Lettow and Elston are Harris Clash Winners at Knoxville

Dark skies greeted us once again as we arrived at the Knoxville Raceway for the SportMod and Deery Brothers late model portion of the Harris Clash. After the rain out the previous night for the IMCA modified show, we were keeping our fingers crossed that the show would get in. Mother Nature decided to keep it rain free but with brisks winds and chilly temperatures, she still decided to let herself be known.

Fifty-nine IMCA SportMods were on hand. Six heats and three B features were run to cut the field for the A Main event to a twenty-four car field. Roland, Iowa driver Matt Lettow went to the point early and it was mostly his race the entire 15 laps. Kevin Sather would lead briefly, but Lettow regained the lead; not to be denied, and he took the checkers first. Sather was second, his cousin Austin Kaplan was third, Nate Chodur in fourth and previous winner of the Harris Clash, Brett Moffitt was fifth. Lettow maintained his steady high line thorough out the race for the impressive win. Our congratulations to him.

For the first time in twelve years, the IMCA Deery Brothers late models made an appearance at the famed half-mile track at Knoxville. Forty-seven cars ran five heats and two B Mains. The thirty-five lap feature saw the 0F car of Jason Frankel and the 77 of veteran Jeff Aikey do battle for the lead. Aikey took that lead and was successfully winding through lap traffic with Fankel in tow. Meanwhile, coming from far back in the pack, was Keokuk's Tommy Elston in the 15 car. It appeared Frankel took back the lead with just a couple of laps to go, but a caution flag flew which relegated him back to the second spot. In the ensuing final laps of the race, it was Elston who would make a flying pass for the lead and take home the crown for the night. Elston was followed across the finish line by Aikey, Frankel, Fred Remley, Rob Toland and Nate Beuseling.

We are hopeful that the IMCA modified portion of the Harris Clash will be able to get their show in tonight after a disappointing rain out on Tuesday. Kudos go out to Bob Harris for continuing the Harris Clash. It is a must see on our list of races every year and we always look forward to it. We love seeing all of the modified drivers congregate in one place to put on a show for us fans. Thanks also to announcers Blake Anderson and Tony Bokhoven for providing PA duties to keep us informed. Great job guys.

Check out fellow Positively Racing member's blog, Tapfan, for a much more in depth take of the racing action from last evening. Let's hope we will both have a chance to bring you a blog for tonight's race. Happy racing!