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Andrews Caps Off Season of Success with Non Wing Showdown Sweep
An I-44 Riverside Speedway Special Release by Cody Morris
Saturday, October 2012 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - On the heels of a wild opening night at the Inaugural Non Wing Showdown, race teams regrouped for I-44 Riverside Speedway’s Saturday night event and season finale.
Adding nearly a dozen competitors for the finale, pushing the event total near the century mark, the big money was on the line with the exciting Stock Non Wing division battling for a $2,500 winner’s check with another cool grand on the line in Outlaw Non Wing action.
While the outcome was familiar, the path there was anything but.
The Non Wing Showdown
Hometown favorite Trey Marcham led a quartet of lock ins in preliminary action of Friday night, leaving the remaining combatants to fight it out in passing points for the two remaining spots in the Dash.
The Friday night exploits of Shelby Byrd and Steven Shebester were well chronicled. Problematic for the duo in this case, it was in Non Wing Outlaw action. However, the pair matched one another’s feat in sweeping their heat and inverted qualifier, earning the Non Wing standouts a date in the Dash against the top 4 from Friday night’s action.
Turning the tables from late Friday night action, Andrews got the best of the six car dash, placing him on the pole position for the headlining $2,500 to win main event with prelim winner Trey Marcham alongside.
The 30 lap Showdown struggled to get going, with separate tumbles for Greg Moore and Jim Woods negating the first two attempts to complete a lap. However, the third attempt proved the charm with Marcham taking a slight lap 1 lead as the field was awash in action.
Andrews immediately began hounding Marcham for the point before battling past to lead the fourth round with Shebester, Byrd, and Christian Kinnison gridding the top five following cautions on the 8th and 10th circuits.
Each caution offered promise to the challengers, hopes that were repeatedly thwarted as Andrews checked out on each restart. The field would be bunched up one last time following a lap 16 caution for debris on the track, but Andrews once again broke away.
Inside third row starter Steven Shebester laid claim on the runner up spot for good with ten laps remaining and it appeared the Pauls Valley wingless standout could make the ending interesting as he paced between four and six car lengths back of the leader, but Andrews pace was just too good as the Tulsa native blistered the 1/6th mile to the tune of $2,500 aboard the Cherokee Barber Shop and Andrews Irrigation no. 77, furthering his outright dominance in stock 600 action at I-44 Riverside that stretches back to the 2010 season when he garnered stock Non Wing honors at the 9th Annual Mini Sprint Nationals. Andrews has since swept both classes of stock 600 action in the 2011 and 2012 editions of the I-44 Riverside’s Mini Sprint Nationals.
With I-44 Riverside Speedway track announcer on the call from victory lane, Andrews shared “It [I-44 Riversid Speedway] just fits my driving style. This Sawyer Chassis has been on a rail all weekend. There’s about six guys that could win this on any night, but tonight was just my night. This track has just been good to me.”
Seemingly always one spot away from unleashing his own torrent of dominance of prestigious Non Wing event, Shebester accepted runner up honors with preliminary night winner Trey Marcham falling one spot to finish in the show position.
Oklahoma City’s Shelby Byrd dueled with Lone Star standout Christian Kinnision for much of the 30 lap Non Wing Showdown, ultimately crossing the finish line fourth with Tulsa’s Cody Cordell completing the top five finishing order after Kinnison spun on the final lap.
Steven Shebester, Shelby Byrd, Greg Emetario, and Keith Martin claimed heat race wins over the 35 car field, with Shebester, Byrd, and Martin doubling up in qualifer action. Josh Marcham and Tommy White raced to victory in the twin 12 lap B Features.
