Montgomery holds off Standridge for victory

Wednesday, June 12, 2002

Local Racing

BENTON -- The KFVS 12 Winged Sprints action saw Timmy Montgomery hold off Robbie Standridge's final charge in an extremely close finish, which saw Montgomery win by only a few feet.

Scott Simion and Daron Clayton shared the front-row starting positions in the feature event. Clayton quickly jumped out to the lead on the start and looked to be on the move for another win. The caution quickly fell for the #9 of Shawn King on the third circuit.

On the restart Clayton clipped the starting cone, which marks the starting line for the restart. The mishap moved him to the back of the field.

Simion inherited the top-spot and stayed out in front for the next three laps until the #32 of Montgomery moved around him for the lead. Montgomery quickly built up a strong lead.

Standridge made his move to second on the 10th lap and reeled in the leader but couldn't catch the Fredericktown Flash as the race went 23 green flags laps to the finish. The 12x car made a final push coming out of turn four on the final lap using lap traffic as a key element in the mix but couldn't secure the top-position as the leader crossed the line.

Tommy Worley Jr. moved into second for three laps but couldn't hold the position as the Bismark racer finished third. Jerrod Hull worked his way through the field to finish fourth and Joey Montgomery battled back from an early race mishap to finish fifth.

Cline Myers Jr. was back winning Saturday night in his favorite form, domination. The weekend before Myers Jr. never led a lap of the feature event and took the win after finishing third and the front two cars getting disqualified after tech inspection.

This week Myers Jr. proved the win last week wasn't just a fluke as he led all the 11 laps of the feature event to pick up his sixth consecutive feature win on the year.

The sixth feature win in-a-row leaves his just one win shy of the track record, seven consecutive wins held by Keith Brugger, also in the Pure Street division. Brugger set the mark in 1997.

Starting from the outside pole Myers Jr. stepped out to the lead with the #6 car of Matt Naeger behind him. The pair would stay in that order throughout the entire event.

Doug Neuhalfen fell back early in the event but was able to make it back through the field to finish third, with Jeff Beeson controlling the fourth spot and Patrick Naeger finished out the night in fifth.

The Miller Lite Open-Wheel Modifieds saw a familiar face in victory lane as Larry Hull made his return to the Auto Tire and Parts Racepark in fine fashion. Hull snapped Robert Powers three race win streak at the track.

Veteran Miller Lite Modified competitor Chris Hall fought off challenges from Terry Johnson to finish the evening in second, while Johnson battled his way through the 20-lap feature to finish third.

Danny Resinger moved from his 16th starting position to record a solid fourth place finish with Pat Davidson recording another top-five finish on the year.

The dynamic duo of Garrett Moll and Wesley Short put another trophy on the mantle as the Scott City pair dominated the Motorsports Unlimited Cruiser feature.

Despite several attempts to start the race the setbacks never fazed them as they led all eight laps of the feature event after starting on the outside of the pole.

Polesitters Rodney Hurst and Edert Bowen fell behind the leaders on the start and maintained the position throughout the race. Jimmy Griffon and Jason Reddick finished third, Justin Redden and Lowell Calder ended the night in fourth, Larry Helm and Gary Clifton held onto the fifth spot.

MALDEN -- Steve Rushin of Poplar Bluff, on a break from the MARS series, picked up the $1,200 to win Late Model paycheck at Malden Friday night. Rushin burst out from the pole and was never headed, pulling to a quarter lap lead during a 16 lap caution free period. A lap 17 caution brought the field back together. Rushin was up to the challenge to pick up his first feature win at the track this season.

Gary Stolba and Jerry Buck swapped the second spot back and forth through lapped traffic, with Stolba taking the position at the finish.

Todd Hall edged Cary Conaway out of fourth following a late race battle. Conaway moved up from 16th in the 18 car field to earn the top five finish.

After a slow start to the 2002 Season, Robert Powers of Campbell picked up his second consecutive Modified Feature win. Powers started on the third row and had moved to second by lap 4. He and early leader Shane Stephens were pulling away from the field when a caution halted the race on lap 6.

Powers overtook Stephens on lap 8 and then began dominating the field, he had pulled to a full straight lead by lap 12. Brad Buck raced to second, with Larry Hull running at the top rim of the track third. Stephens fell to fourth as his tires went away the final couple of laps. Claudie Cook captured fifth.

After 9 weeks of racing, the Hobby class had its first repeat feature winner as Richard Greenway of Bono, Ark., took the lead on lap 5 and was never headed.

Greenway topped an excellent 22 car field that had tight racing around the whole track. You pick a driver - he was racing someone for a position,

Last week's winner, Claudie Cook held the lead early and challenged Greenway late to take second. Jamie Robards had his second straight third place finish. Gregg Layne and Steve Martin rounded out the top five.

Nathan Rettig of Sikeston picked up his third Pure Street Feature of the year, and second in a row, holding off a strong last lap challenge from hard charger Dietrich Bollinger. Jared Wagster grabbed the lead from the pole and with Rettig in tow as the pair separated themselves from the pack.

Bollinger had started at 16th in the 20 car field as he could not make the call for the heat race and earned his spot in the B-Main. Aided by a couple of cautions to reset the field, Bollinger joined the leaders. The lead trio came out of turn 2 on lap 9 with Wagster sandwiched between the two youngsters. Rettig won the drag race down the back straight to grab the lead. Wagster fell to third with a loose front wheel. Wagster would fall as far as fifth but battled back to third in a valiant effort in the hobbled car.

Bollinger made one last challenge on the final lap as the pair came out of turn 2 even, but once again Rettig had the momentum to hold the lead. That trio have dominated the Pure Street division, covering the 1-2-3 positions the past 3 weeks. Steve Martin took fourth followed by Chuck Tilley in his first top five of the points season.

Doublin & Stevenson in the 545 Cruiser picked up their second feature win of the year Friday. They won a 3 lap early battle with the F-50 car of Dunlap & Faulk and pulled away to the win.

Their first win came opening week before the points season began.The 23-S of McChristian and Smart won a 3 car battle for second. Dunlap & Faulk took third.

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