Going into the evening, it appeared all current point leaders pretty much had their championship wound up, with one exception and that being in the modified class. Only four points separated point leader Cale Sponsler and Todd Shute. Sponsler had seen that championship slip by before.
All classes were brought to the front chute for out-of-car driver introductions, giving fans a chance to see the drivers they cheer on week after week. Only the hobby stocks would have to run two B mains to complete their twenty-four car starting field.
In the Dwarf/Mod Lite division, drivers were aligned by points...as they were in each class... with leader Andy Hennigar sitting on the pole. Hennigar jumped to the lead and never looked back as he took the win and the track championship for 2009. Mike Kenndy was second, Josh May was third, fourth went to Ed Zehm, and fifth was James May.
The Northern SportMod 20-lap feature went to point leader Scott Davis as Jeremy Embrey chased him the entire race to finish in second. Third across the line was Matthew Meinecke, fourth went to Geoff Olson, and rounding out the top five was Rick Ringgenberg.
Following a farming session, the hobby stock feature was up next. We noted the extra equipment that was already on hand in preparation of the many farming session to come during the Super Nationals. Point leader Michael Murphy had a twenty-one point lead going into the race. What was amazing to watch was the #81 of Devin Smith from Lake City as he made his way to the front from starting in the 14th spot. He picked his way through traffic very methodically to get into second position behind leader Murphy. A caution caused the pack to bunch up and with 11 laps down, Devin Smith drove around Murphy on the high-side and pulled away to take home the win. Following Smith and Murphy for third was Pat Mather, fourth went to Chris Hupp and fifth to Cody Gustoff.
The IMCA stock car feature saw another Smith brother take the win. Donavon Smith out distanced Trent Murphy with Murphy being crowned the track champion. Third went to Wayne Gifford, fourth to Bryan Trogon and fifth to Robert Stofer.
The final feature of the night was the yet to be determined championship for the modifieds. With only four points separating point leader Cale Sponsler and second in points, Todd Shute, it appeared Sponsler ran a conservative second place the entire 25-laps as he followed Shute to the checkers. Sponsler had captured that elusive track championship finally! Josh "Happy" Gilman finished in third, fourth was Adam Larson who had come from ninth place, and fifth went to Russ Dickerson.
The grounds were already filled with campers and race cars as they prepare for the upcoming 27th annual IMCA Super Nationals starting on Monday, September 7th. Many visiting drivers took advantage of hot lap sessions, giving fans a glimpse of who will be on hand. We noticed New Mexico driver Regan Tafoya, Colorado driver Ricky Alvarado and Californians, Rick and son Tim Ward, already at the speedway. Several local drivers were also sporting new sheet metal and paint schemes as they ready for the upcoming week ahead. We look forward to "America's Racin' Vacation" and will be there each and every night. Good luck to all the drivers who participate. Check http://www.imca.com/ for daily results. Last night's results are listed below.
Happy racing!
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