From Chad Buford
Wheatland, MO – (September 27, 2013) – After setting quick time and winning his heat from the tail, Dustin Morgan completed the sweep by winning the Friday night portion of the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillian Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway with the WAR Series presented by Impact Signs, Awnings, and Wraps.
WAR point leader Mitchell Moore took control early as he was followed by Layne Himebaugh. Morgan wasted no time in getting to the front from his seventh starting position as he was up to fourth after one lap. By lap two, Morgan set his sights on Moore as he moved into second. The yellow flag would come out with four laps in the books as third-running Austin Alumbaugh got into the front stretch wall. Alumbaugh would roll to a stop in turn one with a flat tire which ended his evening.
Moore again set the pace on the restart with Morgan in tow. Himebaugh would feel the pressure of Casey Shuman for third as Shuman worked his way past on lap five. Moore would hold on to the lead until lap nine when Morgan used a slide job in turn one to take the lead. Moore turned down and attempted to move back under, but Morgan would not be denied as he motored down the backstretch.
The yellow would come out a short while later for seventh-running Josh Stephens and eighth-running Eric Todd who became lodged together and came to a stop on the front stretch.
With Morgan now setting the pace, Moore would feel the pressure from Shuman for the runner-up spot. Shuman would get by a lap later as Tim Crawley and Derek Hager worked their way into the top five.
Shuman started to reel in Morgan for the top spot as the laps wound down. By lap seventeen, he had worked his to within a couple of car lengths.. On the white flag lap, Shuman made one final attempt as he dove to the bottom in turns three and four. Morgan had too much momentum on the high side as he went on to his first career WAR win. Shuman, driving the pink #77 in honor of Jesse Hockett, ran a strong second. Crawley, driving the #75 Hockett Racing entry, was third with Hagar running fourth. Rounding out the top five was Moore. Brad Graham was the hard charger as he came from twenty first to sixth. Taylor Walton was seventh with Rob Hockett running eighth. Chris Morgan was ninth with Steven Cross coming from twentieth to tenth.
WAR Series presented by Impact Signs, Awnings, and Wraps
Lucas Oil Speedway
34 cars
1st Heat- 10 laps
1. 93 Dustin Morgan, Owasso, OK (9) 2. 94L Layne Himebaugh, Collinsville, OK (5) 3. 75 Tim Crawley, Benton, AR (8) 4. 81 Chad Shields, Grain Valley, MO (6) 5. 95 Tommy Rockwell, Towanda, IL (1) 6. 8 Jeff Wingate, Centertown, MO (3) 7. 1K Aaron Kuhn, Independence, MO (4) 8. 27J Mike Schouten, La Monte, MO (2) DNS: 5A Andy Anderson, Brandon, SD
2nd Heat- 10 laps
1. 77 Casey Shuman, Tempe, AZ (9) 2. 21 Eric Todd, Falcon, MO (6) 3. 1A Adam Jones, Wright City, MO (7) 4. 2AZ Rob Hockett, Lone Jack, MO (8) 5. 12 John Helm, Kearney, MO (4) 6. 21C Chris Desselle, Richmond, MO (2) 7. 18X Nathan Ryun, Higginsville, MO (5) 8. 12C Faron Crank, Sedalia, MO (3) 9. 94 Joe Frazier, Waverly, MO (1)
3rd Heat- 10 laps
1. 26 Austin Alumbaugh, Higginsville, MO (7) 2. 51 Mitchell Moore, Edgerton, KS (8) 3. 14 Taylor Walton, Warrensburg, MO (2) 4. 3 Simmons, Terre Haute, IN (5) 5. 19S Steven Cross, Clinton, MO (4) 6. 29C Devon Huff, Nixa, MO (3) 7. 10 Will Register, Sedalia, MO (1) 8. 29 Rusty Quick, Lebanon, MO (3)
4th Heat- 10 laps
1. 09 Josh Stephens, Buckner, MO (4) 2. 9JR Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (8) 3. 81A Chris Morgan, Topeka, KS (6) 4. 27X Mark Finnell, Osage Beach, MO (7) 5. 27 Bob Thoman, Higginsville, MO (5) 6. 43 Lanny Carpenter, Clarksburg, MO (2) 7. 00 PJ Grimes, Otterville, MO (1) 8. 04 Brad Graham, Springfield, MO (3)
B Main- 12 laps(top 6 transfer to A)
1. 27 Thoman (1) 2. 12 Helm (3) 3. 8 Wingate (5) 4. 19S Cross (2) 5. 04 Graham (14) 6. 43 Carpenter (7) 7. 95 Rockwell (4) 8. 1K Kuhn (10) 9. 21C Desselle (8) 10. 29C Huff (6) 11. 18X Ryun (9) 12. 27J Schouten (15) 13. 12C Crank (13) 14. 00 Grimes (12) 15. 10 Register (11) DNS: 94 Frazier, 5D Anderson, 29 Quick
A Main-20 laps
1. 93 Morgan (7) 2. 77 Shuman (8) 3. 75 Crawley (9) 4. 9JR Hagar (5) 5. 51 Moore (2) 6. 04 Graham (21) 7. 14 Walton (12) 8. 2AZ Hockett (13) 9. 81A Morgan (11) 10. 19S Cross (20) 11. 3 Simmons (16) 12. 27X Finnell (14) 13. 12 Helm (19) 14. 09 Stephens (6) 15. 43 Carpenter (22) 16. 21 Todd (1) 17. 8 Wingate (19) 18. 27 Thoman (17)-DNF 19. 94L Himebaugh (3)-DNF 20. 1A Jones (10)-DNF 21. 81 Shields (15)-DNF 22. 26 Alumbaugh (4)-DNF