Cody Morris
I44 Riverside Speedway Public Relations
14th Annual Mini Sprint Nationals Finale
Saturday, August 3rd / Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
I44 Riverside Speedway Grand Reopening
Anticipation shot as high as temperature gauges as I44 Riverside Speedway prepared for the weekend finale of the grand reopening of the 1/5th mile facility as the sole auto racing venue in central Oklahoma completed its’ sensational comeback.
It’s been years since the venue welcomed so many fans that parking overflowed, but with 166 entries at this most special Nationals an estimated 700 race fans gathered in row after row of lawn chairs and a variety of makeshift elevated surfaces.
All racers gathered along the front straightaway with each spectator along Lawn Chair Alley as speedway promoters Mark Banister and Gloria Olexa received a heart warming and lengthy standing ovation from all in attendance.
The racing community is and will forever be grateful for the epic effort by Mark and his crew to rebuild the speedway. As perfectly stated by track announcer David Foley, Mark Banister has built I44 Riverside Speedway not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES.
Banister built the speedway in 1999, acquired and resurrected the speedway in 2011 following mismanagement, and now in less than three months rebuilt a cornerstone to both the local and racing communities. Mark humbly received the standing ovation from the entire venue, before leaning over to his Public Relation Director to state the track was drying out, and with a playing of our Nation’s #1 song and invocation led by Foley - the 14th Annual Mini Sprint Nationals Night Two grand finale was launched.
And what a finale it came to be.
Six main events. And each one presented a first time Mini Sprint Nationals champion. An event so packed with wheel to wheel action the record crowd remained intact through to the very end despite a 1230am finish. Let’s kick it off with the final main event of the evening that left patrons in awe, amazement - an instant classic.
OUTLAW presented by MelMark Pipe & Supply
Tulsa’s Scott Sawyer paced the pole position with Great Bend, Kansas native Nate Fleming alongside
Sawyer checked out to an early lead, and checked out a couple more times following a pair of early cautions. Sawyer appeared unchallengeable in the opening third of the Outlaw main event until a gut wrenching blow was dealt to the Tulsa veteran.
A lapped car well off the pace pulled into the infield just as Sawyer was to blow by on the back straightaway. Sawyer slowed as best he could but could not evade contact and the pair collided. With Sawyer relegated to the tail of the field (and an early exit shortly thereafter), Fleming assumed the point with El Reno, Oklahoma’s Josh Toho behind.
Fleming’s lead was tenuous as Toho immediately proved when launching a vintage Riverside slider on the leader, but Fleming battled back by to lead the 12th and 13th laps before Toho perfected the tactic to gain the lead as the event reached the halfway point.
Lapped traffic came into play once more as front runners tried to elude a spinning car on the front straightaway, with Bixby’s Kevin Bayer falling victim in the scrum, ending his 3rd place run.
Toho continued to lead with Fleming a few car lengths behind, and with just a few circuits remaining appeared poised for his first Outlaw MSN title, but Fleming had other ideas.
The Great Bend, Kansas native took to the bottom and inched forward before returning the slide job’s he received earlier. Fleming battled past in sight of the white flag and held on to snare his first career MSN Outlaw victory in style aboard the Keiser Wheels, FE Farms, Lightning Wings, and Fleming Masonry supported no. 16 Sawyer.
An exasperated Toho held on for runner up honors with Missouri’s Tucker Klaasmeyer battling up three spots to claim third at the line. Tulsa area pilots Joey Baker and Ty Hulsey completed the top five finishing order.
