July 6, 2024 | By Sam Stoecklin

Central Missouri Speedway Checkers go to Turner, Carter, Drake, and Roark

WARRENSBURG, Mo. — The 24th Annual Tom Wilson Memorial took place on Saturday evening at Central Missouri Speedway (CMS) with 85 race teams on hand. There were 31 B-Mods on hand for $3,000-to-win along with 22 Pure Stocks for their $1,000-to-win special. Joining in on the action were 19 Super Stocks and 13 Midwest Mods.

Throughout the evening’s program, drivers competed in 12 preliminary heat races, one B-Main, and four main events, for a total of 17 races and 155 laps of competition. By the end of the night, Shadren Turner in B-Mods, Marc Carter in Super Stocks, Larry Drake in Pure Stocks, and Logan Roark in Midwest Mods, claimed feature race victories.

The evening was not without its technical issues, including sound and lighting troubles; however, the crew persevered, made do, and did their best to make all the problems seem transparent to the dedicated drivers and fans who made their way to the track to race in honor of late announcer Tom Wilson.

The lighting and sound issues originated from an apparent lightning strike from recent storms that moved through the area. However, there was no clear indication or markings of the strike occurring and staff were not aware of the issue until firing up sound and lighting systems for pre-testing as they do each race day. While some event organizers might have thought the better of continuing and cancelling due to the problems, the 85 race teams and grandstands full of fans deserved better than a last-minute cancellation. As the old saying goes, “The Show Must Go On” and did, with some close racing on the track and a grand finale fireworks display that lit up the night, bringing the program to a close.

Due to one of the transformers also taking a hit, several volunteers used vehicle light bars to illuminate the turn one area until a light tower was delivered to the track shortly before the featured event of the night. Drivers were told to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down on whether or not they could safely navigate turn one while doing their pace laps. In addition, promoter Earl Walls told the drivers before every main event that if they did not feel safe to compete that they could pull off the track and he would pay them anyway. No drivers left the track, and it was all thumbs up to continue racing.

CMS would like to thank board operator Jake Stevens for the use of a last-minute sound system, which we were able to use for simple communication on the front stretch. We would also like to thank Danny McKenzie for providing a last-minute backup sound system. In addition we wish to thank, Jon Binning of All-Pro Electrical for the use of the light tower for turn one, lastly, CMS wishes to thank the dedicated staff who went the extra mile to pull off the races and communicate with drivers in making all the problems as transparent as possible.

POWRi B-Mod - 31 Entries
Heat 1 - 10 Laps | 00:07:39.585:  1. 96-Cody Brill[5]; 2. 05-Jeremy Lile[1]; 3. 17-Brandon Lennox[7]; 4. 90-Terry Schultz[3]; 5. C3-Chad Staus[4]; 6. 32-Lane New[2]; 7. (DNF) 99-Jess Fitzpatrick[8]; 8. (DNF) 97-Ron Hartford[6]

Heat 2 - 10 Laps | 00:06:08.039:  1. 6T-Michael Taylor III[1]; 2. 1K-Tim Karrick[6]; 3. 55-Colson Kirk[8]; 4. 15-Colin Pierce[4]; 5. 99S-Brad Smith[2]; 6. 94-Jacob Ebert[7]; 7. 12C-Stephen Clancy[5]; 8. (DNF) 65-Kris Jackson[3]

Heat 3 - 10 Laps | 00:03:20.342:  1. 8S-Jon Sheets[5]; 2. 56-Shadren Turner[6]; 3. ZEE28-Randy Zimmerman[1]; 4. 54-Tyler Kidwell[3]; 5. 57-Chad Clancy[4]; 6. 7-Anthony Tanner[7]; 7. 29-Tyler Cochran[2]; 8. (DNF) 66X-Chris Wright[8]

Heat 4 - 10 Laps | 00:09:08.768:  1. 30-Rex Harris[6]; 2. 15S-Cayden Stacye[4]; 3. 61-Sturgis Streeter[3]; 4. 447-Kenny Prince[7]; 5. 211-Tim Eaton[2]; 6. (DNF) 96X-Jeff Hooper[1]; 7. (DNF) 12-Parker Smith[5]

