Powershift Performance

The rescheduled race at Lebanon I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri went off without a hitch on Saturday, September 2nd. One new truck was added to the field bringing the number of trucks racing to sixteen. Cody Slowinski joined the Sundance Motorsports team in the #02 truck and Bob Boileau again ran in the #00 truck. Mark Noble raced the #54 truck for Minimizer Motorsports while Tyler Kruckburg moved the the #63 truck.

Heat Races

In the first heat race Morgan started in 3rd and finished in 2nd, passing #3, Allen Boles and challenging the rookie in #54. However, Mark Noble in the #54 managed to stay in front pushing the truck in what was likely it's fastest race ever.

Start: 3 - 54 - 88 - 55 - 17 - 01 - 7 - 14
Finish: 54 - 88 - 3 - 17 - 14 - 55 - 01 - 7

The second heat race saw the #27 move out front, but the #16 was passing everyone. The #29 went high off the track and then back on dropping a few positions. Tommy Boileau in the #16 managed to go all the way to the front for a win.

Start: 00 - 27 - 26 - 29 - 4 - 63 - 16 - 02
Finish: 16 - 27 - 00 - 63 - 26 - 4 - 02 - 29

All the trucks were brought on to the track for the autograph session in front of the stands.

Challenge Races

In the first challenge race Tommy Boileau and Mike Morgan started on the front row with #16 on the inside and #88 on the outside. With the race start Morgan jumped to the lead and held it for three laps until bumped by the #16 who then took the lead for a couple laps. The #88 again moved into the lead on the outside and held it until near the end of the race when the #16 managed to move into the lead. The #16 truck then nudged the #88 towards the outside wall with the #88 almost going off the track high side before recovering. Once recovered the #88 gave the #16 a bumper tap and moved to the low side for the final lap, which was taken by the #16.

Start: 16 - 88 - 63 - 17 - 3 - 4 - 55 - 7
Finish: 16 - 88 - 17 - 63 - 7 - 4 - 3 - 55

The second challenge race the #14, Ricky Rude, moved up quickly to challenge #54 for the lead. After bumping the #54, the #14 took the lead and held it for the finish

Start: 54 - 27 - 14 - 00 - 26 - 02 - 01 - 29
Finish: 14 - 54 - 27 - 01 - 00 - 02 - 26 - 29

A-Main Event

The start order of the top twelve trucks was inverted, which means Morgan started in 9th place. The race trucks were led onto the track by the (restored) Bandit car pursued by Sheriff Buford T. Justice. The fans lit up the stands with their cell phone lights and those with their vehicles along the fence turned on their flashers in an awesome tribute to the racers. In return the Bandits gave a 3-wide salute to the fans.

The 30-lap A-Main Race began with the #01 truck jumping to the lead. The #16 began moving up quickly on the outside. The #3 challenged the #01 for the lead and then took it. The #16 then challenged the #01 and passed him. Meanwhile #88 moved into 5th place behind #17. Further back the #7 of Jon Lisenbee spun after contact; he left the track with front end damage.

On the restart with about 13 laps to go the order of the leaders was: 3 - 16 - 01 - 17 - 88 - 14 - 54 - 63. The #3 took the lead while #01 and #17 made contact with #17 moving into 3rd place. The #01 then made contact with the #88. With 10 laps to go #16 took the lead and #88 moved into 4th. In trying to reclaim 4th the #01 truck came down on the #88 which was then rear-ended by #14. Morgan reclaimed 4th half a lap later. On the next lap the #01 went into the wall hard after contact with #14(?) resulting in another caution.

The order for the second restart leaders was: 16 - 3 - 17 - 88 - 14 - 54 and the #01 was sent to the rear. The #3 moved to the lead and #88 moved into 3rd with 7 laps to go. The #16 took the lead and #88 moved into 2nd with 3 laps to go and that is how they finished. Morgan celebrated with donuts in front of the stands to the crowd's delight!

Start: 4 - 7 - 3 - 01 - 00 - 63 - 17 - 27 - 88 - 54 - 14 - 16 - 02 - 26 - 55 - 29
Finish: 16 - 88 - 17 - 3 - 14 - 55 - 54 - 63 - 27 - 4 - 01 - 00 - 02 - 26 - 29 - 7

Points Standing

Boileau has now passed Morgan who is now in third place in the points standings. Incredibly, the top three Bandits are separated by less than 60 points!

Truck #	Driver	Points This Race	Cumulative Points
14	Ricky Rude	383.0	3195.0
16	Tommy Boileau	469.0	3176.5
88	Mike Morgan	403.0	3136.5
17	Justin Ball	365.0	3053.0
3	Allen Boles	299.5	2717.0
01	Chris Kikelhan	254.0	2621.5