Pevely, MO (July 17, 2004) Matt Taylor of Springfield, IL won his second consecutive U.M.P. (United Midwestern Promoters) Late Model main event at I-55 Raceway. Taylor narrowly escaped big trouble late the race when yellow flag came out late in the race for John Lansford's flat tire. Lansford turned down onto the infield in front of Taylor while Taylor was still at full speed. Taylor made contact with Lansford and came to rest against the inside wall. However, he was able to restart and held off Tim Ratajcyzk for the win. A big crash early on in the event elimated several of the top contenders including Ken Schrader. Brian Shirley spun in turn four while running second and collected Schrader, Kenny Helmick and Bruce Unterbrink. Shirley was able to restart and came back with a strong finish. Tim Ratajczyk charged his way from the nineteenth starting spot to finish second. Mark Oller finished off his great run with a third place finish. Ed Dixon took the fourth spot and Brian Shirley came back from the early spin to finish fifth.
Brent Mullins stole the show in the U.M.P. Modified division. Mullins wrestled with Scott Weber for the lead lap after lap and finally took the lead from Weber with just three laps remaining to take the win. Weber crossed the line in second. Dean Hoffman battled with Eric Mabery all twenty laps edged Mabery out for the third spot. Bobby Bittle moved up from the twelvth starting position to round out the top five. Doug Wood took the Missouri/Illinois Dodge Dealers Hard Charger Award. Wood started in the eighteenth starting position and finished eighth.
Ricky Horton and Bobby Prince battled lap after lap for the AARA Sportsman title. Horton took the win by a half-car length advantage. Paul Belken took third, Bob Schmidt fourth and Paul Bauman fifth. A huge crash on the backstretch in the early laps heavily damaged the cars of Matt Hancock, Sam Worley, Mark Schnurbusch, Tim Meara and Tony Wyatt. All the drivers were okay after the incident.
Conrad Miner took his second straight win in the AARA Pro 4 Stock division. Miner held off Pat Brewer and Homer Mooney as the three battled two and three wide for much of the event. Brewer finished second, Mooney third, with Scott Geary fourth and Gary Price fifth.
U.M.P. Late Models – 23 Entries
Heat 1:
1. 50 Ed Dixon
2. 67 Mark Oller
3. 77 Clay Baumann
4. 3S Brian Shirley
Heat 2:
1. 95 Jeff Johns
2. 3L Matt Taylor
3. 27 Kenny Helmick
4. 2J Dave Jumper
Heat 3:
1. 99 Ken Schrader
2. 1A Justin Allgaier
3. 47 Danny Haynes
4. 8 Kyle Steffens
Dash:
1. 95 Jeff Johns
2. 50 Ed Dixon
3. 3L Matt Taylor
4. 99 Ken Schrader
Feature:
1. 3L Matt Taylor (3)
2. 112 Tim Ratajczyk (19)
3. 67 Mark Oller (8)
4. 50 Ed Dixon (2)
5. 3S Brian Shirley (11)
6. 1A Justin Allgaier (5)
7. 147 Kenny Rumble (16)
8. 28 Don Klein (14)
9. 8 Kyle Steffens (10)
10. 51 Steve Shive (18)
11. 42 John Lansford (17)
12. 77 Clay Baumann (7)
13. 14 Bruce Unterbrink (20)
14. 99 Ken Schrader (4)
15. 27 Kenny Helmick (9)
16. 30 Mark Voigt (13)
17. 2J Dave Jumper (12)
18. 11 Kevin Gundaker (15)
19. 95 Jeff Johns (1)
20. 47 Danny Haynes (6)
