Local Headlines

Cody Morris
I44 Riverside Speedway Public Relations

Saturday, May 11th, 2013 - Oklahoma City - Just one week after a record field for a weekly point event, I44 Riverside Speedway put the new Midget division on display for central Oklahoma race fans.

Approximately 92 open wheel combatants entered I44 Riverside pits, the 6th time in seven events that over ninety entries checked in to compete on the 1/5th mile red clay oval.

Weary of a very cool and prolonged spring, race fans enjoyed their lightning fast racing with pleasant conditions throughout, as well as a manageable finishing time as I44 Riverside Speedway continues their emergence as a premier locale for regional open wheel racing.

I44 Riverside produced as many Saturday night winners as points the Oklahoma City Thunder lost by just minutes before southwest Oklahoma City really got to rockin‘. Reigning Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget Champion completed a lucrative weekend with a sweep in the Midget division. Felker was one of five racers to earn their first I44 Riverside wins this season.

MIDGET

Sweeping heat race and qualifier action, Carls Junction, Missouri’s Andrew Felker earned the pole position with Claremore, Oklahoma’s Blake Edwards alongside as teammate in a second Felker Midget entry for the 20 lap Midget main event.

To the surprise of few, the reigning Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget Champ ran away with an early lead with Edwards in tow as the field spread out in the first half of feature. A lap 11 stoppage did away with the distance between as Payton Pierce slowed to a stop likely related to the young Bridgeport, Texas racer’s tumble early in heat race action.

Following the only stoppage of the affair, Felker’s steady pace was paramount as the Midget champ led wire to wire to nab the $750 winner’s loot aboard the 66 Salvage, All-Pro, Team RRD, Engler Machine, Auto Express, Aggressive Graphics, MelMark, Hoosier Tire, Fontana, AFCO, and Momo's sponsored no. 11A. Felker is no stranger to success at I44 Riverside Speedway, having swept a POWRi West Midget double at Oklahoma City’s Place to Race just 50 weeks ago. Check out Felker’s slick driver website at www.andrewfelkerracing.com

Unable to contend with Felker’s dominant pace, Blake Edwards settled for runner up honors and $500 payday with Jenks, Oklahoma’s Eric Fenton placing his Southside Mowers no. 14 in the show position.

Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Jonathon Halford maintained a second Fenton owned Southside Mowers entry in fourth with Claremore’s Waylon Weaver completing the top five finishing order.

Seven entries checked in for the $750 to win/$150 to start Midget Madness event, prompting a Call To Arms from all of the Midget pilots in attendance for more of their counterparts to support the best weekly purse for open wheel racing in the state.

“Midget” A Feature (20 laps): 1. 11A Andrew Felker (1); 2. 11B Blake Edwards (2); 3. 72 Eric Fenton (3); 4. 72 Jonathon Halford (4); 5. 94L Waylon Weaver (5); 6. 2P Payton Pierce (6); DNS: 0 Daniel Robinson
Lap Leaders: Andrew Felker 1-20

NON WING

Lawton, Oklahoma’s Brandon Boggs paced the pole of the 20 lap Non Wing main event with El Reno’s Josh Toho alongside. Toho won the drag race to turn one and an early lead, while one of the more impressive turn 4 exit’s ended in a wicked series of flips as Boggs got a bit too intimate with a turn one rut.

Having emerged from the Fliptastics Gymnastics no. 2B under his own power, concussion-like symptoms were spotted, sidelining the Lawton Eisenhour Senior for the remainder of the night.

Back underway with Toho at the helm, Oklahoma City’s Josh Marcham tangled with Newcastle’s Gage Robb for the runner up spot before Pauls Valley’s Steven Shebester blasted by the pair in one swoop on the sixth round.

Without stoppage, Shebester steadily gained on the leader, catching Toho with five laps remaining. The crafty Shebester examined above and below, ultimately opting for the high side as the laps winded down, surprising the leader through turns 3 & 4 and leading the 18th circuit by inches as the pair approached even more lapped traffic. Splitting a lapped car exiting turn two was much of the difference, with Toho low and Shebester high, the latter wobbling just enough for Toho to regain the lead as well as notion to Shebester’s plan of attack.

Shebester remained only a half car length behind, as Toho, already with no brakes since lap 2 and with a sour coil betraying very ominous and audible tones. But 2009 Mini Sprint Nationals Non Wing champ held on to take his first Non Wing score of the season aboard the Premier Chemical and Hinton Body Shop sponsored and Sero’s Racing Engines powered no. 1x Sawyer Chassis.

Shebester accepted runner up honors with Hard Charger status, while Gage Robb completed the podium finish. Derrick McBride advanced three spots to finish fourth with Bethany’s Greg Moore moving up from 11th to complete the top five finishing order.

