(WINSTON, Missouri) – Missouri One Call night at the races provided for an interesting night of racing at I-35 Speedway, from close racing to an unexpected rain shower that cut the night short.
The Show-Me Vintage Racers were first to hit the track for feature racing. On the original start, several cars at the front of the field made contact and Mickey Fleetheart ended up going airborne but stayed upright while collected half the field in a lap one pile up. After resetting the field, Austin Johnson and Jimmy Smith battled for the top spot. Johnson used the high side of the speedway to take the lead and eventually the victory. Allen Guthrie also worked his way around Smith to finish second. Smith finished third, while Dan Chevelier and Shirley Nelson rounded out the top five.
The E-Modifieds took to the speedway next and flew through their caution free feature. Chris Mercer got out front and after an early challenge from Justin Marrant found his rhythm and drove into McCarthy Auto Group Winner’s Circle for the third straight race. Justin Marrant finished second with Bobby Lopez, AJ Sayers and Kody Parrott making up the rest of the top five.
The ULMA Late Models made their second visit to I-35 Speedway this season and put on a stellar show. Front row starters Aaron Marrant and Dustin Hodges stayed bumper lengths apart in the caution free feature. Marrant and Hodges traded the lead the first few laps, with Marrant winning the battle early. Hodges mounted several challenges, showing the nose to Marrant trying to find a way around, but Marrant stayed consistent and won by a car length. Hodges finished second. Tommy Cordray drove to a solid third, while Jon Binning and Ron Binning finished fourth and fifth.
The Pure Stocks raced door to door for the first eight lap of the feature. Ron Hill, Jr Billings and Beau Wells traded the lead several times, but on lap nine Wells and Billings made contact ending both of their nights. Kerry Ayers inherited the lead but pulled off the speedway before the restart with three to go giving the lead and eventual win back to Hill. Ayers finished second, Rylee Fuller third and Jr Billings fourth.
The Grand Nationals were next to hit the speedway as sprinkles started to do the same. Chad Fuller jumped out to the early lead over Houston Johnson and maintained that lead at halfway. At that point the sky opened up and the rains came as well as the checkered flag for Fuller. Johnson finished second, while John Hanson, Billie Hoover and John Winslow rounded out the top five. Jeff Dixon also picked up the USRA Stock Car feature win.
The rain forced the I-35 Speedway staff to cancel the rest of the racing for the night. The USRA Modifieds, USRA B-Modifieds, and Sport Compacts were unable to complete their features and will run those make-up races at a later date.
Race Results 5-5-2018
Show-Me Vintage Racers
- #30 Austin Johnson
- #21K Allen Guthrie
- #51 Jimmy Smith
- #44 Dan Chevelier (Heat Race Winner)
- #4J Shirley Nelson
- #6 Damon Clevenger (Heat Race Winner)
- #20 Mike Johnson
- #99 Jim Stewart
- #7 Mickey Fleetheart
- #5 Steve Hughes
- #8 Rocky Rhodes
DNS-#Z28 Dave Baldwin
E-Modifieds
- #13 Chris Mercer (Heat Race Winner)
- #28 Justin Marrant
- #1L Bobby Lopez
- #95S AJ Sayers
- #15 Kody Parrott
ULMA Late Models
- #1X Aaron Marrant (Heat Race Winner)
- #22H Dustin Hodges (Heat Race Winner)
- #5 Tommy Cordray
- #65 Jon Binning
- #65X Ron Binning
- #69 Walt Imhoff
- #23 Cody Holtkamp
- #1T Tucker Cox
DNS-#47 Greg Trulove
Pure Stocks
- #72 Ron Hill (Heat Race Winner)
- #99A Kerry Ayers
- #17R Rylee Fuller
- #185 Jr Billings
- #555 Beau Wells
Grand Nationals
- #20 Chad Fuller
- #97 Houston Johnson (Heat Race Winner)
- #2H John Hanson
- #99L Billie Hoover
- #6 John Winslow
USRA Stock Cars
- #88 Jeff Dixon
Sport Compacts
Heat Winner: #1/2CR John Willard
USRA B-Modifieds
- Heat 1 Winner: #181 Luke Nieman
- Heat 2 Winner: #28 Andy Bryant
USRA Modifieds
- Heat 1 Winner: #29 Dennis Elliott
- Heat 2 Winner: #85D Mark Dotson