Dotson, Elliott, Galvan and Others Out Duel the Rest on Earley Tractor Night at the Races

By: Jacob Blair

 

USRA B-Modified feature winner Chase Galvan in McCarthy Auto Group Winner’s Circle.

WINSTON, Missouri (May 19, 2018) – The USRA Modifieds took to the track first on Earley Tractor night at the races to make up their feature from May 5. Dennis Elliott took the lead on the initial start of the race and never looked back leading all 20 laps. Mark Dotson stayed close to Elliott but never posed much of a threat on his way to a second-place run. Derrick Hicks finished third, with Darren Shaw and Shane Lawson finishing fourth and fifth.

In between the heats and features, the skies opened briefly, dropping some rain onto the speedway. The I-35 Speedway track crew worked the rain into the speedway and it helped provide a track suited for multi-groove racing.

The Midwest Outlaw Vintage Racers made their way out to the speedway after the brief rain delay. Mike Lefholz jumped out to the early lead. The rest of the field battled hard for second. Once Andy Wiles cleared for that position he set his sights on Lefholz. Wiles got close to making a pass, but Lefholz hung on and picked up the win. Wiles finished second, with Steve Tanner, Jack Larson and Andrew Buffington rounding out the top five.

The Pure Stocks put on one of the best battles for a win all night long, as CJ Turner, Beau Wells and Ron Hill ran bumper to bumper every single lap. CJ Turner jumped to the early lead and then put his car right up against the cushion. Beau Wells kept trying to make a run to the inside. He could get to the door of Turner, but Turner used the momentum of the high side to hang on to the lead. Wells opened the door for Hill and now Hill tried for the lead but suffered the same fate as Wells and Turner won the race. Hill finished second, Wells third, with Shawn Huston and Chester Kaufman fourth and fifth.

The Midwest Lightning Sprints rushed through their feature and Bobby Layne took the checkered flag. Tyler Miller finished second, Greg Murray third and Jeff Bard fourth.

Week after week in the Grand Nationals, Chad Fuller and Houston Johnson battle each other for the win. Houston has bested Fuller three times, with Fuller beating Johnson twice. On this night, Fuller matched Johnson putting his car in victory lane for the third time. Johnson finished second, while John Hanson, Billie Hoover and Lee Costner made up the rest of the top five.

The Sport Compacts had a pair of Girard’s run up front for the length of the feature. Rick Girard won the feature, with his son finishing second right behind him. Alvin Cooney backed up his win from last week with a solid top three. John Willard and Steven Bunton finished fourth and fifth.

The E-Modifieds saw Gary Ainsworth with a fast car jump out to the lead. Caleb Pugh began to work his way through the field but brought out the caution and would restart at the tail. Again, he would work his way through the field, this time making it all the way to the lead and picking up the win. Josh Adkins finished second, with Bobby Lopez, Gary Ainsworth and Kody Parrott rounding out the top five.

The USRA Stock Cars provide for another wild feature. Donavon Nunnikhoven took the early lead but gave it up just a few laps in as he made a mistake. Gene Stigall then took the point and he would do the same, handing the lead to Jeff Dixon. Nunnikhoven fell to third, but quickly made a move by Stigall for that position. Now he set his sights on Dixon and taking back the lead. With a few to go he worked by Dixon and earned the win. Dixon finished second, Stigall finished third and Garrett Alexander finished fourth.

The USRA B-Modifieds continued the night with a bunch of multi-grooved racing. Although, beneficial to Chase Galvan, the B-Modifieds did it all for second. While the field ran two to three wide for the first half of the race second on back, Galvan opened up a large gap. Ed Noll cleared for second with five to go and begun chasing down Galvan. Daniel Harris, the only car using the top side of the speedway late in the race may have had the fastest car on the speedway, but for both he and Noll, they ran out of time and the checkered flag flew for Galvan. Noll finished second, Harris third, while Dustin Miller finished fourth and Jason Billups fifth.

