Dixon Holds off Moyer to Win $10,000 Bud SummerNationals
Pevely, Mo. (July 1) — Ed Dixon, the reigning track and national champion, held off the best of the touring late model drivers in the midwest to win the $10,000 first prize in the Bud UMP SummerNationals at I-55 Raceway.
Dixon led 29 laps of the 40-lap feature, holding off Billy Moyer, who had won both 1999 Nationals races at the track.
Kevin Weaver led the first six laps of the feature, then was passed by Dixon. Weaver was running second when he pulled off the track on lap nine with a broken A-frame.
Dixon led until lap 11, when his car slipped after hitting a rut in turn two, turning the lead over to Moyer. On the fifteenth lap, Moyer was crossed up by the same rut, and Dixon retook the lead.
After a restart on the 25th lap, Moyer got underneath Dixon and the two crossed the stripe in a dead heat. By the next lap, Dixon had edged back in front of Moyer. The two cars made contact coming out of the fourth turn on lap 28, causing body damage to both.
The race was red-flagged on the 29th lap, when Mark Gansmann rolled over in the first turn. His car landed on its wheels and he walked away. His car was the third to roll over Saturday.
Dixon was leading on the 37th lap, when the caution waved for a spin in turn four, but he held off Moyer on the restart and for the final three laps. Brian Birkhofer, Don O'Neal and Bob Pierce rounded out the top five.
In the late model time trials, three local drivers — Dixon, Tim Ratajczyk and Jeff Johns — turned faster laps than Moyer. Dixon turned the fastest lap at 13.235 seconds.
Moyer started on the front row of the dash and held off Ratajczyk to win it. O'Neal, Clay Bauman and Rob Toland won the late model heats. Mark Faust, Johnny Johnson and Darrell Hoffman were the top three finishers in the semi-feature.
Scott Weber was leading the modified feature by a straightaway when his car broke on the 15th of 20 laps. That turned a three-car battle for second into a battle for the lead. Bobby Bittle won, and Dennis Richards bounced off the third-turn wall while making a last-lap run at the lead, dropping him to third behind Leroy Haney.
Richards won his heat and the dash. Haney and Weber also won heats and Brent Mullins won the semi.
In the sportsman class, Doug Wood took the lead in the last turn to win the feature. Eddie Lowery was second and Mark Schnurbusch was third. Troy Naeger won his heat and the dash. The other heats were won by Kenny Kennedy, Lowery and Scott Stuppy.
Two sportsman cars took tumbles down the back straight Saturday night.
Frank Melton tumbled down the back straight in his sportsman heat race but crawled from his car as the paramedics arrived. He was bumped into the back straight wall on the first lap of the race, knocking his car into the air and breaking the rear end loose. As the car landed it began tumbling and rolled at least twice, and was struck by one or two other cars before it came to rest against the wall inside turn three.
Paul Belken Jr., the track's sportsman points leader, got upside down during the dash. His car came to rest on its driver's side, and he climbed out unhurt.
Troy Conway and Chase Patterson won the two-man cruiser car feature.
An electrical transformer serving the track blew as Melton's crash was being cleaned up, delaying the program for about one hour. The transformer may have been shorted out by a squirrel, which was found on the ground next to its pole.
UMP Late Models
QUALIFYING:
- 50 Ed Dixon 13.235
- 112 Tim Ratajczyk 13.258
- 95 Jeff Johns 13.264
- 21 Billy Moyer 13.312
- 15 Brian Birkhofer 13.340
- B12 Kevin Weaver 13.405
- 71 Don O'Neal 13.410
- 20 Mark Gansmann 13.425
- 67 Mark Oller 13.470
- 77 Clay Baumann 13.526
- 1st Rob Toland 13.550
- 00 Randy Korte 13.608
- 2 Darrell Hoffman 13.630
- F15 Ed Bauman 13.635
- 16 Shawn Negangard 13.660
- 9 Billy Drake 13.684
- 1S Steve Shephard 13.685
- 51 Billy Faust 13.694