B Feature - 12 Laps | 00:06:32.029 (Top 8 Transfer):  1. 99S-Brad Smith[2]; 2. 94-Jacob Ebert[5]; 3. 12C-Stephen Clancy[8]; 4. 7-Anthony Tanner[6]; 5. 29-Tyler Cochran[9]; 6. C3-Chad Staus[1]; 7. 66X-Chris Wright[15]; 8. 57-Chad Clancy[3]; 9. 211-Tim Eaton[4]; 10. 32-Lane New[7]; 11. 99-Jess Fitzpatrick[11]; 12. 96X-Jeff Hooper[10]; 13. 12-Parker Smith[12]; 14. 97-Ron Hartford[13]; 15. 65-Kris Jackson[14]

Macks Creek driver Rex Harris and Bats City’s Cody Brill earned top starting honors for the $3,000-to-win, 35-lap main event of the night. Brill led the opening laps ahead of a fierce battle between Jon Sheets, Karrick and Shadren Turner until caution flew on lap seven. For the restart, Brill again comfortably paced the field again until caution flew again at lap 12. Brill continued his torrid pace at the front of the field leaving the rest of the drivers to battle for the runner-up spot with Sheets, Karrick, Turner, Michael Taylor, and Randy Zimmerman all fighting for the spot. While battling inside the top three, Sheets slipped just a bit on the tricky surface falling back to sixth position as Turner grabbed second. Sheets misfortunes continued a short time after as he exited the track on lap 18, as the race went under caution. Two more cautions flew over the field just as Turner was pressuring Brill for the top spot. By lap 23, Turner moved to the top of the leader board with Brill, Taylor, Terry Schultz, and Zimmerman inside the top six. Turner fought off the challengers through lap 24 and 25 slowdowns for cautions. Late in the race, Karrick pulled to within a couple car lengths of Turner but ran out of laps as Turner went on to collect the big money. Karrick was a solid second with Brill turning in a strong run in third. Michael Taylor recorded one of his best-ever CMS feature performances in fourth with Schultz fifth and Zimmerman sixth at the finish.

A Feature 1 35 Laps | 00:30:18.268:  1. 56-Shadren Turner[5]; 2. 1K-Tim Karrick[4]; 3. 96-Cody Brill[2]; 4. 6T-Michael Taylor III[6]; 5. 90-Terry Schultz[14]; 6. ZEE28-Randy Zimmerman[12]; 7. 55-Colson Kirk[7]; 8. 61-Sturgis Streeter[13]; 9. 54-Tyler Kidwell[16]; 10. 30-Rex Harris[1]; 11. C3-Chad Staus[22]; 12. 05-Jeremy Lile[10]; 13. 7-Anthony Tanner[20]; 14. 15-Colin Pierce[15]; 15. 17-Brandon Lennox[9]; 16. 29-Tyler Cochran[21]; 17. 447-Kenny Prince[11]; 18. (DNF) 15S-Cayden Stacye[8]; 19. (DNF) 12C-Stephen Clancy[19]; 20. (DNF) 94-Jacob Ebert[18]; 21. (DNF) 66X-Chris Wright[23]; 22. (DNF) 57-Chad Clancy[24]; 23. (DNF) 8S-Jon Sheets[3]; 24. (DNF) 99S-Brad Smith[17]

POWRi Super Stocks - 19 Entries
Heat 1 - 8 Laps | 00:02:56.189:  1. 9-Dave Meyer[1]; 2. 44-James Nighswonger[3]; 3. 30C-Clayton Campbell[5]; 4. 27-John Brooks[7]; 5. 164-Michael Muskrat[4]; 6. 30K-Cameron Kelly[2]; 7. GO-Jimmy Ngo[6]

Heat 2 - 8 Laps | 00:04:31.566:  1. 10-Marc Carter[2]; 2. 00-Cory Flamm[4]; 3. G1-Nick Gibson[1]; 4. 68-Dean Wille[6]; 5. 25X-Rodger Detherage[5]; 6. 2B-Brian Cox[3]

Heat 3 - 8 Laps | 00:02:55.515:  1. 45-Aaron Poe[6]; 2. 67-Devin Irvin[3]; 3. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[1]; 4. 07D-Mike Daugherty[2]; 5. 77-Daniel McKenzie[4]; 6. (DNF) 04-Blaine Ewing[5]

