Sunday we journeyed south to the Randolph County Raceway just east of Moberly, Missouri for the inaugural Weiner Nationals, Ryan Brewer Memorial. Ryan was a 25 year old tow truck driver at the speedway who lost his life due to a work related accident this spring on Interstate 70. Ryan left behind a wife and child. A group of folks headed by Reid Millard Racing went to work putting this event together to benefit the family Ryan leaves behind. One of several attractions for the evening was the Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile, thus the Weiner Nationals. In addition the evening included a World War 2 T28 war plane flyover, a hot dog eating contest, music, fireworks, and various food trucks.
Oh yeah, there also happened to be some racing, with non sanctioned late models doing battle in a $10,000 to win, $500 to start main event. B modifieds filled out the card with $1,500 for the winner of a twenty five lap feature. The rules for this event were adjusted to allow USRA type B mods and IMCA legal sport mods to both compete. Each class was required to be legal according to their rules, with no mixing between the two. The track runs weekly under the USRA package, with those cars typically having an advantage over the IMCA guys.
Sandwiched in between the Lucas Oil late model / MLRA combo show at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri on Saturday and the start of the Silver Dollar Nationals in Greenwood, Nebraska on Tuesday, Millard and track promoter Jimmy Lieurance anticipated a solid field of late models. Special sponsor packages offered twenty four businesses and the same number of junior fans a chance to share in the fun, as each would draw a name from the twenty four drivers making the late model feature. Those folks would share in driver introductions and receive a Weiner Nationals trophy should their driver win.
When we arrived at the track, a warm July sun was beating down, and watering was in progress. A slightly less than full field of twenty three late models aided by several track regulars and a solid group of thirty seven B mods were checked in and ready to go ahead of the 5:45 advertised hot lap time. As what became a near capacity crowd continued to file in, hot laps finally kicked off close to the 6:30 race time. B mods were apparently set to use the hot lap/qualifying format, but transponder issues caused them to revert to lineup their four heats by a draw. The late models were able to qualify, with Mike Marlar pacing the field with a quick lap of 18.617 seconds around the high banked oval.
More watering to try and tame the dusty surface was followed by the track needing run in and heat race action finally kicked off around 8:00, with the top four transferring in the B mods. With other activities mixed in, the three late model heats began to line up straight up by times. Marlar led the distance in the first eight lapper over his row one mate Daniel Hilsabeck and row two starters Ken Schrader in the Reid Millard #14, and Mark Voigt. Pole sitter Tyler Erb topped heat two ahead of the outside pole car of Gordy Gundaker. Row two starters Jason Papich and Justin Duty followed. Finally, outside row one driver Scott Crigler won the third qualifier, besting the row two duo of Trevor Gundaker and Blaze Burwell, while pole sitter Dewayne Kiefer fell to fourth.
A pair of B mains for the B mods rounded out their twenty four car starting field with the hot dog eating contestants introduced as the cars circled the track. With B mains complete, it was time for intermission festivities.
The B mods kicked off the feature racing with heat winners Cole Campbell and Chris Spalding in row one and IMCA racer Austen Becerra and Dakota Girard in row two. The yellow flag waved off the initial start, before Campbell shot to the early lead. A second caution at lap five was followed by a third as the back of the field stacked up on the restart. As Spalding and Becerra battled for the chance to run down the leader, it was IMCA regular Jim Gillenwater on the move. The veteran driver started twenty first and was eighth for the lap five restart. He quickly moved to fourth as the green flag waved. Again the race was halted at lap eight, and back under green Gillenwater catfished around the inside wall to take third from Spalding. Meanwhile Campbell worked the high banks and Becerra followed in his tracks, getting close, then falling back. When a fifth caution came with twelve laps in, word went over the raceceivers that the race would now conclude with a green, white, checkers finish. Campbell took off once again, cruising to the win with Becerra in second. Gillenwaters #10 appeared to lock up as he drove down the backstretch on the final lap, and he spun in turn three, dropping him to a disappointing nineteenth place finish and needing a tow back to the pits. Dawson David started in row six and came home third followed by Kyler Girard and Terry Wilson. With all the time devoted to events other than racing, it seemed a bit hasty to cut the feature by eleven laps, but it was now time to bring the late models to the track.
With the introductions of the drivers and their "sponsors" complete, a few "made for TV" parade laps, and a quick fireworks display, we were racing. A weeks worth of prep work paid off, as the track was smooth, multi grooved, and plenty racy, with a pesky coating of dust being a bit of an issue in the grandstands. After finishing third in his heat, Schrader, who was racing a late model for the first time in ten years, accepted a challenge from his car owner, Millard to start on the tail, with an extra $100 going to the Addy Brewer education fund for every car he passed in the feature. All but Dick Weber made the feature call, with a couple of late arrivals lining up behind the longtime NASCAR star, but I am sure in the spirit of the gesture, he was shown starting shotgun on the field! As the cars paraded around the track, the night came to an end for fifth starting Gordy Gundaker, who spun out his driveshaft in turn two. With the green flag flying, Marlar shot to an early commanding lead, with Erb trying to keep pace, both cars well in front of the pack. Marlar hit slower traffic at lap six, but he was a master on this night, able to put his flying #157 wherever it needed to go. The first yellow flag came around lap nineteen, and as racing resumed, Erb suddenly had his hands full of Papich while Marlar skated away. He was again in traffic within about five laps, and he had folks on the edge of their seats as he skillfully weaved his way through a couple of packs of four battling for position. With three laps remaining, a final caution came as twelve year old Kaeden Clatt spun his #50 in turn four. It was only a momentary delay for Marlar, who was simply the class of the field in the thirty lapper, and he walked home with the $10,000 check and the Weiner Nationals trophy. Erb held off Papich for second, with Trevor Gundaker and Crigler recording top fives. Ricky Frankel started twelfth, climbed to fourth, then settled in at sixth at the checkers. Duty, Voigt, double duty Dylan Hoover, and Schrader completed the top ten. The final checkers waved at 11:30.
It was a very long night, and to be truthful, it almost felt like the racing, which was very good, was secondary to the other activities. However most of the huge crowd stayed around, and seemed to enjoy themselves even as the hours grew long. Hopefully a sizable amount of money was raised for a very good cause! Thanks to Jim and Tammy for their hospitality, as well as to old friend, announcer Doug Mealy for the shout out. (Not sure what he said, though, the P.A. could use some work!)
There are a bunch of racing options coming up this week, and it looks as though the weather may finally give us a break, so pick out an event and head to the track, and maybe we will meet up Racin' Down the Road!
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