Sanders Earns First Late Model Win in Meltdown Finale
Greenwood, NE (April 6th, 2014) – It has been a big two weeks for Happy, Texas racer Rodney Sanders. On the heels of a $10,000 Modified win last weekend, Sanders took the checkers over a host of top shelf Dirt Late Model racers at Greenwood, Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway, Sunday night, in Lucas Oil MLRA competition.Sanders was the DirtOnDirt.com Top Qulaifier, but it was Phillips who jumped to the lead looking for the Durst Motorplex $2,500 bonus.
In lapped traffic, Phillips left the low side open exiting turn two and Sanders capitalized and never looked back. “We struggled pretty bad last night,” commented Sanders in RACEceiver Victory Lane. We just made it in the show. We changed some stuff around. We had a pretty good heat race. Starting up front, I didn’t really know what we had.”
Phillips faded to fourth in the latter stages of the main event. Brian Birkhofer had a tough go of things in the heat race and was tenth in passing points. He methodically picked off cars up to second and put the heat on Sanders, but came up just a little short.
“We just needed to get some time on the car,” said Birkhofer of his decision to run at I-80 Speedway this weekend. “This new car, it’s a little different animal. There’s a lot of positives to it. I just gotta knock some rust off myself, and kinda get the feel of the car and hopefully get better here.”
A new chassis and engine combination did not slow down Chad Simpson one bit this weekend. He finished the wild thirty lap affair in third. Jeremy Payne took the Casey’s General Stores Hard Charger award for the night with a 19 position improvement, finishing 13th.
Next weekend the stars of the Lucas Oil MLRA will be in action for two complete shows at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. An open practice will take place next Thursday evening from 6-9 PM. The grandstands will be open, and front side entry will be free of charge for practice. There will be no concessions Thursday however. For those wanting to make a long weekend out of the event, the pristine campground at the track will be open through the weekend beginning Thursday. Call 417-282-5984 during normal business hours for more information.
I-80 Speedway Contingency Awards 4/5/14
AR Bodies Hard Luck – Scott Lewis
Casey’s General Stores Hard Charger – Jason Bodenhamer
Out Pace Racing Products – Junior Coover
GRT Race Cars – Brad Looney, Tommy Weder Jr., Kyle Berck, Terry Phillips
Hooker Harness – Jason O’Brien
KRC – Bill Koons
AR Bodies – Spencer Diercks
Chix Gear – Terry Phillips
I-80 Speedway Contingency Awards 4/6/14
AR Bodies Hard Luck – Tommy Weder Jr.
Casey’s General Stores Hard Charger – Jeremy Payne
Outpace Racing Products – Dave Eckrich
GRT Race Cars – Chad Simpson, Terry Phillips
Hooker Harness – Bill Leighton
KRC – J.C. Wyman
AR Bodies – Jeremy Payne
Chix Gear – Rodney Sanders
Lucas Cattle Company A Feature (30 Laps): 1. Rodney Sanders (Happy, TX), 2. Brian Birkhofer (Muscatine, IA), 3. Chad Simpson (Mt Vernon, IA), 4. Terry Phillips (Springfield, MO), 5. Brad Looney (Republic, MO), 6. Kyle Berck (Marquette, NE), 7. Jason Utter (Columbus Junction, IA), 8. Travis Dickes (Madison, NE), 9. Chase Junghans (Manhattan, KS), 10. Chris Simpson (Oxford, IA), 11. Bill Leighton (Omaha, NE), 12. Dave Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 13. Jeremy Payne (Springfield, MO), 14. Jason Bodenhamer (Centerview, MO), 15. Matt Furman (Columbus, OH), 16. Mike Collins (Council Bluffs, IA), 17. Lance Matthews (Winona, MN), 18. Al Humphrey (Giltner, NE), 19. Todd Franks (Seymour, WI), 20. Jordan Yaggy (Rochester, MN), 21. Don Shaw (Ham Lake, MN), 22. Scott Lewis (Henderson, CO), 23. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 24. Justin Gregg (Hastings, NE), 25. Junior Coover (Norfolk, NE), 26. J.C. Wyman (Griswold, IA), 27. Andrew Kosiski (Omaha, NE), 28. Tad Pospisil (Norfolk, NE), 29. Tommy Weder Jr. (Woodward, OK), 30. Andy Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 31. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 32. Jim Johnson (Plainview, NE)
Hoosier Racing Tires B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 2. Justin Gregg (Hastings, NE), 3. Matt Furman (Columbus, OH), 4. Andrew Kosiski (Omaha, NE), 5. Scott Lewis (Henderson, CO), 6. Lance Mathees (Winona, MN), 7. John Hansen (Brush, CO), 8. Jacob Magee (Caney, KS), 9. Jim Johnson (Plainview, NE), 10. Jason Bodenhamer (Centerview, MO), 11. David Garmann (Brighton, CO), 12. Spencer Diercks (Davenport, IA)
Sunoco Race Fuels B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. Kyle Berck (Marquette, NE), 2. Bill Leighton (Omaha, NE), 3. Chris Simpson (Oxford, IA), 4. Jeremy Payne (Springfield, MO), 5. Tyson Turnbull (Estevan, SK), 6. Al Humphrey (Giltner, NE), 7. J.C. Wyman (Griswold, IA), 8. Junior Coover (Norfolk, NE), 9. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 10. Jesse Kroger (Canton, SD), 11. Jeff Kroger (Canton, SD)
Lucas Oil Products Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Terry Phillips (Springfield, MO), 2. Jordan Yaggy (Rochester, MN), 3. Travis Dickes (Madison, NE), 4. Brian Birkhofer (Muscatine, IA), 5. Lance Matthews (Winona, MN), 6. Kyle Berck (Marquette, NE), 7. Jeremy Payne (Springfield, MO), 8. Jason Bodenhamer (Centerview, MO), 9. Jesse Kroger (Canton, SD), 10. Jeff Kroger (Canton, SD)
ProtectTheHarvest.com Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. Chad Simpson (Mt. Vernon, IA), 2. Tommy Weder Jr. (Woodward, OK), 3. Jason Utter (Columbus Junction, IA), 4. Brad Looney (Republic, MO), 5. Chase Junghans (Manhattan, KS), 6. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 7. Andrew Kosiski (Omaha, NE), 8. Tyson Turnbull (Estevan, SK), 9. Jacob Magee (Caney, Ks), 10. David Garmann (Brighton, CO)
MAV TV American Real Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. Don Shaw (Ham Lake, MN), 2. Rodney Sanders (Happy, TX), 3. Tad Pospisil (Norfolk, NE), 4. Matt Furman (Columbus, OH), 5. Justin Gregg (Hastings, NE), 6. Chris Simpson (Oxford, IA), 7. Junior Coover (Norfolk, NE), 8. John Hansen (Brush, CO), 9. Jim Johnson (Plainview, NE), 10. J.C. Wyman (Griswold, IA)
Impact Signs, Awnings and Wraps Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. Todd Frank (Seymour, WI), 2. Andy Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 3. Dave Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 4. Mike Collins (Council Bluffs, IA), 5. Bill Leighton (Omaha, NE), 6. Al Humphrey (Giltner, NE), 7. Scott Lewis (Henderson, CO), 8. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 9. Spencer Diercks (Davenport, IA)
Category: Kansas / Nebraska
