Parris wins Super Pro at drag strip; Mack is back at Auto Tire & Parts

Local racing news

SIKESTON -- Here are Saturday's results from the Sikeston Drag Strip:

SUPER PRO

In the Super Pro Class, Dexter's Ken Parris posted his first win of the season. Parris dialed 5.25 and ran 5.25 at 129 m.p.h. His reaction time was .667. Benton's Jim Wade took second place. He ran 5.62 on a 5.39 dial at 97 m.p.h. His reaction time was .554.

PRO CLASS

Sikeston's Floyd Foreman won the Pro Class with a 8.67 dial. He ran 8.71 at 71 m.p.h. His reaction time was .568. Campbell's Tony Jacques took second place with a 6.39 dial. He ran 6.45 at 104 m.p.h. His reaction time was .574.

E.T. CLASS

Carbondale's Don Hooker won the E.T. Class. With a 7.92 dial he ran 7.87 at 88 m.p.h. His reaction time was .588. Stanley Byrd of Bertrand took second. He ran 8.36 on a 8.38 dial at 80 m.p.h. His reaction time was .475.

ATP RACEPARK

BENTON -- Opening night at the Auto Tire and Parts RacePark belonged to the 2002 MARS Series Rookie of the Year Champion Joey Mack of Benton. For the first time in five years the Late Models returned to the Benton facility with a total of 22 Late Models on a very chilly spring evening.

Joey Mack dominated the Late Model Class by winning his main event and finishing second in his heat. The Mack Racing Team did an awesome job in preparing the 97M car for a smooth track surface that turned "dry slick" early on in the program.

"I'm very proud to get to win a feature just three miles from my home this one is very special to me and my crew" Mack said.

Not only did a Benton, Missouri driver win his main event in the Late Models so did two other drivers from Sikeston which both live just 15 miles south of the RacePark.

Twelve year old Nathan Rettig won his Pure Street Feature and Nineteen Year Old Daron Clayton drove his 92 car to victory lane in the Outlaw Wing Sprint Class.

In the Modified Class Tennessee Driver Bart Richardson captured the feature win. "I like this track and I will be back" Richardson said in victory lane after winning the Modified main event.

A total of 92 cars turned out for opening night at the Auto Tire and Parts NAPA RacePark. "I was very pleased with the total number of cars we had tonight for such a cold evening, and I commend all of our drivers, fans, and race teams for a job well done on a night that mother nature was not at her best", Promoter Jerry Wolsey said.

After taking a week off racing action will return to the Auto Tire and Parts NAPA RacePark on April 19th. Find all of the results in the scoreboard on page 11.

SEMO RACEWAY

SIKESTON -- SEMO Raceway, located on Highway U in Sikeston, kicked off the 2003 racing season on April 5 with the U.S. Army sponsored Micro Sprint Spring Shootout with drivers from Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Indiana vying for the big purse.

Oklahoma was represented very well with three drivers taking first place in each of their features.

In the A Class, Kenny Koelsch of Tulsa took the first place victory with Kevin Bayer of Broken Arrow coming in a very respectful second place.

Bayer would come back out later in the Multi Class, taking first place in the feature race with Travis Senter Jr. from Osceola, Ark., taking second place.

In the Restricted 600 Class, Riley Adair of Tulsa would take the Checkered flag victory with Jonathan Hendricks from McCordville finishing second.

SEMO Raceway's 2003 opening events will continue next Saturday with Karters from Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Illinois, and Indiana competing for a $13,000 purse.

MALDEN SPEEDWAY

MALDEN -- Malden Speedway was the victim of thunderstorms last Friday night pushing the season opener back a week. Just after hot laps a strong thunderstorm pushed through the area. 94 race cars were on hand to race on a new track layout. The racing surface is now 15 feet wider which will see 3 and 4 wide racing this season.

Weekly events will consist of 5 classes of race cars: Pure Street, Hobby, Modified, Late Models and Cruiser. The 4th Friday of each month winged sprint cars will replace Late Models.

The first special of the season will be Friday April 25th when the M.A.R.S. Late Model Touring Series makes its first of two appearances along with winged Sprints and Modifieds. The M.A.R.S. Late Model Series is a great touring series with some well-known names such as Bill Frye, Wendell Wallace, Steve Rushin, Donnie Barnhart and others.

The M.A.R.S. Late Model Series will return to the Malden Speedway Friday, July 4th along with the regular classes. A big fireworks show can be seen from the speedway that night also.

The season finale will be held in October (the date still being worked out). "The 2nd Annual Cotton Boll Cup" will pay $50,000 in purse money.

The Speedway is located 1 mile north of Malden County Rd. 102. Pit gates open at 5:00 p.m.--Grandstands at 6:00 p.m.--Hot Laps at 7:00 p.m. with racing at 7:30 p.m.