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Nick Lyons, Ray Walsh, Troy Naeger & Dave Racer take wins at I-55 Raceway

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM I-55 RACEWAY! Pevely, MO (April 2nd, 2011) Great weather and a full field of cars in all four divisions greeted the fans for the season opener at I-55 Raceway. A total of 106 racecars filled the pit area with drivers from Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan on hand. The UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models had twenty-seven cars checked in and it would be Nick Lyons of Centralia, Illinois coming out on top in a dominating performance. Lyons would take the lead at the drop of the green flag from his front row outside starting spot and would pace the field for the entire twenty-five laps enroute to the win. Pole sitter Jason McBride would settle into the second position and would also pull away and go relatively unchallenged for the second spot. The battle was on for the third spot throughout the entire twenty-five laps as Dewayne Kiefer battled first with Brandon Sheppard for the first half of the event and then with Brandon Thirlby in the late stages for the spot. Kiefer would be successful in his bid to hold off the challengers and would finish in the third spot. Thirlby would get the fourth spot with Rickey Frankel moving up to round out the top five. Tim Ratajczyk would get the sixth spot, then it would be Bobby Pierce charging through the field after starting sixteenth to finish seventh. Danny Haynes, Mark Voigt and Dave Jumper rounded out the top 10. Twenty-seven UMP DIRTcar Modifieds were also on hand and they provided one of the best main events of the evening. Mark Miner got the early lead from his front row outside starting spot. Miner would have his hands full with pole sitter Ray Walsh as Walsh battled hard for the top spot. Walsh would finally get the pass made on lap eight and that would open the door for Tim Hancock to move past Miner as well. However, a caution on lap ten would revert Miner back into the second spot with Hancock to third. On the restart, Hancock would slip back past Miner for the second spot and move in to apply pressure on Walsh for the lead. Meanwhile Mike Harrison moved in on the leaders in the closing laps to make it a four car race for the top spot. Walsh would get a little breathing room for the lead in final few laps as Hancock, Miner and Harrison got to racing hard for the second, third and fourth spots. Walsh would take the win with Hancock getting second. Harrison would get past Miner for the third spot with Miner taking fourth. Rusty Griffaw would round out the top five. There were also twenty-seven UMP DIRTcar/AARA Sportsman cars on hand. Chris Soutiea would get the lead early and pace the field for several laps before Troy Naeger worked the middle line and moved past Soutiea for the top spot. Chuck Adams would soon move past Soutiea as well and move in apply pressure on Naeger for the top spot. Although Adams pulled