FARMINGTON, Mo. — Howard Moore earned his first Morrow Brothers Ford MOWA Sprint Car Series feature win on Saturday night at Farmington Empire Speedway.
The evening couldn’t have gone any better for the Memphis, Tennessee racer, who scored a heat race win, along with his $3,800 victory in an event serving as a memorial to former race promoter, the late Ray Marler.
Marler was well-known around the country and the world for his promoting efforts at the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri, as well as a stint at the Farmington, Missouri oval.
Moore started from the pole and was never challenged as he led flag-to-flag in the 25-lap affair.
Behind Moore, action picked up as Zach Daum and Jake Neuman waged war with Kevin Newton and Carson Short. Four cars battling for position allowed for Moore to easily pull away from the field. As he navigated through traffic, the intensity picked up. Lapped traffic was all over the Missouri oval, but never fazed Moore.
Daum and Neuman ran side-by-side, swapping the runner-up position for most of the race, while second-starting Broc Elliott raced with Carson Short, who ultimately retired early. Elliott then had to encounter Kevin Newton, who started eighth but quickly worked his way to the top five.
With the frontrunners working their way through traffic, fans were in awe watching local competitor Scottie Gretzmacher. Gretzmacher earned a starting spot by virtue of his B-Main finish, where he started 21st. At the end of 25 laps, the 16C machine had moved forward 15 positions to finish sixth.
Never facing competition, Howard Moore crossed under the checkers ahead of Zach Daum, Jake Neuman, Kevin Newman and Broc Elliott.
The finish:
- 40-Howard Moore[1]; 2. 5D-Zach Daum[3]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman[4]; 4. 16-Kevin Newton[8]; 5. 00-Broc Elliott[2]; 6. 16G-Scottie Gretzmacher[21]; 7. 37-Bryce Norris[12]; 8. 7C-Brad Bowden[16]; 9. 71-Jaxton Wiggs[10]; 10. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[15]; 11. 3-Chris Solomon[11]; 12. 155-Jax Meloy[22]; 13. 7-Paul Solomon[19]; 14. 1JR-Steven Russell[14]; 15. 21D-Kyle Bellm[17]; 16. 72-Kevin Petty[6]; 17. 10S-Jeremy Standridge[20]; 18. 99-Ian Sales[9];
- 01-Justin Standridge[7]; 20. S46-Isla Rowett[18]; 21. (DNF) 21-Carson Short[5]; 22. (DNF) 57C-Collin Parmer[13]
