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September 6, 2003 Results

Pevely, MO (September 6, 2003) It was Championship Night at I-55 Raceway and the Champions were crowned in all four divisions. In the U.M.P. Late Model division, Ed Dixon started the night with a twenty-nine point lead over Tim Ratajczyk who was just six points ahead of Mark Oller who was in third. As the green flag dropped on the main event, Tim Ratajczyk took the early from the outside of the front row. Pole sitter Kevin Gundaker raced past Ratajczyk going down the back-stretch on lap three and took over the top spot. Ed Dixon and Mark Oller moved in the third and fourth spot and began a four car battle for the lead. Gundaker held on to the lead as he fought off challenges from Ratajczyk and Dixon. Oller remained in fourth but was right in the mix with the leaders. Smoke began to pour from Gundaker's car and on lap seventeen his night ended as he rolled to a stop in turn two. This caution set up a great battle to the finish between Dixon, Ratajczyk and Oller. All three took turns leading the event in the final eight laps but it was Ratajczyk taking the checkered flag first, with Oller second and Dixon third. Bert Cheatham made his first appearance in years at I-55 Raceway and made a strong showing as he took fourth. Danny Haynes rounded out the top five. Dixon's third place finish was good enough as he is the 2003 I-55 Raceway U.M.P. Late Model Track Champion. Ray Walsh had already secured the Championship in the U.M.P. Modified division before the night's action even started. Walsh's strong and consistant runs all season gave him a comfortable lead in the track points coming into the night's racing. The feature event in the U.M.P. Modifieds provided another great battle for the lead. Leon Rakers took command of the race early on. It didn't take long for last year's track champion Scott Weber and this year's track champion Ray Walsh to move in on Rakers and begin a good three-way battle for the lead. But on lap twelve Rakers suffered a flat right rear and began sliding back quickly through the field. The red flag flew on the next lap for an incident in turn four that sent Loren Knox into a slow roll over. Knox was uninjured and his car didn't appear to be damaged and he continued to race after the restart. On the restart, Scott Weber pulled away and went on to a comfortable win with Ray Walsh taking the second spot. Bobby Bittle continued his strong season as he came home third. Jerry Grither had one of his best outings of the season and took fourth. Tom Ratajczyk completed the top five. In the AARA Sportsman division, Scott Stuppy came in the night's action with a twenty-six point lead over Paul Bauman. With the AARA Sportsman feature lined up by the point standings, Stuppy and Bauman started the event side-by-side on the front row. But that also put a long list of strong competitors directly behind them. Bauman jumped out the early lead served up a strong message that he was going to be the one to beat as he pulled out to a big lead. Stuppy fell into the clutches of the other strong competitors as seven different cars were battling for the second spot. After a couple of late race cautions, in was last year's champion Paul Belken took over the second spot and battled hard with Bauman for the lead in the final laps. But in the end it was Bauman taking the win. Even with the win, he need Stuppy to finish seventh or worse for him to win the championship and unfortunately for Stuppy, seventh place is where he finished. Bauman won the championship by a mere two points over Stuppy. Following Belken across the line in third place was Todd McGraw. Darren Holland took fourth and Ricky Horton was fifth. A close battle in the AARA Wannabeez division Season Championship saw Pat Brewer with an eleven point lead over Dave Heinrichs and a seventeen point lead over third place Joe Gruhala as the night began. In the main event, it was Gary Price taking the win, with Robbie Hoffman second and Don Hoffman third. Pat Brewer finished sixth and secured the championship over Joe Gruhala who was seventh. Mechanical problems prevented Heinrichs from starting the main event. AARA Sportsman - 29 Entries Heat 1: 1. 