Shanks ready to return after sprint crash

Alex Shanks is still sore, and not all of it is physical.

Shanks said Wednesday that he'll take a new approach into Saturday's sprint races at Auto Tire and Parts Racepark, a week after his car was destroyed in a crash triggered by contact with Robbie Standridge.

Shanks, of Marion, Ill., went head-on into the second-turn concrete wall after he slid to the low side of Standridge, then dove in front of him to take the lead as they exited the turn. That's when the two made contact.

Standridge went on to win for the second straight week.

"In a situation like that, I was at his mercy," Shanks said. "I could've done the same thing to him the lap before, but I'm not there to get in a demolition derby.

"We'll go back, and we'll go back there to win. You can't focus on one person. It's a distraction. Last weekend is over. But I won't put myself in that position again."

Shanks and Standridge swapped the lead using similiar moves for about two laps before the crash. During a red-flag delay, Shanks began running toward Standridge's parked car and had to be restrained by crew members. During the delay, Standridge could be heard telling track officials, "I didn't mean to do it."

Shanks said he isn't convinced.

"Robbie and I have respect for each other, I thought," he said. "I thought we were out there just to race and try to make a little money."

Shanks, who drives for car owner Jim Hall, said he will race a backup car Saturday.

Big night at SEMO

Down the road from ATPR's sprint racing, Donnie Lehman picked up the win in the special appearance by the MARA midget series at SEMO Motor Speedway north of Sikeston, Mo. He led Dave Camfield Jr. by 0.25 seconds. Tim Siner was third.

Other winners: Jathon Cruse of Farmington, Mo., in RAMS mini stocks, Ryan Brewer of Salem, Ind., in U.S. Outlaw Mini Sprints, Evan Lents of Calvert City, Ky., in the A-class, and Dylan Dejournet in the restrictor class.

Around the tracks

ASCS: The sprint series visits tracks near Memphis, Tenn., on Friday and West Memphis, Ark., on Saturday. Among the likely entries are former ATPR winners Mike Ward and Eddie Gallagher.

Dyersburg: Kevin Holman of Bloomfield, Mo., has won two weeks in a row in the slow street class at Big Boy Speedway in Western Tennessee. They're his first career wins. At the same track, defending ATPR champion Joe Giesler of St. Mary, Mo., was fourth in the modified class Saturday.

KLMS: Billy James of Sikeston, Mo., was seventh and Kent Bailey of Puxico 18th in late models Saturday at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway near Calvert City.

MARS: Joey Mack of Benton, Mo., was 17th at Tulsa, Okla., and 21st at Bolivar, Mo., in weekend events for the MARS late model circuit. He is 10th in point standings and first in the rookie standings.

I-55: Oklahoma's Darryn Pittman won $10,000 in Saturday's World of Outlaws event at the Pevely, Mo., track. Locally, Tim Montgomery of Fredericktown, Mo., was 13th, Jerrod Hull of Sikeston 17th and Joey Montgomery 19th.

Noteworthy

Ken Schrader will race as part of a special late model event Wednesday at St. Francois County Speedway near Farmington, Mo.

Tony Wall, a Benton, Ky., late model racer who often appeared in his No. WA-11 late model at tracks in Sikeston and Caruthersville, Mo., in the 1980s and '90s, died last week of cancer.