May 18, 2002; Lebanon, MO.
- Mother nature has dealt a few blows to the Midway Speedway, Rain and this past
Saturday nigh unseasonable cool weather. But this did not stop racing fans as the packed
the grandstands and tier
The racing action was hot as Tim Swearengin held off hard charging Steve Holt for the Late Model win. Aaron Harden made it two in a row in the A feature of the Super Street Stock. Not to be out-done, it was Carl Edwards taking his second in a row in the Baby Grands. In the late Model Sportsman Division, he has been near the front all year, Scotty Atkinson takes the feature. Second week being back at the Midway Speedway, Terry Holtkamp post a win in the mighty Modified Division and with a roof jumping celebration in the O'Reilly's Winners Circle, Jason Woods post his first ever Pure Street win in his 10 year career. Last week, Tim Swearengin had to start from the eleventh position to make it to second. This week, the roll of the dice had Swearengin on the pole and when the green flag dropped, Swearengin was poised to win. There was a few glitches in his plan, as Steve Holt, showing some extra power, danced his way from the high side to the low side to see if he could capture the number one position. At one point Holt and Swearengin was side by side for the top spot, but Swearengin put his foot down and never relinquished the lead. As Holt and Swearengin were battling, second in points, Ken Dickinson, poked the nose of his Bud machine and entered the fight. But when Leo Morgan dropped the checkered flag in the 30 lap feature, it was Swearengin, first, Holt, second and Dickinson, third. Springfield's Archie Griffin stayed up front and finished fourth, and Tony Jackson, Jr., who had to start from that eleventh spot came home fifth. In the biggest modified field that has taken to the high banks of the Midway Speedway in many years, 19 of the Ozark"s rolling thunder took to the track. Tied in points, David Bates, stated on the pole and last week's feature win, Dale Roper was in the 11th starting position. The only thing that was in there way as the King Auto Glass machine of Terry Holtkamp. Holtkamp took the lead on the first turn and held off hard charging from bates and
eventually making his way through the field, Dale Roper. Holtkamp had to worry about a few
restarts as cautions coming out on spins by Darin vest and a Johnson that lost power
coming out of turn 1. But on good restarts, Holtkamp was able to come home the victor in
only his second week of the 2002 season. Roper was able to break the tie, with a second
place , and David Bates came home third. It Scotty Atkinson has shown power all season and has been a contender each week. The Late Model Sportsman Division has put on some bumper to bumper action. On the start of the race, Robert Reeves charged his way to the front to lead half of the race, but it was the second half that was won, along with the feature by Atkinson. Atkinson held about a 5 car advantage over the field at one point of the race, but it closed up when the checkered flag fell. Reeves took second, Sam Payne third, and last week's feature winner Gary Klossner was fourth. Pulling double duty this season, Brian Schutt finished fifth. Aaron harden was the first back to back winner this season, as he made his way through the field and took the lead and the win from Steve maddux in the Super Street Division. Maddux had the lead, but harden showing some extra power this season over last, put his #9 machine in the O'Reilly's Winners Circle. Maddux holds on to the top spot, but only by 2 points. Don't count out Steve Shaw for the championship, as he came home fourth. Andrew Stake made a good showing on the night with a third place finish, and Aaron Douglas brought his HomeDoc machine to a fifth place finish after and early spin that put him in the rear of the field. Ten years in the making, Jason Wood's brought this #52 machine to his first ever victory in the Pure Street Division. It was a hard fought battle as Robert White, held on to the top spot for the first half of the race. Then something happened to the #38 machine and he faded to the back. The battle for the front spot early was between, Mark Eaglebuger, fishing second, and White. After White's mechanical problems, Eagleburger and Woods had the crowds on the edge of their seats, for Eagleburger has not yet had a feature win at Midway Speedway. But sneaking up into the battle was point leader, Jason Otto. The battle was for several laps, then Woods pulled away leaving Eagleburger and Otto fight for the second place spot. Otto had to settle for third, Matt Hamner was fourth and Ron Stokes was fifth. The Baby Grands took to the track for the second week in a row, and it was Carl Edwards doing the same with his second feature win in a row. Edwards had to out run Mark Brumley, who held on to the top spot for a while. In comments after the win, "That red #19 can run", Edwards said. Chester McDowell came home third and Mark Laxton, whom owns the #9 machine of Edwards, finished fourth. Heat Results: Late Model : Late Model Stock:
Modified: Super Street: Pure Street: |
