I-37 Raceway 5/15/09

By J M Hallas

Pleasanton, Tx., (May 15th, 2009) Action resumed on Pleasanton’s I-37 Speedway Friday night, with the Outlaw Modifieds back on the racing card. Also in action on the ¼ mile semi-banked dirt oval were the IMCA Southern Sportmods, Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Front-Runners

As the green waved on the 20-lap IMCA Southern Sportmod A-main the two heat winners raced into turn 1 with James Myers getting the advantage. Aaron Lunsford and Butcher got by Dennis Hilla for fourth and fifth on lap 1. Butcher then got under Lunsford for fifth on lap 2. Continuing his charge, Butcher passed Wesley Malcher on lap 4 for fourth, with Lunsford following in his wake.

Lunsford got back around Butcher on lap 8, with the duo wheel to wheel on lap 9 for the fourth spot. At the crossed flags it was Myers, Livingston, Mark McGahey, Lunsford and Butcher in the top five. Butcher then changed his line going from the bottom to the top way around. The car responded and Butcher went back past Lunsford.

Staying up top, Butcher then blew by McGahey for third on lap 11 and dusted off Livingston for second on lap 13. Quickly moving in to challenge Myers, Butcher had just made the pass for the lead when yellow waved for a spin by Livingston in turn 4. Butcher wasted little time on the restart blowing by Myers for the lead, while Larry Jernigan got around McGahey for third.

Lunsford pounded the turn 1 tire wall to bring out a red on lap 15 after a small fire was spotted. Once back to green, Butcher got a jump on Myers, who was now being pressured by Jernigan for second. The battle ended quickly when Jernigan looped it in turn 4 and brought out a yellow.

As Butcher and Myers got away on green, McGahey, Malcher and defending track champ, Johnny Torres were trying to go three wide for third. Torres got the spot, while Malcher went around on lap 18. When green waved again, Butcher eased ahead of Myers and Torres with Jernigan getting by McGahey for fourth. Butcher, in the Access Ford, Showtime Signs, WW Bodies, Majek powered, Rush Chassis, easily took the checkers ahead of Myers, who didn’t stop on the front stretch and was disqualified.

“If you want to win, you can’t follow them,” replied Butcher. “I was running fifth and the top four were all on the bottom, so I jumped up there. I had seen Stevie(Whiteaker) run the high side a little bit in his feature. So I went up there and it worked out. I was in my car and could see his spoiler over the fence so I knew he was high”

“I figured I was only going finish fifth running the bottom. It doesn’t pay good for fifth, it just pays good to win. I just try to be patient and run where they’re not. I like this track. I have fun at this track. I’d rather run where there’s more cars like Corpus(South Texas Spwy.) With Stevie’s knowledge and his dad’s knowledge we just seem to run good here. You can’t put a price on that knowledge and seat time. Diving as much as possible and getting used to the car.”

IMCA Southern Sportmods
90 Dustin Butcher
66 Johnny Torres
18 Larry Jernigan
88 Mark McGahey
89 Doug Livingston
2x Dennis Hilla
771 Wesley Malcher
16 Eric Madden
888 Aaron Lunsford
11 Chris McLendon
47 James Myers-DQ(did not stop on track)

Corpus Connection Conquers Both Modified Classes
Two Corpus Christi teammates once again found their way the I-37′s Winner’s Circle, but in different fashions. Steve Whiteaker jr., a USMTS Southern Series regular and points contender took the easier of the two routes building a huge lead early in the Outlaw Modified main and rebuilding his lead after a late race caution.

Dustin Butcher, who doubles as Whiteaker’s USMTS head crew member, had it a bit more difficult in the IMCA Southern Sportmod feature. Butcher started near the back and worked his way up to fifth before bogging down. A mid-race line change saw Butcher quickly pick off spots again as he found his way to the lead.

At the start of the 20-lap Outlaw Modified main, defending track champion Greg Dinsmore and Whiteaker stayed wheel to wheel into turn 1. Dinsmore got loose on the coming off turn 2 giving up second to Danny Brown. As Whiteaker set sail out front, Dinsmore and Brown had a good fight going for second.

Dinsmore would get under and along side Brown on laps 4 and 7, but not be able to get a bite off the bottom coming off the corners. Dinsmore again took a shot low on Brown as they split a lapped car, nearly going three wide, on lap 12. A spin by Bob Leinweber on lap 15 would erase Whiteaker’s ¾ track lead on Brown and Dinsmore.

