Mike Higley Dominates Huge Field of B-mods for $1,500 Payday at CMS!
CMS Public Relations
Aug 31, 2014
(Warrensburg, MO) A scorching late summer day eventually turned into a volatile weather situation that better resembled springtime in the Midwest rather than late August. However, not even a brewing thunderstorm or a tricky track condition could prevent Kansas City, Missouri’s Mike Higley from blistering the field for a $1,500 payday during the USRA B-Mod special event that drew 48 competitors.
After an exciting night of action on Saturday, returning fans and drivers were eager to see how Sunday would unfold. For some, it unfolded to their liking but as the old saying goes, it just seemed like it wasn’t meant to be for night two as Mother Nature’s various array of weather curveballs with hot temps, strong winds, and eventual heavy rain, coupled with the pressure of 124 cars competing on the surface in 22 events, challenged the resilient CMS crew and drivers more so than any other week this year.
Once word of approaching storms was received, the CMS staff immediately kicked into their ‘rain schedule’ format in hopes of completing the entire race program. Drivers and officials stayed on their toes as the events went straight through without a break in the action. In the end, 22 of the planned 24 events for the night were completed and therefore the night was considered a complete show.
Four classes participated in the action as the pits were packed with 35 USRA Modifieds, 48 USRA B-Mods, 12 Mod Lites, and 29 Wingless Auto Racing (WAR) Sprint Cars.
USRA B-Mods kicked off the night’s preliminary action with six events to determine the night’s top 16 in passing points order. Heat race victories went to Mike Higley in heat one, Dean Wille in heat two, Bobby Williams in heat three, Logan Martin in heat four, J.C. Morton in heat five, and Andy Bryant in heat-race six.
Guest Class Mod Lites were next in the heat race order with two events to set their feature lineup. Taking heat wins were Dillon Raffurty of Independence, Missouri over Jeff Raffurty and Kelly Bergrstrom in heat race one, while Travis Alexander of Tonganoxie, Kansas bested David Raffurty and Tony Kerr in heat two.
Next up, USRA Modifieds competed in four heat races with the top 16 in passing points locked into the feature lineup while the top 8 in passing points participated in a redraw for a spot in the front four rows of the main event. Heat race victories went to Darron Fuqua ahead of Jason Bodenhamer in heat one, Dean Wille ahead of Steve Twenter in heat two, Tyler Schmidt over Johnny Fennewald for heat three, and Louisiana’s Cade Dillard ahead of Shad Badder for the final preliminary heat race win.
After WAR Sprint Car heat races were completed (results unavailable at press time), B-Mods returned to the track for two b-mains to round out the main event lineup as Cody Brill and Ed Noll raced their way to victory. USRA Modifieds also ran a b-main to lock in the final transfer cars with Justin Johnson securing the win and a spot in the main event.
With ominous weather fast-approaching, the main events rolled onto the speedway with USRA B-Mods first on the speedway for their 25-lap special event. Track point’s leader Dean Wille alongside Mike Higley started the event from row one with Logan Martin and J.C. Morton just behind in row two for the initial green flag.
A couple early race mishaps slowed the field, including a bad break for Luke Nieman and Chris Cain in turn four as their cars became hooked together after a chain-reaction incident. Once the cars were separated and racing resumed, Higley quickly went back to work consistently hitting his marks to pace the field with J.C. Morton, Logan Martin, and Dean Wille running close-quarters for second position.
After a lap three restart for a single car spin, drivers again bunched together for another restart. Through the early stages, Higley ran comfortably out front with Morton and Martin in tow, behind the lead trio, Jacob Ebert, Andy Bryant, Wille, and Tim Karrick raced hard for a spot inside the top five through lap 10.
By the lap 15 marker, Higley again opened up distance between himself and second-running Morton. Martin held strong in the third position as Ebert settled into fourth ahead of Bryant, Karrick, and Wille until a lap 18 caution flag for Cody Brill and Ben Stockton slowed the pace. Just after the next restart, Steve Blake had contacted with the front-stretch wall to draw another caution and restart.
