Super Late Models @ I-37 Speedway by R&M Promotions, 4/6/19

[rebelracewriter]

Super Late Models @ I-37 Speedway by R&M Promotions, 4/6/19

By JM Hallas

Pleasanton, TX.,(April 6th, 2019) The Southern Texas Late Model Series was scheduled to open its season with its only scheduled event at I-37 Speedway this year. With a bad forecast and weather in the area track officials and series promoter, Kody Hardage, opted to drop the 'points' race on the semi-banked, ¼ mile, dirt oval. But racers being racers still wanted to race, so a non-series points race was posted for those willing to risk the travel.

Still on everyone's mind was two-time and defending series champion, GW Egbert, who was seriously injured while driving his Modified last month. This was reflected in the Super Late Model purse, with $717 to win. Not being a series race, Hardage, who had 'retired' picked and hired gun to drive, stepped back in the car, honoring Egbert with his 717 number.

Hardage may reconsider that the decision after bicycling his car and taking a nasty tumble in the feature. Fortunately he was alright, though the car, not so much.

Also in action were the IMCA Modifieds, Sport Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Sport Compacts. The Limited Late Models and Go-Karts had the night off.

Early in the season the track surface has been nearly impeccable providing some of the best racing in years. Last lap passes for the lead, side by side finishes determined by a nose and last race where the lead duo in the IMCA Modifieds exchanged slide jobs and crossovers the final five circuits. How do you top that?

Well how about not one, but three, first time ever winners. One of which was an extremely emotional and popular victory, not only on the track, but more importantly, personal life.

Horner Hustles to Super Late Model Win

Making the long haul from the Houston area, Colton Horner(Katy) showed his stuff in the 20-lap main event. Horner battled it out with local hotshoe Cody Leonard throughout the entire event that was halted for red flag when Kody Hardage, bicycled in turn 1 the took a wild ride just before halfway.

At the start it was Horner getting by Leonard off turn 2 trailed by Leonard, Robbie Starnes, Talon Minten and Hardage. Leonard kept the pressure on Horner as the two pulled away. Leonard took several looks low off turn 4 while Hardage and Minten ran side by side for fourth.

Horner edged ahead of Leonard before catching slower traffic giving Leonard the chance to close back up. As they started through traffic Hardage took his tumble going over a couple times on lap 8. Once back to green, Horner got a good jump and coming to the midway point it was Horner, Leonard, Starnes, Brandon Brzozowski and Minten.

Leonard closed back up on Horner and began taking peeks off turn 4 and turn 2. Leonard at one time got along side, but Horner outran him down the back stretch. As the duo hit traffic again Horner got a little distance on Leonard and took home the victory in his Modern Motorsports, Houston Specialty Products, Hass Horizontal, Swift Springs, Gary Winger Shocks, Cornett powered, Black Diamond Chassis.

“I was lucky to be able to get out front early and work the track,” replied Horner. “I was watching my signal guy and working the bottom. The track was great.”

Horner donated his $717 winnings to help with medical expenses for GW Egbert. The 50/50 winner also gave her part of the $92 split pot to Egberts recovery fund.

Super Late Model

56 Colton Horner, 48 Cody Leonard, 25 Robbie Starnes, 10-4 Brandon Brzozowski, 9 Talon Minten, 82 Jarred Stepanski, 93 Aaron Leddy, 717 Kody Hardage, 42 Ron Sprayue---dns

Super Late Model heats

Heat 1; 48 Cody Leonard, 9 Talon Minten, 717 Kody Hardage, 10-4 Brandon Brzozowski

Heat 2; 56jr Colton Horner, 25 Robbie Starnes, 82 Jarred Stepanski, 93 Aaron Leddy, 42 Ron Sprayue---dns

Morris Magnificent in Modifieds

Everyone loves a first time winner, but when that person overcomes a handicap, even his competitors show their respect. Chris Morris(Taylor) picked up his first ever IMCA Modified feature win and win in life along the way. Using only hand controls, C. Morris dominated the 20-lapper and grabbed the victory much to the excitement of the crowd. There was hardly a dry eye in the place.

C. Morris, who started ninth, saw the bottom open up on green and quickly moved up behind leader Jamie Campbell, Bill Pittaway, defending track champ Rick Green. C. Morris then picked off third from Green while Cody Leonard, Chris Carroll and Dillon Tindall went three wide for sixth.