along side Naeger a couple of times in the closing laps, Naeger proved too strong in the end and claimed the win. Adams would get second while Steve Edgecombe finally wrestled the third spot from Soutiea after battling with him for many laps for the spot. Soutiea would cross the line fourth while Jason Keller rounded out the top five. It turned out to be a tough night for 2010's top three finishers in the Sportsman Championships Points battle. Last year’s Champion Jeff Herzog would get into a crash early on which would cause heavy damage to his machine. A few laps later, Trey Harris and Brad Paquet, who finished second and third in last year’s points battle, would get together sending both cars crashing hard into the back stretch wall. Dave Racer would claim the win in the UMP DIRTcar/AARA Pro 4 Stock main event. Aron Faulkner would cross the line second with Justin Reando claiming third. Josh Peppers took fourth and the only lady in the field, Jessica Buechting rounded out the top five. UMP DIRTcar Late Models – 27 entries Heat 1 1. 13 Dewayne Kiefer 2. 77 Jason McBride 3. 33f Rickey Frankel 4. 54 Dylan White 5. 10 Scott Schmitt 6. 82 Billy Laycock 7. 86 Jason Crump 8. 23 Paul Roider 9. 89 Mike Spatola Heat 2 1. m14 Brandon Thirlby 2. 2x Nick Lyons 3. b5 Brandon Sheppard 4. 33 Tim Manville 5. 2j Dave Jumper 6. 95 Jeff Johns 7. 1hr Ron McQuerry 8. 45dw Denny Woodworth 9. 26 Ken Estes Heat 3 1. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 2. 11z Bryan Collins 3. 30 Mark Voigt 4. 27 Jeff Beyers 5. 47 Danny Haynes 6. 32 Bobby Pierce 7. 81 Craig Smith 8. 78 Mark Miner 9. 6 Tom Krankel Semi Top 6 advance 1. 81 Craig Smith 2. 86 Jason Crump 3. 1hr Ron McQuerry 4. 89 Mike Spatola 5. 78 Mark Miner 6. 45dw Denny Woodworth 7. 6 Tom Krankel 8. 23 Paul Roider 9. 26 Ken Estes DNS Feature 1. (2) 2x Nick Lyons 2. (1) 77 Jason McBride 3. (3) 13 Dewayne Kiefer 4. (4) m14 Brandon Thirlby 5. (8) 33f Rickey Frankel 6. (5) 112 Tim Ratajczyk 7. (16) 32 Bobby Pierce 8. (14) 47 Danny Haynes 9. (9) 30 Mark Voigt 10. (11) 2j Dave Jumper 11. (5) 11z Bryan Collins 12. (19) 81 Craig Smith 13. (24) 45dw Denny Woodworth 14. (15) 10 Scott Schmitt 15. (13) 27 Jeff Beyers 16. (20) 86 Jason Crump 17. (21) 1hr Ron McQuerry 18. (18) 95 Jeff Johns 19. (6) b5 Brandon Sheppard 20. (22) 89 Mike Spatola 21. (23) 78 Mark Miner 22. (17) 82 Billy Laycock 23. (12) 33m Tim Manville 24. (10) 54 Dillon White UMP DIRTcar Modifieds – 27 entries Heat 1 1. 31 Ricky Horton 2. 05b Steven Brooks 3. 10x Jim Black 4. 24 Mike Harrison 5. 05 Dave Wietholder 6. 7z Matt Zimmerly 7. 31p Mitch Parmeley 8. 76 Eric Goetter 9. 21 Bill Nickelson Heat 2 1. 1 Tim Hancock 2. 1w Ray Walsh 3. 62k Leo Kiefer 4. 4w Rick Weekly 5. 21 Dennis Richards 6. 61 Eric Franklin 7. 12s Mike Stuckey 8. 88 Joe Puricelli 9. 9w Doug Wood DNS Heat 3 1. t9 Ryan Thomas 2. 16 Rusty Griffaw 3. 7 Mark Miner 4. 89 Bobby Bittle 5. 77 Cody Conner 6. 45m Eric Mabery 7. 14c Rick Conoyer 8. 51 Timmy Hill 9. 