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15-Year-Old Brannon Becomes The Youngest ASALMS Winner by Matt Prieur-ASA Late Model Series 7/5/2008 Odessa, Missouri (Saturday, July 5, 2008): "This is so amazing, I can't believe we actually won this race!" Were the words spoken by 15-year-old Drew Brannon after becoming the youngest drivers in ASA Late Model Series Presented by GM Performance Parts History to Win a Feature! The Kansas City, Missouri native who now calls Miami, Florida home, started on the outside of the front row of the Light Up The Night 150 at the wicked fast high-banks of I-70 Speedway, located East of Kansas City in Odessa, Missouri on Saturday, July 5, 2008. Next to him on the front row was 2007 ASALMS Northern Division Rookie of the Year, Jesse Saunders! Brannon edged out Saunders heading into the first corner to take the early lead and thoroughly dominated most of the extended distance 150-lap Feature. Saunders made a late run at the Sunshine State teenager with 10 laps to go and when the final caution flag came out on Lap 149, setting up a "Green-White-Checkered" finish, Saunders gave the Florida teen all he could handle in that final shootout and as they collided heading into Turns One and Two on the final lap, Saunders slid up into the Turn Two wall! Prior to Saunders' incident though, I-70 Speedway Weekly Late Models and Super Trucks Points Leader, Ron Hartford tagged the Inside front stretch wall coming out of Turn Four and was deemed the cause of the caution flag, forcing a Checkered / Yellow finish and giving Brannon the Win and Saunders second place! "That was some good hard racing right there, Jesse and I were both going for our first ever Feature Wins!" Brannon explained in victory lane. "I did what I needed to do to hold him off at the end! I just can't believe this is happening." Saunders offered his version of what happened in his post-race interview as well and it almost mirrored Brannon's sentiments; "We were both going for the same spot! I'm trying too win my first feature, he's trying too win in his first start with us, it was hard racing for sure." "If this wasn't his first win and he wasn't so young, I'd be a little more mad, but we'll definitely take second. We're looking at the bigger picture here." The New Glarus, Wisconsin sophomore explained. "When Eddie (ASALMS Northern Division Points Leader, Eddie Hoffman) got caught up in that wreck, I knew we'd have a great shot at getting caught back up to him in points if we hung on. I got another second place! One of these days we'll win a race. We're going to my home track in Madison next and I'm sure we'll have a little something for everybody there!" He smiled. Hoffman, who won the first three North races of the season, saw his winning streak stopped at Three after getting knocked out of the race due to an accident on Lap 133 and was credited with a 20th place finish! It would be Saunders and Brannon leading a stellar 32-car field to the green flag to begin the extended distance Light Up The Night 150 to close out an exciting Fourth of July Holiday Weekend in the Show-Me State. Brannon grabbed the early lead while the field quickly sorted themselves out all around the famed high-banks. The 15-year-old built up nearly a full straightaway lead at the beginning of the race when the first of seven cautions flew on Lap Nine (9). The first caution actually turned into one of Three (3) Red Flags of the night as Silvis, Illinois rookie, Joey King slammed the Turn Two wall head on! He was ok, but his Adrian Carriers Chevrolet was done for the evening. In the interest of fuel conservation, Cautions laps counted up until Lap 140 as the last 10 laps would be run under green flag conditions if needed. As the green flag waved once again, Brannon would again take off and run away from the rest of the field while Saunders held down the second spot. Action behind Saunders was intense as at one point, third place all the way back to 18th were nose-to-tail and in some cases, side-by-side as no one was holding anything back. On Lap 41, Griffin McGrath, who earlier pitted and lost laps under green, collided with Mesa, Arizona invader, Scott Rueschenberg and both went for a ride with McGrath sliding backwards into the backstretch pit entrance tire barrier! Rueschenberg had damage, but was able to continue while McGrath was done for the night with a damaged race car. Then 24 laps later, ARP Bodies / Aluminum Racing Products Fast Qualifier and Defending ASALMS Northern Division Champion, Trent Snyder, who started seventh, had made his way to third, and was looking to continue his own two-race win streak at I-70, (He won both ASALMS races in 2007) when he suddenly slowed coming out of Turn Four! The field behind him took evasive action but some didn't make it through as Brent Brevak, who earlier in the night qualified a career high second, collided with Dave Gentile