| Jeep VanWormer
and Scott Weber Taking Opening Night of 2009 March Madness
Events at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway
CALVERT CITY,KY (Mach 6, 2009) – Jeep VanWormer
of Pinconning, MI and Scott Weber of Festus, MO took feature
wins in their respective divisions on the first night
of the 2009 “March Madness” events at Kentucky
Lake Motor Speedway. VanWormer scored the $5,000 win in
the Late Model class and Weber earned $2,000 for winning
the open wheel modified divisions main event. A total
of 50 Late Models and 72 Modifieds were on hand to race.
VanWormer started on the pole of the 30 lap Late Model
feature alongside young Missouri driver Will Vaught. When
the green flag dropped to start the main event VanWormer
sprinted into turn number one grabbing the lead from Vaught,
but the start would soon be negated as Steve Francis had
to steer clear of a couple of cars in turn two as he was
forced to spin into the infield which would mean the race
would have to be restarted as the caution came out.
VanWormer would again take the lead from Vaught as the
two drivers sped into the first corner as Ray Cook, Billy
Moyer and Jason Feger followed. Feger would lose a couple
of positions in the running order on lap two as first
year Late Model driver Tommy Weder, Jr. would get by him
to take over the fifth spot.
Moyer would pass Cook for third by lap three as the Hall
of Famer then set his sights on the high flying two frontrunning
cars of VanWormer and Vaught who were starting to pull
away from him. VanWormer was setting blistering pace around
the track which proved to be racy all night long as he
had already picked up the tail end of the field by the
11th circuit.
Vaught then had to contend with Moyer as the drivers
who came into the race with 702 career feature wins was
all over the young gun in traffic. VanWormer then started
to lap cars in a quick fashion as he put three lapped
machines between himself and the torrid battle for second
between Vaught and Moyer. Moyer would make the pass on
Vaught for second on lap 17 after the two ran door-to-door
for two circuits.
With 20 laps in the books it was all VanWormer as the
2007 Eldora Speedway track champion had several car lengths
between himself and Moyer. Vaught was running in third
with ten laps to go with Cook fourth and Steve Casebolt
in fifth. Cook then started to slow on the track loosing
several positions as a right rear flat tire would spell
the end of a possible top five finish as he slowed enough
to bring out the caution. Cook would drop into the pit
area for a tire change and re-enter the race, but was
never a factor after that.
The caution for Cook would come out with 27 laps scored
which would then set up a three-lap dash to the finish
involving VanWormer, Moyer and Vaught with several spots
in the top ten up for grabs in the closing laps. VanWormer
would get a good restart and with a clear track in front
of him he would set sail and go on to lead all 30 laps
and take the $5,000 first place prize for his first ever
win at Kentucky Lake and his first win in his new Rocket
Chassis Ford Fusion.
In victory lane afterwards VanWormer could not say enough
good things about his Rocket Chassis. “The car was
just awesome, I felt like I could run anywhere on the
race track, but I was sure worried there at the end with
the caution, I didn’t need that, but the car took
off and it was a dream to drive tonight, it was great
in traffic and I couldn’t be more happier,”
said the 33-year old who will be chasing the Rookie of
the Year honors with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
in 2009.VanWormer’s Iron Motorsports #55 has a Cornett
Engine providing the horsepower and is sponsored by Bayline
Fire Protection, Globe Technologies, Banshee Graphics,
Integra Racing Shocks, Port City Racing, VP Racing Fuels
and Delph Communications.
Moyer finished in second in his Banner Valley Hauling/Clements
Racing Engines/Moyer Victory Circle M1 Chassis with Vaught
an impressive third in his Bill Frye Motorsports/Kuntz
and Company/GRT by Frye Ford Fusion.
Francis made a nice recovery from his earlier spin to
finish fourth in the Tim Logan Racing/Morehead Auto Truck
Parts Sales/Rocket by Tim Logan GTO as Casebolt crossed
the line in fifth in his Dixie Chopper/Cornett Racing
Engines/Rocket Monte Carlo SS. It was a frantic finish
for positions four through seventh in the final few laps
as Jason Feger finished sixth followed by Tommy Weder,
Jr., Jordan Bland, Justin Rattliff and Terry English.
In the open wheel modified division Scott Weber would
lead all 25 laps in recording his first win of 2009. The
Missouri veteran fought off a late-race challenge from
Mike Spatola and Kent Robinson to take the $2,000 victory.
Weber started on the pole and quickly jumped out to a
three-car length lead over Richie Biswell and Jay Ledford.
The first caution of the race would come out for a spin
on lap five and during the caution one of the drivers
who was an odds on favorite coming into the race, Joey
Kramer would take his car pitside ending his run for the
night.
On the restart Weber would see a new contender emerge
with Spatola gaining the second slot from Biswell one
lap into the restart. Spatola would be just two car lengths
behind Weber in the race for the lead when the second
caution appeared on lap ten. Again Weber would have a
strong restart as he Spatola and 13th starting Kent Robinson
were starting to make things quite interesting up front.
Both Spatola and Robinson would stay within striking
distance on Weber after the second restart, but then caution
number appeared for Randle Sweeney, who stopped on the
inside on turn number two. This would only momentarily
halt the great race for the lead as Weber would have to
withstand two more caution periods the last with just
two laps to go.
Spatola would give a great effort in the final two circuits,
but Weber was just too strong as he would come home with
the win over Spatola, Robinson, Tommie Seets and Jason
Miller.
In victory lane Weber was relieved the race was over.
“We had such a bad year last year and it’s
great to get off to a good start this year, the car was
just about as perfect as it could be and I want to thank
my crew for all of their help, those last two laps were
nerve wrecking, but the car was just awesome on the restarts,”
said the driver of a Sky Rocket Chassis by Kelly Shyrock
with a Mullins Racing Engine providing the power and sponsorship
from B Auto Parts, High Caliber Graphics and Hudson Freight
Brokerage.
Completing the top ten were Gary Cook, Jeff Larson, Guy
Taylor, Curt Rhodes and Justin Houston.
Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway-Calvert City, KY
Race Results-Friday Night March 6, 2009
Late Model Feature Finish (30 Laps): Jeep
VanWormer, Billy Moyer, Will Vaught, Steve Francis, Steve
Casebolt, Jason Feger, Tommy Weder, Jr., Jordan Bland,
Justin Rattliff, Terry English, Wendell Wallace, Don O’Neal,
Jeremy Grady, Shannon Babb, Dennis Erb Jr., Brad Neat,
Greg Johnson, Ray Cook, Craig Smith, Zach Johnson, Jeff
Larson, Tim Manville, Chris Simpson, Billy Drake
Open Wheel Modified Feature Finish (25 Laps):
Scott Weber, Mike Spatola, Kent Robinson, Tommie
Seets, Jason Miller, Gary Cook, Jeff Larson, Guy Taylor,
Curt Rhodes, Justin Houston, Butch Weisser, Lucas Lee,
Jon Henry, George Aimone, Jay Ledford, Jamie Cobb, Chad
Kinder, Paul Miles, Todd Miller, Brandon Dierlam, Trent
Young, Tim Hancock, Richie Biswell, Randle Sweeney, Jack
Young, B.J. Deal, Michael Asberry, Joey Kramer
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