Outlaw B Feature #1 (15 laps - top 7 transfer to main event):
- 91 Kevin Bayer (3); 2. 55T Josh Toho (1); 3. 00 Grady Chandler (6); 4. 23 Hannah Adair (4); 5. 27k Kyle Keeler (9); 6. 95 Michael Hall (5); 7. 21x Tom Calico (8); 8. 4 Harold Lewis (15); 9. 70w Brady Wertz (10); 10. 5x Tyson Hall (2); 11. 13m Chance McRarey (7); 12. 81 Frank Flud (11); 13. 29B Blake Dacus (13); DNS Matt Nelson, Brian Nance
Lap Leaders: Toho 1-2, Bayer 3-15
Sponsors:
Smiley’s $40 1st non transfer: Harold Lewis
Lightning Wings $25 2nd non-transfer: Brady Wertz
$50 1st non-transfer courtesy Tim McKenzie: Harold Lewis
Outlaw B Feature #2 (15 laps - top 7 transfer to main event):
- 92 Jake Rosario (2); 2. 21 Ty Hulsey (1); 3. 73 Jason McDougal (7); 4. 77D Dean Drake (3); 5. 73N Nick Bailey (6); 6. 16x Danny Davidson (9); 7. 118 Scott Evans (12); 8. 7g Greg Moore (8); 9. 24L Caleb Lovelady (13); 10. 22T Frank Taft (14); 11. 27w Jason Whiting (5); 12. 33 Justin Patoka (10); 13. 55 Kenneth Jones (11); 14. 28c Chris Lloyd (4)
Lap Leaders: Rosario 1-15
Sponsors:
Smiley’s $40 1st non-transfer: Greg Moore
Lightning Wings 2nd non-transfer: Caleb Lovelady
Tim McKenzie $50 to 1st non-transfer: Greg Moore
Outlaw Dash (6 laps - sets first 3 rows of main event):
- 29 Scott Sawyer (2); 2. 16 Nate Fleming (1); 3. 29d Blake Dewberry (3); 4. 8g Tyler Gordon (5); 5. 34 Joey Baker (4); 6. 27 Tucker Klaasmeyer (6)
Sponsors:
Tim McKenzie $100 to Dash winner: Scott Sawyer
Outlaw Main Event presented by MelMark Pipe & Supply (30 laps)
- 16 Nate Fleming (2); 2. 55T Josh Toho (9); 3. 27 Tucker Klaasmeyer (6); 4. 34 Joey Baker (5); 5. 21 Ty Hulsey (10); 6. 92 Jake Rosario (8); 7. 73N Nick Bailey (16); 8. 95 Michael Hall (17); 9. 00 Grady Chandler (11); 10. 23 Hannah Adair (13); 11. 118 Scott Evans (20); 12. 21x Tom Calico (19); 13. 77D Dean Drake (14); 14. 29d Blake Dewberry (3); 15. 73 Jason McDougal (12); 16. 91 Kevin Bayer (7); 17. 27k Kyle Keeler (15); 18. 29 Scott Sawyer (1); 19. 16x Danny Davidson (18); 20. 8g Tyler Gordon (4)
Lap Leaders: Sawyer 1-10, Toho 14-28, Fleming 11-13, 29-30
Sponsors:
Factor 1 Hard Charger ($25): Nick Bailey +9
Bolted Spine Designs 8th Anniversary 8th place ($100): Michael Hall
Factor 1 10th place ($25): Hannah Adair
Lightning Wings 12th place ($25): Tom Calico
Sawyer Chassis 14th place ($25): Blake Dewberry
Outlaw Wings 16th place ($25): Kevin Bayer
A CLASS presented by Pole Position Raceway
Pauls Valley sharpshooter Steven Shebester paced inside of Pryor’s Frank Flud in the 30 lap Pole Position Raceway “A Class” main event.
Flud seized the point immediately with Shebester in tow, before widening the lead following a spate of early cautions. Reigning I44 Riverside track champion Jim Woods moved past Shebester as the pair did their best to stop the Flud.
The lead trio strategically maneuvered amongst lapped traffic late in the race and Shebester battled back into the runner up spot, but Flud had taken off - placing the M. Ross, INC, Sawyer Chassis, Infinity Shocks, Outlaw Wings, and Momo’s Racing Engines no. 25F into victory lane for Flud’s first career Mini Sprint Nationals title, with special thanks to John Flud, Bobby Springer, and Dean Franklin.
Shebester accepted runner up honors with Woods completing the podium. Oklahoma City’s Trey Marcham finished fourth with Guthrie’s Jake Rosario rounding out the top five finish.
