2003pevely

 

Saturday October 4, 2003
   The first UMP Challenge of Champions mini series concluded at I-55 Raceway on Saturday night with a very unique event that lead to lots of on track racing that had the fans wondering who would make the field though the qualifying events and where would they start.
  First there were 20 races held from April though September to get drivers qualified for the event. The winners of the qualifying races were in the feature at the end of the racing season. Qualifying races were held in Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Missouri. There were 13 drivers that were in the 40 lap feature at I-55 Raceway. They were Randy Korte(5 wins), Shannon Babb(3 wins), Don O’Neal(3 wins), Terry English, Brian Shirley, Dennis Erb, Kevin Claycomb, Justin Allgaier, Roger Long, Kevin Weaver, Rodney Melvin, Mark Faust and Billy Moyer. All of the feature winners showed up except Moyer and Claycomb.
  With a starting field of 24 cars, that meant that 13 drivers had the capability to make the feature. With 37 cars in the pits, it meant that 26 drivers were trying to get into the show. Fast time went to the second car on the track, Terry English at 13.045 seconds around the 1/3-mile high-banked track.
  The first race was the dash for the seven highest drivers in series points that did not have a win. Eric Smith got the win with Ed Dixon, Billy Faust and Chad Zobrist making the feature. Rylan Dagg, Steve Sheppard and Don Hammer had to run the B heats and start on the pole of those races.
  The B heats were next. In the first B heat, Johnny Johnson and Rylan Dagg made the cut to the feature. In the second B heat, Kevin Gundaker and Steve Sheppard moved on. And in the final B heat, Scott Weber, in Randy Korte’s second car, and Rick Salter advanced.
  Next were the two semis that would send only the winners forward. Danny Haynes and Mark Oller won those events to move on. Don Hammer was the last driver in as the only driver in points to not drive into the feature.
  The final preliminary events were the A heats and these races would determine the starting order of the feature. Winners here were Don O’Neal, Randy Korte and Shannon Babb.

  The 24-car field was set with O’Neal and Korte on the forward row. On the dropping of the green flag, it was Korte from the outside to the lead.  Korte used the middle of the track while O’Neal was on the bottom. The pair ran very close though the first few laps with Korte having the advantage at the line.
  The first caution came out on lap 2 as Haynes and Oller got together in turn four. On the other end of the track, Roger Long got high and hit the outside wall and damaged the right front of the car and was done for the night. The running order was Korte, O’Neal, English, Babb and B. Faust.
   As the green flag waved for the restart, Korte and O’Neal went at it again. During this green running, young Allgaier was making a move on the top of the track. The tenth starting Allgaier had moved into the top five and was moving forward with each lap being completed.
  On lap 12 the next slowdown occurred for spinner in turn two. The running order was now, Korte, O’Neal, English Allgaier and Babb.
  The next eight laps were pivotal in the outcome of the race. As the green flag came out again, Korte and O’Neal continued their battle and it was a good, tight battle for the lead. On lap 16, O’Neal got the better of Korte and took the lead. In the meantime, Allgaier had moved into third place on the high line. Allgaier and Dixon were the only cars to use the high line, as there was no cushion left except the wall and Dixon was using it.
  On lap 20 the big one came as Korte and Allgaier tangled going into turn one. Allgaier got the worst of this deal as he spun heading towards the outside wall. English was running in fourth and clipped Allgaier’s right rear and had damage to his car as well. Allgaier went to the pits to correct some of the damage and returned to the rear of the field.  Korte, Allgaier and English were running second, third and fourth at the time of the wreck.
  When the re-rack of the field was done for the restart, Korte was determined to have been in the accident and was sent to the back of the field. Korte decided not to continue and putted off the track.
  The restart was O’Neal, English, B. Faust, Babb and Weaver in the top five.  O’Neal continued to hold the top spot, but battle was starting to develop.
  As the racing continued for another five laps, Faust moved into second place as English start to slide backwards. Faust was using the very bottom of the track for his racing as O’Neal was on the low side but about a groove off the inside wall. Faust was being to place pressure on O’Neal with each exit of turn four.
  The next caution came out on lap 25 for debris on the track. Now the running order was O’Neal, B. Faust, Babb, English and Weaver.
  As the race restarted, it was apparent that Faust had a faster line figured out. On lap 27, Faust put to the lead coming out of turn four and never looked back. O’Neal tried to hang with Faust, but could do nothing with him. Faust would pull away to a half straight away lead and go on to win his biggest race of his young career.  O’Neal finished in second with Babb, Erb and Weaver rounding out the top five. 

Notes: Billy Faust was driving a MasterSbilt… O’Neal was in a Rayburn….English fell to 15th after the tangle with Allgaier….Failing to make the show were Matt Taylor, Dave Jumper, Roger Brickler, Don Klein, Clay Bauman…Ed Dixon continued to use the high side of the track and finally cause him to hit the outside wall hard and drop him back in the field….Rylan Dagg was the only driver to attend all 21 races even though he did not make the features in all of the events….Brian Shirley made 19 of the features while only missing one event….This event needs to become an annual event and continue with this format.  

