Special to the Phoenix



Try as they could, the field just couldn’t catch 14-year-old Kyle Slader as he picked off his third straight Pure Stock feature at Outlaw Motor Speedway Friday night.

After taking the lead at the flag stand concluding lap four, Slader held off a duo of challengers to register his victory. He had to work extra hard on the final lap of the 15-lap race after a spin out set up a green-white-checkered finish.

Division points leader Jason Ward of Tahlequah was on Slader’s bumper for the final circuit. He didn’t have the machine to catch the Muskogee middle school student as he rocketed out of turn two with a substantial lead. He won by two seconds.

Slader fought off Muskogee’s Mike Bantaa after taking his initial lead. But Bantaa left the track with engine problems on a restart on lap nine. When Bantaa left, Muskogee’s Matt Burnett and Ward became the primary challengers.

A lap after the restart, Ward moved from fourth to second to chase Slader the rest of the way.

A full technical inspection of Slader’s car after the race revealed his racer was legal.

Dale Richardson made track history, winning two features on the same night in two different classes. It’s believed he is the first driver to do that in the eight year history of the track.

The Muskogee driver first won the 360 Modified chase and then, running from his car to his Hobby Stock racer, he won that race as well. He is one of only a handful of drivers who have driven cars in two different classes.

In the 360 effort, Richardson had everything going his way to win his second feature of the year and second in a row. He took the lead on lap 10 and led the rest of the way. Lance Robbins, Dyer, Ark., was second with Patrick Goodnight of Braggs in third.

Muskogee’s Chuck Bumgarner registered a moral win in just running in the feature. Going into the race, he had yet to finish the main event. Mechanical problems have plagued him the entire year.

Well, he still hasn’t completed a race. He just missed finishing sixth when he got caught up in a three-car accident just yards from the finish line on the final lap. He had a big wave to the crowd who cheered his efforts.

He ended up in 11th place.

“Well, I made 19 and three-quarters of a lap tonight,” he said. “We’re going to put a new engine in the car this week, I’m serving notice, we’ll make all the laps next week if I can avoid other cars who get in trouble.”

The No. 11 was Richardson’s lucky number in the Hobby Stock feature. He took the lead on lap 11 from car No. 11 (Jeff Metcalf) and then raced to his seventh feature win of the year in the division.

From there, he easily held off Metcalf, of Siloam Springs, Ark, and Muskogee’s Colton Dunlap, who finished second and third respectively. Richardson had a five second lead with five laps remaining and led by three seconds at the checkered flag.

Richardson just missed making it as sweep for the night in heat races. He won his 360 Modified heat and was second – by a car-length – to Randy Moses, II of Muskogee in the third Hobby Stock heat.

Leading from start-to-finish, Lonnie Robbins of Alma, Ark, captured his second Modified feature win of the year.

From the very start, the 20-lap event was a three-car race. Robbins grabbed the lead from the pole and was never passed. His first challenger was Bixby’s Greg Skaggs and then it was Chouteau’s Jeran Frailey.

Skaggs, who has won four features this season, ran second until lap 18, when Frailey got around him on the backstretch. A restart on lap 16 after Danny Leatherman got sideways in turn two bunched the field and gave an advantage to Frailey, who was several car lengths behind the leaders at the time.

Robbins was able to get the jump on the pack on the restart while Frailey moved along side Skaggs and eventually beat him on the high side to grab second.

Racing Ronnie Palmer continued his dominance in the Front Wheel Drive division, winning his ninth feature of the season and third in a row.

The Muldrow driver took the lead on lap four and ran away from the field. He had a seven-second lead over Brandon Morris, Booneville, Ark. Billy Rankin of Hulbert was third.

Matt Sherill of Owasso grabbed the 25-lap Sprint feature. He had an easy win over second-place Danny Smith of Sapulpa and Rafe Essary of Farmington, Ark