26th Annual Southern Iowa Speedway Fall Challenge

The curtain fell on the 2012 racing action at the Southern Iowa Speedway this past weekend.  It was the 26th Annual Fall Challenge to be held at the Monster Half-Mile with racing on both Friday and Saturday nights.  Promoter Mike VanGenderen kept the showing running at a brisk clip both nights...to go along with the more than "brisk" temperatures, and even moved the starting time up for Saturday's show, ending the action about 9 p.m. on the final night.  The hardy race fans in attendance saw seven classes in all in competition over the weekend.  The Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts that are regularly on the program throughout the year at the track, were joined by the Sportsmen Series both nights, and the Mod Lite division on Saturday night.

Friday night's racing qualified cars for Saturday night's championship feature in the Modified, Stock Car, SportMod and Hobby Stock classes.  The winner's from each of the heats went directly to the A the following night, plus the top 4 from each of the classes qualifying features.  Saturday night, the heat winners plus the 4 qualifying through the feature from the previous night, ran a dash, to determine their starting positions for the championship features.

After a crisp Friday night of racing action, Saturday dawned overcast and nippy again.  The hot laps had been moved from 6 p.m. up to 5 p.m. due to the cold forecast and the action for the first qualifying heats had the green flag drop right at 5:38 p.m.

The Sport Compacts ran a 10 lap feature event; their second full program of the weekend.  The previous night, it was Merv Chandler trumping Kevin Kirkpatrick for the win.  Tonight, son Kassidy Kirkpatrick got a bit of revenge by beating out veteran Merv Chandler.  Kassidy Kirkpatrick aced his win by passing Chandler on the final lap, and reaching the checkers first. Third place went to Brandon Lambert, fourth was Kevin Kirkpatrick and Tim Bevins rounded out the top five.

The MADCRA Mod Lite class tried their hand at taming the Monster Half-Mile as they ran a 12-lap A main.  This one was over at the drop of the green as pole sitter Josh May...the division's 2012 Champion for the second year in a row as well as track champion at both the Boone and Marshalltown Speedways, shot to the lead and pulled away.  Second place went to Daniel Keltner from Wapello, third was Mike Kennedy, fourth went to Joel Keenan, and late arrival Danny Foster was fifth.

The Hobby Stocks went 20-laps in their Championship feature.  The dash had decided the starting positions for those that had locked themselves in to the night's main and Craig Brown sat on the pole with track champion, IMCA Super National's Champion, and IMCA National Champion, Shannon Anderson sitting to his outside. The start of the race saw Mike Hughes spinning as he approached the starter's stand, calling for a "no go" on the start.  As the field regrouped and they took the green for good,  Anderson beat Brown to the first corner, but Brown was able to gain back the advantage, leading lap one. The two drivers were in a good battle up front but quickly making headway from the third row, was another former IMCA National Hobby Stock champion and multi-time Super National's winner, Andy Boeckman running in third.  By lap nine, Boeckman had made the move around Anderson to take over the runner up spot, but Anderson fought back and regained second.  Anderson's night ended with just a couple of laps remaining, when fate reared it's ugly head, sending him to the pits with a flat tire.  Griffiths then motored on home to take the checkers, Boeckman taking the runner up spot.  Third went to weekly racer at the track, Danny Thrasher, fourth was Adam Bonnett and Andrew Hustead brought his pink ride home in fifth.  It was a $1,100 pay day for Griffiths.

Next came the SportMod division.  The dash had set the front row and it found Eric Flander and Carter VandenBerg sitting beside each other.  In recognition of the 26th running of the Fall Challenge, the race was set for 26 laps of feature racing.  The race was running at a great clip and was going caution free, as Carter VandenBerg was sailing easily out front.  It wasn't until lap eighteen, when a pesky yellow finally flew when Tony Johnson smacked the wall in turn two, interrupting the racing.  As the clean up of debris began, it was then that announcer Tony Paris brought to the audience's attention, that VandenBerg had a left rear tire going flat! With VandenBerg going to the pits for a tire change, the restart gave the lead to Bryon Weyer, out of the capital city of Des Moines.  Weyer went the rest of the distance to the checkers, grabbing the $1,300 win.  Regular at the track, Curtis VanDerWal drove past Eric Flander in the waning laps as they finished second and third.  Fourth went to Bill Gibson, another track regular, and Jared Timmerman, Norwalk, Iowa, was fifth.