A Class Dash (8 laps - sets first four rows of main event):
- 82 Steven Shebester (1); 2. 25F Frank Flud (2); 3. 83 Jim Woods (7); 4. 29B Blake Dacus (6); 5. P40 Aaron Dromgoole (4); 6. 79t Tim Kent (8); 7. 16x Danny Davidson (5); 8. 29x Jake Rosario (3)
“A Class” B Feature #1 (12 laps - top 4 transfer to main event):
- 19 Dalton Terrell (1); 2. 55T Josh Toho (12); 3. 4 Devon Huff (3); 4. 76x Zane Lawrence (5); 5. 41 Kaitlyn Martin (8); 6. 4T Caleb Thompson (11); 7. 09 Tyler Gordon ( 2); 8. 27 Jared Dunkin (9); 9. 27A Andy Shouse (6); DNS Chris Lloyd, Joe Klonoski, Sierra Davis
Lap Leaders: Terrell 1-12
Sponsors:
Smiley’s 1st non transfer ($40): Kaitlyn Martin
Lightning Wings 2nd non transfer ($25): Caleb Thompson
A Class B Feature #2 (12 laps - top 4 transfer):
- 73 Jason McDougal (1); 2. 94L Layne Heimbaugh (4); 3. 8 Josh Marcham (8); 4. 57 Chris Thornton (11); 5. 24L Caleb Lovelady (7); 6. 43A Austin Hartranft (6); 7. 57T Kyle Thompson (11); 8. 76 Cody Grissom (10); DNS Cord Dodson, David Buoy, Teri Burk, Bobby Springer
Lap Leaders: Heimbaugh 1, McDougal 2-12
Sponsors:
Smiley’s 1st non transfer ($40): Caleb Lovelady
Lightning Wings 2nd non transfer ($25): Austin Hartranft
A Class B Feature #3 (12 laps - top 4 transfer):
- 32 Trey Marcham (1); 2. 25R Chad Bell (2); 3. 28 Karley Kay Dobson (3); 4. 98 Derrick McBride (4); 5. 82c Christian Kinnison (6); 6. 77d Dean Drake (9); 7. 13m Chance McRarey (5); 8. 7g Greg Moore (10); 9. 29w Whiting (7); 10. 70w Brady Wertz (8); DNS Morgan Roan
Lap Leaders: Marcham 1-12
Sponsors:
Smiley’s 1st non transfer ($40): Christian Kinnison
Lightning Wings 2nd non transfer ($25): Dean Drake
A Class A Feature presented by Pole Position Raceway (30 laps):
- 25F Frank Flud (2); 2. 82 Steven Shebester (1); 3. 83 Jim Woods (3); 4. 32 Trey Marcham (11); 5. 29x Jake Rosario (8); 6. 29B Blake Dacus (4); 7. 73 Jason McDougal (10); 8. 94L Layne Humbug (13); 9. 4 Devon Huff (15); 10. 16x Danny Davidson (7); 11. 25R Chad Bell (14); 12. 76x Zane Lawrence (18); 13. P40 Aaron Dromgoole (5); 14. 57 Chris Thornton (19); 15. 79T Tim Kent (6); 16. 55t Josh Toho (12); 17. 8 Josh Marcham (16); 18. 28 Karley Kay Dobson (17): DNS Devon Huff, Derrick McBride
Lap Leaders: Flud 1-30
Sponsors:
Factor 1 Racing Hard Charger ($25): Trey Marcham +7
Bolted Spine Designs 8th Anniversary 8th place ($100): Layne Heimbaugh
Factor 1 Racing 10th place ($25): Danny Davidson
Lightning Wings 12th place ($25): Zane Lawrence
Sawyer Chassis 14th place ($25): Chris Thornton
Outlaw Wings 16th place ($25): Josh Toho
NON WING presented by the Oklahoma No Fender Network
Pauls Valley’s Shebester got another crack at the Mini Sprint Nationals record book, this time in the 30 lap Non Wing main event presented by the Oklahoma No Fender Network. Hometown hero Trey Marcham started alongside.
Stoppages marred the event, with four attempts needed to get a lap in the books and ten stoppages in the duration of the race. Shebester led early with McCloud’s Chris Cochran and Trey Marcham trailing until the latter made contact with an infield tire.
