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Troutman And Cheevers Headline LebanonMidway Spring Fling Opener
by: Ronnie Williams

LEBANON, MO (March 3) - The 2010 racing season got underway in Southwest Missouri Sat Night as the Lebanon Midway Speedway hosted the 1st annual Spring Fling with over 80 race teams checked into the pits.

Action started with the FactoryStocks as 22 of the 24 cars came out for the opening feature of the season.

Macks Creek driver Doug Rich sat on the pole with Kansas driver Tom Volkart on the outside.Rich grabbed the opening lead over Volkart with Tyson Troutman following.The caution waved as top runners Ted Welschmeyer,defending champion Bob Gustin and former Lake Ozark champion Harlan Dowell were all involved in turn 2 ending their night early.On the restart,Rich again grabbed the lead with Volkart working the high-side as James Flood,Jason Russell,Tim Jones,Donnie Gennings and Troy Reasoner Jr were swapping spots back and forth with 2 wide racing.On lap 3,Volkart went to the lead as Tyson Troutman followed around Rich to take over second place.On lap 5,Troutman grabbed the lead only to have Volkart take it back over on lap 7.The caution waved on lap 8 for several front runners involved in turn 4 as Donnie Gennings car came to a halt with problems.James Flood,early leader Rich,Jason Russell all came together.After repairs all 3 continued.On the restart,Troutman went to low side and challanged leader Volkart as Tim Jones making his first ever Factory start moved a solid third with Dylan Keeper,Brad Gideon and Reasoner Jr were all battling for spots.The caution flew on lap 12 as Tim Jones car started smoking heavily ending his night.On the restart Troutman again tried the leader Volkart but couldn't pull off the pass while the race for third was tight with 6 different drivers battling.

The final caution waved on lap 17 as Volkart found Troutman on his bumper and now James Flood had worked his way up to third challanging for the win along with Jason Russell.Troutman faked high and went low to pull along Volkart,but Volkart held off the challange as Flood had moved up to Troutman.As the checkered waved,Volkart took the win however failed the tech inspection after the race moving everyone up a position giving Troutman the win followed by Flood,Russell,Dylan Keeper and Gideon in the top 5.

The B-Mods showed just why they are a premier class in the Southwest Missouri area with talent all throughout the field of 22.Colt Cheevers grabbed the opening lead from his pole spot with Corey Pope following closely along with Josh Woody.Several tight battles were behind the lead trio setting up for a good finish.A lap 2 caution waved as hard charging Chris Tonoli,Wayne Graybeal, and Ted Ballinger all got together in turn 2.Tonoli would retire from the race.On the restart Pope tried Cheevers,but Cheevers pulled away off turn 2 while Tyler Brown,JC Morton,Sean Williams and Micheal Stake fought for fourth spot.During the long green run,Cheevers pulled away as Pope found Woody and Brown battling.Woody would spin in turn 2 ending his shot for a top 3 finish and 2 laps later Tyler Brown did the same as Williams had pulled into the pits.On a lap 15 restart,JC Morton had pulled up to challange Pope for the runner-up spot as Micheal Stake was running the high groove and coming quickly while Graybeal had quietly worked his way into the top 5. Cheevers went on to record the victory in a brand new car with Morton grabbing the runner-up spot followed by Pope,Stake and Graybeal.

The StreetStock feature had Rodney Yost and Shawn Strong bring the field to the green side by side around the entire track.Heading into turn 4, 2009 champion Joe Francis shot down low to make it 3 wide heading for the 1st lap only to have the yellow wave restarting the race.On the restart Yost and Strong again went wheel to wheel with yost taking the early lead only to have Strong take over on lap 2 as Francis stayed close.THis battle lasted back and forth early until lap 4 when Francis took advantage of Strong drifting in turn 2 and took over the lead.Francis would then have to hold off repeated challanges from Yost in capturing the feature win with Yost,Matt Pilant,Dewayne Applegate and Josh Lewis completing the top 5.

In the tighest race of the evening the LateModelSportsman feature saw the father-son duo of JC and Ben Newell run the entire 15 lap event side by side.with JC holding off the repeated charges by 2009 Champion Ben Newell.Ben would only lead lap 12 as JC keep his car glued to the bottom groove each lap with Ben right beside him but at the finish line it was JC taking the victory with Ben,Clinto Betts,Tim Ballinger and Leland Seymour following.

