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September 16, 2006 Results

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM I-55 RACEWAY Wendell Wallace Masters Slick I-55 Raceway Surface For UMP-Sanctioned Pepsi Nationals Victory PEVELY , MO ? Sept. 16, 2006 ? When a racetrack turns slick, Wendell Wallace turns it on. The latest example was Wallace?s convincing victory on Saturday night in the UMP-sanctioned Pepsi Nationals 50 at I-55 Raceway. ?Wendell?s hard to beat in that slick stuff,? second-place finisher Randy Korte conceded after being unable to stop Wallace on the one-third-mile oval?s smooth, shiny surface. ?That?s his kind of deal.? ?Wally is awful good when the track?s like that,? added Shannon Babb, who placed third. ?He has a really good setup for slick tracks, so I?m not surprised to see him win the thing.? Wallace, 40, of Batesville , Ark. , didn?t downplay his slick-track expertise after earning $10,000 for his first career win in I-55?s traditional season-ending dirt Late Model event. ?We just geared up for it to be as slick as it could get,? said Wallace. ?The slick tracks are where our program is a little bit better.? After capturing a heat and the dash, Wallace took the feature green flag from the pole position in his Gaerte-powered GRT No. 88. He was initially outgunned for the lead by Highland, Ill.?s Korte, who started second, but he surged by Korte to assume command for good on lap 18. Korte settled for second place, several car lengths ahead of Moweaqua , Ill. ?s Babb. Sixth-starter Jimmy Mars of Menominie , Wis. , and eighth-starter Brian Shirley of Chatham , Ill. , completed the top five. ?Randy was awful good early on, but I just got through the lapped cars better than he did,? described the modest Wallace, who recorded his ninth overall triumph of the 2006 season. ?I caught a break.? Korte, 41, didn?t see Wallace?s deciding pass quite the same way. Korte, who is on the verge of clinching the 2006 UMP Late Model national championship, simply wasn?t strong enough to race with Wallace, who beat him to the finish line by nearly a full straightaway margin. ?We?ve been wondering what we could?ve done to the car to make it better, but Wendell?s just hard to beat on that kind of track,? said Korte, who drove his familiar Rocket No. 00. ?I was kinda surprised I kept him at bay as long as I did.? ?Our car would just come and go. It seemed like it would be good for a few laps, then it would just be junk for a few. I don?t know if that was me using the tires up too much or something else, but we couldn?t run with Wendell because of it.? Wallace maintained full control after the race was slowed, on lap 21, for a second and final caution flag. Even lapped traffic gave him little trouble. ?I just moved around in different grooves the whole race,? said Wallace, whose biggest triumph of ?06 came in late May when he topped the Show-Me 100 at West Plains ( Mo. ) Motor Speedway for the second time in his career. ?One time I?d be good in a certain spot for five laps, then it seemed like that groove would slow down so I?d have to change my line and do something different. ?That?s the raciest I think I?ve ever seen this place.? It was also the first time Wallace had ever visited Victory