Championship Night @ I-35 Speedway
2012 IMCA Stock Car Champion is: #20x, Jon Boller, Jr., St. Joseph, MO — PictureMeRacing.com
Championship Night @ I-35 Speedway
WINSTON, MO (September 29, 2012) – Championship usually leads to great racing because everybody is at the top their game to prove they belong at the top. This year was no different.
The IMCA Stock Cars had first shot at entertaining the crowd. Jon Boller Jr and Dean Wray started on the front row. Since the track opened in 1994 Wray has been nearly impossible to beat when he starts on the front row. Tonight proved the same outcome. Boller stayed right with Wray and even challenged for a handful of laps, but Wray got away. Boller had to fend off challenges from behind, but only had one strong challenge from Joe Zadina, who came from the final starting spot. Zadina flew into third by the mid point of the feature. Contact in turns one and two sent Boller through the infield and back to fifth. Zadina proceeded to run down Wray. “Crewser” John Crews had picked his way to battle for third. Zadina just couldn’t run down Wray, who added another win to his tally for the season. Zadina finished second. Crews has been coming on strong late in the season and finished third with Dixon close behind in fourth. Boller dropped to fifth but knew all he had to do to secure the points championship was finish in the top 10. So he settled into fifth where he finished and won the track championship. Zadina went from 15th to 2nd to win the hard charger award.
Next up were the Grand Nationals. Bud Wilson and Travis Walker led the field to green. Wilson wrestled the lead away from Walker. Nick Newton, making his first appearance in a Grand National at I-35 Speedway, quickly moved up to battle Walker for second. Wilson would get a flat right rear for the second straight week and handed the lead to Newton. Newton went on to get the win. Chad Clancy worked his way up from the back to finish second. Walker held on to third while Austin Johnson fought to finish fourth. Jim Peeler was fifth. Wilson had a comfortable lead going into the feature and just by completing a lap won the championship. Clancy won the hard charger award.
The IMCA SportMod class had Randy Ainsworth and Brad Whitney on the front row. Two veterans that know their way around a race track. Ainsworth has been quietly strong all year long, but tonight he wasn’t quiet about anything on the track. Midway through the feature he got a heavy dose of Jeremy Pittsenbarger flying around the outside. The outside went away and opened the door for Eddie Schwope Jr to move into second. Doug Keller, who has won the last two features, was looking for the first place battle but just couldn’t get to Ainsworth and Schwope’s bumpers. Schwope fought into the lead with just a lap to go, but Ainsworth powered back door to door. Coming out of the turn four to the checkered they were door to door and at the line, Ainsworth found just enough bite to beat Schwope by less than a foot. Keller finished third. Pittsenbarger and Whitney were 4th and 5th. Ainsworth was the points leader so winning guaranteed him the championship. Caleb Dennis is becoming the most regular hard charger as he moved from 18th to 9th.
The IMCA Hobby Stock feature had Eric Stanton and Mich Ross on the front row. Stanton jumped into the lead with Ross keeping pace for about five laps. Stanton then started pulling away to go on and win. Ross was comfortably in second where he finished. Alex Anderson, Eddie Ingram and Anthony Fletchall rounded out the top five. Stanton added to his points total which in turn gave him the championship. Tyson Overton started last and was the only driver to gain more than one position from his starting spot, so Overton was the hard charger.
The IMCA Modified class entered the track for the final feature of the night. Cory Wray and Jason Estes occupied the front row. One attempt at the green flag saw Wray quickly jump to the lead and try to get away from the field, but a yellow prevented that. Back to the original restart and second attempt saw Estes jump out to the lead. Wray would drift back a couple spots early. Estes kept the lead but Blake Peeler showed his power on the outside and took the lead. Darren Shaw followed Peeler into second. Peeler held the lead for several laps with Shaw only a couple car lengths back. With just a handful of laps left Peeler rounded turns three and four but lost traction right in the middle of the corner, Shaw flew around the outside and on to the win. Peeler held on for second. Wray, at one point, had slipped way back but found his way to a third place finish. Jim Hopkins looked very good for the second straight week finishing fourth. Steven Glenn had worked his way up to battle at the front early in the feature but drifted to a fifth place finish by the checkered flag. Wray led Estes by several points and went on to win his second straight IMCA Modified championship at I-35 Speedway. Shaw also gained 5 spots in the feature to be the hard charger.
This Saturday, October 6th is the finale of the 2012 racing season at I-35 Speedway with the Show-Me Spectacular featuring the SportMods, Stocks, and Hobby Stocks. Be sure to visit www.i-35speedway.net for the Show-Me Spectacular information. Gates open at 4:00 pm with racing at 7:00 pm.
Dirt Trackin at its Best at I-35 Speedway.
Category: I-35 Raceway, Missouri, News
