On Friday, Ryan Gustin nstarted in the eighth row and worked his way up to a sixth-place finish. On Saturday, "The Reaper" was going for the lead on lap 36 when contact with Jeremy Payne took him out of contention and out of the race with too much damage to continue. Gustin and the #19r Gressel Racing team head for the Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill., on Friday, July 11, for a Lucas Oil MLRA/LAte Model Dirt Series event paying $10,000 to win.
Payne scores MLRA win at Salina
SALINA, Okla. -- The Inaugural Freedom Classic at Salina Highbanks Speedway ended with a bang! Jeremy Payne took home the giant, custom American Eagle trophy and the $5,000 paycheck. Payne took the green flag from the inside of the second row and quickly jumped to second ahead of Ryan Gustin. Chad Simpson started on the DirtOnDirt.com Pole and midway through the race, cut a tire down. Payne restarted after the caution out front and held it for the reminder of the race. An attempted pass by Gustin on lap 36 ended with the 19R up on the left side of Payne, who was able to keep momentum and the lead during the incident.
"The track was really good there for the first half of the race and then it kind of started cleaning up. Down there in three and four, you know he (Gustin) just had a good run and he is a hard racer, when five thousand is on the line you are going to race like that," commented Payne following the victory.
Lebanon, Missouri's Tony Jackson Jr. was the Casey's General Store Hard Charger of the night. Jackson had to run a B Feature to make the show and started the main event from 18th. He picked off cars one by one to challenge Payne for the lead with only four laps to go. A late race caution gave Jackson Jr. another chance, but with little passing left in the track, Payne held him off for the win.
Travis Dickes from Madison, NE finished 3rd . Dickes started 5th and ran strong all night. Jack Sullivan kept up with the leaders to record a strong 4th. Tommy Weder Jr. rounded out the top five. Springfield, Missouri's Terry Phillips started the 40 Lap Feature from fourth and pulled into the infield early in the race for what he thought was a flat tire. Phillips joined the field at the rear and worked his way back to finish 7th nearly edging Brantlee Gotschall who crossed the finish line just ahead of him.
The Lucas Oil MLRA will be back in action next weekend for two back -to-back nights of racing. Friday, July 11th at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, IL and Saturday, July 12th at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO. Both events will pay $10,000 to the winner and are co-sanctioned with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. For more information on upcoming events check out MLRAracing.com.
RESULTS
Lucas Oil Products Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Wendell Wallace (Batesville, AR), 2. Justin Asplin (Birch Tree, MO), 3. Travis Dickes (Madison, NE), 4. Jason Redman (Sapulpa, OK), 5. Jason Hughes, 6. Brett Hansen (FT GIBSON, OK), 7. Leroy Johnson (Battlefield, MO), 8. Ferrell Skelton, 9. Kinser Edwards.
ProtectTheHarvest.com Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Ryan Gustin (Marshalltown, IA), 2. Brantlee Gotschall (Nevada, MO), 3. Brandon Morton (Broken Arrow, OK), 4. Mark Dotson (Cameron, MO), 5. James Parker (STILLWELL, OK), 6. Rick Wallais, 7. Dillon Rupe (Broken Arrow, OK), 8. Jack Kirby.
MAV TV American Real Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Chad Simpson (Mt Vernon, IA), 2. Scott Lewis (Henderson, Co), 3. Dave Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 4. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 5. Jeff Roth (Bentonville, AR), 6. Brandon McCormick (Lebanon, MO), 7. Randy Roth (Bentonville, AR), 8. John Turner.
Casey's General Stores Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. Jeremy Payne (Springfield, MO), 2. Terry Phillips (Springfield, MO), 3. Jack Sullivan (Greenbriar, AR), 4. Tommy Weder Jr. (Woodward, OK), 5. Tony Jackson, Jr (Lebanon, MO), 6. Josh Hughes, 7. Kevin Patrick (Gentry, AR), 8. John Driskill (BellaVista, AR).
Sunoco Race Fuels B Feature 1 (10 laps): 1. Jason Hughes, 2. Jeff Roth (Bentonville, AR), 3. Brett Hansen (Fort Gibson, OK), 4. Josh Hughes, 5. Leroy Johnson (Battlefield, MO), 6. John Turner, 7. Randy Roth (Bentonville, AR), 8. Kinser Edwards, 9. Ferrell Skelton.
Hoosier Raicng Tires B Feature 2 (10 laps): 1. Tony Jackson, Jr (Lebanon, MO), 2. James Parker (Stillwell, OK), 3. Brandon McCormick (Lebanon, MO), 4. Dillon Rupe (Broken Arrow, OK), 5. Kevin Patrick (Gentry, AR), 6. Rick Wallais, 7. John Driskill (BellaVista, AR), 8. Jack Kirby.
Lucas Cattle Company A Feature (40 laps): 1. Jeremy Payne (Springfield, MO), 2. Tony Jackson, Jr (Lebanon, MO), 3. Travis Dickes (Madison, NE), 4. Jack Sullivan (Greenbriar, AR), 5. Tommy Weder Jr. (Woodward, OK), 6. Brantlee Gotschall (Nevada, MO), 7. Terry Phillips (Springfield, MO), 8. Jason Hughes, 9. Wendell Wallace (Batesville, AR), 10. Chad Simpson (Mt Vernon, IA), 11. Brandon McCormick (Lebanon, MO), 12. Brandon Morton (Broken Arrow, OK), 13. Mark Dotson (Cameron, MO), 14. Brett Hansen (Fort Gibson, OK), 15. Leroy Johnson (Battlefield, MO), 16. Scott Lewis (Henderson, Co), 17. John Driskill (BellaVista, AR), 18. Dave Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 19. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 20. Jeff Roth (Bentonville, AR), 21. Ryan Gustin (Marshalltown, IA), 22. Justin Asplin (Birch Tree, MO), 23. Jason Redman (Sapulpa, OK), 24. James Parker (Stillwell, OK).
Salina Highbanks Speedway Contingency Awards 7/5/14
AR Bodies $50 Certificate for non-qualifier - Hughes
Casey's General Stores Hard Charger - Jackson
Chix Gear $25 Certificate for 7th Place Finisher - Phillips
DirtOnDirt.com Pole Award - Simpson
Fast Track Photos - Payne
GRT Heat Race Winners - Wallace, Gustin, Simpson, Payne
Hooker Harness Gift Certificate for 11th Place Finish - McCormick
Landrum Springs Product Certificate - Payne
Out Pace Certificate - Gustin
Peformance Bodies Certificate - Payne
RacingJunk.com Hard Luck Award - Eckrich
