Sunday, October 2, 2016

Carter, Mueller, Van Der Wal, Hughes and Taft Open Bottom Heavy Nationals With Wins

Memphis, MO (Friday, September 30, 2016) - The Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, which has set idol since mid July, kicked of the nine race fall nationals special events on Friday night. In action on the night during the Bottom Heavy Nationals, was the Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods, Hobby Stocks, and Sport Compacts.

The first feature to take to the track was the 16 lap SportMods, with Brett Lowry and Brayton Carter making up the front row. Carter would take advantage of his starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Lowry and Brandon Dale. Lowry tried to slip under Carter over the next 5 laps, when the first caution of the race appeared. Kyle Olson would spin in turn 1 after contact with Austen Becerra to bring out the yellow. On the restart Lowry grabbed the top spot away from Carter, who also lost the runner up spot to Curtis Van Der Wal. One lap later, lap 8, Van Der Wal would slip under Lowry coming off turn 4 to grab the lead away. Then after the completion of lap 8 the caution came out, as Michael Goodwin spun in turn 4 from contact with Jeff Roberts to bring out the yellow. On the restart Craig Garner spun in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Van Der Wal move back out front, with Lowry and Jim Gillenwater close behind.

Van Der Wal then tried to pull away from the battle for the runner up spot going on between Lowry, Gillenwater, Logan Anderson, who started 7th, and Tim Plummer, who had charged his way up from his 17th place starting spot, when the final caution came out on lap 12. This time Hunter Longnecker and Roberts spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Van Der Wal moved back out front, with Lowry and Anderson battling for the second spot. With two laps to go Anderson was able to get past Lowry for the runner up spot, and then went to work on chasing down Van Der Wal for the lead. But Van Der Wal would hold on to pick up the win. Anderson settled for 2nd, Lowry was 3rd, Plummer was 4th, with Gillenwater coming home in 5th.

Up next was the 12 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Mike Hughes and Dustin Griffiths leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Hughes would grab the lead on lap 1 over Griffiths and Bill Bonnett.  On lap 3 Griffiths run up front came to an end when he pulled into the infield with a left rear flat. This would leave Bonnett to try and chase down Hughes for the lead. But without a caution, Hughes would pull away to claim the win. Bonnett was 2nd, Mike Kincaid was 3rd, Sierra Wilsey was 4th, with Justin O'Haver rounding out the top 5.

Cayden Carter and Steve Stewart made up the front row for the 20 lap Modified feature. But just as the green flag waved the caution light came on, as fourth place starter Kurt Kile spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Stewart grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Carter and Jerad Fuller. The battle up front was so intense that racing was three wide coming off turn four to complete lap 2. But when Fuller and Scott Dickey collided off turn 4 battling for third, the caution appeared to slow the action. Stewart moved back out front on the restart, with Carter and now Bruce Hanford close behind. Coming off turn 4 to complete lap 4, Carter was able to slip past Stewart to grab the top spot away. Then just after the lap was scored complete, the caution light came on for debris down the front stretch. On the restart Carter jumped back out front, with Stewart and Hanford still close behind. But another lap, lap 5, was scored and another caution appeared, as Eric Glass spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow.

Once again Carter moved back out front, with Stewart and Kyle Brown, who started 20th after arriving late, charging his way into the battle up front. With all eyes on the lead pack, Andrew Schroeder, who started 17th, and Kile, who spun on the start, were working their way towards the front. Just when Carter started to put some distance on the rest of the field, the final caution of the race came out on lap 18. This would set up a 2 lap shoot out, with Carter grabbing the lead on the restart over Stewart and Hanford. Carter then held on to pick up the win. Stewart was 2nd, Hanford was 3rd, Brown finished his charge in 4th, with Jeff Waterman coming home 5th after starting in 9th.

Up next was the 14 lap Sport Compact feature, with William Michel and Josh Barnes making up the front row for the event. Barnes would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Barry Taft and Kimberly Abbott. Taft tried to slip under Barnes over the next 7 laps, when they started to enter lapped traffic. Coming out of turn 4 to complete lap 8, Taft was able to use the lapped traffic to edge out Barnes by inches for the top spot. But Barnes would come back on the top of the track to take the lead back on lap 9. Taft continued to try and work under Barnes over the next 4 laps, but Barnes was able to hold him off. Then coming out of turn 4 on the final lap Taft was able to get under Barnes, as the two raced side-by-side down the front stretch. Taft would edge out the win at the line. Barnes settled for 2nd, Abbott was 3rd, Jake Benischek came from 13th to finish 4th, with Brandon Lambert finishing 5th.

The 18 lap Stock Car feature was the final feature to take to the track, with Jeff Mueller and Cayden Carter leading the field to the green. Mueller used his starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Carter and Mike Hughes. The action up front was two wide for first and third, as Mueller, on the bottom, tried to hold off Carter, who was up top, for the lead. At the same time Hughes, was working the bottom, had John Oliver Jr. to his outside, as the two were looking for a way to get to the lead. On lap 8 the action up front was slowed for the first and only time, as Jake Wenig slowed to a stop in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Mueller moved back out front, with Hughes over taking Carter for the runner up spot. With Mueller glued to the bottom of the track, Hughes and Carter went to the top of the track to try and wrestle the lead away. This would allow Oliver Jr. to move into the runner up spot on lap 15, as he followed Mueller on the bottom. Oliver Jr. then tried to work under Mueller over the final laps, but Mueller was able to hold him off to claim the win. Oliver Jr. was 2nd, Carter was 3rd, Hughes was 4th, with Nathan Wood rounding out the top 5.

Notes from Night 1: 33 SportMods, 22 Modifieds, 20 Stock Cars, 17 Sport Compacts, and 6 Hobby Stocks made up the 98 cars signed in for night 1 of the Bottom Heavy Nationals......Tony Dunker started the SportMod feature in 9th and finished 6th....Brandon Lennox finished 8th after starting in 12th....Dakota Simmons started 19th and finished 15th....Austen Becerra recovered from his involvement in the lap 6 caution to come back up to finish 16th....Michael Guthrie started 22nd and finished 18th....Joey Gower, Austin Howes, Jason Riegel, Travis Hartman, Wesley Mayfield, Kenneth Bringer, James Maxey, Clell Evans, and Robert Thompson were the non qualifiers for the SportMod feature......Andrew Schroeder passed 11 cars from his 17th place starting spot in the Modified feature to finish 6th....Kurt Kile recovered from his spin on the start to come back up to finish 7th....Jardin Fuller started 12th and finished 8th....Gatlin Leytham came from 15th to finish 12th....John Fellman finished 14th after starting in 19th....Larry McConnell started 18th and finished 15th......Darin Smith finished 6th after starting in 12th in the Sport Compact feature....Kevin Garrett started 15th and finished 12th....Jeffrey DeLonjay had troubles in the heat that forced him to scratch from the feature......Todd Reitzler started the Stock Car feature in 16th and passed 9 cars to finish 7th....Brett Lowry drover Jason See's #79s Stock Car, where he started the feature in 18th. He would then pass 10 cars to come home in 8th....Michael Larsen finished 9th after starting in 14th....Dallon Murty, the 13 year old son to Damon Murty, took over the driver's seat of his dads Stock Car for the first time this year. He would start the feature in 13th and brought it home in 12th....Beau Taylor finished 14th after starting in 19th....David Brandies, who was running 5th, pulled off with motor troubles on the lap 8 caution to be credited with 17th....Chad Krogmeier had troubles in the heat that forced him to scratch from the feature.  

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