We began our 2011 racing where we ended 2010, at the Beatrice Speedway in Beatrice, Nebraska. The speedway held their 18th annual IMCA Spring Nationals this past weekend and this time Mother Nature didn't disrupt the racing.
Friday night's action saw the IMCA modifieds, IMCA Northern SportMods, IMCA Hobby Stocks, and the IMCA Sport Compacts in competition. Right at 60 modifieds, 42 sportmods, and 35 hobby stocks ran on the evening as well as 4 heats of sport compacts. The grandstand was packed with eager fans, the biggest crowd we can recall since we've been attending.
The first feature to take the track was the IMCA Sport Compacts. These cars were very competitive on the 3/8 mile clay oval. It was a treat to hear promoter Toby Kruse interview the winner afterwards -- Merv Chandler! Chandler goes waaay back in racing and drove one of the first IMCA modifieds back when they were just emerging on the scene about 1983. Chandler, I believe, calls Cedar Rapids, Iowa home.
A father-son duo took the top two spots in the IMCA hobby stock feature. Father Roy Armstrong out dueled his son, Adam Armstrong to take the victory. The cheers from the crowd showed these to be local favorites. Chad Fegley ran third, Brandon Johnson was fourth and fifth went to Curt Ganoe.
The IMCA Northern SportMods had a great turnout for the weekend, running 4 heat races and 2 B mains to qualify the starting A. Twenty-four cars took the green flag with the 21K of Kyle Brown jumping to the lead from his outside front row starting spot. Brown would lead through halfway of the 20-lap feature when a yellow flag flew. Tyler Frye would then take advantage of the restart situation and pass Brown to take over the lead. A few laps later, Wisconsin hot shoe Brad Lautenbach and Lake City, Iowa driver Doug Smith would also slip by Brown. Frye took the win and Lautenbach, Smith and Brown would finish in that order behind him. Fifth went to Todd Sanford and another Wisconsin driver, Kurt Moeller would finish sixth.
Twenty-four IMCA mods took to the track for their 30-lap feature after 60 cars had competed in six heat races and three B mains to set the starting field. Bob Zoubek and Johnny "The Jet" Saathoff dueled each other for the top spot in the early going. About mid-way in the race, Jordan Grabouski made his move around the leaders and from there on, he never looked back. Grabouski took the win comfortably over second place Bob Zoubek. Third went to Colorado driver Jeremy Frenier, fourth to Johnny Saathoff and fifth to Iowa's Luke Wanninger.
Saturday brought complete separate shows for the modifieds, sportmods, hobbies with factory stocks replacing the sport compacts from Friday night. Twenty factory stocks checked in and they ran a 20-lap feature event. Des Moines, Iowa driver, Randy Killen easily took the win after shaking second place finisher Jesse VanLaningham. Third went to Chad Bruns, fourth to Jeff Joldersma and fifth to Damon Adamy.
A local favorite once again got into victory lane tonight in the IMCA hobby division when Adam Armstrong put his #6A across the finish line first. Nyle Godwin had to settle for second place after battling back and forth lap after lap with Armstrong. Third was Brandon Johnson, fourth R. J. Macku and fifth was Jason Wilkinson.
The Northern SportMods feature was interrupted when the 25B of Benji Legg took a flying leap off of turn three's cement barrier. He was okay. With action resuming, the battle for the top spot was between the #99 of Jesse Sobbing and Wisconsin's Brad Lautenbach. The checkers would go to Lautenbach with Sobbing settling for second, third went to Friday's winner, Tyler Frye, fourth to Steve Reetz and fifth to Max Harder. Lautenbach's ride is sponsored by his grandfather's business, Tri-County Cooling & Heating, which is often seen on race cars out of Wisconsin.
The finale for the night, the 30-lap modified feature, took to the track at 9:35. With the temps much cooler than the previous night and the wind very brisk, we were very thankful the show had moved along so well the entire night. Early front runners were Johnny Saathoff, pole sitter Josh Gilman, Jay Noteboom in his new Sidebiter ride, and "Rockin'" Ronnie Wallace. The top two finishers from the previous night, Grabouski and Zoubek had both made the show by qualifying through a consolation race...Grabouski starting 20th and Zoubek in the 23rd position.
That would not be where they would finish by any means though! Both drivers made great moves to work their way toward the front and Grabouski took over the lead before the halfway point. Grabouski took his second win in as many nights---both $1,500 paydays and qualifiers for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational race at the 2011 IMCA Super Nationals. It was quite the feat for the young Beatrice driver. Another local Beatrice driver, Johnny Saathoff came home in second, Zoubek worked his way up to finish third, fourth went to the easy to spot bright orange car of Clay Christensen, and fifth was Jay Noteboom.
The show wrapped up at 9:48 p.m. allowing drivers and fans alike an earlier night and happy to get out of the chilly weather. The track held up remarkably well both nights, especially for what we often see for a track in the Midwest at this time of the year. We thoroughly enjoyed our two nights of racing at the Beatrice Speedway and anticipate another trip west in October for the Fall Nationals. We had a great time enjoying the racing along with racing friends who share our love of the sport. The season will soon be underway here in Iowa so be sure and check the calendar on http://www.positivelyracing.com/ for a race to attend. Happy racing!
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