Lane at the high-banked track owned by NASCAR Nextel Cup veteran Kenny Schrader. ?We?ve had a couple good runs here over the years, but we were never able to seal the deal,? he said. ?If feels good to finally get it done.? Babb, who won I-55?s UMP Summernationals event earlier this year en route to capturing his second straight tour championship, was unable to tame a decidedly different track surface this time around. ?We won the Summernationals show here, but it was wet and sticky that night,? said the 32-year-old Babb, who drove Billy Moyer Sr.?s Rayburn No. 18. ?It was super-slick tonight, but the track was excellent. It couldn?t be any better. ?I just needed to be better down the straightaway. I could roll around the corner pretty good, but they?d leave me down the straightaway because I was just spinning (wheels).? Shirley, 25, entered the Pepsi Nationals with plenty of confidence, thanks to five wins in six starts this season at I-55 and a $6,000 victory in the previous night?s MARS/UMP ?USA World 50? at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway. But the rising star was searching for answers after finishing a quiet fifth in Ed Petroff?s Rocket No. 3s on a surface that was slicker than he?s been accustomed. ?When you don?t win, you just want to figure out what could?ve been better,? said Shirley. ?I know my car wasn?t good enough to win, and that?s why I came over to talk to (Babb after the race) to see how he felt about his car.? Rounding out the top 10 was four-time UMP Late Model national champion Rodney Melvin of Benton , Ill. ; Jack Sullivan of Greenbriar , Ark. ; 22-year-old Michael Kloos of Trenton , Ill. ; MARS regular Jeff Taylor of Cave City, Ark.; and defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who won last year?s Pepsi Nationals headliner. The race?s only significant crash occurred on lap six after Ed Dixon got sideways in turn three and was hit by Matt Taylor. Mark Oller was also involved. Thirty-five cars entered the event. The original format called for the passing points system to be used for qualifying, but group time trials were run instead. MARS tour points leader Bill Frye of Greenbriar , Ark. , set fast time with a lap of 12.945 seconds, but he had a short night. His car?s motor exploded in a cloud of smoke as he set the pace two laps in the first heat, and he promptly loaded up and left the track. UMP Late Models - 35 Entries Qualifying Name Driver Time Group 1 66 Bill Frye 12.945 6K Michael Kloos 13.101 83 Joe Morris 13.175 27 Rodney Melvin 13.234 64 Ryan Dauber 13.246 78 Chad Zobrist 13.442 66H Rich Whaley 13.68 1 Ron McQuerry 13.734 F15 Jeremy Conaway 13.757 Group 2 28 Jimmy Mars 12.958 18 Shannon Babb 12.961 33 Tim Manville 13.129 11Z Bryan Collins 13.253 26 Billy Faust 13.289 112 Tim Ratajczyk 13.366 81C Kevin Cole 13.436 36 Ron Sensel 13.437 7 Rich Lawson 14.369 Group 3 88 Wendall Wallace 13.346 95 Jeff Johns 13.359 67 Mark Oller 13.38 50 Ed Dixon 13.382 18 Jack Sullivan 13.401 21JR Billy Moyer Jr. 13.581 24 Dick Taylor 13.765 51 Steve Shive 13.883 99 Chip Morgan 14.253 Group 4 OO Randy Korte 13.089 3S Brian Shirley 13.287 21 Billy Moyer 13.424 117 Joe Ross Jr. 13.554 3L Matt Taylor 13.601 5 Jeff Taylor 13.744 2J Dave Jumper 13.811 Heat 1 Top 4 advance 1. 