| FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brian Garrison
April 16th, 2007
Jack
Sullivan wins O'Reilly MLRA / MARS “Spring Thunder”
Wheatland, MO –
The O'Reilly MLRA and MARS Series opened the 2007 season at
the “Diamond of the Dirt Tracks”, Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland,
MO on Sunday April 15th. 49 cars checked into the pits for
what would be a long night of racing.
Spectator gates
opened at noon with hot laps set for 1pm. However, heavy rains
and below normal temperatures in the 48 hours leading up to
the race had taken their toll on the track. Crews worked as
hard as they could to get the track in the best racing condition
possible, which led to long delays and when all was said and
done, Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, AR took the checkered flag.
Christian Rayburn
of Osage Beach, MO led the 24 car field to the green flag.
Rayburn accumulated the most passing points, winning his first
ever O'Reilly MLRA / MARS pole. Sullivan, starting to the
outside of Rayburn, would hit his setup and rocket into the
lead and never look back. 2006 MARS series champion Bill Frye
had some bad luck in his heat race, getting into a 3 car pile
up with Jason Bodenhamer and Dwayne Hottinger. Frye would
use a provisional and start 22nd on the field, finishing a
respectable 9th place. Other notable runs were made by Joey
Mack of Benton, MO starting 12th in the feature and finishing
3rd ; John Anderson of Omaha, NE starting 20th and finishing
7th ; David Turner of Adrian, MO started 21st finishing 12th
and Jason Bodenhamer started 24th and finished 14th.
The O'Reilly MLRA
will be back in action next Friday April 20th at I-80 Speedway
in Greenwood, NE and Saturday April 21st at Winston Speedway
in Winston, MO. For more information regarding the MLRA series,
please go to www.mlraracing.com.
The MARS series
will be back on Saturday May 5th at the ultra fast Lebanon
I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, MO and Sunday May 6th at Monett
Speedway in Monett, MO. For more information regarding the
MARS series, please go to www.midamericaracingseries.com.
For all the latest
news and information on the O'Reilly MLRA visit us on the
web at www.mlraracing.com or by calling (816) 650-5063 or
(816) 305-6572.
The O'Reilly MLRA
would like to thank the sponsors of the 2007 Thunder Tour
including O'Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier Race Tire, Midwest
Walnut, Hatfield Racing Engines, Larry Shaw Race Cars, Taylor
Cable Products, Afco, GRT Race Cars, The Driveline Shop, Sunoco
Race Fuels, Weld Wheels, Chase Race Decals, Gameday Trophy,
Bodee's Race Bodies, Duralite, Holley Race Products, Rod End
Supply, Schoenfeld Headers, Kluhsman Racing Components, Performance
Race Bodies, ATL Fuel Cells, Shepherd of the Hills Entertainment,
Racing Optics, Impact Sign & Lighting
Full
Results |
Lucas
Oil Speedway |
April
15, 2007 |
| Heat
1 |
1)
Al Purkey, 2) Jack Sullivan, 3) Will Vaught, 4) Gary Stolba,
5) John Anderson, 6) Chris Simpson, 7) Reid Millard, 8)
Mike Danburg, 9) Brandon Dunham |
|
| Heat
2 |
1)
Steve Rushin, 2) Jeremy Payne, 3) Brandon McCormick, 4)
David Barker, 5) Larry D. Clawson, 6) Scott Drake, 7)
Billy James, 8) Matt Menzie, 9) PJ Haskins |
|
| Heat
3 |
1)
Alan Vaughn, 2) Larry Jones, 3) Joey Mack, 4) David Turner,
5) Shad Badder, 6) Burl Woods, 7) Richard Foster, 8) Brantlee
Gotschall |
|
| Heat
4 |
1)
Denny Eckrich, 2) Terry Phillips, 3) JD Huber, 4) Jason
Bodenhamer, 5) Jon Kirby, 6) Dewaine Hottinger, 7) Bill
Frye, 8) Rylan Long |
|
| Heat
5 |
1)
Christian Rayburn, 2) Dusty Johnston, 3) Eric Anderson,
4) Corey Zeitner, 5) Bob Miller, 6) Larry Clawson, 7)
Steve McDowell, 8) Sonny Findling |
|
| B
Feature #1 |
1)
Simpson, 2) Barker, 3) James, 4) Menzie, 5) Haskins,
6) McDowell, 7) Bodenhamer, 8) Badder, 9) Miller, 9)
Woods, 11) Frye, 12) Hottinger |
|
| B
Feature #2 |
1)
Millard, 2) J. Anderson, 3) Zeitner, 4) Dunham, 5) Larry
D. Clawson, 6) Turner, 7) Drake, 8) Danburg, 9) Larry
Clawson, 10) Foster, 11) Gotschall, 12) Kirby |
|
| A
Feature |
1)
Sullivan, 2) Vaughn, 3) Mach, 4) Payne, 5) Phillips,
6) Purkey, 7) J. Anderson, 8) James, 9) Frye, 10) McCormick,
11) Rushin, 12) Turner, 13) Millard, 14) Bodenhamer,
15) Stolba, 16) Barker, 17) Huber, 18) Eckrich, 19)
Johnston, 20) E. Anderson, 21) Jones, 22) Rayburn, 23)
Simpson, 24) Vaught |
|
| Midwest
Walnut Lucky Stars Award ($1000): Reid Millard |
| Performance
Bodies Nose Piece (5th Place): Terry Phillips |
| Taylor
Wire Super Sevens Award: Brandon McCormick |
| Racing
Optics Clear Vision Award: David Turner |
| Weld
Racing Hard Charger: John Anderson |
|
