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April 6, 2002 Results

Ratajczyk Roars to Victory on Opening Night! PEVELY, MO (April 6, 2002) I-55 Raceway opened the 2002 regular season with a full field of cars on a cool crisp night. Twenty-five of the top UMP Late Model drivers were on hand and provided another great night of racing. The opening qualifying heat saw Tim Ratajczyk jump out front and pull away to victory over Danny Haynes and Brett Sievert. The second heat saw Jim Durbin and Billy Laycock battle for the lead early on, but Laycock spun late in the race giving second place to Chuck Baird with Brian Wolfmeier coming home third. Billy Faust grabbed the victory in the third heat over Mark Oller and Kevin Gundaker. Tim Ratajczyk continued to impress in the dash. He jumped out front from his front row starting spot and held off a charging Kevin Gundaker who came from ninth to battle for the lead and ended up second. Billy Faust came home third. The feature event kept the fans on the edge of their seats as Tim Ratajczyk and Kevin Gundaker battled side by side for the lead lap after lap. Ratajczyk stayed around the very bottom of the track while Gundaker charged around high side. Meanwhile the battle behind the two leaders raged on as Billy Faust, Danny Haynes, Brett Sievert, Dave Jumper, Jim Durbin and Clay Baumann swapped positions lap after lap. While these battles went on, 2001 I-55 track champion Ed Dixon was on the move from twenty-second starting spot towards the front. As the laps began to wind down, the top groove began to go away and Gundaker started to fade. Billy Faust moved up to challenge Ratajczyk for the lead but couldn?t find a way around the leader. It was Ratajczyk crossing the line first, followed by Faust, Haynes, Oller and Sievert. Jumper came home sixth, with Gundaker, Durbin, Baumann and Dixon completing the top ten. Scott Weber started off the 2002 season just like he finished the 2001 season, by putting on an impressive performance and sweeping the UMP Modified events. Weber took the lead on the opening lap and held off early challenges from Jim Shereck and a late race challenge by Dean Hoffman. Following Weber and Hoffman across the line were Kyle Steffens, Leroy Haney and Tom Ratajczyk. However, Steffens was penalized two positions for jumping an earlier restart. Ray Wagner, Dennis Richards, Mike Barbeau, Jim Shereck and Chris Soutiea rounded out the top ten. The heats were won by Weber, Wagner and Hoffman. Rusty Griffaw won the consolation race after making repairs to his car from a hard crash with Doug Wood in the heat race. Paul Belken grabbed the lead on the third lap of the sportsman feature and pulled away to a dominating victory. Paul Bauman and Scott Stuppy battled back and forth for second with Bauman taking the spot. Todd McGraw was fourth and David Bardin moved up from deep in the field to finish fifth. Ricky Horton, Dan Dixon, Mark Blanke, Jim Troutman and Ron Imm completed the top ten. Dixon, Bauman and Belken won the heats, Stuppy won the dash and Blanke won the consolation. UMP Late Models Heat 1: 1. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 2. 47 Danny Haynes 3. 5 Brett Sievert 4. 51 Steve Shive 5. 77 Clay Baumann 6. 12 Mark Schaefer 7. 