August 5, 2024 | By Dean Reichel

Seasnon champions crowned at Double-X Speedway

CALIFORNIA, Mo. — The 2024 racing season at Double X Speedway has come to an end with the conclusion of the racing program Sunday night.  Each and every Sunday night race fans and teams were treated to a racing surface that allowed for close competition and for memories to be made. From drivers earning their first ever victories in a division, to veterans putting on a show with close racing in all classes, to put a car to local favorites like giving the crowds a chance to cheer, the little dirt track just outside of town provided that in 2024.

Sunday night three classes were on the racing card, 360 Winged Sprints, Super Stocks and Pure Stocks, to provide racing action for the fans.  With temperatures north of 90 for the high all week, Kyle Wirts put as much moisture into the racing surface as he could for the final night of the season. The Pure Stock class was the first on the track to challenge each other atop the ¼ mile clay oval. The first heat race saw Brandon Smith win the drag race into turn one and take the early lead but it was Darin Porter moving up from fourth to take over the lead on lap three. Porter would open up a six car length lead over the field and claim the win. Smith would finish second, Chris Messerli would take third at the line by a bumper over Leroy Morrison in fourth and Curt Turpin finished fifth. The second heat would see Stan Booth and Shayne Healea bring the field to green. Booth would take the early lead and would hold off the challenges of Healea. Trenton Masters finished in third place and Carson Gronniger completed the running order at the checkered.

In the Super Stock division the first heat would see Dale Berry lead the way for the first two laps before Clayton Campbell would take the point. Campbell would go the distance picking up the win. Chris Kircher would finish second and Fred Kilmer would be the third car running at the checkered. Heat two saw Steve Beach on the pole and taking the early lead with Harlan Dowell moving into the number two spot. The running order would remain until Dowell slowed on the back straight and the car made a hard left turn into the inside guard rail. Dowell would be okay but his #29 would be towed to the pit area. This would put Nighswonger into the second position on the restart. Beach would collect the win with Nighswonger in second, Darek Wiss in third, Joe Miller fourth and Ryan Shikles completing the running order.

Winged Sprint car heat number one was full of tough competitiors. Miles Paulus driving his own 98P this week took a straight away lead over the field. In his wake, Garrett Benson, Samuel Wagner, Paul Solomon and Colton Fisher were trading spots. At the stripe it was Paulus over Benson, Samuel Wagner, Fisher and Solomon in the top five. Ben Brown and Landon Muehlberger competed the running order. Heat number two saw Broc Elliott take a strong lead but he would be denied the win with a mechanical problem and retire to the pit area. Casey Shuman would inherit the lead and would hold off hard charging Jack Wagner for the remaining three laps to take the victory. Jack Wagner would finish second, Aubrey Smith was third, Tyler Elliott would finish fourth and Emylee Yoder completed the top five.

The Pure Stock feture led off the second half of the evening’s card. Darin Porter and Shayne Healea brought the twelve car field to the green flag. Porter would move out to a five car length advantage with some close racing happening behind him. A lap four caution would bunch the field behind Porter on the restart. Porter would continue the lead with Healea, Trenton Masters, Curt Turpin and PJ Turpin trading positions in the top five. Collecting the feature win was Darin Porter with Shayne Healea in second, Chris Messerli drove up through the ranks for third, Trenton Masters in fourth and Curt Turpin completing the top five. Brandon Smith in sixth and Leroy Morrison in seventh would complete the cars running at the finish.

The Super Stock feature had the hard chargers at the front for Championship night. Clayton Campbell and Steve Beach on the front row, Chris Kircher and James Nighswonger on row two. Campbell would quickly move to the front and Nighswonger would move into second on lap two. Two successive cautions for Adam Halley would slow the pace. Restarting on lap five Campbell would still lead over Nighswonger, Beach, Kircher and Joe Miller. Back to racing, Campbell would keep running smooth laps as the leader with Nighswonger settled into second, Chirs Kircher would settle into third and Steve Beach would run fourth. At the finsh it would be Campbell taking the win with Nighswonger second, Kircher in third, Joe Miller in fourth and Steve Beach in fifth.

