Friday night’s racing at L A Raceway was dedicated to the men and women of the Armed Forces who have served the United States in state, federal and overseas missions.
“We feel the military is a major part of our community and has been for as long as we can remember since we reside so close to Whiteman Air Force Base,” said Carolyn White, promotions manager for L A Raceway.
Mike White, track owner, is also a Vietnam Veteran and it gives the White family a great appreciation for what the military does and they always do their best to show that support.
“We also feel that military appreciation night also makes everyone think about what we owe the members of our military and hopefully the military members feel that support,” said White.
Things were a little rough in the Gill Signs/Specialty Sportswear 305 Sprint car feature. In the start of the race, Lacy Harrison and Andrew Turley got hooked up. Turley grazed the front stretch wall and Harrison’s sprinter bouncing off all four tires in disconnected patterns resulting in Harrison’s sprinter ending up on its side.
When racing resumed, Schlender took the lead with Mitchell Moore right on his tail. Both racers are no stranger to victory circle. Moore has won two features this season, Schlender has picked up one and Matt Close claimed the other.
Schouten settled into third with the Arnold sisters, Haley and Miranda, behind him. With 10 laps complete, Matt McGarry and Randy Roberts got hooked together resulting in Roberts going for one heck of a ride crumbling his sprinter into a ball.
The single-file, bunched-upped restart is exactly what Moore need and Schlender didn’t want. Schlender drove the bottom and Moore sailed around the top of the track. When they entered turn three, Moore drove his car deep into turn three and slid up in front of Schlender making a little contact but took the lead.
Laps winded down as Schlender tried to catch Moore, but was unsuccessful. Schouten finished third with Haley and Miranda Arnold rounding out the top five.
There were several cautions in the Pitts Homes of Warsaw A Modified feature event Friday night that gave Stephen Muilenburg the edge he needed to pick up the win.
Rusty Weir began on the pole with Colson Kirk on the outside. With the drop of the green, Weir took the lead bringing Stephen Muilenburg with him. After completing lap one, Muilenburg made his move going into turn one and two and took the lead from Weir down the back stretch. Nathan Vaughn, last Friday night’s feature winner, settled into third with Terry Schultz breathing down his neck.
With six laps completed, Schultz had moved into third putting Terry Kirk on the rear bumper of Vaughn. Three laps later, Schultz took second from Weir. Jeremy Lile was the driver to watch as he started eleventh and was working his way one by one through the pack.
For several laps, Lile and Justin Moon were battling back and forth in mid-pack. On lap 11, Lile picked off Moon coming out of turn two and then took sixth from Christopher Moon coming out of turn four.
Justin Moon caused the fifth caution of the night when he slammed into the front stretch wall showering the front stretch with sparks and parts.
On lap 17 of racing, Weir was holding steady in third until he got his modified out of sync. He was able to gather it back together but forfeited three positions. A caution caused by Ralph King gathered the cars together again with just two laps left. On the restart, Weir ran over the cone sending him to the tail of the field.
Schultz found the cushion he wanted on the high side of the track while Muilenburg was running the low side. As the laps winded down, Muilenburg drifted up to make sure he could keep the lead over Schutlz, who is definitely no stranger to the winner’s circle or the 3/8-mile track for that matter.
Muilenburg held off Schultz for the feature win. Terry Kirk took third, Lile finished fourth and Vaughn finished fifth.
With the two spin rule in effect, accidents and malfunctions, the A Modified class started with 20 cars and ended with eleven crossing the finish line.
In the Xtreme Motors Street Stocks, Ted Welschmeyer started on the pole with Scott Krause on his right. Krause is a past fast track champion and wasn’t going to give up easily. Racing came to a halt after cars got crossed up in turn two resulting in Danny Carroll landing on his top.
Racing resumed and the battle for the lead was heating up. After a few laps, Krause took the lead and wasn’t going to let Welschmeyer have it. Krause had stretched his lead over Welschmeyer out but got dangerously high in turns three and four and had to back out of it.
A caution flew as David Thompson looped his street stock in the bottom of turn two with just two laps left, reeling Krause back in for Welschmeyer.
Welschmeyer tried to pick off Krause, but it was no good. The checkered flag flew and Krause took the feature win. Welschmeyer, Kevin Perkins, Allen Perryman and Jeremy Gordon finished in the top honors.
In the Pitts Homes of Warsaw B Modified, Chris Brockway and Colt Cheevers began on the front row after picking up the heat race wins of the evening.
Brockway and Cheevers went into turn one side by side, but Cheevers looked like he got “shot out of a colt gun,” according to track announcer Bob Ramey. Gary Lewis fell into third with Ernie Walker and Tyler Lewis in behind him.
By the completion of lap four, Cheevers had built up a strong lead over the battle for second. On lap 10, Gary Lewis pulled up beside Brockway as they raced down the backstretch. At the completion of the next lap, Lewis moved into second.
Cheevers took the checkered flag with about a half track lead over the second placed Lewis. Brockway finished third with Tyler Lewis and Dean Wille finishing in the top five. Tyler Lewis was unable to pass technical inspections after the race moving Wille into fourth and Walker into fifth.
In the Jim’s Tire Service Hobby Stocks, the young and talented Luke Skidmore once again picked up a feature win at L A Raceway this season. Skidmore made his third trip this season to the winner’s circle Friday night only being beat out last week by Jay Prevete.
With the start of the race, Skidmore and Prevete began battling where the left off last week until Prevete began losing part to his left rear wheel.
When racing resumed, Michael Tyler stepped up to pressure Skidmore for the trophy. With four laps remaining, Skidmore had stretched the lead out over Tyler by a full straight away.
Taking third in the feature was Douglas Coffey. Steven Tyler and Ronnie Livengood rounded out the top five for the event.
The Missouri National Guard provided military vehicle displays and Soldiers to present the trophies to the night’s winners.
This article was written by Rachel Knight on June 4th, 2010.