Having already turned in several possible race of the year mentions, the Super Stock drivers provided yet another classic battle to the finish for their 20-lap main event. The talk of this race will be the multiple-lap and side-by-side battle between brothers-in-law Marc Carter and Aaron Poe for the victory. The pair occupied row one to begin the event with Carter’ car narrowly leading through the race’s early stages. Dave Meyer, James Nighswonger and Devin Irvin had a bird’s-eye view of the intense battle hoping for a slip to move forward, but Carter and Poe, both past champions, never missed a beat in their bid for the win. At the halfway point, with the side-by-side battle for the lead still in play, Meyer drew closer behind the leaders while Nighswonger and Irvin fought to stay in the top five. Caution flew for the only time in the race at lap 16 as racing quickly resumed. It was only after this point that the leaders were not side-by-side for the win. In the end, Carter prevailed on this night for his 53rd career CMS win and second of this season. Poe settled for second with Meyer third. Nighswonger crossed the line fourth continuing his strong season while Blaine Ewing had the charge of the night advancing from 19th on the starting grid to finish fifth. Clayton Campbell finished sixth. This race was a prime example of clean and hard racing by the entire field right to the finish.

A Feature - 20 Laps | 00:09:37.298:  1. 10-Marc Carter[2]; 2. 45-Aaron Poe[1]; 3. 9-Dave Meyer[3]; 4. 44-James Nighswonger[5]; 5. 04-Blaine Ewing[19]; 6. 30C-Clayton Campbell[7]; 7. 67-Devin Irvin[6]; 8. 164-Michael Muskrat[13]; 9. 00-Cory Flamm[4]; 10. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[10]; 11. 27-John Brooks[8]; 12. 68-Dean Wille[11]; 13. G1-Nick Gibson[9]; 14. 77-Daniel McKenzie[15]; 15. GO-Jimmy Ngo[18]; 16. 25X-Rodger Detherage[14]; 17. 30K-Cameron Kelly[16]; 18. 07D-Mike Daugherty[12]; 19. (DNF) 2B-Brian Cox[17]

POWRi Midwest Mods - 13 Entries
Heat 1 - 8 Laps | 00:06:48.441:  1. 82-David Wood[2]; 2. 9-Brian Meyer[3]; 3. 5D-Dustin Dennison[4]; 4. 10-Johnny McGinnis[5]; 5. 32X-Bradley Richardson[1]; 6. (DNF) 41-Alex Schultz[6]; 7. (DNS) 78-Landyn Akers

Heat 2 - 8 Laps | 00:03:45.424:  1. 98-Dylon Smith[2]; 2. 17-Logan Roark[1]; 3. 26-Devin Wetzel[3]; 4. 059-Jamie Aleshire[5]; 5. 65N-Jeremy Curless[4]; 6. 13-Joe Marrant[6]

David Wood of Richmond and Dylon Smith of Belton were the pacesetters for the 15-lap Midwest Mods main event with Smith edging forward in the opening circuits. After a quick yellow flag was displayed at lap five, Smith continued leading the field ahead of Wood, Brian Meyer, Logan Roark, and Dustin Dennison. Some close racing ensued in the battle for third through fifth over the next series of laps through a lap 12 caution period. Smith again led the field back to green, but unfortunately nearly spun while leading the field in between turns three and four. Miraculously he was able to save the car and all the other drivers battling near the top were able to avoid contact. Roark ended up emerging from the turn four action with command of the race and eventually went on to claim his track-leading eighth main event victory of the season. Dennison was strong for the second half of the race, keeping pace with Roark to finish second while Wood settled for third. Smith salvaged a fourth place run with Meyer turning in a strong finish of fifth with Devin Wetzel taking sixth.

A Feature - 15 Laps | 00:09:35.479:  1. 17-Logan Roark[4]; 2. 5D-Dustin Dennison[5]; 3. 82-David Wood[1]; 4. 98-Dylon Smith[2]; 5. 9-Brian Meyer[3]; 6. 26-Devin Wetzel[6]; 7. 059-Jamie Aleshire[8]; 8. 41-Alex Schultz[12]; 9. 10-Johnny McGinnis[7]; 10. 65N-Jeremy Curless[10]; 11. (DNF) 78-Landyn Akers[13]; 12. (DNF) 13-Joe Marrant[11]; 13. (DNF) 32X-Bradley Richardson[9]

Pure Stocks - 22 Entries
Heat 1 - 8 Laps | 00:04:30.732:  1. 21M-Payton McDowell[2]; 2. 27-Jakub Hisel[4]; 3. 98-RIchard Jameson[3]; 4. 81-Donnie Devers[1]; 5. 125-Jason Ryun[8]; 6. 47-Rodney Leiber[6]; 7. 189-Jonathan Evans[5]; 8. MRS01-Kristina Wyatt[7]

