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Bielong, Ems & Eilers takes I-55 Raceway Fall Nationals wins!

Brian Bielong CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM I-55 RACEWAY Pevely, MO (October 6, 2007) The 6th Annual Fall Sportsman Nationals drew a record field as seventy-nine U.M.P. DIRTcar/A.A.R.A. Sportsman cars checked in to compete for coveted crown. There were also forty-one U.M.P. DIRTcar/A.A.R.A. Pure Stocks and thirty-nine U.M.P. DIRTcar/A.A.R.A. Pro 4 Stocks on hand to battle in those divisions. Line-X of Jefferson County, Ski Soda, Missouri/illinois Dodge Dealers and Hoosier Tires were the title sponsors for this special event featuring tough local and regional drivers. Brian Bielong of Summerfield, Illinois claimed the Sportsman victory and earned $4,000 including the $2,600 first place prize and $1,400 in lap leader bonus money. Bielong was piloting the #441 Extreme Race Cars chassis owned by Brenda and Aaron Melton sponsored by Summerfield Auto Body, Main's Tree Service, Woods Country Store and Vinyl Visions. Troy Medley and Paul Bauman started on the front row for the main event, however the two made contact in turns three and four on the opening lap, causing some chain reaction contact between other cars. Troy Naeger, who started third, slipped past both front row starters to lead the first lap after the contact between the two front row starters. Naeger's lead would be short-lived as he only led two laps before Medley powered back into the lead. Medley would pace the field for the next thirty-eight laps while there was plenty of jocking for positions behind him. Bielong, who started sixth, moved in and began challenging Medley on lap thirty-three and made the pass on lap forty-one. Medley tried to make a move back past Bielong but drove into turn one too hard and spun. Bielong would lead the final ten laps of the fifty lap event enroute to victory. Gary Haynes powered his way from the thirteenth starting spot to finish second. Andy Casper provided an exciting performance in the closing laps and he charged to the front in the closing laps to finish third. Casper, who started way back in ninteenth, rode the rim around the top, showering sparks off the outside retaining wall as he charged forward. Jeff LeBaube would take the fourth spot with Jimmy Cummins completing the top five. The Champions Dash, featuring past winners of this event as well as all 2007 track champions from various racetracks, saw Paul Bauman take the victory and he and Troy Naeger battle side-by-side for the entire ten laps. Danny Ems of Arnold, Missouri picked up the biggest win of his young career as he and Chris Sale battled for the top spot throughout the main event in the Pure Stock division. John Schrand moved past Josh Jackson late in the race to pick up the third spot and Danny Ripperda took the fifth spot and he crossed the line behind Jackson. Ryan Eilers took the victory in the Pro 4 Stock main event as he and Chris Fisher fought for the lead. Conrad Miner would take third with Derek Sander fourth and Brooke Hassler fifth. AARA Sportsman - 79 Entries Heat 1 1. 50 Kent Nations 2. 55 Marty Smith Jr. 3. 28 Bert Jacoby 4. 27 Adam Haas 5. 36 Danny Ems 6. V8 James Farley 7. 67 Ronnie Bader 8. 07 Andy Casper 9. 66L Sam Lopretta 10. M41 Steve Maisel Heat 2 1. 18 Paul Bauman 2. 129 Ken Rumble 3. 11 Jeff Herzog 4. 8E Russell Eilers 5. 82 Jim Clark 6. 72 Jeremy Roth 7. 8L Buddy Lowry 8. 93 Paul Nash 9. 