6K Michael Kloos 2. 27 Rodney Melvin 3. 83 Joe Morris 4. 64 Ryan Dauber 5. 66 Rich Whaley 6. 78 Chad Zobrist 7. F15 Jeremy Conaway 8. 1 Ron McQuerry 9. 66 Bill Frye Blown moter Heat 2 1. 18 Shannon Babb 2. 28 Jimmy Mars 3. 11Z Bryan Collins 4. 26 Billy Faust 5. 33 Tim Manville 6. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 7. 81C Kevin Cole 8. 36 Ron Sensel 9. 7 Rich Lawson Heat 3 1. 88 Wendall Wallace 2. 18 Jack Sullivan 3. 67 Mark Oller 4. 95 Jeff Johns 5. 51 Steve Shive 6. 24 Dick Taylor 7. 21J Billy Moyer Jr. 8. 99 Chip Morgan 9. 50 Ed Dixon Heat 4 1. 00 Randy Korte 2. 3S Brian Shirley 3. 5 Jeff Taylor 4. 21 Billy Moyer 5. 117 Joe Ross Jr. 6. 3L Matt Taylor 7. 2J Dave Jumper 8. 13S Tracy Wampler DNS Dash 1. 88 Wendall Wallace 2. 00 Randy Korte 3. 18 Shannon Babb 4. 6K Michael Kloos Semi 1 Top 3 advance 1. 33 Tim Manville 2. 78 Chad Zobrist 3. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 4. 81C Kevin Cole 5. 66 Rich Whaley 6. 36 Ron Sensel 7. F15 Jeremy Conaway 8. 1 Ron McQuerry 9. 7 Rich Lawson DNS. 66 Bill Frye Semi 2 Top 3 advance 1. 117 Joe Ross Jr. 2. 3L MattTaylor 3. 50 Ed Dixon 4. 51 Steve Shive 5. 21J Billy Moyer Jr. 6. 24 Dick Taylor 7. 2J Dave Jumper 8. 99 Chip Morgan DNS. 13S Tracy Wampler Feature 1. 88 Wendall Wallace 2. 00 Randy Korte 3. 18 Shannon Babb 4. 28 Jimmy Mars 5. 3S Brian Shirley 6. 27 Rodney Melvin 7. 18 Jack Sullivan 8. 6K Michael Kloos 9. 5 Jeff Taylor 10. 21 Billy Moyer 11. 26 Billy Faust 12. 78 Chad Zobrist 13. 64 Ryan Dauber 14. 11Z Bryan Collins 15. 95 Jeff Johns 16. 33 Tim Manville 17. 2J Dave Jumper 18. 81C Kevin Cole 19. 117 Joe Ross, Jr. 20. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 21. 83 Joe Morris 22. 50 Ed Dixon 23. 67 Mark Oller 24. 3L Matt Taylor UMP Modifieds - 48 Entries Heat 1 1. 22 Matt Mevert 2. 1W Ray Walsh 3. 99 Marty Smith Jr. 4. 45M Eric Mabery 5. 87 Jimmy Cummins 6. 12 Tom Ratajczyk 7. 14L Jeff Leka 8. 31 Ricky Horton 9. 17M Matt Verbeck 10. 53 Dave Smith Heat 2 1. 24 Mike Harrison 2. 94 Ed Lenhardt 3. 51 Tim Hill 4. 18 Bobby Dauderman 5. 72 Brian Lynn 6. 10 Todd McGraw 7. 14 Rick Conoyer 8. 99 Robby Helms 9. 37 Mike Monroe 10. C4 Chris Soutia Heat 3 1. 70 Brian Bielong 2. 41G Matt Goulden 3. 4J Scott Weber 4. 48 Bobby Martintoni 5. 17W Jackie Willis, Jr. 6. 88 Joe Purcelli 7. 50 Kent Nations 8. 10X Rob Pendergrass 9. 8X James Reed 10. 21 Dennis Richards DNS Heat 4 1. 16 Tommie Seets, Jr. 2. 0 Steve Picou 3. 89 Bobby Bittle 4. 40 Bobby Regot 5. 77 Rick Stevenson 6. 77X Jeff Ray 7. 7 Mark Miner 8. 59 Rich Whaley 9. 2F Todd Ferber Heat 5 1. 155 Chris Smith 2. 7Z Matt Zimmerly 3. 9W Doug Wood 4. 20M Brad McKinnon 5. 20Z Dan Zander 6. 17 Brad Thurston 7. 15 Jerry Grither 8. 23M Corey Carriker 9. 27X Joe Pendergrass Dash 1. 1W Ray Walsh 2. 24 Mike Harrison 3. 22 Matt Mevert 4. 70 Brian Bielong 5. 89 Bobby Bittle 6. 4J Scott Weber 7. 16 Tommie Seets, Jr. 8. 94 Ed Lendhart 9. 155 Chris Smith Semi Top 3 Advance 1. 18 Bobby Dauderman 2. 88 Joe Purcelli 3. 14 Rick Conoyer 4. 87 Jimmy Cummins 5. 17W Jackie Willis, Jr. 6. 77X Jeff Ray 7. 7 Mark Miner 8. 31 Rucky Horton 9. 37 Mike Monroe 10. 53 Dave Smith 11. 17 Brad Thurston 12. 10X Rob Pendergrass DNS. 21 Dennis Richards DNS. 23MC Corey Carriker DNS. 2F Todd Ferber Semi 2 Top 3 advance 1. 