Heat 2 - 8 Laps | 00:09:22.504:  1. 41-Larry Drake[7]; 2. 4D-David Doelz[3]; 3. F86-Blaine Nolker[5]; 4. 60-Nathan Herring[4]; 5. (DNF) 99-Ryan Oerly[1]; 6. (DNF) 5-Justin McDowell[6]; 7. (DQ) 89-Logan Headley[2]

Heat 3 - 8 Laps | 00:02:07.747:  1. 6-John Snyder[1]; 2. 24-Bobby Russell[5]; 3. 403-Darrin Christy[4]; 4. 7-Spencer Reiff[7]; 5. 75-Brady Tanner[2]; 6. 136-Charles Baldwin Jr[6]; 7. M87-Mallory Stiffler[3]

A large field of 22 Pure Stocks made their way to the starting grid for the 25-lap, $1,000-to-win special with Larry Drake of Osceola and Payton McDowell of Tuscumbia showing the way. McDowell was strong from the onset and kept his machine in front of all challengers with Drake, Bobby Russell, and Jakub Hisel near the front. Cautions slowed the field frequently during the duration of the race, including lap six and eight. By lap nine, McDowell led Drake, Hisel, Russell, and Darrin Christy inside the top five. Caution slowed the field again at lap 12 and 19 with McDowell still outpacing the field. After one final restart at lap 22, the field settled in to contest the last three laps of the event with McDowell holding the lead over Hisel, Drake, and Russell. McDowell went on to take the apparent victory; however, he was disqualified from the finish and the victory for illegal fuel. Hisel was also unfortunately disqualified for illegal headers. This left Drake as the victory, his first-ever CMS win and $1,000 richer for his good fortune. Russell scored second with Spencer Reiff’s action-packed night culminating in a third place run after restarting the race from the tail of the field earlier in the event. Richard Jameson was fourth, while Jason Ryun had a strong return to action in fifth. Darrin Christy shook off his recent CMS bad luck streak and ended his night with a strong finish in sixth.

A Feature - 25 Laps | 00:25:12.886:  1. 41-Larry Drake[1]; 2. 24-Bobby Russell[3]; 3. 7-Spencer Reiff[9]; 4. 98-RIchard Jameson[10]; 5. 125-Jason Ryun[11]; 6. 403-Darrin Christy[8]; 7. 47-Rodney Leiber[14]; 8. M87-Mallory Stiffler[17]; 9. 75-Brady Tanner[13]; 10. 89-Logan Headley[22]; 11. 81-Donnie Devers[12]; 12. 189-Jonathan Evans[16]; 13. MRS01-Kristina Wyatt[18]; 14. (DNF) 99-Ryan Oerly[20]; 15. (DNF) 6-John Snyder[4]; 16. (DNF) 136-Charles Baldwin Jr[15]; 17. (DNF) F86-Blaine Nolker[7]; 18. (DNF) 4D-David Doelz[6]; 19. (DNF) 5-Justin McDowell[21]; 20. (DNS) 60-Nathan Herring; 21. (DQ) 21M-Payton McDowell[2]; 22. (DQ) 27-Jakub Hisel[5]

CMS has next Saturday, July 13th off from racing and will return the following weekend on Saturday, July 20 for weekly championship racing. We hope you will enjoy the summer break and we will see you again soon. CMS is currently taking both Kid’s Night donation for the August 3rd event, and also food and clothing donations for the August 10 food and clothing drive. All donations may be dropped off at the pit entrance on race day. CMS is currently in need of some fencing repair with the swinging gates and for installation and repair of sound system equipment. Seriously interested parties should call Susan Walls at 816.229.1338. No calls after 8 p.m.

Upcoming events:
NO RACING JULY 13 See you next week, enjoy your summer break in the action!
Race #14, Saturday, July 20 Weekly Racing:  B-Mods, Super Stocks, Midwest Mods, and Pure Stocks
Race #15, Saturday, July 27 $2,500-to-Win, Seventh-Annual Super Stock Showdown.  Plus, Weekly Championship Points Racing for B-Mods, Pure Stocks, and Midwest Mods
Race #16, Saturday, August 3 KID’S NIGHT AT THE SPEEDWAY – Now accepting school supplies & donations!
Weekly Racing:  B-Mods, Super Stocks, Midwest Mods, and Pure Stocks

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