46 Paul Belken 2. 8 Ed Lowry 3. 19 Jimmy Cummins 4. 01 Steve Borgetti Heat 2: 1. 75 Ron Imm, Jr. 2. 10 Todd McGraw 3. 69 Mark Hunter 4. 30 Mike Nicholson Heat 3: 1. 105 Matt Hancock 2. 3P Bob Prince 3. 66 Darren Holland 4. 24 Paul Bauman Dash: 1. 46 Paul Belken 2. 50 Eric Rudd 3. 86 Doug Kim 4. 66 Darren Holland Semi: 1. 103 Randy Dickman 2. 9 Bob Schmidt 3. 54 Jim Wisnewski 4. 27 Nathan Walsh 5. 105 Matt Hancock 6. 128 Lee Clardy 7. 53 Dwight Scott DNS. 411 Marty Heck DNS. 12 Troy Naeger DNS. 100 D.J. Griffaw DNS. 30 Mike Nicholson Feature: 1. 24 Paul Bauman 2. 46 Paul Belken 3. 10 Todd McGraw 4. 66 Darren Holland 5. 4 Ricky Horton 6. 86 Doug Kim 7. 00 Scott Stuppy 8. 50 Eric Rudd 9. 3P Bob Prince 10. 8 Ed Lowry 11. 01 Steve Borgetti 12. 111 Zac Parks 13. 98 David Bardin 14. 18 Buddy Lowry 15. 69 Mark Hunter 16. 103 Randy Dickman 17. 19 Jimmy Cummins 18. 54 Jim Wisnewski 19. 128 Lee Clardy 20. 9 Bob Schmidt 21. 21 Brad McKinnon 22. 75 Ron Imm, Jr. 23. 27 Nathan Walsh U.M.P. Late Models - 18 Entries Heat 1: 1. 11 Kevin Gundaker 2. 441 Brian Wolfmeier 3. 47 Danny Haynes 4. 8 Kyle Steffens Heat 2: 1. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 2. 67 Mark Oller 3. 3D Jim Durbin 4. 50 Ed Dixon Dash: 1. 11 Kevin Gundaker 2. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 3. 441 Brian Wolfmeier 4. 50 Ed Dixon Feature: 1. 112 Tim Ratajczyk 2. 67 Mark Oller 3. 50 Ed Dixon 4. 75 Bert Cheatham 5. 47 Danny Haynes 6. 441 Brian Wolfmeier 7. 82 Billy Laycock 8. 8 Kyle Steffens 9. 28 Don Klein 10. 13 Brent Kreke 11. 71 John Bohn 12. 8 Ron McQuerry 13. 11 Kevin Gundaker 14. 36 Ron Sensel 15. 46 Paul Belken 16. 7 Rich Lawson 17. 3D Jim Durbin 18. 51 Steve Shive U.M.P. Modifieds - 33 Entries Heat 1: 1. 12 Tom Ratajczyk 2. 95 Jerry Grither 3. 8X James Reed 4. 51 John Hoffman Heat 2: 1. 3R Leon Rakers 2. 4J Scott Weber 3. 89 Bobby Bittle 4. 29 Jeff LeBaube Heat 3: 1. 9W Doug Wood 2. 1W Ray Walsh 3. 14K Loren Knox 4. 7 Mark Miner Heat 4: 1. 16 Dean Hoffman 2. 18 Brent Thompson 3. 22X Clint Eckenrodt 4. 99 Brian Wolfmeier Dash: 1. 3R Leon Rakers 2. 12 Tom Ratajczyk 3. 4J Scott Weber 4. 95 Jerry Grither Semi: 1. 19 Chris Simmerman 2. 21 Dennis Richards 3. 166 Brian Worley 4. 59 Rich Whaley 5. X1 Dave Sandage 6. 41 Larry Hull 7. 15 Doug Blair 8. 6 D.J. Hickman 9. 42 John Lansford 10. 73 Chris Moyer 11. 88 Joe Puricelli 12. 2 Todd Ferber DNS. 45M Eric Mabery DNS. 56 Kevin Epperson DNS. 51 John Hoffman Feature: 1. 4J Scott Weber 2. 1W Ray Walsh 3. 89 Bobby Bittle 4. 95 Jerry Grither 5. 12 Tom Ratajczyk 6. 166 Brian Worley 7. 7 Mark Miner 8. 18 Brent Thompson 9. 3R Leon Rakers 10. 22X Clint Eckenrodt 11. 9W Doug Wood 12. 99 Brian Wolfmeier 13. 14K Loren Knox 14. 29 Jeff LeBaube 15. 21 Dennis Richards 16. X1 Dave Sandage 17. C4 Chris Soutiea 18. 85 Todd Gailius 19. 19 Chris Simmerman 20. 23 Dylan Sharp 21. 6 Ray Wagner 22. 16 Dean Hoffman 23. 8X James Reed 24. 59 Rich Whaley AARA Wannabees - 15 Entries Heat 1: 1. 99 Robbie Hoffman 2. 188 Gary Price 3. 6 Joe Gruhala 4. 21 Dave Heinrichs Heat 2: 1. 57 Don Hoffman 2. 10 Homer Mooney 3. 28 Scott Geary 4. 8 Pat Brewer Feature: 1. 188 Gary Price 2. 99 Robbie Hoffman 3. 57 Don Hoffman 4. 10H Homer Mooney 5. 11 Chad Carter 6. 8 Pat Brewer 7. 6 Joe Gruhala 8. 28 Scott Geary 9. 58 Sharon Hoffman 10. 02 Tracy Missey 11. 77 Ron Lyons 12. 88 Scott Price 13. 4 Joel Potter DNS. 21 Dave Heinrichs DNS. 29 Dave Thompson

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