Stock Non Wing 600 A Feature (30 laps - $2,500 to win): 1. 77 Chris Andrews (1); 2. 82 Steven Shebester (5); 3. 32 Trey Marcham (2); 4. 5 Shelby Byrd (3); 5. 5c Cody Cordell (10); 6. 8 Josh Marcham (13); 7. 39 Sterling Hoff (9); 8. 93 Greg Emetario (8); 9. 72 Brandon Oldham (12); 10. 71 Billy Lawhead (11); 11. 96 Randy Crowder (15); 12. 82c Christian Kinnison (4); 13. 98 Derrick McBride (17); 14. 18 Logan Scherb (18); 15. 5h Tanner Berryhill (19); 16. 25w Tommy White (14); 17. 15x Keith Martin (7); 18. 83 Jim Woods (20); 19. 92 Jordan Herrman (6); 20. 7G Greg Moore (16)
Lap Leaders: Trey Marcham 1-4, Andrews 5-30
Factor One Hard Charger: Josh Marcham +7
Stock Non Wing 600 B Feature #1 (12 laps - top 4 transfer to A Feature): 1. 8 Josh Marcham (3); 2. 96 Randy Crowder (10); 3. 98 Derrick McBride (2); 4. 5h Tanner Berryhill (11); 5. 17w Harli White (7); 6. 60 Bryan Nebgen (8); 7. 22 Teri Burk (4); 8. 50 Curtis Jones (6); 9. 7 Cord Dodson (3); 10. 8x Austin Shores (9); DNS: Tyson Hall, Chris Cochran
Lap Leaders: Marcham 1-12
Stock Non Wing 600 B Feature #2 (12 laps - top 4 transfer to A Feature): 1. 25w Tommy White (3); 2. 7G Greg Moore (2); 3. 18 Logan Scherb (1); 4. 83 Jim Woods (11); 5. 44 Ayrton Gennetten (6); 6. 88 Tony Penick (8); 7. 11J Garrett Jennings (10); 8. 98x Austin Crowder (4); 9. 17 Patrick Knight (9); 10. 1 Aaron Dromgoole (7); 11. 27k Kyle Keeler (5)
Lap Leaders: Scherb 1-3, Moore 4-10, White 11-12
Stock Non Wing 600 Dash (determines top 3 rows for A Feature): 1. 77 Chris Andrews (2); 2. 32 Trey Marcham (1); 3. 5 Shelby Byrd (6); 4. 82c Christian Kinnison (4); 5. 82 Steven Shebester (5); 6. 92 Jordan Herrman (3)
Non Wing Outlaw
The top four from Friday night’s Non Wing Outlaw feature were locked into the first two rows of Saturday night’s 30 lap finale, with Shelby Byrd and Steven Shebester pacing the front row charge for the $1,000 winner’s end.
Byrd jumped out to an early lead over Shebester, but all eyes were on Chris Andrews as the Tulsa native shot forward from his inside third row starting spot. Andrews wasted no time in his bid to add to the $2,500 score he earned minutes earlier.
Challenging for the lead by lap three, Andrews grabbed the lead one lap later with Steven Shebester fighting forward reminiscent of the scene in the headlining Stock Non Wing battle. Shebester gave chase until his 13E mount was forced to the infield with mechanical woes on the 17th round, moving Byrd back up to the runner up spot.
The final caution waved with ten laps remaining, negating the huge lead Andrews had steadily built lap by lap. It was of little consequence, however, as Andrews stormed away from the field and held nearly a full straightaway advantage as he cruised to victory aboard the Blevins owned Bob Hurley Ford no. 8.
Andrews’ Saturday night Non Wing Showdown sweep netted the Tulsa talent over $3,500.
Jay, Oklahoma’s Jarrett Crouch battled up 8 spots to nab runner up honors with Coweta, Oklahoma’s Chance Morton advancing five spots to complete the podium finish. Jim Woods turned in a sensational run from 18th that netted the Oklahoma City driver a fourth place finish, as well as Hard Charger honors. Shelby Byrd completed the top five finishing order.
Sterling Hoff, Billy Lawhead, and Andrews each claimed heat race wins over the 26 car field, with Lawhead and Andrews completing the sweep in the qualifying invert. Kade Morton took a winner’s transfer out of the 12 lap Outlaw B Feature.
