It was a full night of racing at the Boone Speedway on Saturday night---171 cars checked into the pits--and a good crowd was on hand to witness the night's events. The Iowa State cheerleaders started the night off getting the fans into it, with beaming youngsters joining in along side them.
The Mod Lite feature had Randy Bryan leading but a lap car blocked his line, allowing Andy Hennigar passage around the outside and into the lead. A late caution flew, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Hennigar had no trouble in keeping his lead and went home to his second win of the 2011 season--his first coming back on opening night. Bryan held on to finish second and point leader Josh May came from starting twelfth to finish in third. Fourth was Colby Oberembt and Troy Hudson rounded out the top five.
Thirty-nine IMCA Northern SportMods entered the pits on Saturday night. That would call for two b-main events to complete the starting 24-car A main field. Those consy races were won by the 13M car of first-timer this year, Jason Mallicoat and Kyle Brown. Mallicoat, no stranger to racing as he was the 2006 Super National's champion in the SportMod class, made his first appearance for 2011.
The 18-lap feature, had an early "mess" in corners three and four. When the track was cleared and racing resumed, it was last week's winner, Brian Eppert leading the charge. Jeremy Embrey was flying through the pack from starting in the sixth row and by lap eight, made the pass on Eppert and into the lead. Embrey then had an easy go of it to the checkered flags flying. Embrey took his second feature win this year, Eppert finished in the runner-up spot, third went to Lynn Brockett, fourth to Lucas Landry and Eric Elliott finished in fifth.
The IMCA modified provided 20-laps of exciting action. Mark Elliott established the lead right away from his pole starting spot and led the entire race. It wasn't without a challenge from Jammin' Jimmy Gustin however. As laps wound down, Elliott chose the topside and Gustin dropped low. Jake Durbin made up distance on Gustin and challenged for second. Gustin then went back to the top to fight off Durbin's advancement. On the last corner, Gustin would slide a bit too high, losing just enough moment to allow Durbin to slip past and into second. Elliott took the win (sporting a new car with an all new color scheme) and Durbin was second over Gustin in third. Fourth was Kelly Lyons riding on his usual three wheels with the left front hiked, and Adam Larson came from row six to finish in fifth.
The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA Stock Cars were in fine form as usual. Rod Richards and Eric Brown were leading the troops when contact between two led to an early retirement from the contest for both. Trent Murphy then inherited the lead with Wayne Gifford and Damon Murty hot on his heels. Murty was searching different lines in the corners--low in one and two, high in three and four, in hopes of finding that perfect combination. That allowed Randy Killen to draw closer and he slipped by to take over the third spot. Murty soon ended his run, when he went off the track, up and over turn one. Meanwhile, Donavon Smith was advancing well and had taken over the third spot and was battling with Killen. At the finish line, it was Murphy with the win, Wayne Gifford kept second, Smith finished third over Randy Killen in fourth and Jerry Gifford finished in fifth.
Two IMCA Hobby Stock features were run since there were 42 cars on hand. The first feature saw a new face in victory lane. Scott Pippert, Elberon, Iowa driver, took the lead early and cruised to his first win at Boone. Eric Stanton was running in second at lap eight of the 12-lapper, but we suddenly noticed he was missing in action, and Randy Embrey was in the runner-up position. When the checkers flew, Pippert took the win in comfortable fashion with Embrey following to take second. Third went to Michael Murphy, the point leader, fourth to Dean Hartwig, veteran Boone racer, and Matt Hudspeth finished in fifth.
The last 12-lap Hobby Stock A main saw a very familiar face back in victory lane. John Watson made it two-in-a-row and his eighth win of the regular season. He had also won the Frostbuster special back on April 2nd. Second and third place finishers came from starting in row six. Kevin Fee took second over Andy Boeckman in third. Fourth went to Matt Webb and fifth to Cory Tasler.
There is still one more week of regular season racing left at Boone. Next Saturday night will be the season championships. We expect things to be a little crazy already on Saturday as we anticipate many drivers and fans already on hand for the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals that begins on Labor Day. If the rule remains the same as in years past, no new drivers will be allowed to participate in the races, but look for many new cars taking hot laps! Check out www.raceboone.com for information on the track and the Super Nationals as well. Until next time, happy racing!
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