31 Ricky Horton 10. 123 Dennis Wernle Heat 3 1. 128 Tyson Gegg 2. 29 Jeff LaBaube 3. 441 Brian Beilong 4. 85 Aaron Kleine 5. 95M Chuck Crostic 6. 147 Kyle Stolzer 7. 2C Pete Cory 8. 70 Tony Hunter 9. 82 Pat Chalmers 10. 41J Ricky Johnson Heat 4 1. 99K Dustin Knerrer 2. 19S Nathan Schmitt 3. 143 Brett Korves 4. 56B Marty Kopp 5. 71 Dan Pitti 6. 3B Jeffery Barker 7. 96L Bill Shuford 8. 11L Ryan Eilers 9. 1 Jim Kimbell 10. 3E Robbie Eilers Heat 5 1. 62 Troy Medley 2. 444 Marc Roberson 3. 95N Jeremy Nash 4. 411 Marty Heck Jr. 5. 147 Joe Geisler 6. 95 Randy Dietzel 7. 69 Derek Bryant 8. 47 Jim Stevens 9. 105 Matt Hancock 10. 32 Jerry Fleming Heat 6 1. 12 Troy Naeger 2. 28 Tom Smallwood 3. 28K Justin Ketrow 4. 41 Stu Springer 5. 31 Brian Shubirg 6. 86 Jake Robbins 7. 23 Brad Smith 8. 23B Allan Gieseking 9. 47R Kyle Roberts 10. 68 Jerry Kiser Heat 7 1. 8E Steve Edgecomb 2. 87 Gary Haynes 3. 55 Jason Keller 4. 8H Scott Hensler 5. 84 Steve Stevenson 6. 52 Billy Knebel 7. 16 Joe McCain 8. 21 Randy Dickman 9. 97 John Goodson 10. 40 Shane Tomlin Heat 8 1. 19 Jimmy Cummins 2. 811 Wade Sutter 3. 96 Tim Hollerbach 4. 43 Mike Harris 5. 23 Kevin Mosier 6. 66H Dave Heimos 7. 99J Gary Johnson 8. 53 Loren Schaefer 9. 15 Jason Bohnenstiehl Track Champions Dash 1. 18 Paul Bauman 2. 12 Troy Naeger 3. 43 Mike Harris 4. 8E Russell Eilers 5. 21 Randy Dickman 6. 11 Jeff Herzog 7. M41 Steve Maisel Dash 1 1. 62 Troy Medley 2. 12 Troy Naeger 3. 50 Kent Nations 4. 29 Jeff LaBaube 5. 19 Jimmy Cummins 6. 19 Nathan Schmitt 7. 87 Gary Haynes 8. 99 Dustin Knerrer Dash 2 1. 18 Paul Bauman 2. 55 Marty Smith Jr. 3. 441 Brian Beilong 4. 8E Steve Edgecomb 5. 811 Wade Sutter 6. 95 Jeremy Nash 7. 128 Tyson Gegg 8. 28 Tom Smallwood Semi 1 Top 2 Advance 1. 143 Brett Korves 2. 43 Mike Harris 3. 31 Brian Shubirg 4. 8H Scott Hensler 5. 68 Jerry Kiser 6. 444 Marc Roberson 7. 11 Jeff Herzog 8. 3B Jeffery Barker 9. 95 Randy Dietzel 10. 8L Buddy Lowry 11. 66L Sam Lopretta 12. 70 Tony Hunter 13. 82 Pat Chalmers 14. 11L Ryan Eilers 15. 105 Matt Hancock 16. 123 Dennis Wernle Semi 2 1. 129 Ken Rumble 2. 47 Jim Stevens 3. 56 Marty Kopp 4. 52 Billy Knebel 5. 84 Steve Stevenson 6. 41J Ricky Johnson 7. 47 Kyle Roberts 8. 95 Chuck Crostic 9. 40 Shane Tomlin 10. 28 Justin Ketrow 11. 96 Bill Shuford 12. 72 Jeremy Roth 13. 21 Randy Dickman 14. 85 Aaron Kleine 15. 2 Pete Cory 16. 31 Ricky Horton Semi 3 1. 07 Andy Casper 2. 27 Adam Haas 3. 8E Russell Eilers 4. 28 Bert Jacoby 5. 86 Jake Robbins 6. 97 John Goodson 7. 411 Marty Heck 8. 23 Brad Smith 9. 16 Joe McCain 10. 71 Dan Pitti 11. V8 James Farley 12. 23B Allan Gieseking 13. 69 Derek Bryant 14. 82 Pat Chalmers 15. 3E Robbie Eilers 16. 15 Jason Bohnenstiehl Semi 4 1. 55 Jason Keller 2. 23M Kevin Mosier 3. 41 Stu Springer 4. 147 Joe Geisler 5. 147 Kyle Stolzer 6. M41 Steve Maisel 7. 36 Danny Ems 8. 66H Dave Heimos 9. 99J Gary Johnson 10. 53 Loren Schaefer 11. 96 Tim Hollerbach 12. 67 Ronnie Bader 13. 1 Jim Kimbell 14. 32 Jerry Fleming 15. 93 Paul Nash Feature 1. 441 Brian Bielong 2. 87 Gary Haynes 3. 07 Andy Casper 4. 29 Jeff LaBaube 5. 19 Jimmy Cummins 6. 12 Troy Naeger 7. 28 Justin Ketrow 8. 19S Nathan Schmitt 9. 99 Dustin Knerrer 10. 811 Wade Sutter 11. 55 Jason Keller 12. 27 Adam Haas 13. 8 Steve Edgecomb 14. 62 Troy Medley 15. 18 Paul Bauman 16. 56 Marty Kopp 17. 23 Kevin Mosier 18. 143 Brett Korves 19. 67 Ronnie Bader 20. 50 Kent Nations 21. 95 Jeremy Nash 22. 31 Brian Shubirg 23. 47 Jim Stevens 24. 55 Marty Smith Jr. 25. 