The field eventually went back to work with Higley now leading Martin and Morton for a seven-lap dash to the finish with strong winds and light rain beginning to fall over the speedway. Meanwhile, the ever-present Ebert, Bryant, Wille, and Karrick tandem stayed in contention as Minnesota’s Jacob Bleess, USRA National B-Mod point’s leader Chad Clancy, and Jason Billups found their way inside the top ten.
With just three laps remaining, Jeff Douty drew a late-race caution on lap 22 as strong wind gusts and lite rain continued to put a damper on things. Nonetheless, the field went back to green for the final three-lap dash to the finish. The middle lane seemed to kick in late in the race as Martin and Morton continued their classic side-by-side battle for second just behind Higley. Late in the race, Bryant found a way around Ebert to move up one spot to fourth, relegating Ebert to fifth.
At the finish line, Higley collected the hardware and the $1500 payday with Springfield, Missouri’s Morton claiming second at the line ahead of Martin, who made the long haul from West Plains, Missouri pay off with a respectable run to third. Bryant was fourth, followed closely by Ebert, Wille, Bleess, Clancy, Karrick, and Billups to round out the top ten.
The strong winds and lite rain calmed down just a bit as the Mod Lites quickly made their way to the field for a 15-lap main event. Dillon and David Raffurty along with Cheri Welch and Jeff Raffurty brought the field to green. Dillon Raffurty shot out to the early race lead with Jeff Raffurty blasting into second ahead of David Raffurty and Mike Kennedy until a lap-four caution flew to slow the field.
Dillon Raffurty of Independence, Missouri brought the field back to green-flag racing with Jeff Raffurty and Kennedy now inside the top three as the laps continued to wind down. With the rain picking up in the closing laps the checkered flag eventually waived over the field as Dillon Raffurty claimed his second-consecutive main-event victory at CMS during Mod Lite appearances this year.
Michael Raffurty found his way to second at the end of the event, Justin Raffurty advanced through the ranks for a solid third-place run with Mike Kennedy of Boone, Iowa coming away fourth. Jeff Raffurty got too high in turns three and four and slipped back to fifth at the finish. Rounding out the top ten were David Raffurty, Travis Alexander, Tony Kerr, Kelley Bergstrom and Rick Raffurty.
With the crowd exiting the grandstand area after what was ultimately the final checkered flag of the night waving after the Mod Lite event, the remainder of the night’s events had to be canceled due to inclement weather, including high wind gusts, heavy rains, and dangerous lightning. All total, 22 of the 24 events were completed and therefore the program is considered a complete show, no refunds will be given.
The postponed USRA Modified main event will be made up on the final night of racing on Saturday, September 13. Only the USRA Modified drivers who were locked into the 24-car starting grid will be competing during the race program on Saturday, September 13. There will be no full show for USRA Modifieds on the final night September 13. Returning drivers will hot lap prior to the 35-lap main event, which pays $1500 to win.
The list of drivers who are locked in for the main event on September 13 are: Tyler Schmidt, Jim Moody, Jason Bodenhamer, Shad Badder, Austin Siebert, Darron Fuqua, Cade Dillard, Dean Wille, Johnny Fennewald, Bob Timm, Steve Twenter, Logan Martin, Matt Dotson, Aaron Marrant, Jason Thompson, Tim Karrick, Justin Johnson, Dustin Boney, Terry Schultz, Matt Johnson, Dalton Kirk, Robbie Test, Lucas Conley, and Kevin Blackburn.
WAR Sprint Cars will not be returning for a makeup race. Instead, CMS will pay its previously agreed upon purse with the series and the payout for sprint car drivers will be conducted through the WAR Sprint Car Series payout format of their choice.
Weekly racing returns to CMS next week on September 6 with FULL PROGRAMS for all competing classes including heat races and main events for USRA Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, B-Modifieds and guest class ULMA Late Models. On Saturday, the gates open at 5, hot laps at 7, and racing at 7:30. Admission prices are Adults $12, Senior Citizens 65+ and Active Duty Military w/I.D. $10, Kids aged 6 to 12 years $5, Children five and under free. Pit passes return to $25.
For the remainder of the season, CMS is taking canned and boxed good food collections as well as clothing in good repair for donations to local charities for the less fortunate. Fall and Winter-time clothing has been requested from our community partners as cooler weather will soon settle in over the area. Look for donation drop boxes in the main foyer on the front side, on the pit side, donations may be dropped off in the office.