Jr., and they collected Jeremy Miller resulting in all three tagging the front stretch wall coming out of Turn Four. All three were done as the second red flag of the night flew and all three were ok! Snyder pitted and came back out, but he later dropped out on Lap 102 with suspension problems, ending his I-70 winning streak and further hindering his efforts at repeating as ASALMS Northern Division Champion. After the lengthy clean up, Brannon again brought the field to the green flag and again the Miami, Florida teenager pulled away from Saunders and the rest of the field. As the laps counted down, Saunders was slowly but surely reeling in the teenager and followed Brannon's tire tracks looking for a lane around him. The most serious incident of the night occurred on Lap 134 as 18-year-old Alec Carll and rookie, Jerry Einhaus Jr., who were both battling for fourth place, collided coming down the front stretch and both slammed the inside retaining wall! Einhaus Jr., actually flew up into the air and part of his machine actually skidded the Top of the inside retaining wall! The force of Einhaus Jr.'s contact sent him up the Turn One embankment and directly into the path of ASALMS Northern Division Points Leader, Eddie Hoffman, who was running sixth! Both cars then skidded up into the Turn One wall. All three were ok after the dramatic accident, but were all finished for the night. Saunders wasted no time letting Brannon know he was there on the next restart as the I-70 crowd came to their feet. Saunders searched high and low looking for a way around the 15-year-old rising star. Each time Brannon was up to the task and would fight off the reigning ASALMS North Rookie of the Year! The final caution of the night flew on Lap 149, setting up a green-white-checkered finish! On that final restart, Saunders went to the high side to get around the Sunshine State Teenager and Brannon threw a block at the 22-year-old, so Saunders dove low and Brannon was right there as well. The white flag flew as the crowd was deafening as they picked sides as to who would win. As the field came down the back stretch, Ron Hartford, who had damage to his machine, tagged the Inside front stretch wall coming out of Turn Four and was deemed the cause of the final caution flag! Immediately after the Hartford incident, Brannon and Saunders collided heading into Turns One and Two on the final lap, Saunders slid up into the Turn Two wall! Hartford was deemed the cause of the caution flag! With only once chance to finish a Green-White-Checkered restart under ASALMS rules, the Checkered / Yellow flags both waved in the air giving Brannon the historic Win and Saunders second place! "There's so many people who made this possible, I don't know were to begin!" Brannon continued in his victory lane interview as the massive crowd on hand roared their approval at a new star rising in the Show-Me State. "Tom Hedin from South Park Auto down in Florida flew up here for this race, my Grandma is here from Garnett, Kansas, I just can't believe this!" "Jack Smith and Greg Urbine have made this possible for me and to come here to I-70 Speedway and win in my first time ever racing here? This is a dream come true." The emotional 15-year-old added. "We're going to pick and choose races in all three ASA Late Model Series division and hopefully we'll be able to back this win up with a few more." He ended. As for Saunders, the New Glarus, Wisconsin driver is now just Two (2) points behind Hoffman in the chase for the 2008 ASALMS Northern Division title heading into Border Wars Weekend beginning on Friday, July 25, 2008 at the fast ½ mile high-banked paved oval of Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisconsin for the Mayor of Madison 100. Border Wars Weekend concludes on Saturday, July 26, 2008 with the King of Rockford 100 at the fast 0.292 Mile High-Banked Paved Oval of Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, Illinois, just an hour South of Madison. "I give the kid credit, he did a good job and he did what he had to do to win this." Saunders continued. "We seem to finish second everywhere we go now, but I know one of these days we'll be over their talking about our first win like Drew just did!" He ended as he pointed to Victory Lane. 18-year-old, LaVernia, Texas Rookie, Cody Smith finished a career high third despite damage to his RMT Construction Company Chevrolet; "This is a huge momentum boaster for this team, we haven't had a very good start to the season, but this sure makes up for it!" The Lone Star State teenager stated in his post-race interview. "These 5K Motorsports guys have given me good stuff all year long, we just haven't had any luck until tonight!" Smith added. "We got caught up in that wreck on the last lap and I thought, oh no, not again. But we got our spot back and fortunately I was able to hold back Nick (Fourth Place Finisher, Nick Neville) and get on the podium." He ended. 