23 Brian Garner 8. DNS 50 Ed Dixon 9. DNS 44 Dean Motsinger Heat 2: 1. 3D Jim Durbin 2. 9B Chuck Baird 3. 37 Brian Wolfmeier 4. 2J Dave Jumper 5. 28 Don Klein 6. 41 Steve Maisel 7. 82 Billy Laycock 8. 8up Ron McQuerry Heat 3: 1. 26 Billy Faust 2. 67 Mark Oller 3. 11 Kevin Gundaker 4. 10 Rodney Pense 5. B1 Bob Brown 6. 22 Darryl Moser 7. 24 Dick Taylor 8. DNS 71 John Bohn Dash: 1. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 2. 11 Kevin Gundaker 3. 26 Billy Faust 4. 47 Danny Haynes 5. 5 Brett Sievert 6. 3D Jim Durbin 7. 67 Mark Oller 8. 9B Chuck Baird 9. 37 Brian Wolfmeier Feature: 1. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 2. 26 Billy Faust 3. 47 Danny Haynes 4. 67 Mark Oller 5. 5 Brett Sievert 6. 2J Dave Jumper 7. 11 Kevin Gundaker 8. 3D Jim Durbin 9. 77 Clay Baumann 10. 50 Ed Dixon 11. 51 Steve Shive 12. 28 Don Klein 13. 9B Chuck Baird 14. 12 Mark Schaefer 15. 10 Rodney Pense 16. 23 Brian Garner 17. B1 Bob Brown 18. 82 Billy Laycock 19. 22 Darryl Moser 20. 41 Steve Maisel 21. 37 Brian Wolfmeier 22. 8UP Ron McQuerry DQ. 44 Dean Motsinger (light) DNS. 71 John Bohn DNS. 24 Dick Taylor UMP Modifieds Heat 1: 1. 4J Scott Weber 2. 17 Jim Shereck 3. 12 Tom Ratajczyk 4. 14 Leroy Haney Heat 2: 1. 6 Ray Wagner 2. 45M Eric Mabery 3. 8 Kyle Steffens 4. 81 Mike Barbeau Heat 3: 1. 1D Dean Hoffman 2. 21 Dennis Richards 3. 444 Matt Simpson 4. 14X Tim Burdell Dash: 1. 4J Scott Weber 2. 17 Jim Shereck 3. 6 Ray Wagner 4. 1D Dean Hoffman Semi: 1. 16 Rusty Griffaw 2. 99 Brian Wolfmeier 3. 4M Brent Mullins 4. 41 Larry Hull 5. X1 Dave Sandage 6. 51 John Hoffman 7. C4 Chris Soutiea Feature: 1. 4J Scott Weber 2. 1D Dean Hoffman 3. 14 Leroy Haney 4. 12 Tom Ratajczyk 5. 8 Kyle Steffens * penalized 2 spots for jumping restart 6. 6 Ray Wagner 7. 21 Dennis Richards 8. 81 Mike Barbeau 9. 17 Jim Shereck 10. C4 Chris Soutiea 11. 8 Kirk Murphy 12. 14K Loren Knox 13. 14X Tim Burdell 14. 41 Larry Hull 15. X1 Dave Sandage 16. 56 Kevin Epperson 17. 4B Neil Wade, Jr. 18. 16 Rusty Griffaw 19. 99 Brian Wolfmeier 20. 444 Matt Simpson 21. 70 Josh Russell 22. 45M Eric Mabery 23. 4M Brent Mullins 24. 51 John Hoffman Other Cars Present: 9 Doug Wood 07 Paul Rice 10 Todd Ferber 59 Rich Whaley AARA Sportsman Heat 1: 1. 500 Dan Dixon 2. 61 Mike Whitter 3. 20 Gary McKinnon 4. 75 Ron Imm 2nd place 411 Marty Heck (DQ-light) Heat 2: 1. 24 Paul Bauman 2. 10 Todd McGraw 3. 01 Steve Borgetti 4. 98 David Bardin Heat 3: 1. 46 Paul Belken 2. 00 Scott Stuppy 3. 4 Ricky Horton 4. 15 Jim Troutman Dash: 1. 00 Scott Stuppy 2. 24 Paul Bauman 3. 500 Dan Dixon 4. 46 Paul Belken Semi: 1. 38D Mark Blanke 2. 411 Marty Heck 3. 6 Brian Noeth 4. 66 Darren Holland 5. 19 Brad Grantham 6. 54 Jim Wisnewski 7. 93 Jeff Honea Feature: 1. 46 Paul Belken 2. 24 Paul Bauman 3. 00 Scott Stuppy 4. 10 Todd McGraw 5. 98 David Bardin 6. 4 Ricky Horton 7. 500 Dan Dixon 8. 38D Mark Blanke 9. 15 Jim Troutman 10. 75 Ron Imm 11. 44 Nick Werner 12. 411 Marty Heck 13. 59 Jeff Whaley 14. 146 Douglas Kim 15. 6 Brian Noeth 16. 19 Brad Grantham 17. 01 Steve Borgetti 18. 27 Nathan Walsh 19. 51 John Hoffman 20. 61 Mike Whitter 21. 66 Darren Holland 22. 11 Darrel Crismon 23. 54 Jim Wisnewski Other Cars Present: 45 Mike Seymour 21 Brad McKinnon 166 Sam Worley 33 Dale Carroll

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