“Non Wing” A Feature (20 laps): 1. 1x Josh Toho (2); 2. 82 Steven Shebester (12); 3. 12 Gage Robb (4); 4. 98 Derrick McBride (7); 5. 7g Greg Moore (11); 6. 25w Tommy White (10); 7. 19 Dalton Terrel (15); 8. 39 Sterling Hoff (14); 9. 28 Junior Vickman (9); 10. 22 Teri Burk (13); 11. 57v Matt Veatch (16); 12. P51 Aaron Dromgoole (3); 13. 43 Matt Nelson (21); 14. 51 Anton Hernandez (18); 15. 1 Johnny B (17); 16. 50 Shelby Burk (20); 17. 58 Philip Fessler (19); 18. 8 Josh Marcham (8); 19. 48 Joe Klonoski (5); 20. 11J Garrett Jennings (6); 21. 2B Brandon Boggs (1); DNS: 27 David Stewart, 2 Jimmy Smith
Lap Leaders: Josh Toho 1-17, 19-20, Steven Shebester 18
Hard Charger: Steven Shebester +10

A CLASS

Oklahoma City’s Bryan Nebgen paced the pole positon with Teri Burk alongside to start the 25 lap A Class main event. Nebgen gained an early, but nervous lead as Burk shadowed for the point, ultimately snaring it on the fifth round.

A lap six yellow was a preamble for a lap 11 red flag as Steven Shebester climbed up and over Ryan Padgett’s machine, ending the Pauls Valley, Oklahoman’s charge.

Nebgen battled back past Burk on the two ensuing restarts, only for the pass to be negated by yellow’s both times.

Burk capitalized on a great restart halfway through the main event, while Nebgen’s bid to regain the lead was dismissed as he lost power a couple laps after the restart. Broken Arrow native Jason McDougal was introduced to the runner up spot, immediately seizing the initiative and disposing of Burk for the lead with a handful of laps remaining.

A lap 23 yellow for Blake Dewberry created a green-white-checkered finish, but McDougal was not to be challenged as he drove to his first I44 Riverside A Class victory aboard the Factor One Racing, ButlerBuilt Seats, Henchman Racewear, Hoosier Tire, Lightning Wings, CSI Shocks, Sewell Mechanical, and Paul Albers Performance Plus sponsored no. 73.

Anadarko’s Ryan Padgett accepted runner up honors and his best finish of the young season while Teri Burk achieved the same with show position honors. Fletcher’s Blake Dacus shared Hard Charger honors with Windthorst, Texas’ Sterling Hoff as the pair each advanced 11 spots to complete the top five finishing order.

“A Class” A Feature (25 laps): 1. 73 Jason McDougal (10); 2. 898 Ryan Padgett (8); 3. 22 Teri Burk (4); 4. 29 Blake Dacus (15); 5. 39 Sterling Hoff (16); 6. 19 Dalton Terrel (11); 7. 98 Derrick McBride (7); 8. 7g Greg Moore (12); 9. 8 Josh Marcham (9); 10. 22c Chad Koch (5); 11. 11k Michael Kerns (20); 12. 11J Garrett Jennings (3); 13. 60 Bryan Nebgen (1); 14. 41 Kaitlyn Martin (18); 15. 5 Shelby Byrd (17); 16. 21s Rick Smith (19); 17. 82 Steven Shebester (14); 18. 77D Dean Drake (22); 19. 1x Josh Toho (21); 20. Blake Dewberry (13); 21. P40 Aaron Dromgoole (6); DNS: 2B Brandon Boggs, 2 Jimmy Smith, 14x Taylor Myers
Lap Leaders: Bryan Nebgen 1-4, Teri Burk 5-18, Jason McDougal 19-25
Hard Charger: Blake Dacus, Sterling Hoff +11

RESTRICTED

Fletcher’s Mason McGuire paced the pole position of the 20 lap Restricted main event with Kurt Ender alongside.

McGuire gained the early advantage with Mannford’s Tristan Oakes quickly moving from 10th to challenge. McGuire held off Oakes charge until the latter battled past on the 13th round.

Oakes was on his way to a season best third I44 Riverside victory, but was snagged as a lapped car slammed into the front straightaway wall with Oakes collected in the melee to avoid.

The lead was transferred back to McGuire with Decatur, Texas native Lyndon Harvey in tow for a 3 lap dash for Restricted cash. McGuire was equal to the task as he earned his first I44 Riverside Restricted score aboard the UltraSound Technologies, Supreme Lending, Sweet Pro Premium Freed, and Charlie’s Backhoe and Demolition sponsored no. 18.

Harvey settled for runner up honors with defending Restricted champ Tanner Conn completing the podium finish with Hard Charger honors. Logan Davis moved up from 12th to finish fourth with Steven Smith advancing two spots to complete the top five finishing order.