C. Morris wasted little time getting by Pittaway for second and on Campbell for the lead. Using the bottom, C. Morris got along side Campbell on lap 3 and had the top spot on lap 4, bringing Green along to second. From there C. Morris began to stretch out his advantage.

At halfway it was C. Morris, Green, Pittaway, Campbell and Don Banker in the top five. In the field, Leonard, who denied C. Morris his first ever win in the season opener, was on the charge moving up to fourth. Stretching out his lead to a full straightaway, C. Morris only had slower traffic to contend with.

Even that didn't deter him as he diced through, increasing his margin to a half track as the white flag waved. With the crowd on its feet, C. Morris crossed the line in his Volvo of Austin, Tina Reagan Realty, ACM Services, Opifex Equipment, Eightfold, Five Star Concrete, Bet All Racing, Austin Cutting & Coring, five1seven designs, crate powered, Lethal Chassis by David Stremme.

“This new car from David Stremme is incredible,” exclaimed Morris. “It's certainly been a game changer in my program. We've been trying so hard and getting close so many times. To finally put it all together definitely made for an emotional night.”

“I knew I had to get to the front quick otherwise I'd lose ground on the guys. Holes opened up on the inside where I could go good, it worked out perfect. We made it to the front in two or three laps and stayed up front from there. It was awesome, I just wanted to keep turning laps until I ran out of fuel.”

“That race with Cody(Leonard) opening night was so fun. I may have come up short in that race, but it was a win in my book. We raced each other clean, it was fun, I had a blast. This race makes up for it. That race and this one are probably the top two races of my career.”

“I try to focus on my own race and not look back for who's coming. I just make sure I hit my marks every lap. When I got up on the lappers I knew I just to pick my way through clean. It just all worked out good.”

“To hear people like Kris Workman say that I'm an inspiration really humbles me. I'm glad that I can be that for people and show that just because you have a disability things can be done. You can do anything you want. I'm really looking forward to seeing Kris get in his car and get going again.”

Simpson Race Products IMCA Modifieds

94 Chris Morris, 82 Rick Green, 137 Bill Pittaway, 12 Cody Leonard, 15 Chris Carroll, 29 Jamie Campbell, 377 Donald Banker, 1 Marcus Mikulencak, 55m Mike Morris, 141 Rob Sanderson, 16 Landon Bednarz, 27 Justin Delgado, 86 Dillon Tindall, 21 Jason Borlace, 151 Chris Jones---dns

IMCA Modified heats

Heat 1; 29 Jamie Campbell, 137 Bill Pittaway, 377 Donald Banker, 1 Marcus Mikulencak, 12 Cody Leonard, 16 Landon Bednarz, 27 Justin Delgado, 141 Rob Sanderson

Heat 2; 94 Chris Morris, 82 Rick Green, 15 Chris Carroll, 86 Dillon Tindall, 21 Jason Borlace, 55m Mike Morris, 151 Chris Jones

Beaver Breaks Through in Sport Modifieds

Coming out of the asphalt ranks, Trent Beaver(China Grove) broke through for his first ever win in just a short time on dirt. Beaver took over the top spot from Jared Maupin on lap 3 and was able to pull away in the 20-lapper that went green to checkers without a caution.

It was Maupin out front on green pursued by Beaver, with Robby Minten, Ryan Doyon and Eddy Ross three wide for third. Beaver ran up on Maupin with the two wheel to wheel for two laps before Beaver secured the spot on lap 4. By lap 5 the top four of Beaver, Maupin, Doyon and R. Minten had broken away from the pack.

Joe Aramendia did a half spin and forced Jake Kruger to take evasive action as they battled for sixth. Both took a side trip into the infield, but continued without caution. At halfway it was Beaver, Maupin, R. Minten, Doyon and Ross in the top five with Johnny Torres closing on Ross.

The last half of the race saw Beaver continue to pull ahead of Maupin, while J. Torres got fifth from Ross. At the white flag Beaver had built a three-quarter straightaway lead and cruised to the checkers in the Beaver Heating & Air Conditioning, WW Bodies, Beaver Medical Group, Chris Brown Shocks, Audie Howell Crane & Rigging, PTS powered, Hughes by 89 Motorsports Chassis.