When green waved for the final five laps, Dinsmore again had trouble getting off turn 2 giving up third to Bruce Barber. Dinsmore retook third from Barber on lap 16, as Whiteaker was stretching out his lead on Brown. With three laps to go Dinsmore was finally able to complete a pass on Brown for second, but Whiteaker was long gone on his way to the victory in the WW Bodies, Showtime Signs, Jana Schurry/Remax Realty, Youngs Auto Repair, T Roberts Optical, Hughes Chassis.

“It may have looked easy, but I haven’ been in a race yet that has been easy,” commented Whiteaker. “The car was good. I guess you could say it was better than the others. This Hughes Chassis is trying a new rear suspension set up, it’s something new we’re trying to figure out. It worked good on a heavy track like this. I could carry the momentum around the top.”

“You’re always looking for the moisture, it’s faster than the dry. If I can find that I can run the car wide open. Whoever can find it is usually going to win. If there’s nothing out there, then the best handling car is going to win.”

“I ran hard for five laps, but slowed down a little to avoid making mistakes. When I saw Danny(Brown) about a half straightaway ahead of me, I knew his motor wasn’t running good so I picked it back up. If I can lap him then that’s bragging rights at the shop.”

“I don’t ever think about what might break when I get a big lead like that. I know there are guys, like Clint Bowyer who thought everything was going to vibrate loose when he won his first NASCAR race. With Dustin and my dad working on my car all the time I know there’s not going to be any maintenance errors. There may be something mechanical break like the motor, or rear end, but I’m sure nothing’s going to fall off the car.”

Modifieds
89 Steve Whiteaker jr.
8g Greg Dinsmore
55 Danny Brown
17b Bruce Barber
174x Max Helms
12 Bob Leinweber
87 Lawrence Mikulencak—DNS(blew motor in heat)

Modified heat winner, 8g Greg Dinsmore

IMCA SSM heat winners, 47 James Myers, 89 Doug Livingston

Richard Bartosh beat polesitter Andrew Hesler into turn 1 as green waved on the 15-lap Limited Late Model feature, with Moe VanKirk in tow. VanKirk got by Bartosh to lead lap 2 while Wesley Skains and Howie Marcx got past Hesler for third and fourth. Sonny Mares got the fifth position from Hesler on lap 4. VanKirk built a decent margin as the top 4 evenly gapped out at halfway. Skains gave up third to Marcx when he did a ½ spin on lap 11. Up front it was VanKirk adding another win to his total by a comfortable margin over Bartosh.

Limited Late Model
58 Moe VanKirk
7 Richard Bartosh
13 Howie Marcx
3 Sonny Mares
14 Andrew Hesler
60 Harlin Covert
25 Wesley Skains–DQ(did not tech)

Limited Late Model heat winners, 25 Wesley Skains,

The 17-car, 20-lap Street Stock feature was a slam-bang affair with three different leaders in the final two laps. It started innocently enough with Chris Brock leading into turn1, but Dwayne Markgraf went for a harmless spin. On the next start, Shawn Moore tried the high side of Brock in turn 1, but fell back into second. Moore would then pull off on lap 1 with problems. A J Wernette moved to challenge Brock and got the point on lap 3.

Dw. Markgraf would loop it again, this time with a flat tire on lap 3. Once back under green, Brock, Eric Knudtson and Justin Henley were three wide for second with Knudtson getting the spot. Wade Jones picked off a couple spots taking fourth. Henley had just made a pass on Knudtson for second when Frankie O’Krulick spun on lap 4 to bring out a yellow.

Once back to green Henley completed the pass on Knudtson for second as the top four broke away from the field with Randy Guzman taking over fifth from Brock. Knudtson brought out the yellow on lap 6 when he spun out of turn 2. As the field was lining up for the restart, Brian Holland went around keeping the yellow out.

Finally back to green flag racing, Henley was along side Wernette for the lead, taking the top spot on lap 7 as the duo stayed door to door. Jones and Guzman were running side by side for third when Jones did a ½ spin and fell back to seventh. Henley began to put some distance on Wernette, Guzman and Danny Markgraf as the top four distanced themselves from the rest of the field.

Wernette and Guzman began a battle for second that saw them go three wide around a lapped car. Da. Markgraf did a 360% on lap 14, but kept going without losing any positions. Henley increased his lead over Wernette and Guzman, with Jones working his way back up to fifth getting by Chico Cox.

