Chris Hawkins take season opener in Wild Finish!
By Gary Woodall

SPRINGFIELD, MO (April 15, 2006) - The day for the first race of the season for the Show-Me Racin Series Late Models started with thunder, lightning and rain everywhere in southwest Missouri. The sky cleared later in the day though and 25 Late Models were on hand for the season opener at the Springfield Raceway in Springfield, MO, presented by the Steffes Group - Keller Williams Realty.

The 4 heat races for the Show-Me drivers were just a warm up for the features that followed. Mike Hailmann, "Rookie of the Year" candidate in his red #85 looked impressive as he took the 'B' Feature win and qualified for the 'A'.

After on-track driver introductions and the autographed "candy egg toss" by each of the drivers to the kids in the stands, the drivers started their pace lap. The 4 wide "salute to the fans" parade lap was a great start to what would end up being a "Spectacular Finish".

From the drop of the green flag, Chris Coats in his #35 jumped to the early lead with Chris Hawkins in the 99.7 in second. The racing was intense throughout the field and as the leaders battled up front, Jarod Hilton in his #11, Jim Greenway #28, Conner Ward in the #56 and others were battling for 7th, 8th and 9th.

Farther back in the pack, the #62 of Steve Allen, the #F7 of Scott Fry and Tyler Milner in the #5M were putting on a show of their own. As the laps wore down, with Hawkins leading, and Ken Essary in his familiar yellow #55 closing in, it was a thrill show to the end. They say, "it ain't over till the checkered flag falls," but Saturday night it wasn't over then either.

With one lap to go, Essary moved to the inside of Hawkins to challenge for the win as they approached lapped traffic. Coming out of turn #4, they were 4 wide at the flag stand with the checkered flag waving. Max Knight in car #14 and Clint Hately in the #91 were being lapped, but were fighting for position themselves.

It was hard to tell exactly what happened, but Knight's car crossed sideways in front of Hawkins and Essary. Going up on his side, the #14 took 2 hard barrel rolls down the front straightaway and it wasn't over yet.

It took several minutes before Max exited the battered white #14. After being examined by medical personnel on the scene, it was determined that he had suffered some bumps and bruises, but was advised to be checked out at a local hospital later.

In a very rare situation, the checkered flag had waved, but because of the accident the majority of the field couldn't cross the finish line. In this instance, the race had to be scored on lap 24 of the 25 lap event. This gave the #99.7 GRT of Chris Hawkins his first win of the '06 season. The #55 of Essary was second, but only because the race was scored over at lap 24.

If you missed this week's action, the Show-Me drivers will compete next Saturday night, April 22nd at the Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, OK.

A feature results:

99.7 Chris Hawkins
55 Ken Essary
35 Chris Coats
15 Kevin Henson
5e Leslie Essary
33 Rick Lebow
30 Mark Bourey
11 Jarrod Hilton
85 Mike Hailmann
56 Conner Ward
28 Jimmy Greenway
77 Roger Wilson
13 Kevin Patrick
14 Max Knight
62 Steve Allen
F7 Scott Fry
6 Chad Pyle
91 Clint Hatley
7M Jeremy Manes
98 Ken Patterson
5M Tyler Milner
04 Jeremy Kelley

Contingency Sponsor awards:

Martin Oil Company
15 gallon Track Tek racing fuel to winner – Chris Hawkins
10 gallon Track Tek racing fuel to 5th - Leslie Essary
1 case of Kendall Racing oil to 17th - Chad Pyle

Babe’s Drive – In
$25 cash to Hard Charger – “hot dog” Trophy - Mike Hailmann (moved up 8 positions)

GRT Race Cars
$50 gift certificate to winner – Chris Hawkins
$25 gift certificate to 15th - Steve Allen
$25 gift certificate to 11th - Jimmy Greenway

Peterson Fluid Systems
$50 gift certificate to 6th - Rick Lebow

Kluhsman Racing Components
Free throttle linkage to the highest finishing car who hasn’t previously won the award - Chris Hawkins

$30 KRC Gift Certificate to winner - Chris Hawkins

Spring Valley Barber
$50 to 19th - Jeremy Manes

PushRod Factory
$30 off a set of pushrods to 12th - Roger Wilson