The stoppages became serious as Tim Kent flipped hard on the 11th round after contact with a hard charging Trey Marcham. Kent emerged safely, although very displeased with Marcham as he rode the gator to the pits to ready repairs for winged action.
Shebester continued leading with Cochran unable to mount steady challenge and Trey Marcham working his way back up to 3rd until one collision too many forced Marcham to an exit and a 3 lap shootout with Shebester leading Cochran and Grissom, the latter of which would catch a caution cold just a lap later.
Shebester easily sped on to his first Mini Sprint Nationals crown with the Non Wing presented by Oklahoma No Fender Network victory aboard the MelMark Pipe & Supply, Concept Chassis, Metric Cycles, PXP Racewear, 2B Recording, Select Coatings, and iracetv.com sponsored no. 82.
Cochran settled for the runner up spot with track champ Jim Woods accepting show position honors for the second time of time of the evening. Tulsa’s Ty Hulsey finished as he started in the four spot with hometown favorite Shelby Byrd completing the top five finishing order.
Non Wing Dash (8 laps) - sets first four rows of main event
- 82 Steven Shebester (3); 2. 32 Trey Marcham (2); 3. 7c Chris Cochran (6); 4. 11 Ty Hulsey (5); 5. 83 Jim Woods (7); 6. 19 Dalton Terrell (4); 7. 27k Kyle Keeler (8); 8. 1 Jeffrey Newell (1)
Non Wing B Feature #1 (15 laps - top 4 transfer to main event)
- 27A Andy Shouse (2); 2. 4 Devon Huff (11); 3. 98 Derrick McBride (1); 4. 5c Cody Cordell (4); 5. 76x Zane Lawrence (6); 6. 54 Jake Beasley (3); 7. 28 Junior Vickman (7); 8. 11N Levi Neely (8); 9. 7g Greg Moore (5); 10. 34d Donnie Hartranft (9); 11. 69 Steve Doss (10)
Lap Leaders: Shouse 1-15
Sponsors:
Smiley’s 1st Non-transfer ($40): Zane Lawrence
Lightning Wings 2nd non-transfer ($25): Jake Beasley
Non Wing B Feature #2 ( 15 laps - top 4 transgfer to main event):
- 76 Cody Grissom (1); 2. P51 Aaron Dromgoole (4); 3. 2B Brandon Boggs (6); 4. 15 Morgan Roan (7); 5. 50 Shelby Burk (5); 6. 11R Rick Oller (8); 7. 24L Caleb Lovelady (10); 8. 82c Christian Kinnison (3); 9. 43 Matt Nelson (9); 10. 21s Keith Martin (11); 11. 7 Cord Dodson (2)
Lap Leaders: Grissom 1-15
Sponsors:
Smiley’s 1st non transfer ($40): Shelby Burk
Lightning Wings 2nd non transfer ($25): Rick Oller
Non Wing B Feature #3 (15 laps - top 4 transfer to main event):
- 5 Shelby Byrd (2); 2. 79T Tim Kent (1); 3. 8 Josh Marcham (8); 4. 02 Bobby Hennig (6); 5. 43A Austin Hartanft (5); 6. 11x Tyler Alexander (10); 7. 48 Joe Kolonoski (4); 8. 77d Dean Drake ( 3); 9. 13 Lamont Baker (7); 10. 55T Josh Toho (9)
Lap Leaders: Byrd 1-15
Sponsors:
Smiley’s 1st Non transfer ($40): Austin Hartranft
Lightning Wings 2nd non transfer ($25): Tyler Alexander
Non Wing A Feature presented by Oklahoma No Fender Network (30 laps):
- 82 Steven Shebester (1); 2. 7c Chris Cochran (3); 3. 83 Jim Woods (5); 4. 11 Ty Hulsey (3); 5. 5 Shelby Byrd (11); 6. 8 Josh Marcham (17); 7. 27A Andy Shouse (9); 8. 98 Derrick McBride (15); 9. 4 Devon Huff (12); 10. 02 Bobby Hennig (20); 11. 15 Morgan Roan (19); 12. 76 Cody Grissom (10); 13. 32 Trey Marcham (2); 14. 79T Tim Kent (10); 15. 2b Brandon Boggs (16); 16. 5c Cody Cordell (18); 17. P51 Aaron Dromgoole (13); 18. 19 Dalton Terrell (6); 19. 27k Kyle Keeler (7); 20. Jeffrey Newell (8)
RESTRICTED presented by Dacus Heat & Air
Taylor Garrison paced pole with Broken Arrow’s Quinton Standlee alongside to start the 25 lap Mini Sprint Nationals Restricted main event presented by Dacus Heat & Air.
