MLRA Late Models
I-80 Speedway
April 6, 2014
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Sanders Earns First Late Model Win in Meltdown Finale at I-80 Speedway



MLRA PR
GREENWOOD, NE (April 6) - It has been a big two weeks for Happy, Texas racer Rodney Sanders. On the heels of a $10,000 Modified win last weekend, Sanders took the checkers over a host of top shelf Dirt Late Model racers at Greenwood, Nebraska's I-80 Speedway, Sunday night, in Lucas Oil MLRA competition. Sanders was the Top Qualifier, but it was Phillips who jumped to the lead looking for the Durst Motorplex $2,500 bonus.
 
In lapped traffic, Phillips left the low side open exiting turn two and Sanders capitalized and never looked back. "We struggled pretty bad last night," commented Sanders in Victory Lane. We just made it in the show. We changed some stuff around. We had a pretty good heat race. Starting up front, I didn't really know what we had."
 
Phillips faded to fourth in the latter stages of the main event. Brian Birkhofer had a tough go of things in the heat race and was tenth in passing points. He methodically picked off cars up to second and put the heat on Sanders, but came up just a little short.


 
"We just needed to get some time on the car," said Birkhofer of his decision to run at I-80 Speedway this weekend. "This new car, it's a little different animal. There's a lot of positives to it. I just gotta knock some rust off myself, and kinda get the feel of the car and hopefully get better here."
 
A new chassis and engine combination did not slow down Chad Simpson one bit this weekend. He finished the wild thirty lap affair in third. Jeremy Payne took the Hard Charger award for the night with a 19 position improvement, finishing 13th.
 
Next weekend the stars of the Lucas Oil MLRA will be in action for two complete shows at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri.

A-Main
1 1 20S Rodney Sanders
2 10 15BB Brian Birkhofer
3 3 25C Chad Simpson
4 2 75P Terry Phillips
5 15 14L Brad Looney
6 18 14B Kyle Berck
7 8 31U Jason Utter
8 12 6T Travis Dickes
9 11 18 Chase Junghans
10 22 32S Chris Simpson
11 20 24L Bill Leighton
12 14 58E Dave Eckrich
13 32 186 Jeremy Payne
14 23 2B Jason Bodenhamer
15 21 51F Matt Furman
16 16 3C Mike Collins
17 29 90M Lance Matthews
18 24 6H Al Humphrey
19 6 21F Todd Frank
20 4 77Y Jordan Yaggy
21 5 42S Don Shaw
22 31 19L Scott Lewis
23 28 29K Bill Koons
24 19 1G Justin Gregg
25 30 10C Junior Coover
26 26 4W J.C. Wyman
27 27 53K Andrew Kosiski
28 13 4 Tad Pospisil
29 7 2 Tommy Weder Jr.
30 9 56E Andy Eckrich
31 17 21X John Anderson
32 25 36J Jim Johnson

B-Main #1
1 21X John Anderson
2 1G Justin Gregg
3 51F Matt Furman
4 53K Andrew Kosiski
5 19L Scott Lewis
6 90M Lance Matthews
7 10H John Hansen
8 10M Jacob Magee
9 36J Jim Johnson
10 2B Jason Bodenhamer
11 4G David Garmann
12 29D Spencer Diercks

B-Main #2
1 14B Kyle Berck
2 24L Bill Leighton
3 32S Chris Simpson
4 186 Jeremy Payne
5 10TT Tyson Turnbull
6 6H Al Humphrey
7 4W J.C. Wyman
8 10C Junior Coover
9 29K Bill Koons
10 79K Jesse Kroger
11 80K Jeff Kroger

Heat #1
1 75P Terry Phillips
2 77Y Jordan Yaggy
3 6T Travis Dickes
4 15BB Brian Birkhofer
5 90M Lance Matthews
6 14B Kyle Berck
7 186 Jeremy Payne
8 2B Jason Bodenhamer
9 79K Jesse Kroger
10 80K Jeff Kroger

Heat #2
1 25C Chad Simpson
2 2 Tommy Weder Jr.
3 31U Jason Utter
4 14L Brad Looney
5 18 Chase Junghans
6 21X John Anderson
7 53K Andrew Kosiski
8 10TT Tyson Turnbull
9 10M Jacob Magee
10 4G David Garmann

Heat #3
1 42S Don Shaw
2 20S Rodney Sanders
3 4 Tad Pospisil
4 51F Matt Furman
5 1G Justin Gregg
6 32S Chris Simpson
7 10C Junior Coover
8 10H John Hansen
9 36J Jim Johnson
10 4W J.C. Wyman

Heat #4
1 21F Todd Frank
2 56E Andy Eckrich
3 58E Dave Eckrich
4 3C Mike Collins
5 24L Bill Leighton
6 6H Al Humphrey
7 19L Scott Lewis
8 29K Bill Koons
9 29D Spencer Diercks