1. Billy Faust            $15,000

2. Don O’Neal              5,000

3. Shannon Babb          2,000

4. Dennis Erb                1,500

5. Kevin Weaver           1,200

6. Eric Smith                 1,100

7.Brian Shirley              1,000

8. Mark Faust                   800

9. Scott Weber                  700

10. Rick Salter                 600

11. Johnny Johnson         500

12. Chad Zobrist              500

13. Rodney Melvin          500

14. Ed Dixon                   500

15. Terry English            500

16. Steve Sheppard         500

17. Justin Allgaier          500

18. Don Hammer            500

19. Randy Korte              500

20. Mark Oller                 500

21. Rylan Dagg                500

22. Kevin Gundaker         500

23. Danny Haynes           500

24. Roger Long                500

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Saturday September 20, 2003.....Pepsi Nationals winner....Shannon Babb

PEVELY, Mo. (Sept. 17, 2003) – After being delayed by one week because of inclement weather, the I-55 Pepsi Nationals take to the track this Saturday, September 20th. This will be the 21st Annual I-55 Pepsi Nationals and it promises to be one of the most exciting and memorable events of the 2003 racing season.

$10,000 will go to the winner of the 40 lap main event in the UMP Late Model division. The UMP Modified feature winners will receive $1,200. The AARA Sportsmen cars also will race with the feature winners earning $400.

Top UMP Late Model drivers such as Shannon Babb, Don O'Neal & Kevin Weaver along with many of the top St. Louis area drivers including Ed Dixon, Randy Korte, Tim Ratajczyk, Mark Oller & Mark Faust are expected to be battling it out for the $10,000 top prize.

Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., won the late model portion of the nationals last year, giving him six victories in the first 20 years of the event, which moved him ahead of Ed Dixon for the most wins at the Pepsi Nationals.

In the UMP Modified division, Scott Weber will be looking for his fourth straight Pepsi Nationals Title as battles some of the toughest modifieds in the country including 2003 I-55 Raceway Track Champion Ray Walsh, along with other tough drivers like Bobby Bittle, Rich Whaley, Brian Worley, Brian Wolfmeier, Dennis Richards and Leon Rakers .

Gates will open at 4 p.m. Qualifying begins at 6:30 p.m. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

Grandstand admission is $20 with children 12 years old and younger being admitted free into the grandstands.

I-55 Raceway, a high-banked, one-third-mile clay oval, is located 30 minutes south of the St. Louis Gateway Arch on Interstate 55 at Pevely exit 180 & 178. For tickets or more information, call the track at (636) 479-3219 or visit www.i55raceway.com.

              POINT STANDINGS AT              
              I-55 RACEWAY              
              2003 FINAL  POINTS              
    U.M.P.         U.M.P.         A.A.R.A.    
    LATE MODELS         MODIFIEDS         SPORTSMAN    
                             
1 50 ED DIXON(5) 1022   1 1w RAY WALSH(3) 1232   1 24 PAUL BAUMAN 959  
2 112 TIM RATAJCZYK(3) 1010 12 2 89 BOB BITTLE(2) 1074 158 2   OO SCOTT STUPPY 956 3
3 67 MARK OLLER(4) 993 17 3 4j SCOTT WEBER(8) 1006 68 3 10 TODD MCGRAW 906 50
4 11 KEVIN GUNDAKER(1) 900 93 4 59 RICH WHALEY(2) 902 104 4 8 ED LOWRY 845 61
5 441 BRIAN WOLFMEIER 822 78 5 166 BRIAN WORLEY(1) 882 20 5 66 DARREN HOLLAND 722 123
6 2 DAVE JUMPER 782 40 6 99 BRIAN WOLFMEIER(1) 841 41 6 46 PAUL BELKEN JR 670 52
7 8 KYLE STEFFENS 765 17 7 21 DENNIS RICHARDS(2) 832 9 7 75 RON IMM JR 649 21
8 47 DANNY HAYNES 745 20 8 12 TOM RATAJCZYK(1) 796 36 8 86 DOUG KIM 593 56
9 46 PAUL BELKEN JR 592 153 9 3r LEON RAKERS 791 5 9 50 ERIC RUDD 577 16
10 28 DON KLEIN 580 12 10 9 DOUG WOOD 672 119 10    O1 STEVE BORGETTI 545 32
                         
                           
                           
               

August 31, 2003....Rain

                

July 30, 2003- LM- Justin Allgaier

June 28, 2003- LM - Justin Allgaier

May 3, 2003-LM, Tim Ratajczk- Mod, Scott Weber

April 26, 2003- LM, Ed Dixon- Mod, Dennis Richards

April 19, 2003-LM, Ken Schrader- Mod, Scott Weber

April 12, 2003-WOO, Steve Kinser- Mod, Scott Weber

April 5, 2003- LM, Ed Dixon- Mod, Ray Walsh

March 29, 2003....Cancelled....Rain, bad weather


NEXT EVENTS
Other key dates are:
Wednesday, June 11th, NASCAR guest night, UMP Late Models & Winged Sprints
Saturday, July 5th, UMP Summer Nationals, $10,000 to win.
Wednesday, July 30th, M&M Night of Stars, UMP Late Models & Winged Sprints
Saturday, September 13th, Pepsi Nationals, $10,000 to win UMP Late Models
Saturday, October 4th, Sportsman Fall Nationals with Wannabees
Racing every Saturday night from March 29th - September 13th!
Look for a few nights with double features as well. Each class will get some chances with double features.