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Daily Dirt 03/28/2024 17:41:14

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April 18
Magnolia Motor Speedway,
Columbus, MS
Sanction: National Dirt Racing League (King of Mississippi) - $7,500
Information provided by: Series and staff reports (last updated April 20, 6:24 am)
Wall pockets $7,500 at Mag for first NDRL win
King of Mississippi
  1. Chris Wall
  2. Don O'Neal
  3. Steve Francis
  4. Billy Moyer Jr.
  5. Chris Brown
  6. Jonathan Davenport
  7. Billy Moyer
  8. John Blankenship
  9. Scott Bloomquist
  10. Chad Thrash
  11. Bub McCool
  12. Kent Robinson
  13. Jared Landers
  14. Tim Fuller
  15. Jeremy Payne
  16. Chris Madden
  17. Chris Ferguson
  18. Timothy Culp
  19. Robert Baker
  20. Max Blair
  21. Mason Zeigler
  22. Anthony Burroughs
  23. Rick Rickman
  24. Jimmy Cliburn
  25. William Thomas
  26. Wendell Wallace
presented by
Connie Putnam/photobyconnie.com
Chris Wall of Springfield, La., heads to victory at Magnolia.
What won the race: Chris Wall of Springfield, La., worked to the front from his third starting spot and topped Don O'Neal in the caution-free 40-lap feature for his first series victory. Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., who started outside the front row and led the first 11 laps, settled for fouth behind Steve Francis.
Quotable: “Man, this is special to me," Wall said in victory lane. "The best drivers in the country are right here tonight, and to outrun Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, Don O’Neal and all these other guys is just an awesome feeling. I take a lot of pride in this one.”
On the move: Chris Brown rallied from 10th to finish fifth.
Winner's sponsors: Wall's Black Diamond Race Car is sponsored by Childress Fishing & Rental and Stuckey Enterprises.
Points chase: With a sixth-place finish, Jonathan Davenport extended his points lead to 36 points over Scott Bloomquist.
Car count: 49
Fast qualifier: Scott Bloomquist
Time: 13.887 seconds
Polesitter: Billy Moyer
Heat race winners: Don O'Neal, John Blankenship, Chris Wall, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer Jr., Billy Moyer
Consolation race winners: Jimmy Cliburn, Jared Landers
Provisional starters: Chris Madden, Max Blair, Mason Zeigler, William Thomas
Next series race: May 9, Atomic Speedway (Alma, OH) $5,000
From series and staff reports

COLUMBUS, Miss. (April 18) — Chris Wall was absolutely beaming with pride after winning Friday night’s 40-lap National Dirt Racing League A-Main to kick off the King of Mississippi weekend at Magnolia Motor Speedway.

Sure, the $7,500 first-place payoff was great, but it was the satisfaction of coming out on top of a national event that thrilled the 45-year-old racer from Springfield, La.

“What stands out is we just won a race with the best drivers in the nation and I don’t take that lightly,” said Wall, who scored his first-ever triumph on the fledgling NDRL series and became the sixth different winner in seven tour points races this season. “This is the best of the best. Anytime you can win a race with these guys, you can notch your belt. You’ve done something good.”

Starting third in the 26-car field, Wall steered his Ronnie Stuckey-designed Black Diamond Chassis machine past race-long pacesetter Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., for the lead on lap 12 and never looked back. He kept his Childress Racing entry stuck to the inside of the 3/8-mile oval throughout the remainder of the caution-free event to take the checkered flag 2.388 seconds ahead of Martinsville, Ind.’s Don O’Neal.

O’Neal’s Clint Bowyer Racing teammate, Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., advanced from the seventh starting spot to finish third. Moyer Jr. slipped to fourth in the final rundown after starting second and leading laps 1-11, and Chris Brown of Spring, Texas, moved up from the 10th starting spot to complete the top five.

A standout at tracks across the Gulf Coast, Wall registered one of the biggest victories of his 15-year dirt-track career. His only real headache was a spot in turn four that kept him on his toes.

“There was a hole there that was kicking my behind all night long,” said Wall. “If I got out past it I was in the slick. I needed to be under it to catch the moisture, and it was just in the wrong place. It was killing me.”

But Wall survived a costly mistake, using his strong car to stay ahead of the field at a track he’s frequented throughout his career.

“We do have a lot of laps here, but I don’t have a lot of laps here in a Black Diamond chassis,” Wall said. “We practiced last night and I’m not gonna lie, we were off a little. We put our heads together and we got (co-chassis builder) Ronnie Stuckey up here today, and we made a few key changes. And man, we had us a hot rod here tonight.”

O’Neal, 49, fought hard to finish in the runner-up spot. Though he started fourth, he lost spots early in the race and didn’t reach second place until late in the distance.

“We got a bad start there and fell back there a few spots,” said O’Neal, who ended the night tied for third in the NDRL points standings with Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C. “That sort of hurt us a little bit, and the bottom was just dominant tonight. We just didn’t get the job done. That’s the bottom line.”

Notes: Polesitter Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., was outgunned for the lead at the initial green flag by his son and faded badly to finish seventh. Fellow Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Scott Bloomquist almost went backward, starting sixth and finishing ninth. ... Southeastern rivals Chris Madden and Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., got together on the start of the fourth heat, forcing Madden to the pits. Madden tried to retaliate before heading pitside and later took a provisional to start the main event, which he finished in the 16th spot. … Davenport placed a quiet sixth in the A-Main but maintained his NDRL points lead. … The race marked the first national touring event at Magnolia since veteran promoter Johnny Stokes and partner Charles Roberts completed a purchase of the track in March. ... Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., was absent after announcing earlier in the week that he was abandoning his pursuit of the NDRL tour. ... The NDRL King of Mississippi weekend concludes on Saturday with a 60-lap A-Main paying $12,500 to win.

NDRL points

(Through April 18; unofficial)

1. Jonathan Davenport – 1,348
2. Scott Bloomquist – 1,312
3. Chris Madden – 1,302
3. Don O’Neal – 1,302
5. Kent Robinson – 1,286
6. Billy Moyer Jr. – 1,276
7. Steve Francis – 1,246
8. John Blankenship – 1,232
8. Billy Moyer – 1,232
10. Chris Ferguson – 1,178
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