Drew County Speedway hosts popular MSRA series

The MSRA Super Late Models roared into Drew County Speedway for a two -night show May 15-16, on the heels of fans’ requests for an appearance by the thriving series. Racers often televised on such networks as The Speed Channel arrived in full glory, and cars built throughout the southern region of the United States thundered around the track in multiple heats, B-Mains and two features, surpassing fans’ expectations. The show was packed with 27 super late model racers rolling into the speedway, taking their turns at the 3/8- mile oval track.

Kyle Beard (#86) of Truman, who ran at Drew County Speedway in 2008, proved his skills in last year’s race by leading the most laps before being passed at the very end to finish second. Speaking of his previous appearance before Friday‘s feature, Beard said “I’ve always liked running here at this track. The surface is right tonight, and my car’s been pretty good (so far). It looks to be a good night for the #86 car.”
The weekend did serve Beard well, granting him a win Friday night after an explosive run with hard-driving contenders (#93) Ray Moore of Shreveport, La., who finished second; and (#8M) Michael Murphree of Little Rock to round out the top three. Beard went on to secure a fifth place finish in Saturday’s feature.

Finishing mid-pack both nights (11th and 14th places), the #94r driver stuns locals wherever he goes when fans learn Austin Rettig is only 14 years old. In contention for 2008 Rookie of the Year, the zealous teenager of Sikeston, Mo., followed in his dad’s footsteps, also a dirt track racer who has recently limited his competition to allow Rettig to take the wheel. Rettig first strapped into street stocks at the age of 12, then moved up to crate late models where he earned two wins before graduating to the MSRA super late models this season.

However, Rettig is not the only teenager to run with the series’ veteran drivers; 15-year-old Gary Christian of Broken Bow, Okla., began racing go-carts at the age of five, then made his way through motorcycles and mini-stocks, honing his skills on modifieds before moving into super late models last year. His dad is known in the ASCS world for racing sprint cars, and Christian is sure to have a strong future in his sights, having already earned a racing resume of which many men would boast.


Monticello driver Bobby Derryberry (#13x) raced his way into the feature in Friday’s B-Main, while Stormy Derryberry (#311), also of Monticello, earned his way into Saturday night’s show after missing by inches over the finish line a second-place secured spot into the show during an exciting Friday night B-Main run.

Saturday’s feature was won by Billy Moyer Jr. (#21JR) of Batesville, a local favorite who has raced against well-known drivers such as Scott Bloomquist, as well as headlining racers known in the NASCAR series.

Local Series

Friday’s mini-stock race ended with returning champion Nick Frost of Monticello (#11) winning the checkered, followed by (#11x) Eric Moss of Watson in second and (#44L) Chris Lawson of Warren placing third.

In the cruiser feature, the top three contenders Friday evening were John Anthony of Dumas (#35), Brian Pharr (#26), and Tony Gillespie of Dumas (#11), who secured a third place finish after moving through the field from 16th spot.

The hobby stock division awarded winnings to three of its strongest Monticello racers again this week, with Jimmy Gibson (#83) winning the feature, followed by second place (#225) Kenneth Harvey and (#5M) Mandy Hayden, third place.

Thirteen street stocks took the track and was led to the checkered Saturday night by Huttig racer Joel Ball (#B1), with racer and car owner Eckie Harrison’s cars (#53 and #54H) lining up in second and third place finishes.

Friday’s limited modified show brought first place winner Waylon Ball of El Dorado (#B75) to the checkered, with Warren racer Joey Simmons (#17J) racing into second place as Monticello drivers (#1R) Bennie Ryburn and (#07T) Todd Abbott had another strong week with top five finishes.

The O’Reilly Modfieds took the track Saturday night and Casey Findley of Bryant (#17f) held off second place Richard Anders of El Dorado (#18A) to take that win.

Introducing Art Veno.

I am quite honored and owe a special thanks to Dr. Arthur Veno, best-selling author who has chosen my photography from a selection of nationally recognized photographers to be featured in his latest project, Biker Chicks, now available for sale and, as I have been told, is currently listed as the #1 bestseller in Australia.

Introducing Dr. Veno....

Dr. Arthur Veno is Adjuct Professor of Criminology at Monash University.

He has written three popular books on bike culture The Brotherhoods: Inside outlaw motorcycle clubs (Allen and Unwin, 3rd ed November 2009); The Mammouth Book of Bikers (Constable and Robinson, London, 2007) and Biker Chicks: The magnetic attraction of women to bad boys and motorbikes (Allen and Unwin, May, 2009).

He was the Director of Police and Justice Studies at Monash for many years and has received numerous national and state awards for his work in violence prevention with both bikies and police.

From 2001-2005 he worked on a grant requiring him to ride with The South Australian Gypsy Jokers during their campaign to stop the introduction of the current anti-bikie legislation in South Australia and assisted the Secretariat of the Joint Parliamentary Committee reviewing the Australian Crime Commission's Serious and Organised Crimes Act in 2008.

He was awarded the Australian Psychological Society's Distiguished Career award for his work with bikies and police in 2007.

He has never been a member of any club.