Standlee grabbed the early lead before Kellyville’s Joey Schmidt moved up to challenge for the point in side by side fashion.
The pair staged some of the best laps of the evening, dancing side by side in each turn with Schmidt dogging Standlee for the lead, a lead he would acquire on the 9th round with Standlee spinning to the infield a couple laps later.
Schmidt led Jase Randolph and Mason McGuire with ten laps remaining. The top five would go unchanged and Schmidt unchallenged to victory lane. The 12 year old Mini Sprint Nationals titlist gave Thanks to the Lord for his first career Mini Sprint Nationals title aboard the A.R.E, Factor1 Racing, AC Man, Lightning Wings sponsored no. 1s.
Randolph earned runner up honors with McGuire moving up four spots to finish third. Garrison and Tanner Johnson completed the top five finishing order.
Restricted A Feature presented by Dacus Heat & Air (25 laps):
- 1s Joey Schmidt (3); 2. 15 Jase Randolph (4); 3. 18 Mason McGuire (7); 4. 65 Taylor Garrison (1); 5. 86 Tanner Johnson (5); 6. 88k Kelsey Gray (16); 7. 2 Alison Slaton (12); 8. 11B Kaylee Bryson (17); 9. 95 Quinton Standlee (2); 10. 78 Tanner Conn (9); 11. 3s Steven Smith (15); 12. 21k Kobe Simpson (8); 13. 82 Seth Shebester (14); 14. 14 Noah Key (10); 15. 14d Logan Davis (6); 16. 72c Kaylee Cole (11); DNS: Ryan Anderson, Lyndon Harvey
Lap Leaders: Standlee 1-8, Schmidt 9-25
Sponsors:
Factor1 Racing Hard Charger ($25): Kelsey Gray
Bolted Spine Designs 8th Anniversary 8th place ($100): Kaylee Bryson
Factor1 Racing 10th place ($25): Tanner Conn
Lightning Wings 12th place ($25): Kobe Simpson
Sawyer Chassis 14th place ($25): Noah Key
Outlaw Wings 16th place ($25): Kaylee Cole
Non Wing Sportsman
Collinsville’s David Doss paced pole inside Yukon’s Bobby Chapa to form the front row of the first ever Sportsman event at I44 Riverside Speedway. Twenty laps would be the distance.
Doss led the initial lap, but Chapa pounced to lead the 2nd round. Doss shadowed Chapa with Dave Nicholson and Jeromy Bowers also in tow.
A pair of cautions with seven circuits remaining bunched the field up, allowing Bill Whitehurst to catapult the Tulsa area racer into the top 5.
Doss appeared poised to try a move by Chapa over the final few laps, but Chapa saved his best laps for last and scored his first career MSN title and etch his name into the books as the first Sportsman winner at I44 Riverside. Chapa’s winning black no. 30 is sponsored by Mike Robertson, CTI Hose Supply and High Country Electric.
Doss accepted runner up honors with Nicholson finishing third. Whitehurst earned the Factor 1 Hard Charger nod with a blast from 15th to fourth. Jeromy Bowers completed the top five finishing order.
Bowers was one of the unfortunate contestants in the Hard Luck award sponsored by The Shock Docs in which the worst wreck of the weekend would be provided some uplift with a set of shocks. Bowers was running up front in Friday’s NW Sportsman qualifier before a collision with a lapped car ended in a ugly series of barrel rolls.
El Reno’s Jeremy Penick was the luckiest unlucky recipient following, of all things, destroying the car in Thursday’s practice when a car pulled out of the infield in the corner and stalled with Penick clipping the stopped car at full speed. The result was as predictable as it was horrifying, with Penick launched up the track in an extremely violent series of flips into the fence. The car was a mangled wreck and driver sore even still Saturday.