“I give all the props to Steve Whiteaker,” stated Beaver. “He put this car together and I can't thank him enough. I started out on asphalt and those tracks closed so we jumped in one of these and have been doing pretty good. I've been in this car about a year and a half.”

“The biggest transition is on asphalt you have to keep them pretty straight. In these you get them sideways. I just started hitting my marks and not worrying if anyone was coming. We have one hell of a set up on this car and I just let it work. All I have to do is get behind the wheel.”

Swenson Racing Products Sport Modifieds

14 Trent Beaver, bd2 Jared Maupin, 24r Robby Minten, 5r Ryan Doyon, 66 Johnny Torres, 30 Chris Swenson, 08 Frank Okruhlik, 12r Roly Rodriguez, 94 Allen Torres, 03 Marcus Mikulencak, 137/12 Cody Leonard, 1 Jake Kruger, L87 Joe Aramendia, bd3 Eddy Ross, 31L Sherrill Lewis, bd4 Cheryl Gray, 2 Talon Minten, 11t Tom Grothues, 56 Broc Bowen, 22t Tommy Grimes---dns, 137 Bill Pittaway---dns

Sport Modified heats

Heat 1; bd2 Jared Maupin, 5r Ryan Doyon, L87 Joe Aramendia, 56 Broc Bowen, 66 Johnny Torres, 137 Bill Pittaway, 94 Allen Torres

Heat 2; bd3 Eddy Ross, 12r Roly Rodriguez, 08 Frank Okruhlik, 11t Tom Grothues, 31L Sherrill Lewis, 30 Chris Swenson, 22t Tommy Grimes

Heat 3; 14 Trent Beaver, 24r Robby Minten, 1 Jake Kruger, 12 Cody Leonard, bd4 Cheryl Gray, 2 Talon Minten

Street Stocks

Only three Street Stocks showed up, but it set up a fight between the two top contenders in the class, multi-time track champ Wade Jones(Jourdanton) and Anthony Gordon. Jones got the jump on green and slowly eased away from Gordon to get the win his Opiela Mechanical, SABFI Transportation, Camaro

SABFI Transportation Street Stocks

41 Wade Jones, 22m Anthony Gordon, 81 Tony Bernal

Temple Tops in Pure

Corpus Christi's Tryton Temple became the third driver to snag his first ever victory driving a full size car. Coming from the Go-Kart ranks the young gun grabbed the lead at the start of the 20-lap feature. Chasing Temple were George Quintanilla, Dillon Gaither, Kenny Wright and Riley Heil.

Gaither and Wright moved up to second and third while Johnny Torres and Jared Maupin were charging from mid-pack. Gaither put some pressure on Temple for the lead with the two making a little contact lapping a slower car. Slower traffic caused a multi-car tangle between Heil, Torres, Maupin, Michael Keylich and Ryan Doyon in turn 4.

Wright and Gaither stayed door to door on the restart for several laps giving Temple some breathing room. At the crossed flags it was Temple, Gaither and Wright, still side by side, J. Torres and Dustin Hurley in the top five. Wright finally secured second with J. Torres up to third and Maupin to fifth.

With five to go J. Torres and Maupin got past Wright for second and third as they tried to reel in Temple, who had built a margin. That duo was unable to close in enough to mount as challenge as Temple in the TTR Racing, KH Suspension, Blake Carburation, Stock Body Mania, L87 Speedway, AMSOIL, Destroyer Chassis held his lead for the victory.

“It was a bunch of hard work and dedication,” commented the young Temple. “The car was just amazing. The set up my dad had on it was great. Hard work, dedication, blood, sweat and tears. We scale the car and work all week on it.”

“It wasn't really much pressure(to stay up front), I knew I had a good car. As long as stayed up front no one could take control of the race. We've only run the slicks on this car so far. So there hasn't been adjustment coming from the treaded tires.”

“I usually bring a lucky hat, but I didn't have it today. I've got my lucky helmet though. I got it at the Halloween race at L87 Speedway and put the mohawk on it. It brought us good luck. I won 9 races in a row. I decided to take it off one week and lost three in a row. I put it back on and started winning again. I'm never going to take it off.”

