Memphis, MO (Saturday, October 18, 2014) - WOW, what a difference a day or night makes. As the crew was able to get on the track after the final checkers fell on Friday night and all day Saturday to produce a great surface for Saturday night's finale at the 8th Annual Memphis Fall Nationals at the Scotland County in Memphis, Missouri. All that paid off with 136 cars signed in from 6 states, including 34 Modifieds, 31 SportMods, 30 Stock Cars, 23 Hobby Stocks and 18 Sport Compacts.
The first feature up on the night was the 14 lap Sport Compacts, with Kimberly Abbott and Adam Gates leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Abbott would take advantage of her front row start to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Gates and Matt Moore. While Abbott worked to hold off Gates over the next 6 laps, Michael Grossman who started 18th was working his way towards the front. The field was slowed for the first and only time on lap 7, as two cars got together in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Abbott moved back out front, with Gates glued to her back bumper. Gates would try to work the low and top side of the track over the final 7 laps to get around Abbott. But Abbott held on to pick up the win and the $500 top prize. Gates settled for 2nd, John Whalen came from 6th to finish in 3rd, Grossman climbed his way to 4th, with Darin Smith coming from 8th to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 20 lap SportMod feature, with Curtis Van Der Wal and Carter VanDenBerg making up the front row for the event. Van Der Wal grabbed the lead on the drop of the green over VanDenBerg and Jason McDaniel. Everybody would have thought that with Van Der Wal out front he would check out on the field, but that was far from the truth. He started to enter lapped traffic on lap 10, which allowed McDaniel to close in on him fast. While Van Der Wal worked the bottom of the track, McDaniel used the very top of the track to pull up along side Van Der Wal late in the race. But Van Der Wal was able to use some lapped traffic to his advantage to claim his second win of the weekend in a caution free race, and the $1,000 top prize to go with it. McDaniel settled for 2nd, Brett Lowry started 5th and finished 3rd, Brayton Carter was 4th after starting in 6th, with VanDenBerg holding on for 5th.
Cayden Carter and David Brandies led the field to the green in the 22 lap Stock Car feature, with Carter grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Brandies and Jeff Mueller, who was driving Don Fenton's #3 machine. Carter then started to pull away from the battle behind him, until the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 4. Tim Kraber spun in turn 2 and collected Todd Inman to bring out the yellow. On the restart Carter moved back out front, with Mueller slipping under Brandies to grab the second spot. Once again Carter started to pull away from the battle going on behind him between Mueller, Brandies, John Oliver Jr. and Zack VanderBeek, who started 8th. VanderBeek used the bottom of the speedway to slip into second late in the race. But there was no chasing down Carter, who cruised to the win and the $1,000 top prize to go with it. VanderBeek settled for 2nd, Mueller was 3rd, Oliver Jr. was 4th, with Brandies in 5th.
Up next was the 16 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Dustin Griffiths and Tim Dawson leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Dawson took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 by inches, as he and Mike Hughes, who was on the bottom, crossed the line side-by-side. Hughes then slipped under Dawson to take the top spot away on lap 2. The battle behind Hughes was heating up, that was until lap 4. Nick Ulin, who was running 4th, got into Griffiths, who was running 3rd, in turn 4, which caused Griffiths to do a complete 360. Griffiths tried to get his machine fired back up, but was unable to as the caution waved. On the restart Hughes moved back out front, with Jacob Keiser working under Dawson to take over second. The action up front was slowed for the second time on lap 10, as a car spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Hughes once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Keiser and Dawson continuing there battle for second. Just as Hughes took the white flag, the final caution of the race appeared to set up a green-white-checkered overtime finish. This time Tim Pettibone spun in turn 3 and collected Andrew Hustead to bring out the yellow. On the restart Hughes jumped back out front and held on for his second win on the weekend and took home the $1,000 top prize to go with it. Keiser won the battle for 2nd, August Bach started 6th and finished 3rd, Dawson was 4th, with Steve Allen coming home in 5th.
The final feature to take to the track was the 24 lap Modifieds, with Kelly Shryock and Zack VanderBeek on the front row. Shryock would use his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over VanderBeek and Michael Long. But VanderBeek, who was using the top of the track, went around Shryock coming off turn 4 to take the top spot away on lap 2. VanderBeek then started to pull away from the field, even entering lapped traffic on lap 9. Cayden Carter, who started 9th, worked his way into second on lap 15, but was still over a straight-away behind VanderBeek. That was until the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 18. Carter VanDenBerg, who was running 8th, slowed to a stop in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart VanderBeek jumped back out front, but now had Carter glued to his back bumper. Despite Carter getting beside VanderBeek on lap 19. VanderBeek would hold on to claim his second win on the weekend and another $1,000 to go with it. Carter settled for 2nd, Shryock was 3rd, Tyler Droste came from 10th to finish in 4th, with Andrew Schroeder rounding out the top 5.
My final race of the 2014 season will most likely come next weekend, as the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, IA hosts their annual "Shiverfest" event on Saturday, October 25th. This event will get started with hay rack rides thru the pits at 3:00 pm, followed by trick-or-treating with the drivers at 4:30 pm. That will be followed up with box car races at 5:00 pm, and then the racing gets going with hot laps at 5:30 pm. The Modifieds will be racing for $500 to win, the Stock Cars and SportMods are racing for $400 to win, the Hobby Stocks are gunning for $250 to win, with the Sport Compacts racing for $200 to win. For more information about this event, please check out the Lee County Speedway's website at www.leecountyspeedway.com.
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