Ray Cook after his second career Show-Me 100 win. (Lloyd Collins)

Casebolt's Heartache, Cook's Late Lead Ends Heart-Stopping Show-Me 100 in Missouri

WHEATLAND, Mo. - May 29. Ray Cook of Brasstown, North Carolina etched his name in the DART Show Me 100 history book for the second time as he claimed the 18th edition of the event Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway in what could only be described as possibly one of the greatest races ever.

Jimmy Owens took the lead at the onset of the event with outside polesitter  Pearson Jr., Terry Phillips, Don O'Neal, and Dale McDowell in tow. By the third circuit, O'Neal had cracked the top three as Owens began to motor away from the field. Two laps later, Owens  was catching the tail of the field. Chad

Another 11 laps of the "Show-Me 100", and Steve Casebolt's smile may have held up all the way back  to Indiana. (Rick Schwallie)

Simpson went down a lap on the sixth circuit, but Owens' commanding run would come to an abrupt halt exiting turn four on the tenth circuit as Brian
Birkhofer got sideways, causing Chris Wall to flip in front of the leader. Owens,
with nowhere to go, was caught up in the incident and had to go to the tail of the field. Wall was  unhurt in the incident and would rejoin the event 14 laps later to a standing ovation from the crowd.

With Owens tailback, Don O'Neal inherited the lead with Pearson, Billy Moyer, Terry Phillips, and Dale McDowell making up the top five in the running order. On the ensuing restart,  O'Neal and Pearson began to battle for the lead before

It was a pivotal moment - one of many - in the Show Me 100 when Chris Wall flipped after contact with #15 Brian Birkhofer.  Then leader Jimmy Owens got involved, and saw everything start downhill after an otherwise perfect weekend. (Mike Ruefer)

the caution waved again on lap 12 as Shannon Babb rolled to a stop with a flat tire. During the caution, Steve Casebolt also headed pit-side, and both drivers rejoined the tail of the field.

With the green flag displayed once again, the action at the front of the pack saw O'Neal motor away from the pack with Pearson and Moyer continuing to host a spirited battled for second until the caution flew again on lap 21 as Dale McDowell relinquished the fifth spot with a flat tire. He too would head pit-side
for fresh rubber before rejoining the field.

At the time of the caution the top five running order consisted of Don O'Neal, Pearson, Moyer, Cook, and Phillips. As the race resumed, Moyer moved by Pearson for second as the duo began to swap positions lap after lap until lap 27, when Scott Bloomquist relinquished the sixth spot with a flat tire. It would mark the first of two trips to the pit area during the course of the race for the Tennessee driver.

With Bloomquist on the tail of the field, the race continued as O'Neal jumped to a comfortable lead over Pearson, Phillips, and 11th starting Cook. The race would endure a ten lap green flag run with O'Neal still at the point as Phillips and Cook shuffled Pearson  from second to fourth exiting turn two on lap 32. Two laps later, young Billy Moyer, Jr. entered the picture and shuffled Pearson Jr. back another spot.

On lap 38, the caution would wave for Chris Simpson, who rolled to a stop on the backstretch, which erased O'Neal's eight-car length lead. At the time of the caution Phillips, Cook, Moyer, Jr., and Pearson followed O'Neal.
The restart saw Moyer Jr. and Cook beginning to race side-by-side for the third spot before Cook mounted a charge toward the front of the pack that saw him dispose of Moyer, Jr. and Phillips to race his way to second by the race's midway point.

The next ten laps saw the race slow on various times by the caution flag before it endured another long green flag run. Cook stalked O'Neal through
lapped traffic for several laps before slipping passed him on the high side to
take the lead as the field completed the 62nd circuit.

With Cook at the point, O'Neal continued to apply pressure, as 22nd starting Steve Casebolt joined the fray in the third spot. Another driver on the move was provisional 29th starting John Blankenship, who was up to the
fourth spot by lap 65.

While Cook maintained the lead, O'Neal and Casebolt waged war for second, with disaster nearly striking as they completed lap 67. The pair briefly made
contact, sending Casebolt into the front stretch wall. Casebolt would recover after losing several car lengths to O'Neal, and three laps later, he would
race past O'Neal and set his sights on race leader, Ray Cook. By lap 73, Cook and Casebolt were battling side-by-side for the lead.  Casebolt then became the  fourth different leader of the race and quickly extended his lead.

Casebolt was finally slowed by a caution for Blankenship, who rolled to a stop with a flat on lap 82. The ensuing restart saw Casebolt drive away from the field once again, and appeared to be on his way to a comfortable win before bad luck struck on lap 89. Casebolt lost his driveshaft, bringing his night to a disappointing early end.

With Casebolt in the pits, Cook inherited the lead and fought off a late race challenge from Don O'Neal to claim the $30,000 payday in the 18th Annual DART Show Me 100. O'Neal, Phillips, Eric Wells, Dennis Erb, Jr., Billy Moyer Jr., Bloomquist, Dan Schlieper, Brad Neat, and Mike Marlar rounded out the top ten.