What is it with this spring weather? Mother Nature is just being relentless around the country and Iowa is no exception. Rain had put the kibosh on our racing at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday night and Saturday morning had more rain around the state. The big swirl of precipitation was moving very slowly from our area and moving to the west. To the west? Yes, to the west, which is very unusual. By afternoon, most every track within the state had canceled, with the exception of Boone Speedway and the Shelby County Speedway located in Harlan in the far western part of the state---a racer friend always said, just go to Omaha, and come back a little ways,that's Harlan. It appeared via radar, that Harlan would be able to get their show in, but that swirl of precip continued to plant itself firmly just about the Ames area, and didn't budge. Would Boone be able to run after all? Should we have had a doubt? We drove through rain the entire time on our travel west, only to find the pavement dry before reaching Boone. There was a mist falling, but the track was groomed and ready to go.
With the light mist falling, and the radar still not looking good, it was decided to begin the show a bit after 7 p.m. instead of the regular 7:30 start time. About that time, the mist got heavier, the tractors were put back on the track for packing, and by 7:20 p.m., the first heat of hobby stocks took to the track.
The first feature of the night, the Mod Lites, pulled onto the track right at 9 p.m. There had been a 10-15 minute delay prior to the running of one of three b-mains, but the track crew made quick work of getting the track back in shape.
Colby Oberembt took command of the 15-lap feature from the get go, leading all the laps, and taking the checkers. Second place finisher, Jason Whitehead, chased him the entire race. Third went to Josh May, the point leader at the track, fourth was Tim Hennigar, and local Boone driver, Mike Kennedy came home in fifth. The Mod Lites ran their race flag to flag for at least the second week in a row. Good job!
The SportMod's quickly took to the track for their 18-lap event. Jeremy Embrey took the lead on the backstretch of lap twelve and kept command to the checkers and the win. He finished well ahead of second place finisher, Eric Elliott. Third place went to point leader, Scott Davis, fourth to Clint Luellen and Nick Roberts came from winning the b qualifier, to finish in fifth.
The track was very fast and the modifieds showed their muscle on the oval during their 20-lap feature. Only one yellow occured when, on the first lap, Joel Bushore appeared to have mechanical problems, came to a stop, and Mike VanGenderen had no place to go. The resulting contact between the two, ended both of their nights. As racing resumed, Havlik took a demanding lead, continuing to the finish and the win.
Todd Shute finished in second place and Josh "Happy" Gilman was scored in third. Fourth went to Cale Sponsler,fifth to Russ Dickerson and point leader, Jimmy Gustin retained his lead as he finished in sixth.
The IMCA stock cars ended their 18-lap feature as the mist once again started to appear a bit heavier. It was looking to be Eric Brown's night to visit victory lane as he led the troops. He had lost the lead briefly when he drifted high in turn four, but regained it again, passing Jerry Gifford. It was Killen and Jerry Gifford dueling behind him then. With victory within his grasp, it was only to go awry when Killen made the pass on the final lap to take the win. Brown finished in second with Jerry Gifford taking third. Fourth went to Jay Schmidt and Michael Jaennette finished fifth. Cory Bushnell the #55 car, smacked the new barrier wall pretty hard in turn four during the race, but was okay, the car perhaps not.
Just as the only hobby stock feature of the night appeared on the track, that mist turned to droplets, the track quickly became shiny and slippery, and it was decided to pull the plug on the program. The hobby stocks will run their make-up feature next week. Make-ups are usually run before any heats, so they should be first on the agenda next week.
We observed a few changes at the track as work had progressed on improvements at the speedway. A new cement barrier wall was in place all along the frontstretch...55 individual barriers all set firmly in place. We noted turn four is now a bit flared and wider as well. A redone flagstand with cement under foot, and new switches was installed and waiting it's initiation. We've always been a bit concerned about how close to the track the flagstand is at Boone and on occasion, have seen the flagmen escape with close calls to disaster. When we asked flagman, Nick Brueklander about the new set up, his remark was, "I like it". He said he actually prefers to be close to the track as it gives him better communication with the drivers. Transponder cables were also in place, having been buried beneath the track in the area just to the west of the flagstand. We understand that this is in anticipation of possibly using transponders in the cars during Super Nationals. Time will tell if that happens in 2011.
Be sure and check www.raceboone.com for complete information about the track plus pictures, results and point standings. Until next time, happy racing!
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