The Newly Formed MidWest Modz made their debut as the 3rd generation of Newell family drivers 14 year old JC Newell grabbed the early lead and drove like a veteran as he held off repeated challanges from Bobby Gough in recording the 12 lap feature win in his first ever big car type racecar event.Following the leaders to the line were Jason Otto and John Gamble.

The Purestocks provided plenty of close action as Grant Sharp took the opening lead and then had to withstand several challanges from Brian Schutt and Shorty Doublin for the victory.The race was undecided until the final lap as Schutt continued to pull topside to pull off the pass and he and Doublin battled several laps with each other gaining on the leader Sharp.Completing the top 5 were Bradley Ballinger and Josh Moore.

Racing action continues Friday night April 9 as the chase for the 2010 points championships begins with action in the FactoryStocks,B-Mods,StreetStocks,LateModelSportsman,Purestocks and Midwest Modz with racing starting at 8PM.Admission will be adults $10 and kids 10 and under Free.

More information on the website at WWW.LebanonMidwaySpeedway.com

Results-Spring Fling
FactoryStocks
1)Tyson Troutman-Houston 2)James Flood-Billings 3)Jason Russell-Henley 4)Dylan Keepper-Hurley 5)Brad Gideon-Springfield 6)Donnie Miller-Houston 7)Craig Danuser-Macks Creek 8)Doug Rich-Macks Creek 9)Troy Reasoner Jr-Ulrich 10)Bill Scharr-St Roberts 11)Mark Davis-Grovesprings 12)Matt Brookshire-Jerome 13)Kyle Jeffries-versailles 14)Tim Jones-Marshfield 15)Wayne Bysor-Bolivar 16)Chris Wynn-Niangua 17)Donnie Gennings-Eldridge 18)Jay Flinn-Lebanon 19)Harlan Dowell-Tipton 20)Bob Gustin-Osage Beach 21)Ted Welschmeyer-Tibbets DNS-tim Petty-Niangua Ben Solberg-Springfield DQ-Tom Volkart

B-Mods
1)Colt Cheevers-Macks Creek 2)JC Morton-Springfield 3)Corey Pope-Marshfield 4)Micheal Stake-Lebanon 5)Wayne Graybeal-Springfield 6)Andrew Smith-Willard 7)Kolt Barker-Lebanon 8)James Redus-Springfield 9)Tyler Brown-Stoutland 10)Andy Anderson-Hermitage 11)Josh Woody-Buckhorn 12)Ted Ballinger-Halfway 13)Ryan Edde-Urbana 14)Don Thorson-St Roberts 15)Sam Petty-Marshfield 16)Doug Smith-Macks Creek 17)Chad Williams-Joplin 18)Tommy McBride 19)Sean Williams-Willard 20)Tom Hardesty-Urbana 21)Luke Stephens-Stoutland 22)Chris Tonoli-Hermitage

StreetStocks
1)Joe Francis-Lebanon 2)Rodney Yost-Squires 3)Matt Pilant-Lebanon 4)DeWayne Applegate-Bolivar 5)Josh Lewis-Stoutland 6)JR Aitken-Brighton 7)Derrick Marshall-Lebanon 8)Monk Barker-Lebanon 9)Jack Hamer-Ava 10)Kevin Forshey-Dixon 11)Shawn Strong-Republic 12)Driver X 13)Tyler Schoen-Republic 14)Adam Lowrance-Lebanon

LateModelSportsman
1)JC Newell-Decatureville 2)Ben Newell-Stoutland 3)Clinton Betts-Stoutland 4)Tim Ballinger-Fair Grove 5)Leland Seymour-Springfield 6)Bennie Joiner-Lebanon

PureStocks
1)Grant Sharp-Conway 2)Brian Schutt-Lebanon 3)Shorty Doublin-Lebanon 4)Bradley Ballinger-Bolivar 5)Josh Moore-Lebanon 6)Kory Barker-Lebanon 7)Chris Snyder-Nixa 8)Les Hayes-Camdenton 9)Danney Caffey-Conway 10)Robert McGinnis-Lebanon 11)Daniel Glenn-Lebanon 12)Jr Johnson Jr-Hurley DNS-Jason Brumley-Camdenton Joey Long-Mansfield

MidWest Modz
1)JC Newell-Stoutland 2)Bobbu Gough-Joplin 3)Jason Otto-Richland 4)John Gamble-Marshfield