By Dean Reichel
The next to last night of Sunday Night Thunder at Double-X Speedway for 2014 brought a new group of competitors to the track in the form of the “Battle of the Badges” law enforcement race. These drivers had many excited fans to watch them do battle at the California, MO track. Also on the card were the ever popular street stocks, hobby stock and winged sprint cars. Leading off the feature events was the street stock division. At the drop of the green, front row starters Cliff Champney and John Clancy tangled in turn one bringing out the yellow, both drivers were able to restart at the rear of the field. Andrew Roark led lap one but he too brought out a caution flag which put Harlan Dowell at the point. Dowell was challenged hard by young Cole Henson with Henson leading lap 5 and Dowell reclaiming the lead on lap 6 as a caution for lapped car Jake Dent brought the field to Dowell’s rear bumper. Dowell’s time at the front was short lived as sixth starting Steve Beach moved into the top spot on lap seven. Dowell would give chase until tire issues forced him pit side. Cole Henson and John Clancy would challenge each other while keeping the leader in sight. Beach would lead the remainder of the event with Clancy second, Henson third, Roark fourth and Dylan Bias in fifth. Heat races were claimed by Champney and Clancy. A special Dash for Cash in memory of Terry Turpin was ran by the top two finishers in each heat race inverted by their finishing position. Claiming the $150 cash was last starting John Clancy.
The Hobby Stock cars were next up for their feature event with heat race winners Gage Wineland and Kevin Prall leading the field to green. It was a familiar sight as Wineland moved in to the lead followed by Cole Canada and Will Register. Eddie Lavery III was making his presence known moving to the fourth position by lap two. This would be the running order until a caution by Katie Goodson on lap 7 would bunch the field behind the leaders. Cole Canada stopped on the track during the yellow relegating him to the tail of the field on the restart. Wineland was not to be denied as he claimed another feature victory at Double-X this season. Following him under the checkered flag were Lavery, Register, Mike Schrader and Chuck Coffey completing the top five.
The third feature on the track were the visiting members of the law enforcement community for the “Battle of the Badges”. With lights flashing and the crowd cheering on their favorites Travis Yeager and Mike Dierkes paced the field. Dierkes moved in to the lead for the first seven laps with Aaron Bolinger moving to the point four circuits before surrendering the lead to Jason Worthley who would hold off his challengers to claim the victory. Following Worthley across the stripe were Fred Stotler, Bolinger, Kyle McIntyre and Dan Schroeder. Law enforcement agencies from all across the state were represented in this event and they had a loyal legion of fans to cheer them on. Heat races were claimed by Yeager and Dierkes.
The winged sprint cars completed their feature event by running the entire 25 lap race without a caution flag. Jonathan Cornell outpaced fellow front row starter Kyle Bellm on lap one and that was all Cornell would need as he claimed yet another feature event at Double-X. Bellm would keep Cornell in his sights the entire race but was unable to mount a challenge and would settle for second. Tenth starting Taylor Walton would bring his yellow number 15 machine home in third followed by Evan Martin and Tyler Blank rounding out the top five. Three qualifying heat races set the feature line up, these heats were claimed by Bellm, Cornell and Brad Ryun.
The 25th season of racing will draw to a close next Sunday night at Double X with street stocks, hobby stocks, winged sprint cars and 600cc winged micro sprints on hand. After the races, the awards will be handed out and the top point earners in each division will be honored. Powder puff and mechanic races will follow the award presentation.
