Memphis, MO (Friday, March 17, 2017) - St. Patrick's Day 2017 turned out to be the season kick-off for the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri. As J&J Ag helped present the "Memphis Spring Nationals", on what started out to be a decent night and turned into somewhat of a brisk cool evening.
The 14 lap Sport Compact feature started the night off, with Brandon Reu and Levi Heath drawing the front row for the event. But it was fourth place starter Josh Barnes who jumped out into the lead on lap 1 over Reu and Brandon Lambert. Just after the completion of lap 1, Casey Lambert slowed to a stop in turn 1 to bring out the caution. On the restart Barnes moved back out front, with Reu and Brandon Lambert close behind. Three laps later, on lap 5, Brandon Lambert's night came to an abrupt stop. As he came to a stop in turn 3 with fire coming out of the rear of the car. Barnes once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Reu and now Jake Benischek, who started 14th, following close behind. Neither Reu nor Benischek could find away around Barnes, who held on to pick up the win. Reu settled for 2nd, Luke Benischek was 3rd, Heath was 4th, with Kenny Smith rounding out the top 5.
Up next was the 20 lap Stock Car feature, with Cayden Carter and Jeff Mueller drawing the front row. Mueller would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Mike Hughes and John Oliver Jr. The action up front was slowed only 1 time, as Tyler Pickett spun in turn 4 on lap 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Mueller jumped back out front, with Hughes and Carter following close behind. Hughes and Carter would follow in Mueller's tire tracks around the top of the speedway over the final 17 laps, and was waiting for him to make a mistake. But Mueller would hold them off to pick up the $1,000 top prize. Hughes was 2nd, Carter was 3rd, Damon Murty started 10th and finished 4th, with Todd Reitzler coming from 12th to finish in 5th.
The SportMod 18 lap feature was next to take to the track, with Brayton Carter using his front row starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Tyler Soppe and Brandon Lennox. Just after the completion of lap 1, the caution would appear to slow the action down. As Jake Whittington and Kevin Dickey spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Carter moved back out front, with Lennox getting by Soppe for the runner up spot. Carter then started to pull away from the battle behind, when a second caution appeared on lap 7. This time Brian Efkamp spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Once again Carter jumped out front on the restart, with Lennox and Carter VanDenBerg, who started 11th, moving into third. Two laps later, on lap 9, Jason McDaniel spun in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on.
Carter would grab the lead on the restart, with Lennox, VanDenBerg, Soppe, Austin Luellen battling for the runner up spot. With the battle going on behind him, Carter started to pull away. Carter's almost straight-away was erased on lap 13, when Jami Ritter spun in turn 1 and collected Whittington to bring out the final caution of the race. On the restart Carter moved back out front, with Soppe going from fourth to second to get around Lennox and VanDenBerg. There was no catching Carter, as he pulled away over the final 7 laps to pick up the $1,000 top prize. Soppe held on for 2nd, Lennox was 3rd, VanDenBerg was 4th, with Luellen coming home in 5th.
Only 9 Hobby Stocks showed up for night 1, with Damon Murty, who was driving Bill Bonnett's #19 car, moving out front on the drop of the green flag in the 14 lap race. Just like the Stock Car feature, August Bach and Scott Shull followed in Murty's tire tracks around the top of the speedway and was waiting for him to make a mistake. But disaster would strike Bach on lap 12 when he got into the backstretch guardrail and rolled to bring out the red. Bach would climb from his car okay. On the restart Murty jumped back out front, with Shull and Mike Kincaid close behind. Murty would hold off a last lap challenge from Shull to claim the win. Shull settled for 2nd, Kincaid was 3rd, Dylan Nelson was 4th, with Daniel Wauters rounding out the top 5.
The 25 lap Modified feature was the last to take to the track, with Cayden Carter and Michael Dotson leading the field to the green flag. But just as the green flag waved the yellow light would come on, as David Snyder lost a drive shaft down the front stretch to bring out the caution. On the restart Carter would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Hunter Marriott and Shawn Ritter. Marriott would slid up in front of Carter coming off turn 4 to take the lead away on lap 2. The trio would then start to pull away from the rest of the field. Carter was able to get up beside Marriott for the top spot, as they entered lapped traffic on lap 13. But when Dotson spun in turn 4 on lap 14 that would slow the action down and bring the field back to the top two's back bumper.
On the restart Ritter spun in turn 1 and collected Johnny Wyman to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Marriott jump back out front, with Carter, Kelly Shryock, who started 9th, and Clint Luellen battling for the runner up spot. Just like before the caution appeared, Marriott and Carter started to pull away from the battle behind them. And once again they would enter lapped traffic on lap 22, which allowed Carter to get up beside Marriott. But Marriott was able to hold him off over the final lap to pick up the $1,000 check. Carter was 2nd, Luellen was 3rd, Kurt Kile started 12th and finished 4th, with Shryock coming home in 5th.
Notes from SCS night 1: 26 Modifieds, 26 Stock Cars, 23 Sport Compacts, 20 SportMods, and 9 Hobby Stocks made up the 104 cars signed in for competition......Travis Tedrow passed 12 cars from his 20th place starting spot in the Sport Compact feature to come home in 8th....Alyssa Steele started 13th and finished 9th....Ashton Blain came from 17th to finish 11th....Mike Hornung Jr. finished 12th after starting in 21st....Jaden DeLonjay came from 23rd to finish 15th....Jake Benischek was running 3rd when he pulled off on the last lap to finish 16th....Jeffrey DeLonjay was suppose to start 12th, but had troubles after the heat race that forced him to scratch from the feature......Dustin Griffith started the Stock Car feature in 11th and finished 6th....Kyle Frederick, who made the long pull down from Oconto Falls, Wisconsin, finished 9th after starting in 15th....Tyler Pickett, who spun on lap 3 to bring out the caution, recovered to come home in 14th....Dallon Murty, Damon Murty's 13 year old son, raced his dads back-up car and elected to start from the rear. He would come up to finish in 15th....Chase Exline started 22nd and finished 16th....Odie Cook, Dan Gordon, and Greg Harsch all had troubles in the heat that forced them to scratch from the B-Main for a chance to move onto the feature......Brandon Dale finished 8th in the SportMod feature after starting in 12th....Scott Walker, who drove his son's Ryan Walker's #9w, started 18th and passed 9 cars to come home in 9th....Kevin Dickey recovered from being involved in the lap 1 caution to come back up to finish 10th....Colton Livezey, Andrew Swailes, and Austen Becerra all had troubles in their heat races that forced them to scratch from the feature......Colt Mather started the Modified feature in 11th and finished 7th....Jardin Fuller passed 10 cars from his 18th place starting spot to come home in 8th....Matt Fulton finished 10th after starting 13th....Blake Woodruff passed 9 cars from his 20th place starting spot to finish 9th....Zach Rawlins started 21st and finished 13th....Andrew Schroeder, who started 7th and was up to 3rd, pulled off under the lap 14 caution with right front troubles to end his night in 16th....Michael Long had engine troubles in hot laps and scratched for the night....David Wietholder also had troubles in hot laps that forced him to scratch for the night.
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