Gundaker Shoots Down the Competition at I-55!
PEVELY, MO (August 18, 2001) Mother Nature scattered heavy rain all around the area, but not a single drop fell on I-55 Raceway. As lightning lit up the sky in the background, the UMP Late Models provided the thunder on the racetrack. Ed Dixon took advantage of his front row starting position to jump out to the early lead. Kevin Gundaker moved past Tim Ratajczyk and took over second place on lap four. Matt Taylor then moved up to challenge Gundaker on low side but the caution flew as Dean Motsinger found the wall in turn one. On the restart, Gundaker took to the low side and moved past Dixon to take the lead. Gundaker, Dixon and Taylor battled two and three wide for the next several laps. Clay Baumann moved into the mix to make it a four-car battle for the lead. These four cars battled side-by-side and nose-to-tail all the way to the twenty-third lap when the caution flew again, this time for a spin involving John Bohn. On this restart, Gundaker pulled out to about a three-car length lead and picked up the victory. Dixon held on to second, Baumann was third, Taylor fourth and Mark Oller was fifth.
The UMP Modifieds had a four-car battle of their own. Rich Whaley jumped out front and was able to lead all twenty laps, but Scott Weber pulled along side of him in every corner for the first fifteen laps, then Bobby Bittle moved in to pressure him for the final five laps. Whaley and Bittle crossed the line side-by-side with Whaley winning by a half-car length. Weber was third, Rusty Griffaw fourth and Tom Ratajczyk fifth.
Bob Schmidt won his first AARA Sportsman feature of the season and became only the fourth different driver to win a Sportsman feature at I-55 Raceway this season. Troy Naeger was the early leader, but Schmidt found his way around him halfway through the event and powered his way on to the victory. Mark Blanke came home second, with Paul Bauman, Gary McKinnon and Paul Belken rounding out the top five.
UMP Modifieds (20 Cars)
Heat 1:
1. 4J Scott Weber
2. 3R Leon Rakers
3. M41 Steve Maisel
4. 14 Leroy Haney
Heat 2:
1. 59 Rich Whaley
2. 45M Eric Mabery
3. 16 Rusty Griffaw
4. 14K Loren Knox
Dash:
1. 4J Scott Weber
2. 59 Rich Whaley
3. 16 Rusty Griffaw
4. 14 Leroy Haney
Feature:
1. 59 Rich Whaley
2. 89 Bobby Bittle
3. 4J Scott Weber
4. 16 Rusty Griffaw
5. 12 Tom Ratajczyk
6. 3R Leon Rakers
7. 6 Ray Wagner
8. C4 Chris Soutiea
9. 45M Eric Mabery
10. M41 Steve Maisel
11. 68 Andy Anderson
12. X1 Dave Sandage
13. 70 Ken Peters
14. 41 Larry Hull
15. 62 Troy Medley
16. 14K Loren Knox
17. 14 Leroy Haney
DNS. 21R Dennis Richards
DNS. 95 Jim Beishir
DNS. 8 Kirk Murphy
UMP Late Models (14 Cars)
Heat 1:
1. 2J Dave Jumper
2. 67 Mark Oller
3. 71 John Bohn
4. 117 Matt Taylor
Heat 2:
1. 112 Tim Ratajczyk
2. 50 Ed Dixon
3. 51 Steve Shive
4. 11 Kevin Gundaker
Dash:
1. 112 Tim Ratajczyk
2. 50 Ed Dixon
3. 11 Kevin Gundaker
4. 51 Steve Shive
Feature:
1. 11 Kevin Gundaker
2. 50 Ed Dixon
3. 77 Clay Baumann
4. 117 Matt Taylor
5. 67 Mark Oller
6. 112 Tim Ratajczyk
7. 2J Dave Jumper
8. 47 Danny Haynes
9. 51 Steve Shive
10. 83 Bill Masters
11. 28 Don Klein
12. 4 Larry Loughary
13. 71 John Bohn
14. 44 Dean Motsinger
AARA Sportsman (32 Cars)
Heat 1:
1. 12 Troy Naeger
2. 92 Jim Abshier
3. 111 Zac Parks
4. 500 Dan Dixon
Heat 2:
1. 36 Bob Schmidt
2. 38D Mark Blanke
3. 24 Paul Bauman
4. 46 Paul Belken
Heat 3:
1. 10 Todd McGraw
2. 166 Brian Worley
3. 00 Scott Stuppy
4. 187 Gary Haynes
Heat 4:
1. 20 Gary McKinnon
2. F16 Frank Melton
3. 44 Nick Werner
4. D5 Dave Jenkins
Dash:
1. 12 Troy Naeger
2. 20 Gary McKinnon
3. 36 Bob Schmidt
4. 38D Mark Blanke
Semi:
1. 18 Daryl Dodge
2. 75 Ron Imm
3. 45 Mike Seymour
4. D40 Ed DeMille
5. 93 Jeff Honea
6. 61 Mike Whitter
7. 76 Brian Roberts
DNS. 105 Matt Hancock
DNS. 34 Ray Wohlschlaeger
DNS. 77 Randy Kueker
DNS. 42 Nathan Walsh
DNS. 19 Brad Grantham
DNS. 49 Daniel Hancock
Feature:
1. 36 Bob Schmidt
2. 38D Mark Blanke
3. 24 Paul Bauman
4. 20 Gary McKinnon
5. 46 Paul Belken
6. 166 Brian Worley
7. 00 Scott Stuppy
8. 92 Jim Abshier
9. D5 Dave Jenkins
10. 500 Dan Dixon
11. F16 Frank Melton
12. 01 Steve Borgetti
13. 187 Gary Haynes
14. 75 Ron Imm
15. D40 Ed DeMille
16. 18 Daryl Dodge
17. 10 Todd McGraw
18. 45 Mike Seymour
19. 111 Zac Parks
20. 301 Tom Fitzgerald
21. 12 Troy Naeger
22. 44 Nick Werner
23. 411 Marty Heck
DQ. 93 Jeff Honea