2007 ASALMS North Runner-Up, Nick Neville finished a season high fourth while ASALMS North Rookie of the Year Points Leader, Brett Moffitt was the second 15-year-old in the Top Five as he finished Fifth after starting 18th giving 5K Motorsports two Top Five finishes with Smith and Moffitt! The day before, Moffitt ran on the I-70 Speedway Dirt Track located behind the pavement grandstands and picked up Two Feature Wins in IMCA Sport Mods and IMCA B-Mods competition. Chris Eggleston came home sixth while Wes Griffith Jr., finished seventh after starting 24th over Josh Lane who came from 28th to finish eighth. Steven Brooks earned the Performance Concepts Hard-Charger Award with his 30th to Ninth place run! Nick Bussell completed the Top 10 after starting 21st. Earlier in the afternoon, Defending ASALMS Northern Division Champion, Trent Snyder won his first ARP Bodies / Aluminum Racing Products Fast Qualifier Award of the season over the 32-car field as the Ironton, Minnesota driver turned in a 16.450 which measures out to 118.833 MPH. Later on, Ron Hartford from near-by Raytown, Missouri started on the pole and checked out on the field en route to his first career ASALMS Win in the 25-lap GM Performance Parts Shootout over 18-year-old Billy Crane, another I-70 regular who finished second while a third I-70 regular, David Wood was third. Josh Lane, and 16-year-old Thor Anderson completed the Top Five. Originally, the GM Performance Parts Shootout would only transfer the Top Two (2) cars, but immediately after the Shootout, ASALMS Co-Founders / Presidents, Ron and Sandy Varney and I-70 Speedway Promoter, Brad McDonald agreed to start all 32 cars for the 150-lap Feature to the deafening roar of the packed I-70 Speedway crowd on hand! ASA Late Model Series Northern Division Presented by GM Performance Parts Race #4 of 11 I-70 Speedway-Odessa, Missouri Saturday, July 5, 2008 Light Up The Night 150 RACE RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL) FINISH START CAR # / DRIVER / HOMETOWN TEAM / CAR LAPS STATUS 1 2 08 Drew Brannon ®/Miami, FL Brannon Specialties/Ford 151 Running 2 1 87 Jesse Saunders/New Glarus, WI JWSRacing.com/Chevrolet 151 Running 3 4 15 Cody Smith ®/LaVernia, TX RTM Construction Company/Chevrolet 151 Running 4 8 55 Nick Neville/Mackinaw, IL Dixie Chopper Lawn Mowers/Chevrolet 151 Running 5 18 5 Brett Moffitt ®/Grimes, IA GM Performance Parts/Chevrolet 151 Running 6 16 22 Chris Eggleston ®/Erie, CO Leary Racing Products/Chevrolet 151 Running 7 24 33 Wes Griffith Jr./Frankfort, IL Steel Dynamics.com/Ford 151 Running 8 28 54 Josh Lane ®/Algonquin, IL Racers Against Hunger/Ford 151 Running 9 30 105 Steven Brooks/New Lenox, IL Midwest Sign and Lighting/Chevrolet 151 Running 10 22 17 Nick Bussell ®/Ionia, MI Boyne Machine/Chevrolet 151 Running 11 29 4 Thor Anderson ®/Bondurant, IA Performance Concepts/Chevrolet 151 Running 12 27 128 David Wood ®/Rayville, MO Meitler Consulting/Ford 151 Running 13 10 95 Derek Neville/Mackinaw, IL Lucas Oil Products/Chevrolet 151 Running 14 14 16 Austin Siebert/Lake Lotowana, MO Kenny's Tile/Chevrolet 151 Running 15 25 97 Ron Hartford ®/Raytown, MO Joslin's Jewelry/Chevrolet 150 Accident 16 17 76 Troy Hintzsche/Malta, IL Winfield Solutions/Ford 149 Running 17 23 25 Scott Rueschenberg ®/Mesa, AZ Elite Care/Chevrolet 149 Running 18 5 66 Alec Carll/Grand Rapids, MI G.R. Developments/Chevrolet 134 Accident 19 3 38 Jerry Einhaus Jr. ®/Seneca, IL WMC Inc./Chevrolet 134 Accident 20 15 8 Eddie Hoffman/Wheaton, IL Lisa Thomas Salon/Ford 134 Accident 21 20 28 Jack Smith/Medina, OH UB Machine/Ford 122 Suspension 22 7 88 Trent Snyder/Ironton, MN Performance Concepts/Chevrolet 102 Suspension 23 32 69 Caleb Hall ®/Stillwell, KS Mark Hall Racing/Ford 88 Handling 24 21 6 Dave Gentile Jr./Elwood, IL Bullfrog Sunblock/Chevrolet 65 Accident 25 19 32 Jeremy Miller ®/Rockton, IL Mastercrafts Exteriors/Ford 65 Accident 26 6 31 Brent Brevak ®/Ashland, WI Suburban Accents Decals/Ford 65 Accident 27 12 64 Griffin McGrath/Cedar Rapids, IA McGrath Powersports/Chevrolet 36 Accident 28 31 138 Elton Rust Jr. ®/Independence, MO Rust Racing/Chevrolet 28 Handling 29 9 30 Michael Pickens ®/Rockton, IL RaceTeamGear.com/Ford 15 Electrical 30 13 27 Joe Ross/Kansas City, MO Steel Systems Construction/Ford 9 Accident 31 11 29 Joey King ®/Silvis, IL Adrian Carriers/Chevrolet 7 Accident 32 26 48 Billy Crane ®/Independence, MO Little Richard's Family Restaurant/Ford 2 Wheel ® = 2008 ASALMS Northern Division Rookie of the Year Title Contender Lap Leaders: 87 Jesse Saunders Pole, 08 Drew Brannon 1-150. Cautions: 7 for 41 Laps. Time of Race: 1 Hour, 26 Minutes, 58.253 Seconds. Margin of Victory: 0.164 Seconds. ARP Bodies / Aluminum Racing Products Fast Qualifier: 88 Trent Snyder 16.450 = 118.833 MPH. GM Performance Parts Shootout Winner: 97 Ron Hartford. |
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