Ken Ferris, from DuPont, Washington, took the lead from Ben Petter entering the first turn on lap one and led all thirty-five laps in route to his first WMRA feature of the season on the Douglas County Fairgrounds oval.  Ferris drove his Sage Induction, MAC Towing, Murray Ferris Beast-Gaerte to a car length victory over Rick Moss in the Zakula-Beal Auctioneers Beast-Pink Ford.  Brad Curtis finished third, another car length back, in the Joan Curtis Beast-MOPAR.

Petter had the pole for the first time in his career, but the cagy veteran, Ferris, was able to use his outside front row starting position to get into the first turn ahead of the talented rookie.  Moss was able to get under Rob Lindsey down the back straight on the first lap with everyone else getting into line.  The running order after the first lap was Ferris, Petter, Moss, Lindsey and Curtis.  On lap two, fast qualifier, Brian Olson, was able to take sixth from Rick Kraft exiting turn two.  Matt Stone exited on lap three with mechanical problems.  For the next few laps, all positions remained the same.  Ferris was pulling out to a five-car length advantage as Moss was trying feverishly to find an opening to get past Petter.  On lap seven, Petter slid a little high in turn three allowing Moss to take second entering the first turn.  Unfortunately for Petter, Lindsey, Curtis and Olson were able to use the low line and relegate Petter to sixth.  Ferris’ lead was beginning to shrink as the front-runners began to enter lapped traffic.  On lap twelve, Lindsey moved up a half groove allowing Curtis to sneak his nose under the second year driver.  The running order after twelve was Ferris, Moss, Curtis, Lindsey, Olson, Petter and Kraft.  The second pack consisted of Nick Seidelman, Spence Gatrell, Bob Eldridge and Eric Young.  The next lap Young pulled off with mechanical problems.  On lap sixteen, Kraft pulled into the pits with oil pressure issues. By now, the top six were running nose to tail and approaching a slower traffic.  As they entered the third turn, Ferris was forced to brake to avoid hitting a slower car.  The resulting chain reaction saw the top six play bumper cars.  No positions changed but several cars had bent front and rear bumpers.  On lap twenty-two, Seidelman came to a stop on the inside of the back straight when a drive belt failed, causing his Esslinger to lose power.  For the restart the running order was Ferris, Moss, Curtis, Lindsey, Petter, Gatrell, Olson, Eldridge and Alan Norton.  When the green waved, Olson tried to use the high line to get past Gatrell while Gatrell was trying to get under Petter.  Unfortunately for Olson, he ran out of track and was forced to back off.  The top six were running the bottom with Olson the only driver attempting to run the outside.  On lap twenty-six, Lindsey exited with a flat right front as well as a broken pan-hard bar.  Everyone but Olson was glued to the bottom waiting for Ferris to make a mistake.  Time was running out and patience was wearing thin with the top five inches apart.  On lap thirty-two, Curtis tried the outside entering turn three, only to see the nose of Petter and decide that the bottom wasn’t so bad after all.  On lap thirty-three, Ferris entered turn three a little higher than normal.  Moss thought he had the opening he was waiting for but the hole closed.  Slight contact was made exiting turn four but Ferris was able to hold on.  At the checkered, Moss was right on Ferris’ tail with Curtis, Petter and Gatrell right behind.  Olson tried in vain to get around Gatrell for fifth but finished three feet behind.

Scott Walker won the B Dash over Seidelman while Moss captured the A Dash over Ferris.  Petter took the lead from Seidelman on lap five of the first heat to take the checkered.  Ferris led from the start to take the fast heat over Moss.  Several drivers experience problems during the evening.  Top rookie contender, Walker, had motor problems while warming up for his heat and called it a night.  Skeeter Flake and Jonathan Goetz also had motor problems prior to the main and were unable to run.

Results:

Qualifying:  Brian Olson (77) 14.772, Brad Curtis (12) 14.803, Rick Kraft (3) 14.814, Rick Moss (50) 14.974, Spence Gatrell (8) 14.995, Rob Lindsey (23) 15.012, Ken Ferris (28) 15.020, Ben Petter (85) 15.158, Skeeter Flake (16) 15.257, Scott Walker (34) 15.286, Nick Seidelman (4) 15.431, Bob Eldridge (48) 15.438, Matt Stone (58) 15.735, Eric Young (45) 16.062, Alan Norton (69) 16.270, Jonathan Goetz (79) NT.

B.  Dash:  Walker, Seidelman, Eldridge, Flake.

A.  Dash:  Moss, Curtis, Olson, Kraft.

Heat 1: Petter, Seidelman, Eldridge, Young, Norton.

Heat 2: Ferris, Moss, Curtis, Olson, Lindsey, Kraft, Gatrell.

Main (35 laps):  Ferris, Moss, Curtis, Petter, Gatrell, Olson, Eldridge, Norton, Lindsey, Seidelman, Kraft, Young, Stone, Flake DNS, Walker DNS, Goetz DNS.

Unofficial Point Standings:

Moss 516, Ferris 493, Olson 437, Curtis 431, Lindsey 422, Walker 399, Petter 387, N. Seidelman 368, Stone 365, Gatrell 306.