LEKA SURVIVES DAVID RICHARDSON MEMORIAL EVENT AT VCS
By: Chris Nunn
Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Illinois was at the right place at the right time, as
attrition was the name of the game in the 11th Annual David Richardson
Memorial at the Vermilion County Speedway. The 50 Lap feature that was
postponed from May 31st was held second on the program after the Street Stock
feature.
The 50 Lap, $5,000 to win feature event saw Dan Hamstra lead the field to the
green flag. Hamstra would lead the first lap while Danny Schwartz made a
superb move to get around Matt Boknecht for the sixth position. The first
caution of the race fell on lap number three for the spun car of Ed Roley on
the frontstretch. Don Kiger also went pitside during the caution period. When
racing resumed, Danny Schwartz would make a few moves towards the front, as he
would move past Roger Cary for the fourth position. The field would slow once
again on lap five for Kevin Davis who was turned around in turn two. Disaster
would strike for the elder Schwartz, as Denny would drop a driveshaft on lap
6, bringing out another caution. Denny was running fifth at the time, which
allowed Cary to take his position. On the restart, Hamstra would lead the
field past the cone, followed by Matt Bachman and Josh Ferguson. Ferguson
would not stay in third for long, however, as he would retire on lap seven.
This would move Danny Schwartz up to the third spot. Behind them, Jeff Leka
would get around Cary for the fourth position. Just a couple of laps later,
the third place car of Danny Schwartz would retire, giving the third spot to
Leka. Adding to the zaniness of the evening, Hamstra would erupt in smoke
while leading the event. He would retire, giving the lead to Bachman. On lap
12, the caution would fly for the stalled car of Dave Porth on the
backstretch. With just 12 laps in, only 13 cars remained out of the original
21 car starting field. When racing resumed, Bachman would lead Leka and Cary
to the cone for the start. A couple of laps later, the yellow would fly again
for the stalled car of Jim Shereck in turn two. During the yellow, the 6th
place car of Earl Plessinger would go pitside. Bachman would once again take
the field to the green on the restart, however, Bachman was starting to show
some smoke out of the back of the car. Behind the lead pack, Chad Kinder would
try to make a move on Boknecht for the fourth position. Boknecht would hold
Kinder off to remain in the fourth spot. Back up front, Cary would get around
Leka for the second position. Cary would then move up to challenge Bachman for
the lead, only to catch the cushion and loop the car in turn two, bringing out
the yellow. If you thought the race couldnt get any crazier, the lead car of
Bachman would drop out under the caution. The top five now looked like this:
Leka, Boknecht, Kinder, Scott Bull, and John Demoss. When the green flew for
the restart, Kinder would get around Boknecht for the second position.
Boknecht would then lose the third spot to Bull. Demoss wanted some of
Boknecht as well, as he would go by him for fourth. During all of this, the
left front tire of Kinder became flat, and he would continue on with the
problem. Behind Kinder, Demoss would get around Bull for the third position.
