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Nick Lyons wins in a photo finish; Tim Hancock, Jeff Herzog & Aron Faulkner take wins at I-55 Raceway

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM I-55 RACEWAY! Pevely, MO (April 9th, 2011) I-55 Raceway lived up to it's reputation for providing some of the most exciting dirt track racing in the country as all four feature events provided great wheel to wheel action. Nick Lyons would beat out Michael Kloos in a photo finish in the UMP DIRTcar Late Model main event to grab his second straight feature win. The race was a four car dog fight for the top spot for most of the event. Nick Lyons, Rickey Frankel and Tim Manville raced two and three wide for the top spot as Michael Kloos quietly laid back waiting in the fourth spot. As they darted through lapped traffic early on, Frankel paced the field with for most of the way with Manville and Lyons continously pulling along side him for the lead. A caution with ten laps remaining would restack the field and give the leaders a break from lapped traffic. On the restart, Manville blasted past Lyons and then Frankel on the high side to take the top spot. However, that would be short lived as Manville would get sideways in turn two and spin bringing out another caution with nine laps remaining. With Frankel still holding the top spot on the restart, Lyons and Kloos were ready to pounce on the opportunity for the lead. Lyons would slip past Frankel immediately on the restart and Kloos would then move into second on the next lap. Kloos used the high side to battle Lyons who was using the bottom. The low side was the short way around the track and Lyons would open up the lead through the turns, but Kloos would use his momentum and pull right up on the rear bumper of Lyons down the straight aways. This battle went on lap after lap with Kloos unable to get to the outside of Lyons down the straight aways causing him to lose his momentum going into the corners. Kloos changed tactics on the final lap as they went down the back stretch. Kloos dove to the bottom under Lyons as they entered turn three. Kloos pulled along side Lyons as they raced through turns three and four and it was a drag race off turn four to the checkered flag with Lyons winning by a nose. Frankel would settle for third behind Kloos. Dewayne Kiefer would cross the line fourth while Jeff Johns rounded out the top five. In the UMP DIRTcar Modified feature event, it appeared Ray Walsh was going to cruise to his second straight victory. Walsh powered ahead to a full straight away lead early on until a caution restacked the field just six laps into the main event. Tim Hancock had moved up to the second spot from his sixth place starting position by this time and seemed poised to challenge Walsh for the lead. However, Walsh got a good restart and pulled away from Hancock. Walsh used the high side and once again pulled out to a comfortable lead. Walsh would continue to dominate until another caution waved on lap fourteen. On this restart, Hancock would get the better restart and dove into turn one below Walsh who once again went to the very top. Hancock drove in deep and his momentum allowed him to pull ahead of Walsh move up to the top side in front of him. Walsh would be all over the rear bumper