MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A fan of the classic fairgrounds racetracks, Jesse Stovall was glad to hear Thunderbird Speedway was reopening. And the Billings, Mo., driver was event happier to be there for the revival of the Midwest Dirt Track Championship as he raced to a season-high $10,000 victory at the half-mile oval that hosted its first auto races more than 100 years ago.
Stovall made a bold outside move around polesitter and early leader Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., after an early restart, fought off challenges from Moyer and pulled away to win by more than a half-straightaway on a chilly Oklahoma night.
“This racetrack has been good to me,” Stovall said in victory lane. “We won us three or four races here. They opened the thing back up, I don’t know how many years ago, and I think we won the first Late Model race they had. This place is just pretty awesome.
“These old fairgrounds places are just few and far between, especially down south here. There’s a lot of them let in Iowa, and I run good every time we go to a fairgrounds — I always run good. If it’s a fairgrounds race, I’m always usually (willing) to go, it doesn’t matter how far (away) it is.”
Stovall, who started outside the front row, took the checkers ahead of Moyer and eighth-starting Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas. Kyle Beard of Trumann, Ark., was fourth while Payton Looney of Republic, Mo., rounded out the top five finishers in the unsanctioned event.
Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., a multitime winner at Muskogee, ran second early in the feature and contended throughout before pulling his smoking No. 75 to the infield with three laps remaining, retiring with a 13th-place finish.
Stovall was strong on the high side, especially in exiting turn two where he used the cushion to regain second from Phillips early in the race before overtaking Moyer in virtually the same spot later on.
“I just kind of biding my time those first few laps,” said Stovall, who slipped back to third behind Moyer and Phillips in the early laps. “That wall kind of was getting closer and closer to you every lap — the cushion just kept moving out there, the moisture kept moving out there.
“I know Little Billy, he’s one of the most conservative races there is, and it wins him a lot of races and a lot of money. I just took a chance on him there and go around him on the outside. You know, it’s just one of them things, it was better than it was to follow than to lead that race for sure, the first part of that race.
“The last part, I was waiting for it to take a little rubber down here in (turns) three and four, and it did. I kept coming down and trying to feel for that. But once I knew that was there, then I knew this top would stay good all night.”
Moyer, who set fast time in Friday’s preliminaries along with winning a heat race and the pole dash, was disappointed track officials decided to add water to the top groove before the main event.
“I just got beat,” he said. “It just sucks. We work for a day and a half for getting (the car fast) in the right condition, then when they water it, it changes the complexion.
“Like I said, it showed how strong we were last night in the right condition, so that gives me a lot of confidence, this is a brand new car, for when the track’s right and doesn’t have anything up there to run the top and you can just put it on the mat. When you’ve gotta finesse it and steer it, we’ve got a really good car. I’m happy with that.”
Moyer as in control early in the race, but he had his hands full with Phillips and Stovall on an early restart when he slipped to second.
“The caution come out, and hell, I’ve won ‘em (after) a caution and we’ve lost ‘em, and I lost this one,” he said.
Stovall was glad to win at the racetrack that has hosted some of Oklahoma’s biggest Late Model races, but has had a checkered past over the last 20 years with on-again, off-again events. He hopes the recent improvements stick.
“They just keep doing more and more,” he said. “The lighting is phenomenal and the fences look great, they’ve got the seating looking better. I hope the best for ‘em.”
Notes: Stovall notched his second October victory; he won the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association finale Oct. 7 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. … Runner-up Billy Moyer Jr. said he plans to gun for the $7,500 winner’s purse Nov. 3-4 at Jackson (Miss.) Motor Speedway. … Third-place Rodney Sanders had a steady run, outdueling Kyle Beard and Payton Looney to get a podium spot after the departure of Phillips. “We didn’t really have anything for the top two guys, but we’ll take it,” he said. … Texan Austin Theiss slowed and retired after the early restart that saw Stovall take command.