The USRA Modifieds put on the best race of the night in their second feature. Front row starters Dennis Elliott and Mark Dotson traded the lead several times throughout the race. Dotson jumped to the early lead and put his car up by the cushion. Elliott, historically favoring the low side of the speedway, moved his car to that lane. After a few laps, Elliott moved into the lead. Both drivers continued running their preferred lane. Elliott started to pull away, but the top side of the speedway came in and back came Dotson. Dotson got to Elliott’s back bumper, moved back by Elliott on the high side and back to the lead. Dotson then began to pull away, but then the bottom lane came back in and back came Elliott. With just a few laps remaining, Elliott had a few runs on Dotson, but the momentum of the high side proved enough for Dotson to roll into victory lane with Elliott finished second. Sliders and crossovers were the theme in the battle for third between Shayne Bailey and Derrick Hicks. These two raced as hard as the leaders and Bailey prevailed for third with Hicks finishing fourth. Darren Shaw ran third most of the race, but made a mistake late sliding over the banking and had to settle for the fifth position.

Race Results 5-19-2018

Midwest Outlaw Vintage Racers

1. #20L Mike Lefholz
2. #53 Andy Wiles
3. #XX Steve Tanner (Heat Race Winner)
4. #77 Jack Larson
5. #3 Andrew Buffington
6. #7F Dennis Fair
7. #52 Camren Parker

Pure Stocks

1. #91 CJ Turner
2. #72 Ron Hill
3. #555 Beau Wells (Heat Race Winner)
4. #540 Shawn Huston
5. #94C Chester Kaufman
6. #17R Rylee Fuller

DNS – #60 Hunter Flanders

Midwest Lightning Sprints

1. #01 Bobby Layne (Heat Race Winner)
2. #9S Tyler Miller
3. #98 Greg Murray
4. #71 Jeff Bard

Grand Nationals

1. #20 Chad Fuller (Heat Race Winner)
2. #97 Houston Johnson
3. #2H John Hanson
4. #99L Billie Hoover
5. #6 Lee Costner

Sport Compacts

1. #00 Rick Girard (Heat Race Winner)
2. #0 Dakota Girard
3. #69 Alvin Cooney (Heat Race Winner)
4. #1/2CR John Willard
5. #95 Steven Bunton
6. #7 Ryan Lewis
7. #81 Chris Lewis
8. #00X Kyler Girard
9. #81D Daniel Ruhnke
10. #20C Colby Acheson
11. #13 Tanner Burton

DNS – #47C Colton Case, #6 Dave Petty Jr.

E-Modifieds

1. #8S Caleb Pugh
2. #91J Josh Adkins (Heat Race Winner)
3. #1L Bobby Lopez
4. #14 Gary Ainsworth (Heat Race Winner)
5. #15 Kody Parrott
6. #7D Drystin Dotson
7. #00 Jason Ensley

DNS – #12 Zac Keller, #50 Leroy Morrison

USRA Stock Cars

1. #2N Donavon Nunnikhoven
2. #88 Jeff Dixon (Heat Race Winner)
3. #S20 Gene Stigall
4. #3K Garrett Alexander

USRA B-Modifieds

1. #0 Chase Galvan (Heat Race Winner)
2. #15 Ed Noll
3. #07 Daniel Harris
4. #52M Dustin Miller
5. #2 Jason Billups
6. #19 P.J. Conger
7. #57 Randy Ainsworth
8. #124 Anthony Hill
9. #5% Hugh Eddy
10. #83 Coleman Browning
11. #15X Corey Myers (Heat Race Winner)
12. #94 Jared Hillyard

USRA Modifieds

Make-Up Feature 5-5-2018

1. #29 Dennis Elliott
2. #85D Mark Dotson
3. #78 Derrick Hicks
4. #11 Darren Shaw
5. #17$ Shane Lawson
6. #99J Billie Hoover
7. #2H John Hanson
8. #97 Houston Johnson
9. #92 Tyler Grooms
10. #98 Auston Johnson

DNS – #69 Zach Sanders, #99H Tyler Hibner

Feature 5-19-2018

1. #85D Mark Dotson (Heat Race Winner)
2. #29 Dennis Elliott (Heat Race Winner)
3. #7 Shayne Bailey
4. #78 Derrick Hicks
5. #11 Darren Shaw
6. #17$ Shane Lawson
7. #99J Billie Hoover
8. #2H John Hanson
9. #8C Chris Clark
10. #67D Issac Dotson
11. #97 Houston Johnson
12. #97X Jerry Flanders
13. #98 Austin Johnson

DNS – #92 Tyler Grooms

Tags: featured

Category: Missouri