Dotson, Donaldson, Isaacs and Others Tame a Slick Track on Rod End Supply Night at the Races at I-35 Speedway

(Winston, MISSOURI) – The night of racing began with a special tribute to I-35 Speedway 2017 USRA B-Modified champion Bud Wilson. After the touching moment, drivers and fans were treated to a multi-groove slick racetrack.

The first feature of the night showcased the Midwest Outlaw Vintage Racers, which were making its first appearance at I-35 Speedway this season. Chris Heitman jumped out to the early lead and led most of the race. Although, all eyes were on a pair of back row starters, Ron Lefholz and Jack Simmons. Lefholz and Simmons picked off the field one by one and eventually worked their way to the back bumper of Heitman. Lefholz would make quicker work of Heitman, using the high side of the racetrack to propel himself to the feature win. Simmons finished a close second, while Heitman, Jack Larson and Aaron Sauter rounded out the top five.

A theme became present throughout the night and that theme was back-to-back winners. The first on four back-to-back winners for the night came from the E-Modifieds as Chris Mercer made his trip to McCarthy Auto Group Winners Circle look easy. Ben Stockton had to look at the back bumper of the 13 machine for the second week in a row and came home second. Leroy Morrison had a good run from a deeper starting position in the field to finish third. Gary Ainsworth and Josh Adkins made up the rest of the top five.

The Grand Nationals put the second back-to-back winner in victory lane as Houston Johnson used the cushion on the high side and drove away from the rest of the field. John Hanson finished second, while Chad Fuller battled back from a heat race crash to finish third and David Walker fourth.

The Midwest Lightning Sprints made its second visit to I-35 Speedway and Mark Billings got out front early, had his car hooked up and sailed to the feature win. Although, the battle for second between Bobby Layne and Kyle Lewis remained undecided. For most of the feature, all the cars used the low side of the racetrack. With just a few laps to go, Lewis moved to the top side, found a little speed and moved around Layne to finish second and push Layne back to third. Tyler Miller and Ken Billings rounded out the top five.

The Sport Compacts were next to hit the track. David Miller III has started the season strong with two solid performances, but he topped those Saturday night as he found his way to victory circle. Alvin Cooney continued his consistent start and finished second. John Willard, Tommy White and Dave Petty Jr. filled out the rest of the top five.

The Pure Stocks put the third back-to-back winner in victory lane as Jacob Grotewiel found a line to his liking in the middle of the racetrack and picked up the feature win. Kerry Ayers drove a solid race to finish second. Beau Wells, Ron Hill and Cody King rounded out the top five.

A loaded field of 18 USRA B-Modifieds charged into turn one when the green flag flew for their feature. After several complete restarts for yellows and one red for a six-car pileup, the field went to battling for positions throughout the field. Ethan Isaacs let those battle behind him, ran away from the field and to a spot in victory circle. Andrew Schroeder stayed in the top five all race and finished second. Mike Tanner and Daniel Harris finished third and fourth in the hectic feature, while Corey Myers came from a deep starting position to finish fifth.

The USRA Stock Cars were the final class of the night to feature a back-to-back winner, only this time it was a three peat for Gary Donaldson. The win did not come easy for Donaldson as Jeff Dixon hung on to the lead for most of the race. Eventually, Donaldson did find an opening on the top side and picked up his third feature win in a row. Jayden Bears stayed in the mix and followed Donaldson around Dixon, finishing second and sliding Dixon back to third. William Dahl, who made his first trip to the speedway finished fourth and Sam Scott finished fifth.

The USRA Modifieds took to the slick track and went 20 laps clean and green. Mark Dotson used his pole position to get out front early. Each lap he put a little more of a gap between himself and second place runner Derrick Hicks and by the end of the race had more than enough breathing room to cruise to the victory. Hicks fended off a hard charging Darren Shaw to finish second. Shaw finished third while being challenged by Dennis Elliott, who finished fourth. Last week’s feature winner Zach Sanders finished out the top five.

Race Results 4-28-2018

Midwest Outlaw Vintage

1. #20L Ron Lefholz
2. #J2 Jack Simmons (Heat Race Winner)
3. #39 Chris Heitman (Heat Race Winner)
4. #77 Jack Larson
5. #20A Aaron Sauter
6. #3 Andrew Buffington
7. #XX Steve Tanner
8. #53 Andy Wiles
9. #32W Bob Wathmeyer
10. #55 Ray Hughes
11. #7F Dennis Fair
12. #52 Camren Parker
13. #62 Dave Petty Jr.

E-Modifieds

1. #13 Chris Mercer
2. #33S Ben Stockton (Heat Race Winner)
3. #50 Leroy Morrison
4. #14 Gary Ainsworth
5. #91J Josh Adkins
6. #95S AJ Sayers
7. #1L Bobby Lopez
8. #13B Brandon Beam
9. #20 James Hubbard
10. #007 James Bond
11. #28 Justin Marrant (Heat Race Winner)

Grand Nationals

1. #97 Houston Johnson (Heat Race Winner)
2. #2H John Hanson
3. #20 Chad Fuller
4. #6 David Walker
5. DNS – #99L Billie Hoover

Midwest Lightning Sprints

1. #51 Mark Billings (Heat Race Winner)
2. #2 Kyle Lewis
3. #01 Bobby Layne
4. #12 Tyler Miller
5. #85 Ken Billings (Heat Race Winner)
6. #94 Dakota Earls
7. #9S Jeff Bard

Sport Compacts

1. #55 David Miller III (Heat Race Winner)
2. #69 Alvin Cooney
3. #1/2CR John Willard (Heat Race Winner)
4. #08 Tommy White
5. #6 Dave Petty Jr.
6. #95 Steven Bunton
7. #8P Isaiah Penton
8. #7 Jason Teel

Pure Stocks

1. #11J Jacob Grotewiel
2. #99A Kerry Ayers (Heat Race Winner)
3. #555 Beau Wells
4. #72 Ron Hill
5. #29 Cody King
6. #94C Chester Kaufman
7. #17R Rylee Fuller

USRA B-Modifieds

1. #66 Ethan Isaacs (Heat Race Winner)
2. #02 Andrew Schroeder (Heat Race Winner)
3. #20T Mike Tanner (Heat Race Winner)
4. #07 Daniel Harris
5. #15X Corey Myers
6. #1 Kyle Henning
7. #81 Jacob Blair
8. #10 Johnny McGinnis
9. #0 Chase Galvan
10. #10H Garrett Hill
11. #48 Shawn Grady
12. #83 Aaron Sauter
13. #15 Ed Noll
14. #17H Ramon Ortega
15. #94 Jared Hillyard
16. #52M Dustin Miller
17. #57 Randy Ainsworth
18. #124 Anthony Hill

USRA Stock Cars

1. #28D Gary Donaldson
2. #20J Jayden Bears (Heat Race Winner)
3. #88 Jeff Dixon
4. #40 William Dahl
5. #93 Sam Scott

USRA Modifieds

1. #85D Mark Dotson (Heat Race Winner)
2. #78 Derrick Hicks (Heat Race Winner)
3. #11 Darren Shaw
4. #29 Dennis Elliott
5. #69 Zach Sanders
6. #97 Houston Johnson
7. #99J Billie Hoover
8. #92 Tyler Grooms
9. #98 Austin Johnson
10. #2H John Hanson
11. #17$ Shane Lawson
12. #75 Randy Smith Jr.
13. #38 Anthony Logston