Best wishes to Penick and Bowers and what we hope is better luck with lapped/slower/stalled cars!
Non Wing Sportsman A Feature (20 laps):
- 30 Bobby Chapa (2); 2. 82 David Doss (1); 3. 84 Dave Nicholson (3); 4. 8 Bill Whitehurst (15); 5. 2 Jeromy Bowers (7); 6. 75 Willie Vickman (10); 7. 5m Scott Patraw (12); 8. 14v Zach Van Zant (5); 9. 88 Tony Penick (4); 10. 6 Randall Gilmore (13); 11. 27 David Millwee (11); 12. 15 Casey Gilmore (14); 13. 97 Tim Andrews (8); 14. 21 Josh Bigger (6); 15. 2c Casey Andrews (9); DNS Jeremy Penick
Lap Leaders: Doss 1, Chapa 2-20
Sponsors:
Factor1 Racing Hard Charger ($25): Bill Whitehurst
Finish Line Designs 5th Place ($100): Jeromy Bowers
Bolted Spine Designs 8th Anniversary 8th place ($100): Zach Van Zant
Factor1 Racing 10th place ($25): Randall Gilmore
Outlaw Wings 11th place ($25): David Millwee
Lightning Wings 12th place ($25): Casey Gilmore
Sawyer Chassis 14th place ($25): Josh Bigger
Junior Sprints
Joey Gray and Jake Nail led the 20 lap MSN Junior Sprint feature to green, but Sand Springs, Oklahoma’s Hank Davis snatched the early lead.
Nail persisted behind Davis as the two sped away from the pack - more like a fray, really.
The halfway point had Davis leading Nail by slight margins with Chris Wells just ahead of a 6 car battle for the fourth spot.
A lap 12 yellow for debris was all that slowed the youngsters down. Back underway Nail still haunted Davis for the lead, but Davis had fate on his side.
On his 10th birthday and his first visit to I44 Riverside Speedway, Sand Springs, Oklahoma’s Hank Davis claimed the 14th Annual Mini Sprint Nationals Junior Sprint crown aboard the Cook Enterprise, BA Powdercoating, BA Lawn & Garden, Intruder Chassis, and Car & Fleet Sponsored no. 1H.
Nail settled for runner up rights with Wells moving up three spots to claim show position honors. Collinsville’s Blake Battles did just that - from 7th to fourth and Pauls Valley gasser Blake Scott completed the top five finishing order.
Junior Sprint A Feature (20 laps): 1. 1H Hank Davis (4); 2. 14R Jacob Nail (2); 3. 72 Chris Wells (6); 4. 14 Blake Battles (7); 5. 29 Blake Scott (8); 6. 99 Nathan Rainey (5); 7. 7 Treyton Gann (10); 8. 22 Dylan Pendergrass (9); 9. 88R Ryder Laplante (11); 10. 16 Brant Woods (12); 11. 15J Joey Gray (1); 12. 77 Kale Drake (3); 13. 007 Jacob Long (13); 14. 72c Kayden Cole (14)
Lap Leaders: Davis 1-20
Sponsors:
Factor1 Racing Hard Charger ($25): Hank Davis +3
Finish Line Designs 5th Place ($100): Blake Scott
Bolted Spine 8th Anniversary 8th place ($100): Dylan Pendergrass
Factor1 Racing 10th Place ($25): Brant Woods
Lightning Wings 12th Place ($25): Kale Drake
Outlaw Wings 13th Place ($25): Jacob Long
Sawyer Chassis 14th Place ($25): Kayden Cole
Please stay tuned to I44 Riverside Speedway for more news on the remarkable reopening.
Plenty of releases still Monday night!
A speedway reborn, I44 Riverside Speedway continues part two of the 2013 campaign this coming Saturday, August 10th featuring the Non Wing, A Class, Restricted, Turf Tire, and Junior Sprint divisions!!
Find, Like, and Follow I44 Riverside Speedway on facebook for more details!
- Admin Account on Aug 05, 2013
- Article Date: 8/5/2013