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MAT NEELY COLLECTS TWO GRAND AS MSCS OPENS AT TRI-STATE
By Eldon Butcher
Haubstadt, IN - May 6, 2007. Mat Neely of Robinson, IL, led the final two laps of the feature Sunday night at Tri-State Speedway to win the Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series season opener. Neely drove the Neely Motorsports Twister sponsored by Maverick Energy, Street Heat, Lytle Electric, Ross Body Shop, and RLB Manufacturing.
Neely, the 2006 MSCS Hardcharger of the Year, started in the 5th row for the feature and worked his way to the front. He was already in third place when a caution flag slowed the field on lap 12 of the 25 lap event. Chad Boespflug and John Memmer were involved in an incident in turn one. As both cars rejoined the tail of the field Neely moved into the challenger spot formerly held by Boespflug. Neely had one car left to pass - leader Brady Short!
Actually the race had three different leaders. Chase Stockon started on the pole and pulled away in the lead. His run was cut short four laps later as a trail of oil followed the smoking sprint into the infield. It was Short's turn to lead. Neely stayed close as the two slipped away from the pack. Progress between turns three and four eventually gave Neely an opportunity to dive under Short and complete a pass heading down the front straightaway. Two laps later Neely had his second MSCS career win. The victory paid $2,000. It was a banner night for the whole Neely team and a gang of supporters!
Kevin Briscoe finished in third place after working to correct some ignition problems between the heat and the feature. Kyle Cummins finished fourth and Alex Shanks was fifth. Shanks and Cummins exchanged positions on the 19th and 20th laps in their own battle. Kyle Wissmiller, Danny Holtsclaw, Bobby Stines, Bill Rose, and Cole Whitt rounded out the top ten. Holtsclaw, who is from Bloomfield, IN, was the MSCS Hardcharger of the Race with a gain of 9 spots! Veteran Jerry Ruble was next across the line to be the first driver to receive the "Tuff Brakes Award" from Wilwood.
In preliminary action the 40 MSCS sprints competed in four qualifying heats. Kyle Wissmiller, Brady Short, Chad Boespflug, and Chase Stockon were victorious. Sixteen year old Chris Babcock won the C-main and fifteen year old Blake Fitzpatrick won the B-main.
The Midwest Sprint Car Series will travel to Western Kentucky Speedway next with a race scheduled there for Saturday May 19th. Tri-State will host the POWRi and USAC Midgets on Saturday night May 12th with the MSCS sprinters returning next on May 27th for a big $3,000
to win Memorial Day Weekend Special.
RACE SUMMARY
Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series
Tri-State Speedway, Haubstadt, IN
May 6, 2007
40 Entries
First Heat - 2k Kyle Wissmiller, 3c Kyle Cummins, 17N Mat Neely, 4M John Memmer,17jr Bryan Ruble,7A Dakoda Armstrong, 21S Jeff Bland Jr, 3mc Dave Mallady, 34m Arin McIntosh, 51B Randy Bateman
Second Heat - 36 Brady Short, 7 Dave Scott, 7x Mitch Wissmiller, 9 Bobby Stines, 4 Casey Shuman, 1c Patrick Bruns, 83 Dale Christian, 10 Aric Gentry, 83B Ryan Brewer, 4B Donny Brackett (scr.)
Third heat - 90 Chad Boespflug, 5 Kevin Briscoe, 6 Bill Rose, 17 Jerry Ruble, 5c Todd Chandler, 56 Jared Fox,97 Bret Mellenberndt,, 55B Robbie Standridge, 23 John Paynter, 12 Dusty Wright
Fourth Heat - 32Chase Stockon, 29w Cole Whitt, 59 Alex Shanks, 3 Danny Holtsclaw, 48 Ty Deckard, 10F Blake Fitzpatrick, 22A D.J. Ott, 30 Doug Canham, 35 Chris Babcock, 51 Cody Gentry
C-Main - 35 Chris Babcock, 23 John Paynter, 12 Dusty Wright, 34 Arin McIntosh, 51B Randy Bateman, 51G Cody Gentry, 83B Ryan Brewer (scr.) 4B Donny Brackett (scr)
B-Main - 10F Blake Fitzpatrick, 21s Jeff Bland Jr, 4 Casey Shuman, 48 Ty Deckard, 7A Dakoda Armstrong, 55B Robbie Standridge, 17B Bryan Ruble, 35 Chris Babcock, 97 Bret Mellenberndt, 56 Jared Fox, 5C Todd Chandler, 22A D.J. Ott, 10B Aric Gentry, 23 John Paynter, 83 Dale Christian, 3mc Dave Mallady, 1c Patrick Bruns, 30 Doug Canham (scr)
. . . . .
A-Main (25 Laps) - 17N Mat Neely, 36 Brady Short, 5 Kevin Briscoe, 3c Kyle Cummins, 59 Alex Shanks, 2K Kyle Wissmiller, 3 Danny Holtsclaw, 9 Bobby Stines, 6 Bill Rose, 29W Cole Whitt, 17jr Jerry Ruble, 21s Jeff Bland Jr, 90 Chad Boespflug, 10F Blake Fitzpatrick, 4m John Memmer , 7 Dave Scott, 7x Mitch Wissmiller, 4 Casey Shuman, 48 Ty Deckard, 32 Chase Stockon,
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