The hot, humid weather was still hanging around on Saturday night but as the evening wore on, it became a bit more comfortable. Black clouds once again skirted the race track, moving off to the southeast as if drawn by a magnet. Two drivers got to victory lane for the first time this year, and others returned to reap their rewards.
One of the first time winners was in the Dwarf/Mod Lite class. We've noticed that driver, Joel Keenan, was improving week after week, and it was on this night that he cashed in on that and took his first win. Keenan took the lead from Jason Whitehead in the first handful of laps, and was later only briefly challenged by Andy Hennigar who caught him in the dwindling laps. Keenan persevered to the checkers, with Hennigar chasing him to the finish line to take second. Point leader, Josh May worked his way up to a third place finish, followed by Ed Zehm in fourth and Jason Whitehead finished in fifth.
The IMCA SportMods started all 24 cars for their 18-lap feature. The race was dominated by winner Daniel Tasler, who grabbed his second win of the year. Tasler pulled away from the pack, with second place finisher Lynn Brockett far behind. Eric Elliott finished in third place, Geoff Olson was fourth and Rick Ringgenberg rounded out the top five.
The 20-lap modified feature went to Kelly Lyons for his first win of the season. Lyons won in dominating fashion, leading all laps. Randy Havlik, Jimmy Gustin, Scott Simatovich, and Mike VanGenderen were fighting for position behind Lyons. Havlik would be taken out of the picture when he lost the handle in turn one, and fell backwards after gathering it back in. Jimmy Gustin did his best in trying to catch Lyons, but he would finish a distant second. Mike VanGenderen got his ride into third place, Josh Gilman took fourth and fifth went to Bill Davis, Jr.
The 18-lap IMCA stock cars were in their regular fine form with door-to-door racing at times. Jay Schmidt went from starting thirteenth, to grab the lead by lap seven. That would end about lap nine, when he exited the track with what appeared to be a flat tire. That handed the lead over to Trent Murphy who stretched it out and won going away. Donavon Smith, point leader, came from twelfth, to finish in the runner up spot, Ty Hill was third, Eric Brown was fourth and fifth went to Jerry Gifford. This was Murphy's second win at Boone this year.
The night ended with the 12-lap IMCA hobby stock feature. A familiar face to the winner's circle at Boone visited once again. John Watson grabbed the lead from Tyler Pickett with a couple of laps remaining to win for the fifth time during the regular season, sixth time counting the Frostbuster back on April 2nd. Pickett had to settle for second place, Aaron Rudolph chased Pickett to take third, fourth went to Michael Murphy, point leader, and veteran Dean Hartwig took fifth.
This week we plan for Round 2 of the Harris Clash at Knoxville Raceway on Tuesday night, April 26th. This portion will see the IMCA SportMods and the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models in action at the famed track. You can find more information about the race at www.harrisclash.com. Stay cool and happy racing!
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