43 Mike Harris 26. 128 Tyson Gegg AARA Pure Stocks - 41 Entries Heat 1 1. 36 Danny Ems 2. 4 Larry Smith Jr. 3. 91 Billy Kruep 4. 48 Mike Jefferies 5. 22 Tommy Gegg 6. 23 Rich Breakfield 7. 20C John Cory 8. 74 Eric Rensing 9. 39 Bobby Hooker 10. 135 Andrew McCall Heat 2 1. 88 John Schrand 2. 21 James Rowney 3. 81 Todd Niemann 4. 56 Dave Monterusso 5. 92 Mark Sprawl 6. 11 Casey Schaefer 7. 53 Mike Reagan 8. 24 Jeff Nash 9. 5 Jeremy Dietzel 10. 82 Morris Booth Heat 3 1. 5P Jeremy Pate 2. 5J Josh Jackson 3. 30 Luke Hewitt 4. 81 Ron Weidler 5. 27 Gene Crain 6. 411 Aaron Melton 7. 9 Kevin Dietzel 8. 7 Dennis Ponder 9. 94 Dustin Clary 10. 6 Jake Hewitt Heat 4 1. 35 Chris Sale 2. 51 Danny Ripperda 3. 18 Rocky Berlew 4. 73 Charles Morris 5. 20 Shane Wilson 6. 59 Bobby Dees Jr. 7. 24 Casey Crane 8. B11 Buddy Jefferies 9. 30 Kasey Govero 10. 17 Josh LaPean Semi 1 Top 6 advance 1. 22 Tommy Gegg 2. 7 Dennis Ponder 3. 24 Casey Crane 4. 59 Bobby Dees jr. 5. 411 Aaron Melton 6. 20 Shane Wilson 7. B11 Buddy Jefferies 8. 23 Rich Breakfield 9. 5D Jeremy Dietzel 10. 6 Jake Hewitt 11. 20C John Cory 12. 94 Dustin Clary 13. 74 Eric Rensing 14. 9 Kevin Dietzel 15. 30G Kasey Govero 16. 53 Mike Reagan 17. 24N Jeff Nash 18. 17 Josh LaPean Feature 1. 36 Danny Ems 2. 35 Chris Sale 3. 88 John Schrand 4. 5J Josh Jackson 5. 51 Danny Ripperda 6. 73 Charles Morris 7. 22 Tommy Gegg 8. 7 Don Ponder 9. 24 Casey Crane 10. 4 Larry Smith Jr. 11. 18 Rochy Berlew 12. 48 Mike Jefferies 13. 411 Aaron Melton 14. 21 James Rowney 15. 59 Bobby Dees Jr. 16. 27 Gene Crain 17. 56 Dave Monterusso 18. 81 Todd Neimann 19. B11 Buddy Jefferies 20. 20W John Cory 21. 91 Billy Kruep 22. 5P Jeremy Pate 23. 81 Ron Weidler 24. 92 Mark Sprawl AARA Pro 4 Stocks - 39 Entries Heat 1 1. 21 Brooke Hassler 2. 5 Chris Fisher 3. 8T Aaron Wood 4. 86 Jason Crump 5. 148 Bryan Wright 6. 10H Homer Mooney 7. 77 Ron Lyons 8. 75 Derek Sanders 9. 8H John Honaker 10. 99 Nick Collette Heat 2 1. 74 Brandon Hedgecoth 2. 38 Mike Anderson 3. 7 Conrad Miner 4. 22 Jerry Cover 5. 62X Jay Gordon 6. 34 Travis Pennington 7. 17 Andrew Nausley 8. 88 Scott Price 9. 9T Travis Horner 10. 95 Josh Campbell Heat 3 1. 3E Ryan Eilers 2. 3 Ray Wagner 3. 83 Pat Brewer 4. 19 Jessica Buechting 5. 12 James Ray 6. 16 Jacob Buechting 7. 48 Patrick Duke 8. 241 Stephen Parker 9. 78 Rick Barker 10. 52 Nick Knebel Heat 4 1. 188 Gary Price 2. 75 Derek Sander 3. 186 Stephen Crump 4. 9 Brad Almond 5. 66 Jason Marquitz 6. 12 Bobby Crocker 7. 3 Debbie Elliott 8. 71 Alan Conner 9. 50 Trey Harris Semi 1 1. 52 Nick Knebel 2. 62X Jay Gordon 3. 16 Jacob Buechting 4. 65 Gary Range 5. 77 Ron Lyons 6. 48 Patrick Duke 7. 66 Jason Marquitz 8. 8H John Honaker 9. 241 Stephen Parker 10. 78 Rick Barker 11. 99 Nick Collette Semi 2 1. 88 Trey Harris 2. 71 Allan Conner 3. 34 Travis Pennington 4. 9T Travis Horner 5. 17 Andrew nausley 6. 3E Debbie Elliott 7. 10 Homer Mooney 8. 12R James ray 9. 95 Josh Campbell Feature 1. 3 Ryan Eilers 2. 5 Chris Fisher 3. 7 Conrad Miner 4. 75 Derek Sander 5. 21 Brooke Hassler 6. 52 Nick Knebel 7. 83 Pat Brewer 8. 78 Allan Conner 9. 74 Brandon Hedgecoth 10. 8T Aaron Wood 11. B12 Bobby Crocker 12. 62 Jay Gordon 13. 16 Jacob Buechting 14. 186 Stephen Crump 15. 3 Ray Wagner 16. 86 Jason Crump 17. 22 Jerry Cover 18. 148 Bryan Wright 19. 88 Scott Price 20. 38 Michael Anderson 21. 34 Travis Pennington 22. 9 Brad Almond 23. 19 Jessica Buechting 24. 188 Gary Price

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