CMS Selected Results from Sunday, August 31, 2014
Mod Lite Feature Results
1st- 46-Dillon Raffurty, Independence
2nd- 41-Michael Raffurty, Independence
3rd- 75-Justin Raffurty, Hallsville
4th- 95-Mike Kennedy, Boone IA
5th- 98-Jeff Raffurty, Hallsville
6th- 64-David Raffurty, Kansas City
7th- 36-Travis Alexander, Tonganoxie, KS
8th- 4-Tony Kerr, Kansas City
9th- 11-Kelly Bergstrom, Edwardsville, Ks
10th- 09-Rick Raffurty, Independence
11th- 3c-Nathan Wolfe, Lee's Summit
12th- 2-Nathan Baslee, Holden
13th- 36c-Cherie Welch, Tonganoxie, KS
USRA B-Mod Feature Results
1st- 11x-Mike Higley, Kansas City
2nd- 18m-J.C. Morton, Springfield
3rd- 36-Logan Martin, West Plains
4th- 28-Andy Bryant, Fort Scott KS
5th- 94-Jacob Ebert, Oak Grove
6th- 68m-Dean Wille, Warrensburg
7th- 21x-Jacob Blees, Chatfield MN
8th- 21c-Chad Clancy, Liberty
9th- 21v-Tim Karrick, Basehor KS
10th- 33j-Jason Billups, Holt
11th- 09jr-Spencer Stephens, Buckner
12th- 15x-Ed Noll, Ex.Springs
13th- 33s-Ben Stockton, Kansas City
14th- 73-Cody Frazon, LaMonte
15th- 2E-Robbe Ewing, Stockton
16th- 1B-Bobby Williams, Hermitage
17th- 96-Cody Brill, Harrisonville
18th- 125-Luke Maddox, Wood Heights
19th- 77-Jeff Douty, Butler
20th- 60s-Brett Wood, Warrensburg
21st- 13-Stephen Blake, Shawnee KS
22nd- 65-Kris Jackson, Lebanon
23rd- 31-Chris Cain, Columbia
24th- 181-Luke Nieman, Nortonville KS
25th- 27C-Jordan Clemons, Kearney
USRA Modified Selected Results
Heat Race # 1
1st- 87-Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, KS
2nd- 03-Jason Bodenhamer, Centerview
3rd- 16-Austin Siebert, Grandview
Heat Race # 2
1st- 68-Dean Wille, Warrensburg
2nd- 23-Steve Twenter, Sedalia
3rd- 00-Jim Moody, Odessa
Heat Race # 3
1st- 66T-Tyler Schmidt, Easton, KS
2nd- 21-Johnny Fennewald, Appleton City
3rd- 49-Bob Timm, Winona MN
Heat Race # 4
1st- 97-Cade Dillard, Robeline LA
2nd- 107-Shad Badder, Oak Grove
3rd- y9-Aaron Marrant, Orrick
"B" Feature
1st- 7j-Justin Johnson, Gardner, KS
2nd- 22x-Dustin Boney, Gower
3rd- 90-Terry Schultz, Sedalia
DRIVERS WHO ARE LOCKED INTO THE USRA MODIFIED MAIN EVENT TO BE MADE UP ON SEPT 13
66T-Tyler Schmidt, Easton, KS / 00-Jim Moody, Odessa
03-Jason Bodenhamer, Centerview / 107-Shad Badder, Oak Grove
16-Austin Siebert, Grandview / 87-Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, KS
97-Cade Dillard, Robeline LA 68-Dean Wille, Warrensburg
21-Johnny Fennewald, Appleton City / 49-Bob Timm, Winona MN
23-Steve Twenter, Sedalia / 36-Logan Martin, West Plains
88D-Matt Dotson, Hallsville / y9-Aaron Marrant, Orrick
20-Jason Thompson, Concordia / 1k-Tim Karrick, Basehor, KS
7j-Justin Johnson, Gardner, KS / 22x-Dustin Boney, Gower
90-Terry Schultz, Sedalia / 16s- Matt Johnson, Archie
30-Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, KS / 27T-Robbie Test, Kaiser
17-Lucas Conley, Spring Hill KS / 95-Kevin Blackburn, Fulton
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