JONES NABS FIRST WIN OF SEASON AT MISSOURI INTERNATIONAL

BENTON -- It was the little engine that could, but with a touch of deja vu.

Chad Jones drove a sprint car powered by a 360 cubic inch engine to his first feature win of the season Saturday at Missouri International Racepark. It was Jones' second-ever MIR win, and was just one day short of being a full year after his first.

Both times, the Senath driver outran the field -- normally dominated by 410 cubic inch engines -- using a smaller, less powerful motor.

"After we went out for hot laps, I saw how good the car was running," said Jones, 21, "and I knew if it stayed dry-slick out there, we could win it. The car was that good.

"A dry-slick track makes it a lot more even when you have a 360 engine. Even running this smaller motor, I didn't even have the car at half-throttle. It would start to idle and die when I slowed down in the turns."

The win makes Jones a contender for Saturday's program, in which the sprint feature race winner pockets $3,000. Because of sponsorship commitments, Jones regularly competes in the Memphis, Tenn., area. He made the trip Saturday to MIR to set up for this weekend's added purse.

"We'll definitely be back for it," he said.

By luck of an inverted starting order, Jones sat on the pole of Saturday's 25-lap sprint finale. Indiana's Mark Cummins led the first four laps, but could not hold off Jones' winning pass as the two raced out of the second turn on lap four.

From there, Jones mastered the track, leading runner-up Todd Rowland by almost a half-lap at times.

Unofficially, Jones' $1,000 win is only the second-ever in track history in the sprint class. His first win -- last August 25 -- was also in a car powered by a 360 cubic inch engine.

Rowland, the division's point leader, finished second, leaving Jimmy Brewer third, Cummins fourth and Bob Thoman fifth.

Greg Gross claimed his third street stock feature win, leading all 15 laps after starting on the pole. Keith Brugger chased the leader early, but finally gave way to both Billy James and Paul Brown, who finished second and third, respectively.

"It's been a tough year, so it was good to get back up front," said Gross, of Scott City. "We wanted to keep the car down low, and it worked out."

Brugger was fourth with Johnny Wyatt fifth.

Terry Johnson won his second straight modified feature race, but by an unusual late-race twist.

James Fowler led the first 12 laps of the race before dropping out, handing the lead to David Collins. As Collins raced toward the checkered flag, the leader spun with a lapped car, prompting a caution which -- following track policy -- added two additional laps to the race.

Collins resumed his lead on the restart, but front-end damage to his car forced him off the pace quickly. Johnson, of Benton, made the final pass with one lap to go and held off Paul Fowler by two car-lengths.

Charles LaPlant was third, Collins fourth and Earl Moore fifth.