Tom Karrick Memorial Explodes At Lakeside Speedway This Friday Night!

(Kansas City, KS) - It's a good thing when the racers of today get together to remember one of their own from the past. This Friday night at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS it's time for the Tom Karrick Modified Memorial race presented by the McCarthy Auto Group.

This weekend's race at Lakeside Speedway will kick off the Labor Day weekend. It also holds a special place in the heart's of the many racers, fans, friends & more that were associated with Tom Karrick. Karrick was one of the area legends and he and his family put a lot heart and soul into the local racing scene. After his passing, it became the mission of the family to preserve his memory and honor him with an annual race.

Since returning back to dirt in 2000, Lakeside Speedway has hosted 10 Tom Karrick Memorial events. The Karrick family works hard throughout the season to put together extra money for the evening's purse. They utilize the help of sponsors, donations and there own money to make this race one of the jewels in Lakeside Speedway's annual schedule.

Over the years the format has been tested. At one point they were basically running double features. A couple of years they ran two features and tallied up points between the two races and came up with an overall champion. It doesn't matter how they play with the format, the racing each and every year is spectacular.

Last season it was a former champion from Lakeside Speedway, Chad Lyle, taking home the win. Lyle didn't run the full season at Lakeside last season, but he was there looking like he never missed a beat going on the way to the win. Lyle is also one of 3 drivers to win this prestigious race more than once. The buzz for this years race has been rising for the past month and Friday night we will see who will join the list of winners to have won the Tom Karrick Modified Memorial.

The points race at Lakeside in the Modified division took a big swing in the favor of Tom Charles. Charles came into the night 2nd in points. He trailed Tim Karrick by just 2 points. Karrick had bad luck in hot laps. A blown engine sent him to Donnie Burlington Jr. to use his modified for the heat and B main. In the B main it looked as if Karrick was going to win, but with a few laps remaining the motor in his borrowed ride expired. Now trailing by 27 points Karrick's chances at championship number 3 will be harder to come by.

In the Grand National division you will find the hottest driver at Lakeside Speedway, Tim Billings.

Last Friday night, Billings won his 3rd straight feature event. Pretty good considering he came out of the gate slowly. Every week Billings was showing improvement and for the last 3 races he has shown why he is a former champion in the Grand National division.

Just like in the Modifieds the Grand Nationals have also seen a big shake up in the points. The points championship is going to come down to the final night. This class has the closest battle for the title.

Chad Shaw took over the points lead from teammate, Gene Claxton, with a 3rd place finish in the feature event. Claxton moved to 2nd and there is a tie for 3rd place between Chad Clancy and Tim Billings. Steve Dibben is also still in the thick of things in 5th place trailing by just 23 points.

Last week in the Factory Stock division it was a special night with the running of the 'Tasty Queen 20.' Normally the Factory Stocks run 15 lap features and the top prize is $200. The 'Tasty Queen 20' raced for 20 laps and it paid a whopping $500 to the winner. Mike Busby just happened to be the lucky recipient of the $500 first prize.

Factory Stock racing at Lakeside Speedway is competitive and it's exciting. Last week Mike Busby used a last corner pass to take down the win. It was a race that saw several different cars battling up front. As the laps came down it was a shootout between Busby, Justin Seifert & J.R. Billings. The 3 drivers put on one great show for the fans. Running the low line on the track, Busby was making some time up against the leader, Seifert. As they came to the white flag it looked pretty even. Heading out of turn 2 it looked as if Busby had the advantage, but the high line and momentum favored Seifert. As they drove into turn 3, Busby buried his car in a little harder than before. This edge gave him enough of a lead to where he slid up and took the line away from Seifert. It was Busby's 3 Factory Stock feature win of the 2010 season.

Marshall Jewett entered the night as the points leader in the Factory Stocks and he left with the lead too when the night was over. Busby by virtue of winning vaulted into the 2nd spot. Jason Ryun had some trouble and fell to 3rd and Seifert and Nate Barnes round out the top 5 in points.

Spectator gates open at 5 p.m., hot laps will be at 7:00 p.m. and the first race goes green at 7:30 p.m.

Adult tickets are $12.00, kids 8-14 are $6 and children 7 and under are always free.

For more information visit Lakeside online at; www.lakesidespeedway.net. You can also follow Lakeside Speedway on facebook.