Denny Woodworth picks up first O'Reilly MLRA Win

WHEATLAND, MO -  (Sept. 2007) - The O'Reilly MLRA made the trip to Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO and when the dust had settled Mendon, IL resident Denny Woodworth picked up his first career O'Reilly MLRA victory.

Woodworth started outside of row one, but had to settle into the second position on the start as Alan Vaughn powered his way out front at the drop of the green flag. Not one to settle for second Woodworth put the pressure on Vaughn and worked his way into the top spot on lap 2 only to have the move negated by the yellow flag for a disabled machine on the front stretch. On the restart Woodworth kept the pressure on Vaughn while he had to hold off the strong charge of Brandon McCormick and Mark Voigt who were right on his tail. The field came to a stop on lap 7 as the cars of Sonny Findling and Larry Jones came together in turn 2. The Jones machine flipped onto it's roof suffered major damage while the Findling's mount had sever front end damage. Both drivers were able to walk away unhurt, but were done for the evening.

On the restart the front group of Woodworth, Vaughn, McCormick, and Voigt began to battle once again, but behind them the pair of Gary Stolba and Jeremy Payne were on the move after having qualified through the B features. Woodworth mounted another charge on Vaughn and the pair raced side by side with Woodworth coming out on top to take the lead on the ninth circuit. The red flag would fly a second time on lap 11 for Brandon McCormick when he clipped a tire on the inside of the track in turn 2. McCormick's car headed straight to the wall and made hard impact with the backstretch concrete ending his night on the hook. The Lebanon, MO driver walked away unhurt, but his car suffered extensive damage.

These restart saw Woodworth hold onto his lead while Vaughn began to receive heavy pressure from Voigt and Al Purkey who was working the top side of the track. During this run Jeremy Payne also continued his march forward as he moved his way into sixth place as the leaders began to hit lapped traffic on the 25th circuit. A final caution would fly on lap 27 when Larry D. Clawson's machine would spin to the inside of the track in turn 3.

The final dash to the finish would see Woodworth hold onto the top spot with Vaughn and Voigt coming under the white flag side by side. Woodworth raced under the checkered flag for his first O'Reilly MLRA win while Vaughn came out on top of his battle with Voigt for the runner up position. Purkey raced his way to fourth while Jeremy Payne moved from his 18th starting position to round out the top five at the finish.

Heat race victories went to Al Purkey, Sonny Findling, Alan Vaughn, Christian Rayburn, and Denny Woodworth while Gary Stolba and Jeremy Payne picked up the B Feature wins.

In addition to the feature event O'Reilly MLRA sponsor Midwest Walnut paid out a bonus to drivers competing in the A feature who were previous winner's of the Midwest Walnut Lucky Stars Award. Eligible driver's competing were Jason Bodenhamer, Gary Stolba, Larry Clawson, Larry D. Clawson, and Denny Woodworth. These drivers received a bonus compared to where they finished against the other eligible drivers. With the win Woodworth was able to pick up a $1500 bonus. Bodenhamer received $800, Larry D. Clawson got $700, Gary Stolba $600 and Larry Clawson $500. These bonuses were paid in addition to the feature money that each driver received. Additionally, Larry Clawson came home with his second Midwest Walnut Lucky Stars Award for 2007 which saw him pick up and additional $1000 bonus after his 16th place finish in the feature event.

Next up for the O'Reilly MLRA is a trip back to Lebanon I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, MO for a two day event on September 21 and 22.

For all the latest news and information on the O'Reilly MLRA visit us on the web at www.mlraracing.com or by calling (816) 650-5063 or (816) 305-6572.

The O'Reilly MLRA would like to thank the sponsors of the 2007 Thunder Tour including O'Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier Race Tire, Midwest Walnut, Hatfield Racing Engines, Larry Shaw Race Cars, Taylor Cable Products, Afco, GRT Race Cars, The Driveline Shop, Sunoco Race Fuels, Weld Wheels, Chase Race Decals, Gameday Trophy, Bodee's Race Bodies, Duralite, Holley Race Products, Rod End Supply, Schoenfeld Headers, Kluhsman Racing Components, Performance Race Bodies, ATL Fuel Cells, Shepherd of the Hills Entertainment, Racing Optics, Impact Sign & Lighting

Full Results
Lucas Oil Speedway
September 8, 2007

Heat 1
1) Al Purkey, 2) David Turner, 3) Justin Wells, 4) Ron Bolin, 5) Gary Stolba, 6) Jeremy Payne, 7) Roger Wilson, 8) Eric Turner

Heat 2
1) Sonny Findling, 2) Larry Jones, 3) JD Hubert, 4) Tommy Cordray, 5) Larry D. Clawson, 6) Craig Smith, 7) PJ Haskins

Heat 3
1) Alan Vaughn, 2) Brandon McCormick, 3) Randy Zimmerman, 4) Steve Grotz, 5) Ricky Frankel, 6) Johnny Fennewald, 7) Gary Wilson

Heat 4
1) Christian Rayburn, 2) Mark Voigt, 3) Steve Johnson, 4) Rylan Long, 5) Larry Clawson, 6) Jason Bodenhamer, 7) Leroy Johnson

Heat 5
1) Denny Woodworth, 2) Shane Essary, 3) Donnie Gemes, 4) Shad Badder, 5) Eric Anderson, 6) Aaron Seabaugh, 7) Daniel Jessen

B Feature #1
1) Stolba, 2) Long, 3) Larry Clawson, 4) Bodenhamer, 5) Anderson, 6) Cordray, 7) Smith, 8) R. Wilson, 9) G. Wilson

B Feature #2
1) Payne, 2) Grotz, 3) Larry D. Clawson, 4) Seabaugh, 5) Haskins, 6) Jessen,
7) Badder, 8) Frankel, 9) Fennewald, 10) Johnson, 11) E. Turner

A Feature
1) Woodworth, 2) Vaughn, 3) Voigt, 4) Purkey, 5) Payne, 6) Long, 7) D. Turner, 8) Rayburn, 9) Bodenhamer, 10) Zimmerman, 11) Larry D. Clawson, 12) Grotz, 13) Bolin, 14) Stolba, 15) Hubert, 16) Larry Clawson, 17) Essary, 18) McCormick, 19) Findling, 20) Jones, 21) Wells, 22) Gemes, 23) Johnson