Knudtson brought out a second caution when he went around in turn 4 on lap 18. This set up a wild two lap shootout to the finish. When green waved Wernette looked inside Henley coming out of turn 4 to the white flag. A little further back Jones made contact with Da. Markgraf nearly sending him into the back stretch tullies in the fight for fourth.

Wernette inched ahead at the line, but the lead duo went side by side into turn 1 on the final lap. Coming out of turn 2 they got together with both getting out-of-shape. Guzman, who said he anticipated the incident, steered clear of both, snuck by and grabbed the win over Henley who recovered for second, while Wernette fell to fourth. Frederick Gierisch capped off the wild finish expiring a motor in a cloud of smoke coming to the line.

Street Stocks
021 Randy Guzman
86 Justin Henley
21 Chico Cox
37 A J Wernette
27 Eric Knudtson
82 Danny Markgraf
88 Chris Brock
44 Danny Schroat
33 Frederick Gierisch
77 Brain Holland
55 Cody Clark
41 Wade Jones
51 Donald Lewis
99 Frankie O’Krulick
5 Dwayne Markgraf
18 Shawn Moore
42 Tommy Casey

Street Stock heat winners, 18 Shawn Moore, 27 Eric Knudtson, 37 A J Wernette

The first try for a start of the 15-car, 20-lap Pure Stock feature saw Albert Mares get a big jump on Marc Roy, who had trouble getting going due to a slipping transmission. Mares again got the lead on the second try, with three wide racing in mid-pack. Philip Haywood and Mike Harrison ran side by side for second with Haywood getting the spot. Haywood then got past Mares, who began to fade, on lap 2 for the lead, while Jason Kelly and Lynn Hardy made their way up to third and fourth.

Kelly then got around William Saunders for second and snagged the lead from Haywood on lap 4. Haywood would then loose second to Saunders. Hardy and Dennis Jasik got third and forth from Haywood on lap 5, as the pack pin-balled down the front straight-away three wide. Saunders pulled off from second on lap 7 with a flat handing the spot to Hardy. Harrison and JoJo Horne spun on lap 9 to bring out the caution.

Kelly and Hardy got away clean on the restart while Jasik pushed up too high in turn 2 giving up spots to Mares, Mike Brown and Ty Coad sr. before pitting with a flat. Debris off Hardy’s car brought out a yellow on lap 11 and sent Hardy to the rear. On the restart Kelly eased away from Mares and Brown while Hardy picked up a couple spots, unfortunately, before the restart cone and got black flagged. Lap 15 saw caution wave for a spin by Coad who gave up fourth.

As green waved again Mares tried to hang on to Kelly as they pulled away from Brown, Sean Terry and James Watson. Mares took a look inside Kelly on lap 16 but nearly spun in turn 4. Mares would find himself going around a lap later in turn 2 to bring out the final caution. On the green, white, checkered restart Kelly got a good jump on Brown and Terry. Charging from the back, Mares was able to make it to fourth while up front Kelly was grabbing the win with a healthy margin.

Pure Stock
57 Jason Kelly
01 Mike Brown
23 Sean Terry
3 Albert Mares
44 James Watson
15 William Cavender
25 JoJo Horne
98 William Saunders
31 Lynn Hardy
72 Ty Coad sr.
8 Dennis Jasik
71 Mike Harrison
9 Philip Haywood
24 Marc Roy
8jr Janel Hilla
67 Joe Horne—DNS

Pure Stock heat winners, 01 Mike Brown, 3 Albert Mares, 57 Jason Kelly

James Samford got out early at the start of the 12-lap Front-Runner feature pulling away from Jared Payton who held an advantage over Les Bettis, Alec Jasik and Jim Knudtson battling for third. In the latter stages Payton started to close the gap and got a break when a caution for a spin by Taylor Horne on lap 10 closed up the field. On the restart, Samford got the jump on Payton and Bettis, but coming to one(lap) to go Samford spun handing the lead over to Payton who held off Bettis for the win.

Front Runners
9 Jared Payton
57 Les Bettis
I-37 Jim Knudtson
35 James Samford
41 Amber Helton
20 Taylor Horne
8jr Alec Jasik

Front Runner heat winners, 8jr Alec Jasik

Related posts:

1. Championship Night @ I-37 Raceway, 9-26-08
2. I-37 Raceway, 4/10/09 Results
3. I-37 Raceway, 6/7/08
4. I-37 Raceway, Results 6/20/08
5. I-37 Raceway, Results 3/21/08