Non Wing Outlaw A Feature (30 laps - $1,000 to win): 1. 8 Chris Andrews (5); 2. 10 Jarrett Crouch (10); 3. 7m Chance Morton (8); 4. 83 Jim Woods (18); 5. 5 Shelby Byrd (1); 6. 5c Cody Cordell (3); 7. 2H Will Harvey (6); 8. 8m Kade Morton (17); 9. 39 Sterling Hoff (11); 10. 17w Harli White (12); 11. 12s Drew Salisbury (15); 12. 21 Billy Lawhead (20); 13. 27k Kyle Keeler (7); 14. 28v Junior Vickman (14); 15. 13E Steven Shebester (2); 16. 22 Curtis Jones (4); 17. 5x Tyson Hall (19); DNS: Keith Martin, Cord Dodson, Greg Moore
Lap Leaders: Byrd 1-3, Andrews 4-30
Hard Charger: Jim Woods +14
Non Wing Outlaw B Feature (12 laps - top 4 transfer to A Feature): 1. 8m Kade Morton (4); 2. 83 Jim Woods (10); 3. 5x Tyson Hall (2); 4. 21 Billy Lawhead (6); 5. 5h Tanner Berryhill (3); 6. 44 Ayrton Gennetten (1); 7. 98 Derrick McBride (8); 8. 11J Garrett Jennings (9);DNS: Ryan Padgett, Charlie White
Lap Leaders: Morton 1-12
Restricted 600
Sand Springs, Oklahoma native and preliminary night victor Tristan Oakes was joined on the front row by North Richland Hills, Texas’ Aaron Dromgoole for the 30 lap winged Restricted 600 main event.
The pair pulled away from the rest of the field in the opening laps, with Oakes claiming a slight early advantage. Dromgoole shadowed the leader until lapped traffic interrupted his pace midway through the event.
In a twist of irony, contact with a lapped car sent Oakes spinning into the infield with only three laps remaining. Oakes attempted to get back on the racing surface as quickly as possible, but did so in turn four as several cars approached. Disaster was thankfully averted, however the track entry violation ended Oakes’ hopes for a weekend sweep.
Aaron Dromgoole inherited the lead and went unchallenged in the final dozen corners aboard the Farris Auto Salvage, Roy Miller Auto Salvage, and Sawyer Chassis supported no. P40. Commenting afterward in victory lane “I didn’t even notice it for probably a lap or two, but then saw my dad screaming and waving and realized I was in the lead.”
And on lapped traffic, Dromgoole stated “It’s hard. You try to maintain speed, but you have to let it off. It’s difficult.”
Ryan Padgett held down the third spot throughout most of the event, maneuvering wheel to wheel with Grady Chandler and Mason McGuire in the latter stages. Padgett ultimately accepted runner up honors with Chandler claiming the show position. Masin McGuire finished fourth with Tulsa’s Bailey Hughes earning the Factor One Hard Charger award, moving up five spots to complete the top five finishing order.
The Restricted 600 did not lock in the preliminary night finish, thus Oakes and Dromgoole claimed heat race wins over the 13 car field, with Oakes and McGuire claiming victories in the second set of qualifiers.
Winged Restricted A Feature (30 laps): 1. P40 Aaron Dromgoole (2); 2. 898 Ryan Padgett (4); 3. 00 Grady Chandler (6); 4. 18 Mason McGuire (3); 5. 777 Bailey Hughes (10); 6. 3J Jessica Wehkamp (8); 7. 7D Sierra Davis (11); 8. 41 Kaitlyn Martin (9); 9. 14D Logan Davis (7); 10. 22 Jaiden Hughes (12); 11. 21x Tyler Alexander (13); 12. 7T Tristan Oakes (DQ - Illegal Track Entry); DNS: Quinton Standlee
Lap Leaders: Oakes 1-17, Dromgoole 18-20
Factor One Hard Charger: Bailey Hughes +5
I-44 Riverside Speedway would like to thank Pole Position Raceway, MelMark Pipe & Supply, Sawyer Chassis, Factor One Racing, Keiser Wheels, Car & Fleet, MudX, Firefighter & Sons Lawn Care, Bolted Spine Designs, Outlaw Wings, and Finish Line Designs, and Jake Rosario of Voyager Racing for their sponsorship and support of the Inaugural Non Wing Showdown.
I-44 Riverside also thanks the competitors and race fans for their support of the Inaugural Non Wing Showdown, as well a their passionate support throughout the 2012 campaign.
Stay tuned to i44riversidespeedway.com or follow us on Facebook at Riverside Speedway for the latest updates regarding the 2012 season banquet, as well as developments for the 2013 racing season.
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