“Restricted” A Feature (20 laps): 1. 18 Mason McGuire (1); 2. 99H Lyndon Harvey (11); 3. 78 Tanner Conn (16); 4. 14D Logan Davis (12); 5. 3s Steven Smith (7); 6. 2 Alison Slaton (10); 7. 82s Seth Shebester (5); 8. 3J Jessica Wehkamp (4); 9. 21k Kobe Simpson (3); 10. 17k Hunter Kirkes (14); 11. 14 Noah Key (15); 12. 2J Jance Wehkamp (6); 13. 7T Tristan Oakes (9); 14. 72c Kaylee Cole (8); 15. 3k Kurt Ender (2); 16. 11 Layden Pearson (13); DNS: 00R Ryan Anderson
Lap Leaders: Mason Mcguire 1-12, 18-20, Tristan Oakes 13-17
Hard Charger: Tanner Conn +13

JUNIOR SPRINT

Jessie Kelley paced the pole of the 20 lap Junior Sprint main event with Anadarko’s Macy Roulain alongside, but it was Durant’s Ryder Laplante gunning into the early lead with Ponca City’s Treyton Gann and Elgin’s Dylan Pendergrass moving following.

A lap 13 yellow negated the wide margin Laplante had enjoyed, bringing Gann up to the leader’s tail tank with defending Junior Sprint champ Nathan Rainey also in pursuit.

Gann powered into the lead on the restart with Rainey also battling past, however Rainey’s pursuit was affected when the Choctaw gasser clipped an infield tire in turn 2. Jessie Kelley got upside down in turn 2, replacing checkered flag with red and creating a two lap sprint to the finish line.

A 10 year old Ponca City native, Gann was gold on the restart and earned his first win of the season aboard the Legacy Signs and Action Track Parts no. 7. Pendergrass earned his best finish of the season with runner up honors and Laplante accomplishing the same with a third place finish.

Nathan Rainey exploited the final stoppage, improving from 7th to finish fourth with Bristow’s Kale Drake completing the top five finishing order.

“Junior Sprint” A Feature (20 laps): 1. Treyton Gann (10); 2. 22 Dylan Pendergrass (7); 3. 88R Ryder Laplante (3); 4. 99R Nathan Rainey (9); 5. 77 Kale Drake (6); 6. 007 Jacob Long (8); 7. 125 Macy Roulain (2); 8. 72c Kayden Cole (11); 9. 12s Jessie Kelley (1); 10. 12E Emme Johnson (4); 11. 16 Brant Woods (5); 12. 72 Chris Wells (12)
Lap Leaders: Ryder Laplante 1-12, Treyton Gann 13-20
Hard Charger: Treyton Gann +9

TURF TIRE

Cache, Oklahoma’s Josh Bigger paced the pole with OKC’s Willie Vickman alongside, Bigger led lap one before Newcastle’s Bobby Chapa powered into the point looking for his second Turf Tire win of the season.

The El Reno cousins Penick advanced on the leader with last week’s Turf Tire winner Tony Penick battling past near the midway point, which would prove to be the race winning move for the Tony Pressley, Millwee & Son Hot Rod Construction and PFR Family sponsored no. 88.

Defending champ Jeremy Penick settled for runner up honors yet again with Chapa completing the podium finish and Marcus Flaming and Josh Bigger completing the top five finishing order.

“Turf Tire” A Feature (20 laps): 1. 88 Tony Penick (5); 2. 28 Jeremy Penick (4); 3. 30 Bobby Chapa (3); 4. 22 Marcus Flaming (6); 5. 21 Joshua Bigger (1); 6. 75 Willie Vickman (2)
Lap Leaders: Joshua Bigger 1, Bobby Chapa 2-8, Tony Penick 9-20

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I44 Riverside Speedway Event Winners, as of May 12th:

A CLASS - Trey Marcham 2, Sterling Hoff 1, Chris Andrews 1, Blake Dewberry 1, Steven Shebester 1, Jason McDougal 1
NON WING - Steven Shebester 2, Chris Cochran 1, Dalton Terrel 1, Trey Marcham 1, Sterling Hoff 1, Josh Toho 1
RESTRICTED - Lyndon Harvey 2, Tristan Oakes 2, Tanner Conn 1, Nathan Weida 1, Mason McGuire 1
TURF TIRE - Mike Daft 3, Tony Penick 2, Marcus Flaming 1, Bobby Chapa 1,
JUNIOR SPRINTS - Nathan Rainey 3, Kale Drake 1, Blake Battles 1, Holley Hollan 1, Treyton Gann 1

I44 Riverside Car Count in the first 7 events, as well as official finishing time:
April 5th -119 - 1215 am
April 6th -112 - 1040 pm
April 13th -80 - 1015 pm
April 20th - 98 - 1230 am
April 27th - 93 - 1035 pm
May 4th - 144 - 1225 am
May 11th - 92 - 1020 pm

I44 Riverside Speedway will be back Saturday, May 18th for event #8 of 27 penned for this season, before taking Memorial Day Weekend off.
Gates open at 4pm, hot laps at 6pm, program starts at 7pm. General admission is $10, all access pit passes $20.

Like and Follow I44 Riverside Speedway on Facebook to stay tuned on all the latest event updates, as well as www.i44riversidespeedway.com. For more detailed inquiry contact:
I44 Riverside Promoter Mark Banister 405.633.1583
I44 Riverside Public Relations Cody Morris 405.295.1422
Thanks to all race teams, race fans, and track personnel for another great night of open wheel racing at I44 Riverside Speedway!