Yes, it's Spring, but the weather sure didn't feel like it in Boone this past Saturday night. The wind was very brisk from the northwest, making it uncomfortable for the grandstand viewers. The hearty fans on hand were all bundled up to see the racing. A good car count was on hand with cars pulling from different parts of Iowa as well as a couple of Missouri cars. To our knowledge, Boone was the only show in the state of Iowa on Saturday.
The Dwarf/Mod Lite's had a full field of 24 cars with 22 making the feature start. Colby Oberembt made an immediate exit from the contest, pulling to the infield upon the start. Andy Hennigar put his #15 to the front with just a handful of laps in the books, and would never look back. He put some distance between himself and second place runner, Charlie Brown and Randy Bryan was in third. Bryan had worked himself through the pack from starting seventeenth as the race was winding down. At the finish line, Hennigar took the win with Randy Bryan taking the runner up spot after Charlie Brown dropped out on the final lap. Third went to James May, fourth was Angelo Montgomery and Josh May took the fifth spot.
The IMCA Northern SportMods brought 41 cars to the pits. Two B mains were needed to complete the 24-car starting field for their A main. Scott VanBuskirk and Nick Roberts would triumph in those consolation races. The 18-lap event's action was halted time and time again as the yellow caution flag flew. David Schlicht and Cory Rose fought for the number one spot early with Eric Elliott and Scott Davis coming fast behind them as well as southwestern Iowa driver, Jesse Sobbing in his #99 ride. Elliott grabbed the lead from Rose with four laps to go and although he developed a big push in turn two, he was able to gather the car under him and keep that top spot to the finish line and take his first win of the season. Scott Davis came home in second place, Rose was third, fourth went to David Schlicht and Beau Kaplan came from seventeenth, to take the fifth place. Sobbing had a flat tire on the final lap and dropped back to finish out of the top ten.
The IMCA stock cars always put on a great show in our opinion, and Saturday night's race was one of those. At times there were six or seven car packs battling up front and running three-wide. Ryan Rose led Robert Stofer and Jerry Gifford for the lead by lap five but it was a determined Alan VanGorp that skillfully raced his way to the point by lap nine. After taking the lead, VanGorp was putting distance between himself and the pack battling behind him. At the finish line, VanGorp would be the victor with the familiar #35 of Donavon Smith taking second and close behind him in third, was Jay Schmidt, who came from the twelveth starting spot. Jerry Gifford and Ryan Rose finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Thirty IMCA modifieds entered the grounds at Boone which called for a B main qualify race for their class. Onawa, Iowa driver Matt Bonine took that contest, making him starting nineteenth in the feature event. Josh "Happy" Gilman took command of the lead by lap six of the 20-lap race with pole-sitter Craig Carlson and Jake Durbin chasing him. Durbin would cause the racing action to halt when he dropped fluid down the frontstretch, which ended his night at lap eight. No stranger to the Boone Speedway, Jimmy Gustin was right behind Gilman shortly after racing resummed. Russ Dickerson and Matt Bonine were in hot pursuit of the front runners as well. Gilman took the win with Gustin close behind in second. Third place went to Matt Bonine who qualified through the B main, fourth to Josh Most, Red Oak, Iowa driver (who seems to be at every race we've been to in 2011) and fifth was Russ Dickerson.
With 44 cars checking in for the IMCA hobby stock class, this would call for two A main events. In the first contest of a 22-car field, it was no easy going as yellows plagued this race. Veteran Boone driver, Dean Hartwig was hungry for a win and put his car to the point early on from starting in fourth spot. It was a close battle between Hartwig and Des Moines driver, Richard Yaw II as they challenged each other to the finish line. Hartwig was the one to see the checkers first and Yaw had to settle for the bridemaid's spot. Jeremy Auten pulled up from Clarinda in southwestern Iowa, to come home in third place from starting back in fourteenth spot. Calvin Dhondt finished in fourth and fifth went to Chris Hupp.
The second feature for the hobby stocks, ended the night's entertainment. By this time, the sparse crowd that had been huddled and hunkered down, had dwindled to just a few dedicated fans. Local driver, Tony Cox, put the 1BC ride in the lead and led through the half-way mark. With only two laps remaining, it was Michael Murphy, last week's winner, taking over the lead and going home to the win; making it two in a row for the Jefferson, Iowa driver. Second went to Eric Stanton who had started along side Murphy back in row five, and finishing in third place was Cody Nielsen out of Ft. Dodge. Rounding out the top five was Nyle Godwin in fourth and Tony Cox in fifth.
The races drew to an end about 11:45 p.m. and according to a "weather report" we received, it was right at 35 degrees, with a wind chill of 28. More than a bit nippy for racing in April. Let's hope we have warmer weather setting in to stay for upcoming racing. Racing will continue at Boone next Saturday night. For more information check www.raceboone.com. Many tracks have already opened their season with more opening soon as well as some special events. Check out the calendar at www.positivelyracing.com for a race to attend and support the racing we all love. Until next time, happy racing!
Full results listed below.
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