The final 360 Winged Sprint Car feature of 2024 would see Miles Paulus and Casey Shuman on the front row. Paulus would set the pace on a track that changed dramatically from the heat races earlier in the evening. Jack Wagner would waste little team moving into the runner up spot but had to battle Casey Shuman who was running third. The lead duo would start distancing themselves from the field as Shuman, Samuel Wagner and Colton Fisher were doing battle for third, fourth and fifth. Fisher would move into third as Wagner began putting heavy pressure on leader Paulus. As the leaders encountered lapped traffic Fisher joined the mix and held second briefly before slipping over the top in turn one and falling back four positions. At the same time Wagner moved ahead of Paulus and settled into the number one spot. A caution at the completion of lap 22 would bunch the field behind the #77 of Wagner. Paulus, Samuel Wagner, Shuman and Fisher completed the top five. On the restart Paulus used a strong move to take the lead from Wagner and would lead the remainder to pick up his singular feature victory at Double X in 2024. Jack Wagner would finish a solid second, Samuel Wagner would post a strong third place at the checkers, Colton Fisher would recover to bring home fourth and Casey Shuman would round out the season with a top five.

Thanks to all of the drivers, crews, fans, sponsors and everyone else that helped to make the 2024 season at Double X Speedway another family friendly version of local dirt track racing. We hope to see you in 2025 when the season opens on the first Sunday in May.



Double X Speedway
Season Championship Night
Complete Results

August 4, 2024


Winged Sprint Cars

Feature- 1. 98P-Miles Paulus, Marshall; 2. 77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack; 3. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack; 4. 11-Colton Fisher, Danville, IA; 5. 24-Casey Shuman, Tempe,  AZ; 6. 7B-Ben Brown, Marshall; 7. 9-Paul Solomon, Victoria, AUS; 8. 2B-Garrett Benson, Concordia; 9. 9S-Aubrey Smith, Houstonia; 10. 14-Landon Muehlberger, Shawnee,KS; 11. 13-Emylee Yoder, Park Hills; 12. (DNF) 49- Tyler Elliott, California; 13. (DNF) 00-Broc Elliott, California

Heat 1- 1. Paulus; 2. Benson; 3. S. Wagner; 4. Fisher; 5. Solomon; 6. Brown; 7. Muehlberger
Heat 2- 1. Shuman; 2. J. Wagner; 3. Smith; 4. T. Elliott; 5. Yoder; 6. (DNF) B. Elliott


Super Stocks

Feature-1. 30C- Clayton Campbell, Otterville; 2. 44-James Nighswonger, Osawotamie, KS; 3. 28K-Chris Kircher, Drexel; 4. 09-Joe Miller, Centertown; 5. 10-Steve Beach, Eldon; 6. 409-Ryan Shikles, Enon; (DNF 7-10) 7. 10R-Fred Kilmer, Syracuse; 8. 8H-Adam Halley, New Haven; 9. 50-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack; 10. 29-Harlan Dowell, Tipton; (DNS 11-12) 11. 12-Darek Wiss, Centralia; 12. 05-Dale Berry, Tuscumbia

Heat 1-1. Campbell; 2. Kircher; 3. Kilmer; 4. Berry; 5. Halley; 6. Wagner (DNS)
Heat 2- 1. Beach; 2. Nighswonger; 3.Wiss; 4. Miller; 5. Shikles; 6. Dowell


Pure Stocks

Feature-1. 21-Darin Porter, California; 2. 17-Shayne Healea,California; 3. 88-Chris Messerli, Latham; 4. TJ-Trenton Masters, Columbia; 5. 15-Curt Turpin, Eldon; 6. 50B-Brandon Smith, Ashland; 7. 50-Leroy Morrison, Independence; 8. 99-Ryan Oerly, Jamestown; 9. 21G- Carson Gronniger, Urbana; 10. 4- PJ Turpin, Jefferson City; 11. (DNS) 85D- Robert Douglas, Eldon; 12. (DNS) 1SS-Stan Booth, Eldon

Heat 1- 1. Porter; 2. Smith; 3. Messeri; 4. Morrison; 5. C. Turpin; 6. PJ Turpin
Heat 2- 1. Booth; 2. Healea; 3. Masters; 4. Gronniger; 5. Douglas; 6 Oerly.



2024 Point Champions

360 Winged Sprints - Benjamin Brown

Super Stocks - James Nighswonger

Pure Stocks - Darin Porter



Point order----

360 Winged Sprint

1st      Benjamin Brown
2nd    Garrett Benson
3rd     Jack Wagner
4th     Miles Paulus
5th     Samuel Wagner
6th     Aubrey Smith
7th     Taylor Walton


Super Stocks----

1st     James Nighswonger
2nd    Steve Beach
3rd     Dale Berry
4th     Clayton Campbell
5th     Ryan Shikles
6th     Adam Halley


Pure Stocks----

1st      Darin Porter
2nd    Shayne Healey
3rd     Chris Messerli
4th     Curt Turpin