls keep on the low side and grabbed his first !-44 win of the season with Drake,Hudson,Neuman and Ragland completing the top 5. The FactoryStock feature saw Ben Solberg making his first start of the season at I-44 by jumping out to the lead with Dusty Rhoads close behind along with George Meyer and Matt Brookshire and Derek Brown following.Rhoads strong run ended on lap 4 with problems as Solberg was the class of the field with Meyer applying pressure.On lap 7,Derek Brown took his Camaro to the runner-up spot and set his sights on Solberg.The yellow would wave on lap 12 for John Coats as Solberg would pit with a flat right front tire giving Brown the top spot.From there Brown would hold off repeated challanges from Meyer to take his second I-44 win of the season with Meyer,Mark Bourey,Kenny Carroll and Matt Brookshire completing the top 5. Up next on July 5th,the I-44 Speedway will present it's annual Fireworks show along with racing action in the UMP LateModels fighting for $1,000 to win,B-Mods,Bombers,FactoryStocks,Rookie and 305 WingedSprints with gates opening at 5 and racing at 7:30 with the Fireworks set for intermission and also a kids bike race. Results DLRA/MARS Challange(27 Cars) A Ft-1)Jesse Stovall-West Branson 2)Terry Phillips-Springfield 3)Bill Frye Greenbrier,Ark.4)Brandon McCormick-Lebanon 5)Rusty Dukes-Fair Grove 6)Joey Mack-Benton 7)DeWayne Hottinger-Russellville,Ark 8)Patrick Johnson-Springfield 9)Steve Rushin-Popular Bluff 10)LeRoy Johnson-Brookline B-Ft-1)P.Johnson Heat Race Winners-1-Payne 2-Phillips 3-Frye USRA Modifieds(20 Cars) A t-1)Eric Turner-Hermitage 2)Scott Drake-Webb City 3)eric Hudson-Rolla 4)Neuman-Crocker 5)Jamie Ragland-Lebanon 6)Bobby Williams-Shawnee,Kansas 7)Jimmy Willis-Macks Creek 8)Kevin Blackburn-Fulton 9)Evan Hubert-Cross Timbers 10)Don Luna-St James FactoryStocks(18 cars) A Ft-1)Derek Brown-Stoutland 2)George Meyer-Monett 3)Mark Bourey-Monett 4)Kenny Carroll-Camdenton 5)Matt Brookshire-Jerome 6)Jim Reaves-Springfield 7)Darren Fox-Joplin 8)John Darnell-Springfield 9)Donnie Miller-Houston 10)Brent Bargis-Bolivar |