We finally got our first dirt track racing of 2009 under our belts this past weekend, when we ventured to Beatrice, Nebraska for their annual Spring Nationals. We have made the trip many times and have always enjoyed the event. When we first arrived at the track on Friday, we were excited to see the pits were overflowing! We saw plenty of good racing action, as there were 49 IMCA SportMods and 124 IMCA modifieds on hand. It was great to see the track in such good shape as the nasty hole that so often had appeared in turn one, was no longer a factor. We were told that that area had been completely dug up, and new dirt brought in and then repacked. It worked, as the track stayed smooth all the way around during the entire weekend. It also helped that they did not have all the snow that Iowa had to deal with this past winter.
After watching lots of good action in the heat and consy racing on Friday evening, they were about to start the second of three SportMod B's, when the lights went out on the track. Fortunately, it did not happen while a race was going on. As the lights were beginning to come back up, they went out again, as well as the lights in the grandstand this time. They were not able to be repaired and the call was made to end the night's racing and continue from that point on Saturday's program.
Those that were not able to make it for the Friday show, were pleased to find they would be seeing double features on Saturday. The SportMod feature from Friday's show was set after running the final two B features. From the good car count, it's looking as if this is a class that is going to be growing more each year. The winner of the first feature was Tyler Frye from Belleville, Kansas and runner up was local driver from our area, Damon Murty followed by Benji Legg, Luke Wanninger and Max Harder.
Next up on Saturday was the modified feature from Friday. Taking the win was Johnny Saathoff, followed by David Murray, Ricky Alvarado, who advanced from his 12th starting spot, and rounding out the top five were Jeremy Mills and Greg Metz.
The regular Saturday features saw Luke Wanninger winning the SportMods, followed by Benji Legg, Damon Murty, Tyler Frye, and Ricky Rohr. New on the program on Saturday, were the IMCA hobby stocks. That feature was won by R. J. Macku. The final feature of the night was the modifieds. Ricky Alvarado from Colorado in his "Weekend Warrior" #WW1 car, showed his muscle, as he pulled away from second and third place finishers, Greg Metz and David Murray, followed by Wisconsin's Sean Jerovetz, and Jay Noteboom.
Due to an uncertain forecast calling for rain on Sunday, promoter Toby Kruse made the call to start the racing program at noon instead of the posted 3 p.m. It was a popular call for the drivers and the fans. The final hobby stock feature of the week was won by Andy Gregg and factory stock feature saw Damon Murty take home the win. The 30 lap modified feature once more saw a great field of drivers, and hometown Beatrice driver Johnny "The Jet" Saathoff took home his second win of the weekend. He was followed by Greg Metz, Jay Noteboom, Dominic Ursetta, and Ricky Alvarado.
We had a great three days of racing, watching great drivers and beautiful racecars, and sharing it all with good racing friends. We were thankful for the weather cooperating this year and it was nice to be on the road for home before 4 p.m. We hope this is just the first of many more fun nights of dirt track racing that we will be reporting this season.
