By Sam Stoecklin
Track Announcer/PR
Warrensburg, MO
June 5, 2008
Last
week Mother Nature tried to wipe out all the fun at
CMS but the program went off as planned and fans in
the stands witnessed a great night of racing action,
which concluded shortly after 10 p.m. The track
surface was in topnotch shape and beautifully
prepared for all the great drivers in
attendance. Preparations are currently ongoing
in hopes of duplicating track conditions for the
drivers and fans this weekend as battles begin to
take shape in each of the division’s track
championship hunts. This weekend is Pepsi Race
Night at the high-banked bullring track featuring all
four CMS racing divisions, Modifieds, ULMA Late
Models, Street Stocks, and B-Modifieds.
Aaron
Marrant, who topped the modified field in 2006, is
this year’s early season leader. With
consistent runs to the front nearly every week so
far, Marrant seems to be on his way to becoming a
two-time CMS modified champion. He has already
picked up one feature-race victory and his top of the
pack finishes nearly every week signifies his
determination to rule the modified contingent.
Look for Marrant’s strong performances to
continue this weekend as he tries to fend off last
week’s, and two-time feature winner Tim Karrick
of Basehor, Kansas. Joe Walker, although down a
ways in the standings, is another driver on the
prowl; the defending modified track champion has made
a great recovery in recent weeks after an early
season crash sidelined the Harrisonville, Missouri
driver. Other drivers running near the front to
keep an eye on are Donnie Dannar of Odessa, Dean
Wille of Warrensburg, and Terry Schultz of
Sedalia. Chad Staus, Lucas Conley, and Dave
Meyer have put together strong finishes in 2008 as
well. The talent pool of modified drivers at
CMS also features Jim Moody of Odessa, Josh Stephens
of Kansas City, Brothers Doug and Dennis Walrath of
Clinton, ‘High Flyin’ Joey Lile of
Higginsville, and ‘Fast’ Richard Layne of
Kansas City. Additional drivers area modified
hot shoes also drop in from time to time in hopes of
grabbing the weekly $1,000-to-Win first-place feature
money.
During
the last few weeks in the United Late Model
Association (ULMA) battles for the checkered flags,
the action has proved exciting for the fans to
watch. Current standings leader Jon Binning of
Warrensburg powered his way to his second feature
victory at the ‘Burg last weekend by holding off
a hard-charging Jason Bodenhamer of Centerview.
Binning had previously mentioned he wanted to beat
Bodenhamer head-to-head and for the first time ever
he accomplished that goal last week.
Side-by-side multi-grooved racing has become the norm
for this exciting class with drivers running high and
low all around the track. Binning stretched his
lead over second in points David Angell of Holden
with his most recent ULMA win. Behind Angell in
third lies long-distance traveler, Randy Ainsworth,
of Excelsior Springs, Bodenhamer, who is a three-time
feature race winner, resides in fourth, followed by
Brett Wood, also from Warrensburg who has put
together some exceptional runs this year.
‘Flyin’ Mike Ryun from Pleasant Valley
appears to be not far off from visiting victory lane
as well in his #51 machine.
A
familiar face returned to the ‘Burg last week
after a few years’ hiatus from racing.
Multi-time track champion, John Brooks, of
Warrensburg raced his way to his 87th-ever feature
race win at the high-banked facility. Although
Brooks no longer races on a weekly basis, his
presence did not go unnoticed by the current
contingent of street stock drivers near the top of
the leader board. Due to mechanical issues,
three-time feature winner, Brian Johnson of
Independence gave up his point’s lead to
consistent running Herb Dannar of Holden.
Dannar finished runner-up last week to Brooks, his
consistent runs near the front such as last week have
put him at the pinnacle heading into this
weekend. Nic Bennett, another consistent runner
also slipped passed Johnson and now sits second in
the standings with Johnson holding on to third.
John Miller and Roger Stone also find themselves
securely in the top five heading into this
weekend. Look for Tammy Korff, previous feature
race winner Chad Eickleberry, and Adam Bush to
continue running towards the front as the summer heat
settles
in.
Scotty
Martin’s drive-for-five came to fruition last
week as the Independence driver claimed his
fifth-consecutive main event win in a row in the
B-Modified ranks. Martin will look to continue
his dominance again this weekend as he takes his
points lead over Kansas City driver Rusty Trimble
into another weekend of B-Mod racing. Rookie
driver Michael King of Orrick continues his
impressive driving ability and sits in third just
ahead of Bobby Raybourn of Odessa, Jeremy Lile of
Higginsville, and Cliff Owings of Blue Springs.
As the season progresses, father and son duo Mark and
Owen Evinger, brothers Lucas and Ethan Isaacs, and
young drivers Jacob Ebert and Bryan Montgomery will
also to continue to try to dethrone Martin at the
top.
Pepsi
Race night gets underway this Saturday night, June
7th with pit gates swinging open at 4:30, grandstand
admission gates open at 5, hot laps go off at 7 and
racing takes to the track at 7:30. We would
like to reminder drivers and fans that entry forms
and 2-day admission tickets are available for the
upcoming Tom Wilson Memorial BBQ bowl, which is just
around the corner on Friday, July 4th and Saturday,
July 5th. Be sure to check out the information
on the Web page in order to save money on admission
prices for the weekend and driver entry forms for the
modified and street stock special races for that
weekend. You can log on to the track’s
official Web site by pointing your browser to
www.centralmissourispeedway.net. For track
information and up to the minute race status call the
track report line at (660) 747-2166. The track’s
Web site also includes race results, photos from John
Lee of High Fly’N Photos, point standings,
admission information and much more. Businesses
interested in partnering with the track for
sponsorship opportunities, especially for the July
4/5 races, in which high car counts and fans
attendance are expected, are encouraged to call Susan
Walls at (816) 229-1338. We will see all of you
at the ‘Burg!
