John Anderson takes Night #1 of the Larry Phillips Memorial at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway
By Dan Robinson

BOLIVAR, MO (Aug 31) - Omaha, Nebraska's John Anderson held off a determined Bill Frye to win the 20-lap qualifying feature on night #1 of the 5th Annual Larry Phillips Memorial Fall Shootout at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, co-sanctioned by the MARS Dirtcar Series and the O'Reilly MLRA. Anderson will lead the field from the pole in Saturday night's $10,000 to win main event by virtue of his win in the opening night feature. Sentimental favorite, Terry Phillips settled for third with Peyton Taylor having an outstanding run in the Steve Rushin GRT to finish fourth. Fifth place would go Republic, Missouri's Brad Looney. Will Vaught driving a GRT by Frye was sixth, Chris Smyser seventh, and Justin Wells driving Don Hick's Ford powered Rocket was eighth. Jacksonville, Arkansas' Stacy Taylor took the ninth spot and local standout Brandon McCormick in a Rayburn took the final transfer position to Saturday night's A-main with his 10th place run. The qualifying feature on Friday night set the first 5 rows in Saturday night's $10,000 to win LP Memorial.

Dusty Johnston led the field to the green flag in Heat Race #1 but a spin by Will Vaught would collect Patrick Johnson and reset the field for an original restart. Dusty Johnson took the green flag and led lap number one with Vaught in tow, Quincy, Illinois' Mark Burgtorf would bring out the caution on lap #1 with a spin. As the field took the green on the restart, Dusty continued to hold the bottom and lead the field down the backstretch but a violent crash involving Scott Drake would red flag the action as a left front suspension part broke going into turn #3 sending Drake very hard into the turn #3 wall backward at a high rate of speed. The car took a wild jump almost standing on its back bumper before coming to rest on its wheels. Drake appeared OK but would later be transported to a local hospital for observation after complaining of a headache. The car appeared to be a total loss. The field was able to run clean and green after that with Dusty Johnston taking the win ahead of Will Vaught, Brandon McCormick, Reid Millard and P.J. Haskins.

Heat #2 would see 2007 Lebanon I-44 Speedway Track Champion, Dustin Mooneyham lead the field to the green flag but an innocent spin by Brad Looney up in the marbles of turn #4 would bring out the caution. As the green flag flew for the restart, Terry Phillips rocketed to the lead from his outside front row starting position and never looked back as he took the win. Brad Looney rebounded from his lap 1 spin to finish second with Stacey Taylor in third, Chris Smyser in fourth, and Steve Johnson in fifth. Dustin Mooneyham had a strong run going as he took the white flag in second position only to see the motor let loose on the final lap.

Denny Woodworth sat on the pole for Heat Race #3 and led the opening laps but John Anderson overpowered him on Lap #5 and put it on cruise control from there with Woodworth holding his ground to finish in second spot. Al. Purkey, Brian Shirley, and Justin Wells rounded out the Top 5. The race went caution free and Anderson was extremely fast in taking the win.

Heat Race #4 had Jeremy Payne on the pole as he led the field to the green flag but a spin by Tony Jackson Jr. in turn #2 would reset the field for an original restart. The second start was clean although contact in the back of the pack resulted in the Jack Sullivan's mount showing smoke as the right rear tire rubbed the quarter panel. Payne continued to lead until lap #5 when Sullivan's tire gave out bringing out the caution. On the restart, Payne slipped out of shape allowing Peyton Taylor, Gary Stolba, and Bill Frye to squeeze past. Taylor would take the win with Frye finishing second, Payne rebounding to finish third, and Gary Stolba fourth. Tony Jackson Jr. took the fifth spot.