8 James Reed Feature 1. (1) 1w Ray Walsh 2. (3) 1 Tim Hancock 3. (7) 24 Mike Harrison 4. (2) 7 Mark Miner 5. (6) 16 Rusty Griffaw 6. (8) 89 Bobby Bittle 7. (10) 10x Jim Black 8. (14) 21r Dennis Richards 9. (5) t9 Ryan Thomas 10. (4) 31 Ricky Horton 11. (9) 62k Leo Kiefer 12. (13) 77 Cody Conner 13. (16) 7z Matt Zimmerly 14. (12) 4w Ricky Weekly 15. (15) 61 Eric Franklin 16.  (19) 12s Mike Stuckey 17. (17) 14c Rick Conoyer 18. (22) 76 Eric Goetter 19. (21) 51 Timmy Hill 20. (18) 45m Eric Mabery 21. (11) 05 Dave Wietholder 22. (20) 31p Mitch Parmeley DNS. 9w Doug Wood DNS. 88 Joe Puricelli DNS. 21 Bill Nickelson DNS. 05b Steve Brooks DNS. 8 James Reed UMP DIRTcar/AARA Sportsman – 27 entries Heat 1 1. 3e Robbie Eilers 2. 55k Jason Keller 3. 99 Chuck Adams 4. 64 Bobby Bittle 5. 444 Marc Roberson 6. 12s Mark Schaefer 7. 13 Craig Bessinger 8. 77 Patrick Hawkins 9.  7t John Tosti Heat 2 1. 12 Troy Naeger 2. 04 Chris Soutiea 3. 23 Kevin Mosier 4. 11 Jeff Herzog 5. 59 Ryan Gegg 6. 16 Jacob Buechting 7. 168 Mike Armstrong 8. 68 Scott Bourland 9.  34w Matt Wooldridge DNS Heat 3 1. 8e Steve Edgecombe 2. 192 Mark Spraul 3. 49 Brad Paquet 4. 57 Trey Harris 5. 32 Jerry Flemming 6. 65 Gary Range 7. 21 Eric Hogenmiller 8. 15b Matt Brucato 9. 269 Josh Ramer Feature 1. (3) 12 Troy Naeger 2. (1) 99 Chuck Adams 3. (6) 8e Steve Edgecombe 4. (2) 04 Chris Soutiea 5. (4) 55k Jason Keller 6. (5) 3e Robbie Eilers 7. (11) 23 Kevin Mosier 8. (15) 59 Ryan Gegg 9. (17) 12 Mark Schaefer 10. (16) 32 Jerry Fleming 11. (14) 444 Marc Roberson 12. (21) 21 Eric Hogenmiller 13. (18) 16 Jake Buechting 14. (20) 168 Mike Armstrong 15. (23) 15b Matt Brucato 16. (19) 13 Craig Bessinger 17. (22) 77 Patrick Hawkins 18. (24) 68 Scott Bourland 19. (10) 57 Trey Harris 20. (12) 49 Brad Paquet 21. (7) 192 Mark Spraul 22. (13) 65 Gary Range 23. (9) 11 Jeff Herzog 24. (8) 64 Bobby Bittle DNS. 34w Matt Wooldridge DNS. 7t John Tosti DNS. 269 Josh Ramer UMP DIRTcar/AARA Pro 4 Stocks – 24 entries Heat 1 1. 18 Aron Faulkner 2. 96 Andrew Wibbenmeyer 3. 22w Scott Wickliffe 4. 21p Josh Peppers 5. 50 Gary Otte 6. 33 David Laws 7. 70 Mark Crady 8. 22L Joe Laws Heat 2 1. 7j Blake Jost 2. 15f Kyle Foutch 3. 93 Brian Spalding 4. 62 Jerry Farris 5. 14f Ken Freeman 6. 66 Shawn Belt 7. 81p Robert Price 8. 02w Kevin Wilde DQ Heat 3 1. 6 Justin Reando 2. r6 Dave Racer 3. 71 Joe Merritt 4. 19 Jessica Buechting 5. 28 Sage Thornhill 6. 57 Rob Unfleet 7. 01 Billy Lapaglia 8. 16g Rodney George DNS Feature 1. (2) r6 Dave Racer 2. (3) 18 Aron Faulkner 3. (5) 6 Justin Reando 4. (10) 21p Josh Peppers 5. (12) 19 Jessica Buechting 6. (14) 14f Ken Freeman 7. (13) 50 Gary Otte 8. (21) 01 Billy Lapaglia 9. (1) 15f Kyle Foutch 10. (8) 93 Brian Spalding 11. (11) 62 Jerry Farris 12. (22) 22L Joe Laws 13. (9) 71 Joe Merritt 14. (18) 57 Rob Umfleet 15. (19) 70 Mark Crady 16. (16) 33 David Laws 17. (15) 28 Sage Thornhill 18. (17) 66 Shawn Belt 19. (4) 7j Blake Jost 20. (6) 96 Andrew Wibbenmeyer 21. (7) 22w Scott Wickliffe 22. (20) 81p Robert Price DNS. 02w Kevin Wilde DNS. 14g Rodney George

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