of Hancock for the lead, but Hancock would take Walsh's high line away, forcing Walsh to try and use the low side to regain the lead. Walsh could get along side Hancock through the turns but couldn't make a pass as Hancock's high side momentum would power him ahead of Walsh. Hancock would hold on for a close win with Walsh second. Rusty Griffaw also used the low side and made a late race challenge on Walsh for second but settled for the third spot. Chad Kinder from the eleventh starting position to finish fourth. Eric Mabery rounded out the top five. In the UMP DIRTcar/AARA Sportsman main event, Jacob Buechting took the early lead and led the first six laps of the main event while holding off the challenges of Eric Hogenmiller. During the this time though, three time and defending I-55 Raceway Sportsman Champion and defending UMP DIRTcar Sportsman National Champion Jeff Herzog was on the move to the front in a borrowed car after crashing his car hard last week. However, he was very familiar with the car he borrowed as it was the car he won the title in during the 2010 season. Herzog would soon slip past Hogenmiller for second and then Buechting for the lead. Another car was charging through the field as well. Robbie Eilers was up top using the outside wall as a cushion as he powered from the fifteenth starting spot to take over the second spot with just five laps remaining. A late race caution would restack the field and give Eilers a change to close in on the rear bumper of Herzog. The final four laps would prove to be very exciting as Herzog continued to work the low side while Eilers used the high side. Herzog would prove to be too tough and hang on the for the close win over Eilers. Buechting would take the third spot with Jeff LeBaube finishing fourth. Eric Hogenmiller would hang on to the fifth spot. Aron Faulkner would claim his first ever UMP DIRTcar/AARA Pro 4 Stock feature win. Faulkner worked his way to the front from his sixth place starting spot and then held off pole sitter Josh Range as well as a late assault from Earl Pryor who came from the twelfth starting position. Range would finish just ahead of Pryor in the second spot with Jordy Schmidt taking fourth. Sage Thornhill rounded out the top five. UMP DIRTcar Late Models - 17 Entries Heat 1 1. 13 Dewayne Keifer 2. 28b John Beck 3. 33f Rickey Frankel 4. 2x Nick Lyons 5. 77 Jason McBride 6. 6 Tom Krankel 7. 37 Danny Moser 8. 27 Jeff Beyers 9.  23 Paul Roider Heat 2 1. 95 Jeff Johns 2. 6k Michael Kloos 3. 33 Tim Manville 4. 2j Dave Jumper 5. 78 Mark Miner 6. 86 Jason Crump 7. 1hr Ron McQuerry 8. 26 Ken Estes Feature 1.  (7) 2x Nick Lyons 2.  (4) 6k Michael Kloos 3.  (2) 33f Rickey Frankel 4.  (5) 13 Dewayne Keifer 5.  (6) 95 Jeff Johns 6.  (10) 78 Mark Miner 7.  (8) 77 Jason McBride 8.  (15) 27 Jeff Beyers 9.  (9) 2j Dave Jumper 10.  (3) 33m Tim Manville 11.  (12) 86 Jason Crump 12.  (14) 1hr Ron McQuerry 13. (11) 6 Tom Krankel 14. (13) 37 Danny Moser 15. (17) 23 Paul Roider 16. (1) 28b John Beck 17. (16) 26 Ken Estes UMP DIRTcar Modifieds - 21 Entries Heat 1 1. 1 Tim Hancock 2. 51 Timmy Hill 3. 62k Leo Keifer 4. 49 Craig Kern 5. 45m Eric Mabery 6. 14 Leroy Haney 7. 21t Tom Rorabacher Heat 2 1. 21 Dennis Richards 2. 10x Jim Black 3. 1w Ray Walsh 4. 22 Chad Kinder 5. 9w Doug Wood 6. 