In 2013, three days after being admitted in the hospital for viral cardiomyopathy after a viral upper respiratory infection, Randy Travis underwent emergency brain surgery after suffering a stroke at the Heart Hospital at Baylor Plano in Texas. Since then, Randy has slowly been recovering and is relearning how to write and play the guitar, according to his wife Mary Davis.
Florida Georgia Line’s brand new video for “Anything Goes” gives a little insight into the guy’s daily lives on the road living the dream of country music stardom. Tyler Shares, the live performance video was by design, “That was exactly our point of doin’ the ‘Anything Goes’ live video. We’ve never done a live video before, love the concept.”
Check out the video here!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQfP1lcJ_eo
After a grueling Southern Speedweek to open the month of June, the drivers and crews of the USMTS are currently on a two-week vacation or testing their meddle elsewhere before roaring back full force for the final half of the 2015 campaign next Friday and Saturday, July 17-18, at the 5th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb.
Earlier this year, United States Modified Touring Series officials announced a record-shattering points fund with a possible $150,000 payout to the 2015 USMTS National Champion.
“This is something we have wanted to do for some time now, but you have to have the support from drivers, fans and sponsors to make it work,” said USMTS President Todd Staley. “Not only are the drivers who compete in the USMTS the best of the best, but this is proof that our fans and marketing partners are the best of the best too.”
If any driver could to secure all four regional championships and the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental, he or she would collect the coveted $110,000 bonus to make the total take as much as $150,000.
That dangling carrot was pulled away two weeks ago when Rodney Sanders clinched the Double H Bands Southern Region points title. With USMTS Rookie of the Year contender Austin Arneson capturing the MVT Gulf Coast Border Region back in early March, it meant the four-region sweep was no longer possible.
What Sanders did, however, was solidify himself as the lone man in line for a possible $100,000 payoff if he can stay near-perfect through the end of September.
Winning three regional championships plus ‘The Hunt’ will net a driver $35,000 plus a $65,000 bonus for a total payday of $100,000. Beyond that, two regional triumphs and the USMTS National Championship could earn somebody $30,000 plus a $20,000 bonus for $50,000 total.
With one regional crown already on his head, Sanders is in the driver’s seat in the two remaining regional battles. In the MSD Central Region, Sanders holds a 47-point lead over Cade Dillard with just two races remaining. Sanders has already mathematically clinched the Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Northern Region with just one race remaining on Tuesday, July 21, at the Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa.
Now all the 25-year-old from Happy, Texas, has to do is come out on top in the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental and capture his third straight USMTS National Championship.
The first half of a Hawkeye Dirt Tour doubleheader takes traveling Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds to Southern Iowa Speedway next Wednesday, July 15.
The main event pays $1,000 to win, a minimum of $150 to start and is a qualifier for the 2015 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot.
IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Mach-1 Sport Compacts complete the midweek card.
Modifieds vie for IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Belleville Motorsports North Central Region Allstar Performance State and special series points. All applicable points, including local track points, will be awarded in the other divisions.
Pit gates open at 5 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5:30 p.m. Hot laps are at 7 p.m. and racing gets underway at 7:30 p.m.
Grandstand admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students ages 13-17 and free for 12 and under. Pit passes are $25.
Southern Iowa Speedway has hosted three previous Hawkeye Dirt Tour events. Michael Long of Quincy, Ill., won there in 2012, Todd Shute of Des Moines took the 2013 checkers and Andrew Schroeder of Keswick topped last summer’s feature.
More information about the Oskaloosa show, postponed from June 11 because of inclement weather, is available by calling promoter Mike Van Genderen at 641 521-0330, at the www.hawkeyedirttour.com and www.oskyspeedway.com websites, and on Facebook.
The tour is at Knoxville Raceway for the Thursday, July 16 Harris Clash. That $2,000 to win feature is the final qualifying event for the first round of Fast Shafts All-Star voting.
IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour top 20 point standings – 1. Kyle Brown, State Center, 138; 2. Mike Van Genderen, Newton, 136; 3. Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup, 122; 4. Ryan Maitland, Waterloo, 115; 5. Nick Roberts, Des Moines, and Andrew Schroeder, Keswick, both 102; 7. Jeff Waterman, Quincy, Ill., 97; 8. Mitchell Morris, Long Grove, 91; 9. David Brown, Kellogg, 84; 10. Todd Shute, Des Moines, 78; 11. Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids, 76; 12. Richie Gustin, Gilman, 75; 13. Troy Cordes, Dunkerton, 59; 14. Scott Hogan, Vinton, 54; 15. Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, 51; 16. Mark Elliott, Webster City, 50; 17. Dennis Betzer, Central City, and Joel Rust, Grundy Center, both 47; 19. Chris Zogg, New Liberty, 46; 20. Jeremiah Hurst, Dubuque, Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, N.C., and Jason Wolla, Ray, N.D., each 40.
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On this day in 1996, Curb released Leann Rimes’ debut album, “Blue.” The album included the singles “Blue”, “Hurt Me”, “One Way Ticket (Because I Can)”, which is Rimes’ only number one hit on the country music charts.
Luke Bryan will release his fifth studio album “Kill The Lights on August 7th. Bryan tells the Tennessean, “I think I’ve always tried to make my albums where there’s something for anybody and everybody, and no matter who you are or where you’re from, you can go through that album (and find something.”
The North Mahaska Softball team advanced to the Class 1A Region 5 semifinals with a 4-0 win over Moravia last night. It was a pitchers duel early on, but a big Moravia error in the third inning led to three Warhawk runs and was the game changer. Moravia pitcher Autumn McDannel had struck out eight straight Warhawk batters through 2 1/3 innings, when Tessa Fuller and Haley Pinkerton reached on back to back singles, then on a Carly Ehret bunt attempt , the Moravia catcher overthrew the ball deep into right field and the Warhawks capitalized scoring three runs.
The Warhawks added another run on three more hits in the fifth inning, a double by Fuller, an RBI single by Pinkeron and a single by Emma DuCore to seal the win. DuCore, the eighth grade Warhawk pitcher allowed just four hits while striking out 10 and walking three for the win while despite striking out 13 McDannel suffered the loss for Moravia. At the plate Fuller was 2-3 with two runs scored, Pinkerton went 2-4 with an RBI, Mallory Klinker was 1-3 with a double and DuCore was 1-3 with a single.
North Mahaska improves to 14-18 overall and will travel to Sigourney to face Sigourney Friday night in the Class 1A Region 5 Semifinal after Sigourney hammered Moulton Udell last night 13-0 in three innings to advance. You can hear Fridays game live on 104.9 FM KBOE and kboeradio.com with Jamie Brockman starting around 6:45 pm.
Story Provided By Jamie Brockman
In postseason softball from last night, the area teams came up big in their games to advance to the next round in their make-up games.
In Class 1A Region 5, Keota dominated Harmony, 11-1, to earn a shot to face #2 New London in Eldon tonight. That game will be at 5 PM as the front end of a doubleheader. Following that contest will be Cardinal playing Van Buren, who took out Winfield-Mount Union by a 16-3 margin last night. In the bottom half of that bracket, Moravia beat Seymour comfortably, 10-0, and they will now face off against North Mahaska in New Sharon tonight. You can hear that game on the Mahaska Zone Network, on 104.9 FM KBOE and kboeradio.com. Jamie Brockman will be on the call, with the pregame starting around 6:45 for the 7 PM first pitch.
In Class 2A Region 6 last night, Pekin eased by Danville, 12-0 in four innings. Pekin now gets a shot at Class 2A’s #2 team, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. We will have that game for you from Eddyville tonight, as the Rockets start their trek back to the state tournament. Katelyn Buckalew and I will be on the call, with our pregame starting around 6:45 for the 7 PM first pitch. You can hear that game on the Mahaska Zone Network, 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN and on kboeradio.com.
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