77 Rick Stevenson 2. 45M Eric Mabery 3. 10 Todd McGraw 4. 40 Bobby Regot 5. 20Z Dan Zander 6. 15 Jerry Grither 7. 17M Matt Verbeck 8. 8X James Reed 9. 12 Tom Ratajczyk 10. 59 Rich Whaley 11. 14L Jeff Leka 12. 50 Kent Nations 13. 99R Robby Helms DNS. C4 Chris Soutiea DNS. 27X Joe Pendergrass Feature 1. 4J Scott Weber 2. 22 Matt Mevert 3. 24 Mike Harrison 4. 70 Brian Bielong 5. 16 Tommie Seets, Jr. 6. 89 Bobby Bittle 7. 0 Steve Picou 8. 48 Bobby Martintoni 9. 88 Joe Puricelli 10. 1W Ray Walsh 11. 99 Marty Smith, Jr. 12. 41G Matt Goulden 13. 155 Chris Smith 14. 77 Rick Stevenson 15. 18 Bobby Dauderman 16. 14 Rick Conoyer 17. 94 Ed Lenhardt 18. 9W Doug Wood 19. 72 Brian Lynn 20. 51 Tim Hill 21. 20M Brad McKinnon 22. 7Z Matt Zimmerly 23. 45M Eric Mabery 24. 10 Todd McGraw UMP/AARA Sportsman - 41 Entries Heat 1 1. D5 Paul Belken 2. 4H Marty Heck 3. 96 Tim Hollerbach 4. 105 Matt Hancock 5. 147 Kyle Stolzer 6. 19 Jimmy Cummins 7. 29 Jeff LaBaube 8. 109 Jeff Robbins 9. 26 Shane Capps Heat 2 1. 50 Kent Nations 2. 30 Mike Nicholson 3. 23 Dennis Wernle 4. 43 Mike Harris 5. 2K Robbie Eilers 6. 11 Jeff Herzog 7. M16 Joe McCain 8. 66 Joe Giesler Heat 3 1. 17 Andy Casper 2. M41 Steve Maisel 3. 99 Chuck Adams 4. 99K Dustin Knerrer 5. 62 Troy Medley 6. 55 Don Patton 7. 3E Ryan Driemeier 8. 10 Dustin Homan Heat 4 1. 3 John Seets, Jr. 2. 24 Paul Bauman 3. 32W Dave Walker 4. 31 Brian Shubirg 5. 118 Pat Chalmers 6. D40 Ed DeMille 7. 155 Jason Keller 8. 97 John Goodson DNS Heat 5 1. 12 Troy Naeger 2. 32 Chris Soutiea 3. 67 Ronnie Bader 4. 21 Andy Beavers 5. 3 Craig Bessinger 6. 78 Rick Barker 7. 18 Tyson Gegg 8. 01 Beau Davis Dash 1. D5 Paul Belken 2. 24 Paul Bauman 3. 17 Andy Casper 4. 12 Troy Naeger 5. 3 John Seets, Jr. 6. M41 Steve Maisel 7. 50 Kent Nations 8. 67 Ronnie Bader 9. 23 Dennis Wernle Semi 1 Top 3 advance 1. 105 Matt Hancock 2. 18 Tyson Gegg 3. 2K Robbie Eilers 4. 11 Jeff Herzog 5. 21 Andy Beavers 6. 66 Joe Geisler 7. 3B Craig Bessinger 8. 3E Ryan Driemeier 9. 01 Beau Davis 10. M16 Joe McCain 11. 97 John Goodson 12. D40 Ed DeMille DNS Semi 2 1. 62 Troy Medley 2. 19 Jimmy Cummins 3. 29 Jeff LaBaube 4. 155 Jason Keller 5. 118 Pat Chalmers 6. 55 Don Patton 7. 10 Dustin Homan 8. 78 Rick Barker 9. 43 Mike Harris 10. 109 Jeff Robbins DNS. 26 Shane Capps Feature 1. 24 Paul Bauman 2. 12 Troy Naeger 3. M41 Steve Maisel 4. 17 Andy Casper 5. 62 Troy Medley 6. 67 Ronnie Bader 7. 30 Mike Nicholson 8. 50 Kent Nations 9. 31 Brian Shuberg 10. 2K Robbie Eilers 11. 19 Jimmy Cummins 12. 23 Dennis Wernle 13. 32W David Walker 14. 96 Tim Hollerbach 15. 99K Dustin Knerrer 16. 29 Jeff LeBaube 17. 147 Kyle Stolzer 18. 411 Marty Heck 19. 18 Brian Worley 20. 105 Matt Hancock 21. 32S Chris Soutiea 22. D5 Paul Belken 23. 3 John Seets, Jr. 24. 99 Chuck Adams AARA Pro 4 Stocks - 10 Entries Heat 1 1. 7 Conrad Miner 2. 5 Chris Fisher 3. 50 Trey Harris 4. 86 Jason Crump 5. 49 Nathan Portell 6. 186 Stephen Crump 7. 00 Justin Smith 8. 20 Kyle Busch 9. C6 Scott Allen 10. 77 Ron Lyons Feature 1. 7 Conrad Miner 2. 50 Trey Harris 3. 5 Chris Fisher 4. 86 Jason Crump 5. 186 Stephen Crump 6. 00 Justin Smith 7. 49 Nathan Portell 8. 20 Kyle Busch 9. 77 Ron Lyons 10. C6 Scott Allen

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