9t Terry James 7. 7z Matt Zimmerly Heat 3 1. 16 Rusty Griffaw 2. 31 Ricky Horton 3. 7m Mark Miner 4. 12s Mike Stuckey 5. 10xp Rob Pendergrass 6. 61 Eric Franklin DNS. 31p Mitch Parmeley Feature 1. (6) 1 Tim Hancock 2. (2) 1w Ray Walsh 3. (5) 16 Rusty Griffaw 4. (11) 22 Chad Kinder 5. (13) 45m Eric Mabery 6. (9) 7 Mark Miner 7. (3) 51 Timmy Hill 8. (15) 9w Doug Wood 9. (8) 62k Leo Keifer 10. (4) 21 Dennis Richards 11. (14) 10xp Rob Pendergrass 12. (12) 12s Mike Stuckey 13. (17) 9t Terry James 14. (18) 61 Eric Franklin 15. (1) 10x Jim Black 16. (7) 31 Ricky Horton 17. (16) 14 Leroy Haney 18. (19) 21t Tom Rorabacher 19. (20) 7z Matt Zimmerly 20. (21) 31p Mitch Parmeley DNS. (10) 49 Craig Kern UMP DIRTcar/AARA Sportsman - 24 Entries Heat 1 1. 192 Jeff Herzog 2. 29 Jeff Labaube 3. 59 Ryan Gegg 4. 8e Steve Edgecombe 5. 23 Kevin Mosier 6. 15 Matt Brucato 7. 77 Patrick Hawkins 8. 269 Josh Ramer Heat 2 1. 99 Chuck Adams 2. 65 Gary Range 3. 21 Eric Hogenmiller 4. 5 Mike McMullin 5. 27 Nathan Walsh 6. 57 Trey Harris 7. 34w Matt Wooldridge 8. 70 Tony Hunter Heat 3 1. 16 Jacob Buechting 2. 7 Brad Paquet 3. 55 Jason Keller 4. 12 Troy Naeger 5. 3e Robbie Eilers 6. 13 Craig Bessinger 7. 444 Marc Roberson 8. 04 Chris Soutiea Feature 1. (4) 192 Jeff Herzog 2. (15) 3e Robbie Eilers 3. (1) 16 Jacob Buechting 4. (3) 29 Jeff Labaube 5. (2) 21 Eric Hogenmiller 6. (9) 59 Ryan Gegg 7. (11) 8e Steve Edgecombe 8. (13) 23 Kevin Mosier 9. (16) 15 Matt Brucato 10. (18) 13 Craig Bessinger 11. (19) 77 Patrick Hawkins 12. (21) 444 Marc Roberson 13. (20) 34w Matt Wooldridge 14. (5) 65 Gary Range 15. (6) 99a Chuck Adams 16. (8) 55k Jason Keller 17. (22) 269 Josh Ramer 18. (7) 7 Brad Paquet 19. (10) 5 Mike McMullen 20. (14) 27 Nathan Walsh 21. (24) 04 Chris Soutiea 22. (12) 12 Troy Naeger DNS. (17) 57 Trey Harris DNS. (23) 70 Tony Hunter UMP DIRTcar/AARA Pro 4 Stocks - 28 Entries Heat 1 1. 6 Justin Reando 2. 65 Josh Range 3. 70 Mark Crady 4. 21p Josh Peppers 5. 28 Sage Thornhill 6. 19 Jessica Buechting 7. 14f Ken Freeman 8. 99 Chuck Johnson 9. 62 Jerry Farris 10. 7J Chris Fisher Heat 2 1. r6 Dave Racer 2. 02w Kevin Wilde 3. 2s Philip Stuart 4. 22L Joe Laws 5. 93 Brian Spalding 6. 50 Gary Otte 7. 33 David Laws 8. 22w Scott Wickliffe 9. 18b Shawn Belt Heat 3 1. 18 Aron Faulkner 2. 96 Andrew Wibbenmeyer 3. 95 Jordy Schmidt 4. 57e Earl Pryor 5. 14g Rodney George 6. 81p Robert Price 7. 71 Joe Merritt 8. 01 Billy Lapaglia 9. 57 Rob Umfleet Semi 1. 71 Joe Merritt 2. 7 Chris Fisher 3. 99 Chuck Johnson 4. 22w Scott Wickliffe 5. 01 Billy Lapaglia 6. 57u Rob Umfleet 7. 62 Jerry Farris 8. 33 David Laws 9. 14f Ken Freeman DNS. 18b Shawn Belt Feature 1. (6) 18 Aron Faulkner 2. (1) 65 Josh Range 3. (12) 57e Earl Pryor 4. (9) 95 Jordy Schmidt 5. (13) 28 Sage Thornhill 6. (5) r6 Dave Racer 7. (2) 02w Kevin Wilde 8. (3) 96 Andrew Wibbenmeyer 9. (8) 2s Philip Stuart 10. (4) 6 Justin Reando 11. (15) 14g Rodney George 12. (23) 01 Billy Lapaglia 13. (10) 21p Josh Peppers 14. (7) 70 Mark Crady 15. (19) 71 Joe Merritt 16. (18) 22w Scott Wickliffe 17. (16) 81p Robert Price 18. (14) 19 Jessica Buechting 19. (21) 99 Chuck Johnson 20. (17) 50 Gary Otte 21. (11) 22L Joe Laws 22. (22) 62 Jerry Farris 23. (20) 57u Rob Umfleet DNS. 93 Brian Spalding DNS. 7J Chris Fisher

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