Results 7/27/2014–
Street Stocks–
Feature Event–
1. 10-Steve Beach, Eldon; 2. 8-John Clancy, California; 3. 31c-Cole Henson, Russellville; 4. 17-Andrew Roark, Henley; 5. 43-Dylan Bias, Centertown; 6. 6-Cliff Champney, Holt Summit; 7. 38-Jake Dent, California; 8. 29-Harlan Dowell, Tipton; 9. 29d-Curt Turpin, Jefferson City; 10. 15-Destiny Dowell, Tipton (DNS)
Terry Turpin Memorial Dash for Cash–
1. Clancy; 2. Roark; 3. H. Dowell; 4. Champney
Heat 1–
1. Champney; 2. H. Dowell; 3. Henson; 4. Bias; 5. Dent
Heat 2–
1. Clancy; 2. Roark; 3. Beach; 4. D. Dowell; 5. Turpin
Hobby Stocks–
Feature–
1. 12g-Gage Wineland, Syracuse; 2. 4-Eddie Lavery III, Tipton; 3. 77-Will Register, Sedalia; 4. 11-Mike Schrader, Sedalia; 5. 171-Chuck Coffey, Windsor; 6. 14-Kevin Prall, Sedalia; 7. 10x-Cole Canada, Fulton; 8. 15-Katie Goodson, Sedalia; 9. 4a-Laura Atkinson, Eldon; 10. 7x-Ricky Cross, St. James; 11. 88-Rodger Deatherage, Windsor; 12. 8-Bryan Alumbaugh, Tipton; 13. 2x-Rudy Wirts, California
Heat 1–
1. Wineland; 2. Canada; 3. Cross; 4. Schrader; 5. Coffey; 6. Deatherage; 7. Wirts
Heat 2–
1. Prall; 2. Register; 3. Lavery; 4. Goodson; 5. Alumbaugh; 6. Atkinson
Battle of the Badges–
Feature–
1. 1298-Jason Worthley, MO Highway Patrol; 2. 18s-Fred Stotler, St. Charles County Sheriffs Dept.; 3. 13-Aaron Bolinger, Cole County Sheriffs Dept.; 4. 501-Kyle McIntyre, Holts Summit PD; 5. 1- Dan Schroeder, St. Louis County PD; 6. 10-49-Mike Saunders, MO Dept. of Corrections Fulton Diagnostic Center; 7. 3-Mike Dierkes, St. Louis COunty PD; 8. 401-Trampus Jackson, Stover PD; 9. 2-Mike Kennedy, St. Louis County PD; 10. 27-Chris Carrigan, Jasper County Sheriffs Office; 11. 53-Travis Yeager, Versailles PD; 12. 16-Jason Conn, Miller County Sheriffs Office; 13. 95- Mike Nienhaus, Morgan County Sheriffs Office
Heat 1–
1. Yeager; 2. Bolinger; 3. Schroeder; 4. Carrigan; 5. Saunders; 6. Nienhaus; 7. Jackson
Heat 2–
1. Dierkes; 2. Worthley; 3. Stotler; 4. McIntyre; 5. Conn; 6. Kennedy
Winged Sprint Cars–
Feature–
1. 28-Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia; 2.86-Kyle Bellm, Nixa; 3. 15-Taylor Walton, Warrensburg; 4. 4-Evan Martin, California; 5. 75-Tyler Blank, California; 6. 0-Randy Martin, California; 7. 1X-Brad Ryun, Higginsville; 8. 34-Corey Nelson, Eugene; 9. 65-TJ Muths, Sedalia; 10. 38-Cody Baker, Lone Jack; 11. 11w-Wyatt Burks, Topeka KS; 12. 24-Lanny Carpenter, Clarksburg; 13. 5-Matt Close, LaMonte; 14. 18x-Nathan Ryun, Higginsville; 15. XX-AJ Wirts, California; 16. 9-Casey Baker, Lone Jack; 17. 49B-Ben Brown, Marshall; 18. 49E-Tyler Elliott, California; 19. 82-Vinny Ward, Warrenton (DNS)
Heat 1–
1. Bellm; 2. Blank; 3. Close; 4. Wirts; 5. Brown; 6. Ward; 7. Carpenter
Heat 2–
1. Cornell; 2. Elliott; 3. R. Martin; 4. Walton; 5. Burks; 6. N. Ryun
Heat 3–
1. B. Ryun; 2. E. Martin; 3. Muths; 4. Nelson; 5. Ca. Baker; 6. Co. Baker (DNS)