WARRENSBURG, Mo. – On a clear and cool early spring night at Central Missouri Speedway, 93 race teams checked in to Pepsi Night at the races.
Joey Harper and Logan Headley began the 12-lap Pure Stock main event from row one. Four caution periods slowed the main event in an otherwise competitive event. In the closing laps, Harper, Christy and Headley raced hard to capture the glory, with Harper prevailing despite extreme pressure.
On the final circuit it was Harper who came off turn two with the lead as the pair were three-wide shortly before that entering turn one. That was all Harper needed as he was able to secure the win, his second win at Central Missouri.
Headley finished second with Christy settling for third. Don Johnson was fourth and Jonathan Evans fifth.
David Raffurty and Ed Griggs began the 20-lap Mod-Lite main event at the front of the field. The race was caution plagued from the onset and the race had to be shortened due to the allotted 20 minutes for a main event expiring. Dillon Raffurty prevailed for his second-consecutive win and 24th overall at the speedway since the Mod-Lites became a weekly race class. Ed Griggs finished second followed by David Raffurty, Michael Raffurty and Cody Miller to round out the top five.
Dakota Foster and Jake Richards led the charge for the 20-lap B-Mod feature. The B-Mods were also plagued with cautions early in their event, but once the drivers settled in, racing was good.
The race was stopped by a scary incident involving Tyler Wood on lap six in which his car flipped coming off turn two onto the back straightaway. Wood was able to emerge from the car unharmed. When racing resumed, Patrick Royalty was in command by the halfway marker with a solid run at the front with Jim Moody and Dakota Foster racing inside the top-three. Royalty was too strong for the rest of the field and went on to collect the victory with Moody coming away second, Foster third, Jacob Ebert fourth and Cody Brill fifth.
Eric Hammons and Clayton Campbell opened the 15-lap Street Stock main event from row one. Hammons, Campbell and Brett Wood were racing hard in the early stages of the feature. By lap five, Campbell led Wood, Larry Ferris and Nathan Vaughn.
In the closing stages it appeared Campbell might claim his second win in a row, but Wood put the pressure on and brought Vaughn with him to overtake Campbell for the victory, his 33rd Central Missouri win, good for eighth on the all-time win list. Vaughn had a brilliant drive to second with Campbell third, Ferris fourth and Chris Kircher fifth.
In the fiercest battle of the night, the A-Mods did not disappoint on a track with some unusual character, which displayed three distinct racing surfaces at various points on the track as windy weather and sun proved interesting for late-evening track conditions as the cool weather also affected the surface.
Tim Karrick appeared to be on his way to a victory and led comfortably for the first 18 laps of the race as Chad Lyle, Darron Fuqua and Gunner Martin near the front. Mechanical gremlins ended Dean Wille’s night on lap 19, as the lone caution of the night slowed the field for the restart.
Fuqua then took to the high side on the ensuing restart and blasted to the front for the lead, never looking back and ultimately stretching out his lead over the final five laps to claim his sixth Central Missouri victory. Karrick was a cool second with Martin third, Matt Johnson ran strong up to fourth with Lyle rounded out the top-five.