MRP Raceway Park
Casebolt earns $5,000 at Ike Moler Memorial
Steve Casebolt heads for his richest victory since 2010. (rdwphotos.smugmug.com)
WILLIAMSBURG, Ohio (Aug. 17) — Inheriting the lead when polesitter Greg Johnson blew a right-rear tire, Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind., raced to victory Friday at Moler Raceway Park. His $5,000 triumph in the Ike Moler Memorial came in the quarter-mile oval’s richest race. | Video | Slideshow
Chad Stapleton of Edinburgh, Ind., who started outside the front row, finished second with R.J. Conley of Wheelersburg, Ohio, advanced six spots to finish third. Dillan White of Crofton, Ky., rallied from 17th to finish fourth after running as high as third and 12th-starting Robby Hensley of Walton, Ky., rounded out the top five.
Johnson, of Bedford, Ind., ended up 17th in the 22-car field.
Casebolt’s victory was his second of the season and his richest since his $5,000 triumph at Florence Speedway’s Fall 50 on Oct. 23, 2010.
Notes: Casebolt’s Cornett-powered MasterSbilt Race Car is sponsored by American Racer, Sunoco Race Fuels, Port City Racing, Sweet Mfg. and JE Pistons. ... The 34-year-old driver was coming off a third-place finish in last weekend’s Sunoco Racing Fuels North-South 100 at Florence. ... Among drivers failing to make the Moler feature lineup: Timmy Yeager, Eddie Carrier Jr., Brian Gray, Joe Godsey, Chad Oberson and Brad Neat, who scratched from the consolation race. ... Carrier hit the turn-three wall in his heat race. ... Oberson smacked the wall in the first heat in a wreck that drew a red flag, but he wasn’t hurt. ... Some of the same drivers will head east Saturday for the $5,000-to-win Fred Dillow Memorial at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park, another unsanctioned event.
Ike Moler Memorial: (1) Steve Casebolt, (2) Chad Stapleton, (3) R.J. Conley, (4) Dillan White, (5) Robby Hensley, (6) Justin Rattliff, (7) Rod Conley, (8) Mark Frazier, (9) Barry Doss, (10) Jesse Lay, (11) John “Weasel” Rhoades, (12) Roger Ruark, (13) Kellen Kenneda, (14) Gary Wilson, (15) Wayne Chinn, (16) Chad Smith, (17) Greg Johnson, (18) Duane Chamberlain, (19) John Whitney, (20) Jerry Rice, (21) Scott James, (22) Rick Slayback. Fast qualifier (among 34 cars): Chinn. Heat race winners: Rattliff, Rod Conley, R.J. Conley. Dash winner: Johnson. Consolation winner: James.