Problems would then strike Boknecht while running fifth, as he would pull in
giving the fifth spot to Tim O'Donnell. Leka was all by himself at this point,
as he had a 1/2 track lead on Kinder. The battle for third would shape up
again, as Bull would get back around Demoss for the spot, putting Demoss back
to fourth. Demoss would then erupt in smoke, dropping out of the race. While
this was going on, O'Donnell would be passed by Jim Shereck and Lance Dehm for
fourth and fifth respectively. Back up front, Bull would pull along side of
the wounded Kinder, and get around him for the runner up position. Nobody
would have anything for Leka, as he cruised to the $5,000 payday ahead of
Bull, Kinder, Shereck, and Dehm would round out the top five.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEATS, CONSIS, AND B-MAIN RAN ON MAY 31st
HEAT ONE: Matt Boknecht, Jeff Leka, Steven Ott, Kevin Hastings, Kyle Cooper,
Joel Funk Jr, Ed Roley, Jason Hastings, Chris Veach, Bobby Pearson, Rich
Issacson, Mickey Bailey
HEAT TWO: Dan Hamstra, Danny Schwartz, Arby Burton, Dave Porth, Lee Hobbs,
Steve Hillard, Ed Shamhart, Brad Crosby, Clayton Miller, Marvin Burton, Joe
David Turner, McKay Wenger
HEAT THREE: Dean Hoffman, Denny Schwartz, Scott Bull, Shelby Miles, Earl
Plessinger, Clint Demoss, Aaron Ricketts, Broc Burton, Don Kiger, Tommy Kroll,
Jeff Curl, Judas Bowling
HEAT FOUR: Josh Ferguson, Jeff Bland Jr, Kevin Davis, Kyle Byerline, Jay
Ledford, Paul Miles, Roben Huffman, Brady Short, Larry Cunningham, Brian
McDaniel, Cory Rolfe
HEAT FIVE: Matt Bachman, Jim Shereck, Lance Dehm, Brent Londeree, Rob Fuqua,
Elvin Herschberger, Daryl Herbert, Jarrod Warner, Larry Raines, Matt
Huddleston, Gabe Menser
HEAT SIX: Roger Cary, John DeMoss, Chad Kinder, Randle Sweeney, Jason Lakey,
Tim O'Donnell, Dave Wheatley, Dennis Wilson, Ron Matthys, Rocky Griffin, Dale
Hayes
CONSI ONE: Dave Porth, Ed Roley, Steven Ott, Lee Hobbs, Kyle Cooper, Clayton
Miller, Kevin Hastings, Jason Hastings, Joe David Turner, Mickey Bailey, Chris
Veach, Bobby Pearson, McKay Wenger, Rich Issacson, Arby Burton, Joel Funk Jr,
Steve Hillard, Marvin Burton, Ed Shamhart, Brad Crosby
CONSI TWO: Kevin Davis, Earl Plessinger, Scott Bull, Aaron Ricketts, Roben
Huffman, Shelby Miles, Clint DeMoss, Paul Miles, Kyle Byerline, Jay Ledford,
Brian McDaniel, Don Kiger, Broc Burton, Brady Short, Tommy Kroll, Larry
Cunningham, Jeff Curl, Cory Rolfe, Judas Bowling
CONSI THREE: Chad Kinder, Randle Sweeney, Lance Dehm, Dave Wheatley, Dennis
Wilson, Rocky Griffin, Tim O'Donnell, Rob Fuqua, Gabe Menser, Jason Lakey,
Daryl Herbert, Dale Hayes, Larry Raines, Ron Matthys, Matt Huddleston, Jarrod
Warner, Elvin Herschberger, Brent Londeree
$1,000 TO WIN B-MAIN: Aaron Ricketts, Dave Wheatley, Kyle Cooper, Brian
McDaniel, Shelby Miles, Roben Huffman, Kevin Hastings, Clint Demoss, Jason
Lakey, Rob Fuqua, Mickey Bailey, Gabe Menser, Jason Hastings, Kyle Byerline,
Joe David Turner, Rocky Griffin, Clayton Miller, Jay Ledford, Daryl Herbert,
Dennis Wilson, Lee Hobbs
11TH ANNUAL DAVID RICHARDSON MEMORIAL FEATURE
(STARTING POSITIONS IN PARENTHESIS)
1. Jeff Leka (7)
2. Scott Bull (19)
3. Chad Kinder (15)
4. Jim Shereck (11)
5. Lance Dehm (21)
6. Tim O'Donnell (18)
7. Steve Ott -1 (16)
8. Kevin Davis -1 (13)
9. John Demoss OUT (10)
10. Matt Boknecht OUT (5)
11. Roger Cary OUT (3)
12. Matt Bachman OUT (2)
13. Earl Plessinger OUT (14)
14. Dan Hamstra OUT (1)
15. Dave Porth OUT (12)
16. Danny Schwartz OUT (6)
17. Jeff Bland Jr. OUT (8)
18. Denny Schwartz OUT (9)
19. Josh Ferguson OUT (4)
20. Don Kiger OUT (20)
21. Ed Roley OUT (17)
22. Dean Hoffman DID NOT START