21. 76 Butch Kruckeberg (23)
22. 10 Rodney Pense (22)
23. 59 Rich Whaley (21)
U.M.P. Modifieds – 33 Entries
Heat 1:
1. 1W Ray Walsh
2. 1D Dean Hoffman
3. 88 Joe Puricelli
4. 22X Clint Eckenrodt
Heat 2:
1. 44 Mark Stanfill
2. 41M Brent Mullins
3. 19 Chris Simmerman
4. 12 Tom Ratajczyk
Heat 3:
1. 4J Scott Weber
2. 59 Rich Whaley
3. 56 Kevin Epperson
4. 10 Todd McGraw
Heat 4:
1. 45M Eric Mabery
2. 166 Brian Worley
3. 89 Bobby Bittle
4. 21 Dennis Richards
Dash:
1. 1W Ray Walsh
2. 4J Scott Weber
3. 45M Eric Mabery
4. 1D Dean Hoffman
Semi:
1. C6 Ray Wagner
2. 8X James Reed
3. 41 Larry Hull
4. 7Z Matt Zimmerly
5. 13 Dan Walters
6. 14K Loren Knox
7. 8 Chad Naylor
8. C4 Chris Soutiea
9. 31P Mitch Parmeley
10. 95 Jerry Grither
11. 46 Dave Wibbenmeyer
DNS. 29 Jeff LeBaube
DNS. 21A Karl Adams
Feature:
1. 41M Brent Mullins (6)
2. 4J Scott Weber (2)
3. 1D Dean Hoffman (4)
4. 45M Eric Mabery (3)
5. 89 Bobby Bittle (12)
6. 12 Tom Ratajczyk (14)
7. 88 Joe Puricelli (9)
8. 9W Doug Wood (18)
9. 56 Kevin Epperson (11)
10. 22X Clint Eckenrodt (13)
11. C6 Ray Wagner (21)
12. 7 Mark Miner (20)
13. 21 Dennis Richards (16)
14. 7Z Matt Zimmerly (24)
15. 10 Todd McGraw (15)
16. 44 Mark Stanfill (8)
17. 41 Larry Hull (23)
18. 20 Dan Zander (19)
19. 59 Rich Whaley (7)
20. 8X James Reed (22)
21. 1W Ray Walsh (1)
22. 166 Brian Worley (5)
23. 19 Chris Simmerman (10)
24. 3R Leon Rakers (17)
AARA Sportsman – 31 Entries
Heat 1:
1. 64 Jim Smith
2. 8 Ed Lowry
3. 27 Nathan Walsh
4. 100 D.J. Griffaw
Heat 2:
1. 46 Paul Belken
2. 71 David Bardin
3. 24 Paul Bauman
4. 11 Tim Meara
Heat 3:
1. 36 Bob Schmidt
2. 22 Eric Rudd
3. 18 Buddy Lowry
4. 66 Darren Holland
Heat 4:
1. 31 Ricky Horton
2. 3P Bobby Prince
3. 12 Troy Naeger
4. 75 Ron Imm, Jr.
Dash:
1. 46 Paul Belken
2. 31 Ricky Horton
3. 36 Bob Schmidt
4. 64 Jim Smith
Semi:
1. 28 Sam Worley
2. 166 Tony Wyatt
3. 311 Brian Shubirg
4. 105 Matt Hancock
5. 97 John Goodson
6. 59 Jerry Fleming
7. 128 Lee Clardy
8. 21 Brad McKinnon
DNS. 01 Steve Borgetti
DNS. 411 Marty Heck
DNS. 87 Jim Hardesty
Feature:
1. 31 Ricky Horton
2. 3P Bobby Prince
3. 46 Paul Belken
4. 36 Bob Schmidt
5. 24 Paul Bauman
6. 00 Scott Stuppy
7. 8 Ed Lowry
8. 64 Jim Smith
9. 71 David Bardin
10. 30 Mike Nicholson
11. 75 Ron Imm, Jr.
12. 66 Darren Holland
13. 22 Eric Rudd
14. 311 Brian Shubirg
15. 27 Nathan Walsh
16. 69 Mark Hunter
17. 100 D.J. Griffaw
18. 18 Buddy Lowry
19. 12 Troy Naeger
20. 166 Tony Wyatt
21. 11 Tim Meara
22. 4 Mark Schnurbusch
23. 28 Sam Worley
24. 105 Matt Hancock
AARA Pro 4 Stocks – 21 Entries
Heat 1:
1. 7 Conrad Miner
2. 31 Jim McCummiskey
3. 28 Scott Geary
4. 41 Roger Ernst
Heat 2:
1. 8 Pat Brewer
2. 10H Homer Mooney
3. 22 Don Ernst
4. 188 Gary Price
Feature:
1. 7 Conrad Miner
2. 8 Pat Brewer
3. 10H Homer Mooney
4. 28 Scott Geary
5. 188 Gary Price
6. 41 Roger Ernst
7. 21 Dave Heinrichs
8. 31 Jim McCummiskey
9. 2 Dan Schmidt
10. 32 Larry Kirkpatrick
11. 23 Chris Roark
12. 29 Dave Thompson
13. 343 Butch Hartman
14. 77 Ron Lyons
15. 76 Earl Leoffell
16. 33 Randy Martin
17. 19 Steven Ide
18. 180 Ryan Conner
19. 20 Ken Williams
20. 22 Don Ernst
DNS. 49 Nathan Portell
