By Ben Shelton

HARRISBURG, Ark. -September 12, 2008- Night #1 of the 2nd Annual O'Reilly MSRA Dirt Track Championship was held last night at Poinsett County Raceway in Harrisburg, Arkansas with Wendell Wallace winning a thriller over Dane Dacus.

The 2nd Annual O'Reilly MSRA Dirt Track Championship was originally scheduled to be a two day show with double heats on Friday night and consolation events and the a-main on Saturday night. However, with a threatening forecast for Saturday night courtesy of the remnants of Hurricane Ike, the O'Reilly MSRA staff and Poinsett County Raceway staff decided to modify the format. The revised format consisted of a complete show on Friday night, and a complete program on Saturday night as well. It was also determined that Friday night's event would be the final point's event with Saturday being an O'Reilly MSRA sanctioned, non-points event.

Thirty-Two Super Late Models, representing five states signed in for the event. After advancing from his 6th starting position to take the win in his heat race, Dane Dacus earned the JFR Graphics Pole Qualifier Award. Wendell Wallace started in the second position for the main event. The initial start in the feature would be waived off as several cars piled up on the inside row forcing a complete restart. The next attempt to get the race underway would be successful with Wallace bolting to the lead with Dacus in tow.

Caution would fly again on lap two as Brian Ritchie rolled to a stop with a broken suspension assembly that was a product of the incident on the initial start. On the ensuing restart Wallace and Dacus began a battle for the top spot. The leaders would reach lapped traffic by lap 13 as things started to heat up throughout the field.

Dacus would chase Wallace through traffic for the next 17 laps as the duo lapped up to the 13th place car. At the finish line Dacus made a bid at the lead but came up a few feet short as Wallace picked up the $2,000 payday, which was his second O'Reilly MSRA triumph of 2008. Jeff Floyd (started 12th), Joey Mack (locked up 2008 O'Reilly MSRA Championship), and Billy Moyer rounded out the top five.

Four heats were held for the 32 car field. In heat race #1 Gary Beard rocketed to the lead early in the race before being sidelined with mechanical problems at the halfway point, ending his night. Michael Murphree inherited the lead and went on to win over Shane Stephens and seventh starting, Billy Moyer.

The second heat race saw Billy Moyer Jr. take the win from the pole with third starting Jack Sullivan and Steve Rushin rounding out the top three.

Heat race #3 would see third row starters, Joey Mack and Dane Dacus blasting their way to the front of the grid. Dacus would lead Mack and Jeff Floyd to the checkered flag.

In heat race #4, third starting Wendell Wallace took the lead early in the race and won over fourth starting Billy Peden and Justin Asplin.
Twin b-mains were held, and in the first last chance qualifier Kyle Beard took the win with Mike Bowers in the final transfer spot. Chris Jones won the second b-main with Jordan Jones earning the final transfer.

Randy Mitchell and Jeff Sloan utilized O'Reilly MSRA provisionals for the 30 lap feature event.

The 2nd Annual Midsouth Dirt Track Championship will conclude on Saturday night, September 13th with a complete $2,000 to win program for the O'Reilly MSRA Super Late Models. A full compliment of local divisions will accompany the program each night. For more information, please visit www.PoinsettCountyRaceway.com .

Notes:

Friday night was the official final O'Reilly MSRA point's event for the 2008 season, and with his fourth place finish, Joey Mack from Benton, Missouri earned his second straight O'Reilly MSRA Championship. Joey Mack also won the JFR Graphics Pole Award for the 2008 season after earning the most O'Reilly MSRA feature pole positions.

Jeff Floyd from Walnut Ridge, Arkansas entered the night 2nd in O'Reilly MSRA standings, just 21 points out of first place. He would start 12th in the feature and drive an impressive race to a 3rd place finish, but his counterpart, Mack, would finish only one spot back in the 4th position, preventing Floyd from earning enough points to overtake the leader. Jeff Floyd earned the Larry Shaw Race Cars Hard Charger Award for charging from his 12th starting position to a 3rd place finish.

Brian Ritchie from Newport, Arkansas was the recipient of the Weld Racing Wheels Forge Ahead Award after a broken suspension part ended his night on lap one of the feature.

Wendell Wallace from Batesville, Arkansas was the recipient of the COMP Cams Winner's Circle Bonus. With the win he became only the fourth driver in 2008 to make it into victory lane more than once. With the accomplishment he joined Kyle Beard, Ray Moore, and Jack Sullivan as multi-time winners on the 2008 O'Reilly MSRA campaign.

Kyle Beard from Trumann, Arkansas won the COMP Cams Winner's Circle Bonus for the 2008 season after picking up more feature wins (three) than any other O'Reilly MSRA member. Beard finished 5th in the final O'Reilly MSRA standings.

Jon Kirby from Russellville, Arkansas won the 2008 O'Reilly MSRA Kuntz & Company Rookie of the Year honor. He also finished 3rd in the final O'Reilly MSRA point standings.

Billy Moyer Jr. from Batesville, Arkansas finished 4th in the final O'Reilly MSRA point standings.

Poinsett County Raceway co-owner, Terry Butler, did a fantastic job of prepping the ¼ mile oval for Friday's event as the track was racy top to bottom with some four wide racing throughout the night.

The O'Reilly MSRA would like to thank O'Reilly Auto Parts, their Associate Sponsors- GRT Race Cars, Hoosier Racing Tires, COMP Cams, Larry Shaw Race Cars, Weld Racing, Kuntz & Company, JFR Graphics, RiceTec, ASI Racewear, ROCKHARD Powdercoat, Inc., MSR Mafia.com Marketing Services; and their contingency sponsors - Scott Wire, Duralite Racing Wheels, Suspension Spring Specialists, BSB Manufacturing, AP Racing, Wiles Drive Shafts, Boston's Restaurant and Sports Bar Pizza, Joe Gibbs Racing Oil, Schaeffer Oil, & FSR Products.

For the latest information on the O'Reilly MSRA Super Late Model Series, please visit www.MSRADirt.com .

O'Reilly MSRA Super Late Model Results - September 12th, 2008
2nd Annual Midsouth Dirt Track Championship
Poinsett County Raceway - Harrisburg, Arkansas

Feature Finish:
1. Wendell Wallace
2. Dane Dacus
3. Jeff Floyd
4. Joey Mack
5. Billy Moyer
6. Michael Murphree
7. Kyle Beard
8. Jon Kirby
9. Shane Stephens
10. Jack Sullivan
11. Billy Moyer, Jr.
12. Steve Rushin
13. Billy Peden
14. Mike Bowers
15. Jordan Jones
16. Chris Jones
17. Justin Asplin
18. Jeff Sloan
19. Randy Mitchell
20. Brian Ritchie

Entries: 32 (representing five states: AR, TN, TX, OK, MO)
Cautions: 2
Red Flags: 0
Leaders: Wendell Wallace (1-30)
COMP Cams Winner's Circle Bonus: Wendell Wallace
JFR Graphics Pole Qualifier: Dane Dacus
Larry Shaw Race Cars Hard Charger: Jeff Floyd (12th to 3rd)
Weld Racing Wheels Forge Ahead Award: Brian Ritchie
Provisionals: Jeff Sloan, Randy Mitchell

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