- 33 Jason Frankel 13.699
- 37 Brian Wolfmeier 13.705
- 3D Jim Durbin 13.716
- 2J Dave Jumper 13.755
- 99 Johnny Johnson 13.772
- 117 Matt Taylor 13.813
- 51 Steve Shive 13.905
- 78 Chad Zobrist 13.940
- 87 Ken Rumble 13.975
- 7 Rick Bayer 13.993
- 11 Steve Karnes 14.110
- 32 Bob Pierce 14.112
- 78 John Stanton 14.412
- 10 Rodney Pense
DASH:
- 21 Billy Moyer
- 112 Tim Ratajczyk
- B12 Kevin Weaver
- 50 Ed Dixon
- 15 Brian Birkhofer
- 67 Mark Oller
- 71 Don O'Neal
- 95 Jeff Johns
- 51 Steve Shive
HEAT 1:
- 71 Don O'Neal
- 00 Randy Korte
- 20 Mark Gansmann
- 16 Shawn Negangard
- 51 Mark Faust
- 117 Matt Taylor
HEAT 2:
- 77 Clay Baumann
- 95 Jeff Johns
- 2J Dave Jumper
- 37 Brian Wolfmeier
- 78 Chad Zobrist
- 11 Steve Karnes
HEAT 3:
- 1ST Rob Toland
- 51 Steve Shive
- 32 Bob Pierce
- F15 Ed Bauman
- 99 Johnny Johnson
- 87 Ken Rumble
SEMI:
- 51 Mark Faust
- 99 Johnny Johnson
- 2 Darrell Hoffman
- 117 Matt Taylor
- 3D Jim Durbin
- 9 Billy Drake
- 87 Ken Rumble
- 78 Chad Zobrist
- 11 Steve Karnes
- 7 Rick Bayer
- 78 John Stanton
- 10 Rodney Pense
- 33 Jason Frankel
FEATURE:
- 50 Ed Dixon
- 21 Billy Moyer
- 15 Brian Birkhofer
- 71 Don O'Neal
- 32 Bob Pierce
- 9 Billy Drake
- 37 Brian Wolfmeier
- 112 Tim Ratajczyk
- 1ST Rob Toland
- 51 Steve Shive
- 117 Matt Taylor
- 77 Clay Baumann
- 2 Darrell Hoffman
- 20 Mark Gansmann
- 16 Shawn Negangard
- 95 Jeff Johns
- 3D Jim Durbin
- B12 Kevin Weaver
- 67 Mark Oller
- 00 Randy Korte
- F15 Ed Bauman
- 99 Johnny Johnson
- 51 Mark Faust
- 2J Dave Jumper
UMP Modifieds
HEAT 1:
- 21 Dennis Richards
- 68 Andy Anderson
- 377 Casey Pearson
- 1W Ray Walsh
HEAT 2:
- 14 Leroy Haney
- 45M Eric Mabery
- 6 Ray Wagner
- 12 Tom Ratajczyk
HEAT 3:
- 4J Scott Weber
- 89 Bobby Bittle
- 18R Shawn Rayfield
- 28 Pat Lawson
DASH:
- 21 Dennis Richards
- 4J Scott Weber
- 89 Bobby Bittle
- 14 Leroy Haney
- 45M Eric Mabery
- 68 Andy Anderson
SEMI:
- 4M Brent Mullins
- 35 Cody Huff
- 93 Clark Roach
- 64 Jim Smith
- 70 Bart Sefford
- 37 Chad Evans
- 07 Paul Rice
- 59 Rich Whaley
- 34 Kevin Gegg
- 15 Troy Page
- 95 Jerry Grither
- 81 Mike Barbeau
- 28W Chris Woods
- 90 Tim Meara
- 7Z Matt Zimmerly
- C4 Chris Soutiea
FEATURE:
- 89 Bobby Bittle
- 14 Leroy Haney
- 21 Dennis Richards
- 6 Ray Wagner
- 1W Ray Walsh
- 18R Shawn Rayfield
- 68 Andy Anderson
- 12 Tom Ratajczyk
- 45M Eric Mabery
- 4M Brent Mullins
- 67 John Seets, Jr.
- 35 Cody Huff
- 64 Jim Smith
- 8 Kirk Murphy
- 88 Joe Puricelli
- 21H David Henry
- 70 Bart Sefford
- 37 Chad Evans
- 07 Paul Rice
- 4J Scott Weber
- 22 Matt Mevert
- 377 Casey Pearson
- 16 Rusty Griffaw
- 93 Clark Roach
AARA Sportsman
HEAT 1:
- 6 Kenny Kennedy
- 51 John Hoffman
- 28 Sam Worley
- 18 Daryl Dodge
HEAT 2:
- 12 Troy Naeger
- 46 Paul Belken
- 48 Mike Harvey
- 38D Mark Blanke
HEAT 3:
- 8 Eddie Lowery
- 105 Matt Hancock
- 350 Robert Dill
- 80 Steve Borgetti
HEAT 4:
- 00 Scott Stuppy
- 9 Doug Wood
- 23 Mark Schnurbusch
- 87 Gary Haynes
DASH:
- 12 Troy Naeger
- 00 Scott Stuppy
- 6 Kenny Kennedy
- 9 Doug Wood
SEMI #1:
- 166 Brian Worley
- 92 Jim Abshier
- 21 Ryan Gegg
- 60 Kraig Rigdon
- 58 Jeff Barker
- 111 Zac Parks
SEMI #2:
- 10 Todd McGraw
- 17H Dave Heimos
- 61W Mike Witter
- 19 Brad Grantham
FEATURE:
- 9 Doug Wood
- 8 Eddie Lowery
- 23 Mark Schnurbusch
- D5 Dave Jenkins
- 28 Sam Worley
- 74 Dennis Wernle
- 87 Gary Haynes
- 48 Mike Harvey
- 127E Tory Ernst
- 10 Todd McGraw
- 6 Kenny Kennedy
- 18 Daryl Dodge
- 166 Brian Worley
- 51 John Hoffman
- 92 Jim Abshier
- 80 Steve Borgetti
- 17H Dave Heimos
- 12 Troy Naeger
- 00 Scott Stuppy
- 46 Paul Belken
- 38D Mark Blanke
- 76 Brian Roberts
- 105 Matt Hancock
- 350 Robert Dill
Other Cars Present
37 John Imm
16 Frank Melton
3 John Mark Hale
42 Greg Stumbaugh
97 Gary McKinnon
6 Brian Noeth
50 Mike McGowen
44 Nick Werner
15 Jim Troutman
75 Ron Imm, Jr.
Cruiser Results
1. 77 Troy Conway/Chase Patterson
2. 54 Rob Inman/Todd Bockhoff
3. 22 Billy Klein/Wayne Moll
4. 26 Paul Bauman/Gary Klein