All in Design Pure Stocks

99 Tryton Temple, 26br Johnny Torres, bd1 Jared Maupin, 5 Dillon Gaither, 9c Caitlin Leonard, 36 George Quintanilla, 10 Scott Jerkins, 68 Kenny Wright, 98r Derek Remmers, 12L Lisa Brzozowski, 22r Ronnie Sparks, 4d Dustin Hurley, 30 Riley Heil, 75 Jerry Miller, 49k Michael Keylich, 3 Ryan Doyon, 44k Katherine Keylich, 94 Allen Torres---dns  77 Craig Rice---dns

Pure Stock heats

Heat 1; 26br Johnny Torres, bd1 Jared Maupin, 98r Derek Remmers, 44k Katherine Keylich, 10 Scott Jerkins, 77 Craig Rice, 94 Allen Torres

Heat 2; 36 George Quintanilla, 5 Dillon Gaither, 30 Riley Heil, 4d Dustin Hurley, 75 Jerry Miller, 12L Lisa Brzozowski

Heat 3; 99 Tryton Temple, 68 Kenny Wright, 9c Caitlin Leonard, 3 Ryan Doyon, 49k Michael Keylich, 22r Ronnie Sparks

Schoenbaum Shows Off in Sport Compacts

Brian Schoenbaum(Killeen) on his track tour to support the Sport Compact class made the trip south to get out of the rain and had it pay off. After winning his heat race, Schoenbaum started on the pole along side two-time winner this year, Kirk Ball. Schoenbaum got the jump on green over Ball, defending track champ Jamie Garner, Ronnie Schoenfeldt and Brandon McCall.

Schoenbaum eased away from Garner while McCall and Schoenfeldt ran side by side nearly the entire race battling for fourth. At the checkers it was Schoenbaum by a half straightaway in the Phils Motorsports, Central Cedar, Big A's BBQ, B&C Graphics, Twisted Phone, Spillman Excavating, five1seven Designs, Cedar View Homes, B&C Hydrographics, Bonham Recovery, Superior Steering Wheels, KR Promotions, Kernal Lees Kettle Corn, HD Chassis, Chevy Cavalier.

“I've never expected this much success,” said Schoenbaum. “This is the fourth track I've won at this year. I'm just a guy that loves the sport and will drive out of my way to support it.

“The weather got the best of the race tracks in the northern part of the state so I decided to punch in the address to the nearest track running sport compacts and headed south for I-37! Car was still loaded up even still had mud on it from RPM Speedway.”

“I had no idea what to expect as I have never been there as a racer and only as a pit hand back in 2003. The staff was amazing! The fellow sport compact drivers were cordial. I shook about 20 different hands, gave away signed race photos to a few fans. Thanks to Rachel for checking me in and making sure I had a saved parking spot. Apparently you don't want to get stuck parking in the dungeon.”

Brown Chevrolet Sport Compacts

719 Brian Schoenbaum, 33 Jamie Garner, 38 Kirk Ball, 14 Brandon McCall, 1 Ronnie Schoenfeldt, 23 Kasey Krauss, 29 George Compton, 81 Michael Burris jr, 5L Scott Lesher, 93 Colton Borlace, 15 Devin Surritt, t15 Taylor Reyes, 88 Justin Sitterle, 44 Johnny Ervin

Sport Compact heats

Heat 1; 719 Brian Schoenbaum, 33 Jamie Garner, 5L Scott Lesher, 44 Johnny Ervin, 81 Michael Burris jr., 88 Justin Sitterle, 23 Kasey Krauss

Heat 2; 38 Kirk Ball, 39 George Compton, 14 Brandon McCall, 1 Ronnie Schoenfeldt, 93 Colton Borlace, t15 Taylor Reyes, 15 Devin Surritt---dns

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[arob]

Darn , I wish I as there for the Morris victory. Congrats to him and all at I-37 Speedway.

[rebelracewriter]

On 4/7/2019 at 4:27 PM, arob said:

Darn , I wish I as there for the Morris victory. Congrats to him and all at I-37 Speedway.

The kid had that new Lethal Chassis on a rail....Probably gets set up tips from RTJ.

[arob]

Once again I-37 has great car counts except for the Street Stock class. Seems to be a rapidly fading class except at TRP.