The Late Model feature was set by passing points putting Anderson and Looney on the front row as a result of their strong heat race runs. As Anderson led the field to the green flag everyone made it through except for Justin Wells who spun his machine coming out of turn #4 which brought out the yellow flag. As the field took the green flag for the second time, Brad Looney would power his way past Anderson to lead lap #1, with Phillips in third, and Frye in fourth. A spin by Tony Jackson Jr. brought out the caution once again on Lap #2. The 11j of Steve Johnson also pulled off under this caution. The restart on Lap #3 would see Looney leading the way but with Frye now holding down the second spot ahead of Anderson, Johnston, and Phillips. Phillips would overtake Johnston for fourth on Lap #5 only to see a spin by P.J. Haskins bring out the yellow once again. As the leader took green on Lap #6 it was Anderson leading on the top with Looney running a strong second on the bottom of the ultra fast speedway. The caution flag would wave again for a spin this time involving Gary Stolba with Stacy Taylor also diving to the infield to avoid contact. Brian Shirley pulled off with an apparent flat tire under this caution but would return. Anderson continued to lead the field as the green flag flew but Frye was very aggressive on the bottom and would actually pass Anderson for the lead on Lap 11 only to see a final yellow flag fly for heavy contact between Al Purkey and Dusty Johnston negating the pass. Anderson would lead the rest of the way for the win with Bill Frye ending up in second, Phillips in third, Peyton Taylor fourth, and Brad Looney Fifth. The rest of the Top 10 includes Will Vaught, Chris Smyser, Justin Wells, Stacey Taylor, and Brandon McCormick. These 10 drivers are all locked into the first 10 spots in Saturday night's main event. Top name drivers still on the outside looking in and hoping to qualify on Saturday included Brian Shirley, Jeremy Payne, Al Purkey, and Dusty Johnston among others. MLRA point leader Alan Vaughn was also a no show on the evening as he works to finish installing his race engine in time to be in attendance on Saturday.


Johnny Bone Jr. took home the trophy in the $1,000 to win Modified main event with Terry Beckham in second, Rex Merritt third, Tony Jackson Jr. in fourth, and Rusty Dukes finished fifth.

Late Model Feature Finish **Top 10 Locked in for LP Memorial

1) 2J John Anderson
2) 66 Bill Frye
3) 75 Terry Phillips
4) 14jr. Peyton Taylor (Steve Rushin's Car)
5) 14 Brad Looney
6) 1V Will Vaught
7) 00s Chris Smyser
8) 66 Justin Wells
9) 27t Stacy Taylor
10) 42 Brandon McCormick
11) 3s Brian Shirley
12) 33 Gary Stolba
13) 74 Jeremy Payne
14) 14m Reid Millard
15) 45dw Denny Woodworth
16) 33p Al Purkey
17) 56J Tony Jackson Jr.
18) 75h P.J. Haskins
19) 16d Dusty Johnston
20) 11j Steve Johnson

Late Model Heat #1 Finish
1) 16d Dusty Johnston
2) 1V Will Vaught
3) 42 Brandon McCormick
4) 14m Reid Millard
5) 75h P.J. Haskins
6) 25j Patrick Johnson
7) 7b Mark Burgtorf
8) 12d Scott Drake

Late Model Heat #2 Finish
1) 75 Terry Phillips
2) 14 Brad Looney
3) 27t Stacy Taylor
4) 00s Chris Smyser
5) 11j Steve Johnson
6) 33f Ricky Frankel
7) 0 Dustin Mooneyham
8) 20 Darrel Mooneyham

Late Model Heat #3 Finish
1) 2j John Anderson
2) 45dw Denny Woodworth
3) 33p Al Purkey
4) 3s Brian Shirley
5) 66 Justin Wells
6) 26 Burl Woods
7) 7w Trace Westling
8) 99 Larry Jones

Late Model Heat #4 Finish
1) 14jr. Peyton Taylor
2) 66 Bill Frye
3) 74 Jeremy Payne
4) 33 Gary Stolba
5) 56j Tony Jackson Jr.
6) 18 Jack Sullivan
7) L88 Larry Clawson
8) 15t David Turner

Modified Feature Finish-$1,000 to win
1) 12b Johnny Bone Jr.
2) 118 Terry Beckham II
3) 25 Rex Merritt
4) 56 Tony Jackson Jr.
5) 88d Rusty Dukes
6) 2 Brian Brown
7) 11w Don Luna
8) 32 Keith Branson
9) 23 Mookie Cunningham
10) 47-Corey Simpson
11) 21m Steve Martin
12) 54 David Hendrix
13) 14 Justin Neuman
14) 33 Bobby Williams
15) 31m Eric Maggard
16) 71 Jason Meadors

Modified Heat #1
1) 54 David Hendrix
2) 88d Rusty Dukes
3) 14 Justin Neuman
4) 71 Jason Meadors
5) 21m Steve Martin
6) 47-Corey Simpson
7) J56-Kris Jackson

Modified Heat #2
1) 75 Terry Phillips
2) 25 Rex Merritt
3) 23 Mookie Cunningham
4) 31m Eric Maggard
5) 11w Don Luna
6) Nathan Cottrell

Modified Heat #3
1) 12b Johnny Bone Jr.
2) 2 Brian Brown
3) 118 Terry Beckham
4) 56 Tony Jackson Jr.
5) B32 Keith Branson
6) 33 Bobby Williams