Special to the Phoenix
May 24, 2009 12:12 am
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OKTAHA — Johnny Bone won the first leg of the three-race North-South shootout at Outlaw Motor Speedway here late Friday night.
The shootout makes its final stop today in Monett, Mo. The second round was Saturday at Tri-State Speedway in Fort Smith, Ark.
The winner of the series will be determined by combining the finishes in three features for an average. A bonus of $1,000 goes to the winner. The other four finishers will also receive bonus money. To be eligible for the big purse, the drivers have to compete in all three races.
Bone led from the get-go, dashing ahead of pole-setter Jarrod Havens of Muskogee out of turn two. He scooted down the backstretch, leaving Havens and the rest of he field in his dust. Finding the high groove to his liking, his biggest lead was six seconds at the halfway of the 25-lap run.
Three caution flags slowed the race and let the pack catchup to Bone, but he was equal to the challenge.
The last threat to the Pea Ridge, Ark., driver came on lap 22 with a spin-out bringing out the caution. Steve Holzakamper of Fort Smith, Ark., was briefly on Bone’s bumper, but he didn’t have the muscle to catch the leader. He finished second with Muskogee’s Havens a close third. Jason Teague of Tahlequah, ran fourth.
360 Modified
Brandy Justice of Tahlequah, appeared to have his first feature win in sight, but a flat tire at the midway point opened things up for Braggs’ Patrick Goodnight to claim his second checkered flag of the year.
Justice jumped to a big lead from the outside in row one. But on lap 13 he slowed his car to a crawl on the backstretch while Goodnight, David Whittle, Muskogee, and Heath Weston, Muskogee, charged in front. Justice finally exited into the infield.
Goodnight and Whittle, a former track champion, battled with the leader the final seven laps, with Weston just a few cars behind. Weston was looking for his third feature win in a row.
Last year’s track champion, Muskogee’s Dennis Slater, spun into a hale bale and drain in front of the flag stand early in the race and was moved to the back of the pack for the restart. He eventually finished sixth behind Spiro’s Brookin Stephens and Muldrow’s Ryan Taylor.
Hobby Stock
It took him awhile, but once Dale Richardson grabbed the lead there was no denying him his fourth A feature of the year. He was an easy victor to the checkered flag, beating Cole Berkenbile of Fort Gibson, who set the early pace.
Richardson caught and passed Berkenbile just past the flag after completing lap eight. Going into turn one, they were door-to-door and exiting turn two, Richardson rocketed down the backstretch to gain the advantage. From there he steadily widened his lead to six seconds over the 16-year-old Berkenbile.
Billy Kelly of Kansas, was third, just beating Muskogee’s Colton Dunlap, who nudged Bryan Slader of Muskogee at the flag stand for fourth.
Pure Stock
Leading from the start, Jessie Muhlhauser captured his first feature triumph of the year. The Chouteau driver overcame a pair of restarts — in laps 11 and 13 — to claim the win.
Daniel Tarkington of Checotah took advantage of the restarts to jump from fifth to second, just holding off Tahlequah’s Jason Ward, who also used the caution flags to improve his finish. However, Tarkingon was disqualified in a post-race inspection, moving everyone up one spot. Victims of the restarts were John Reid of Stigler and Mike Bantaa of Muskogee. Reid, finishing third, ran second until1ap 13. Bantaa dropped one spot from fifth to finish fourth.
Front Wheel Drive
Ron Palmer continued his hot driving, winning his fifth feature of the year. For the first two laps, Haskell’s Tim Cline led the race, but Palmer of Roland caught and passed him on the backstretch and led from there.
Brandon Morris of Booneville, Ark., was second with Jim Walker of Pryor, third. Morris won the feature two weeks ago, breaking a string of three straight victories by Palmer. Rick Edgerton of Fort Smith, Ark., is the only other winner in the division.
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