Memphis, MO (Friday, October 17, 2014) - Sometimes people expect the track and racing to be the same as the races held there on previous events, but what they don't understand is that is impossible mostly due to mother nature. That was the case on Friday night at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri. Yeah, the track was dusty and no they weren't racing 6 wide. But what people forgot was that on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mother nature dumped over 2 inches of rain onto the grounds, which wouldn't allow the crew to get onto the surface until late Thursday night. Even then they couldn't get enough water into the surface to keep the dust down, plus the gusty winds didn't help things out either. With all that being said the racing went on and the surface held up nicely, and the drivers produced some great two wide racing.
The first feature to take to the track was the 20 lap SportMods, with Brandon Dale and Brayton Carter drawing the front row. Carter took advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Dale and Brett Lowry. Disaster would strike Dale on the completion of lap 1, when he spun in turn 1 to bring out the first and only caution of the event. On the restart Carter jumped back out front over Logan Anderson, who started 6th, and Curtis Van Der Wal, who started 11th. One lap later, lap 3, Van Der Wal slipped under Anderson to move into second and then went to work on Carter for the lead. But Carter, who was running the top of the track, was able to use his momentum off the top to hold off Van Der Wal, who was glued to the bottom, over the next 14 laps. On lap 17, as these two pulled away from the battle for third, they started to enter heavy lapped traffic, which allowed Van Der Wal to pull even with Carter in the turns. Coming to the white flag Van Der Wal drove it hard into turn 1 and was able to pull ahead of Carter coming off turn 2. But when Carter tried to use the momentum off the top the two made contact, with Carter's left front breaking. This allowed Van Der Wal to go on to pick up the win and the $500 top prize. The lead the two had built up allowed Carter to limp his broken car around to hold on for 2nd, Jared VanDeest came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Anderson held on for 4th, with Jenae Gustin coming from 9th to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 14 lap Sport Compact feature, with Nick VanHemert and Steven Struck leading the field to the drop of the green flag. But just as the green was wave the caution light would come on, as Richard Bank spun in turn 1 to bring out the caution. On the restart Bank once again spun in turn 1 and collects Alyssa Steele to bring the yellow light back on. The third restart saw Matt Moore, who started 5th, grab the lead on lap 1 over Trent Orwig, who started 7th, and Kimberly Abbott. Moore, who was running the middle of the track, had Orwig slip under him off turn 4 as the two crossed the line side-by-side, with Orwig leading that lap by inches. Just after the completion of the lap, Barry Taft came to a stop down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. Orwig would jump out into the lead on the restart, only to have Moore move to his outside to lead lap 4. But Orwig slipped back under Moore on lap 5 to grab the top spot back, with Abbott following him into second one lap later. Abbott tried to work under Orwig over the final 8 laps, but Orwig was able to hold on to claim the win and the $250 top prize. Abbott settled for 2nd, John Whalen came from 9th to finish in 3rd, Moore was 4th, with Travis DeMint coming home in 5th.
Kelly Shryock and Ken Schrader, yes the former NASCAR competitor, drew the front row for the 22 lap Modified feature, with Shryock grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Schrader and Jake Griffin. Shryock then started to pull away from the battle going on behind him, that was until lap 7 when Griffin, who was using the very top of the track, pulled even with Shryock. But the action up front was slowed for the first time on lap 8 when Michael Long, who was battling hard with Schrader for 6th, spun in turn 2 to bring out the caution. On the restart Zack VanderBeek, who started 9th, used the low side of turns 1 and 2 and then shot to the top in turns 3 and 4 to grab the lead away from Shryock. VanderBeek then started to pull away from the battle for second between Shyrock, Griffin and Cayden Carter, who started 8th, when the second caution of the race appeared on lap 17. Shyrock, who was running third, slowed to a stop in turn 4 with a right front flat to bring out the caution. On the restart Brandon Banks, who started 20th and had climbed his way into the top 10, slowed off turn 4 with troubles and collected Kyle Brown, Joel Rust, and Danny Crane to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw VanderBeek move back out front, with Carter using the bottom to go from 5th to 2nd and Schrader following behind him. Meanwhile Griffin, who was battling for second, suffered a left rear flat on the restart and faded to the back, before pull off one lap later. VanderBeek would go on to lead the final 5 laps to pick up the win and the $1,000 top prize. Carter settled for 2nd, Schrader was 3rd, Bruce Hanford came from 7th to finish in 4th, with Carter VanDenBerg passing 9 cars from his 14th place starting spot to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 16 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Steve Allen and Tim Dawson leading the field to the green. Dawson would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Dustin Griffiths and Allen. But the action up front was slowed for the first time on lap 2, when Derek Sammons spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Mike Hughes, who started 8th, slipped under Dawson to grab the top spot away. But Dawson wouldn't give up easy, as he tried to get back by Hughes on the top side of the track over the next 11 laps. When the second and final caution of the event on lap 14 slowed the action up front. This time Greg Gilbert spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Hughes would jump back out front on the restart and then held on to claim the win and the $400 top prize. Dawson settled for 2nd, Griffiths was 3rd, Clayton Crump was 4th, with Nick Ulin coming home in 5th.
The final feature to take to the track was the 20 lap Stock Cars, with Zack VanderBeek and Doug Sylvester on the front row. VanderBeek took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Nathan Wood and Derrick Agee. The action up front was slowed for the first and only time on lap 2, when Tyler Pickett, who was starting in his first Stock Car race after competing all year in a Hobby Stock, spun in turn 4 and collected Jimmy Comins and Greg Harsch to bring out the yellow. On the restart VanderBeek moved back out front, with Wood, Agee and John Oliver Jr., who started 8th, battling for the runner up spot. There was no catching VanderBeek on this night as he pulled away to pick up his second win of the night and another $1,000 top prize thanks to 79s See Racing. Wood won the battle for 2nd, Oliver Jr was 3rd, Agee was 4th, with Michael Peterson coming from 12th to finish in 5th.
118 cars, including 33 Modifieds, 28 Stock Cars, 27 SportMods, 15 Hobby Stocks and 15 Sport Compacts, from 6 states signed in to compete on Night 1 of the 8th Annual Memphis Fall Nationals.
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