The Stock Car class also went 26 laps in their Championship event.  The first lap was led by Elijah Zegenbergen, a driver who runs regularly at the Buena Vista Raceway up in Alta, Iowa and who had made the long haul down from the far northwestern part of Iowa for both nights.  His lead lasted until lap three, when Zach VanderBeek, a guy who has turned many a lap at the track over the years, took over the point position.  From there on, it was a case of  "try and catch Zach" race as he pulled away to a sizable lead and then the $1,300 win.  The real race ended up being for second and third with Zegenbergen and Brad Pinkerton going at it in a good battle.  Pinkerton ended up winning the war on that one, as he took second place over Zegenbergen in third.  Fourth went to Columbus, Nebraska driver Doug Adamy, and Derek Agee rounded out the top five.

There was $1,600 on the line in the Modified A main championship feature.  The earlier dash for starting spots had positioned young Andrew Schroeder and Josh Foster on the front row.  Schroeder took off to the lead easily, but Foster had issues when sparks flew from beneath his ride on lap one.  He soon exited to the infield, his night done.  Billy Davis, Jr. sent the familiar looking yellow #1+ to the second place, Greg Cox riding along in third.  Cayden Carter, who had started at the tail after getting caught up in an incident earlier in a qualifying event involving himself, Jacob Murray and Ronn Lauritzen leaving the latter two with too much damage to race, now was making a bid for second after passing Cox. With but two laps remaining, that infamous turn two wall came into play again, when Bill Crimmins tore off a few parts after kissing it, bring out the yellow and setting up a green-white-checkered finish.  As the race restarted, Carter saw his chance and grabbed second place around Davis, but the leader Schroeder was not to be denied the win tonight, as he raced to the checkers first.  Carter finished in second, Davis was third, Cox took fourth and Brandon Banks was fifth.

It was 8:38 p.m. when the above race concluded and though the Sportsman Series 30-lap feature was about to pull onto the track for the final wheel poundings for 2012, a warm vehicle was calling us. Word of mouth tells us that Kris Walker was the victor in that one...a guy certainly no stranger to the race track.

We will cross our fingers that with a few more races still on the schedule in our area, Mother Nature will be kind and hopefully last night was not our final race of the 2012 season.  We appreciate the drivers who came out in the nippy weather this weekend to give us racing fanatics a show.

Osky Fall Challenge - Night #2

Unofficial

Modified

Feature

1. 02 Andrew Schroeder
2. 10C Cayden Carter
3. 1 Billy Davis, Jr.
4. 62 Greg Cox
5. 22 Brandon Banks
6. 7W Mark Widmar
7. 51 Tyler Vandekamp
8. 5M Matthew Meinecke
9. 71W Jeff Waterman
10. 36 Jeff Conner
DNF: 68 Bill Crimmins
18 Jake Durbin
77F Josh Foster
DNS: 10K Ronn Lauritzen
         48J Jacob Murray

Stock Car

Feature

1. 33Z Zach VanderBeek
2. 62 Brad Pinkerton
3. 66Z Elijah Zegenbergen
4, 93 Doug Adamy
5. 14 Derek Agee
6. 52 Nathan Wood
7. 72 Jerry Pilcher
8. 27S Doug Sidle
9. 19A Alan VanGorp
10. 78 Jeff Anderson
11. 31S Paul Shepherd
12. 94 Cory Stout
13. 48 Cody Agee
14.. 409 Howard Gordon, Jr.
15. 27 Michael Johnston
16.17R Derek Reimer
17.. 73C Carl Yaw, Jr.
18. 12 Dave Rodda
19.  7K Jeremy Kane
DNF: 25c Shane Paris
           22R Todd Reitzler
          1 Chad Scandrett
          11X Shay Curtin

SportMod

Feature

1. 27 Bryon Weyer
2. 1 Curtis VanDerWal
3. 12 Eric Flander
4. 38 Bill Gibson
5. 7+ Jared Timmerman
6. 72 Brett Lowry
7. 36 Jason Mallicoat
8. 23JR Nick Roberts
9. 21L Matt Lettow
10. 198 Sam Wieben
11. 10R Ryan Fullencamp
12. 32L Ty Luellen
13. 9 Mitch Van Engen
14. 95J Brad Iverson
15. 20G Mike Grantham
16. 7 Carter VandenBerg
17. 101 Derek St.Clair
18 24 Alec Vandenbrink
19. 63 Rick Faase
20. 33R DJ Robinson
DNF: 01 Brayton Carter
          43 Jeremiah Jones
          8T Tony Johnson
          105 John Oliver, Jr.

Hobby Stock

Feature

1. 10G Dustin Griffiths
2. 62B Andy Boeckman
3. 84 Danny Thrasher
4. 31 Adam Bonnett
5. 20 Andrew Hustead
6. 3C Clayton Crump
7. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
8. 18 Kris Walker
9. 27 Jesse Garrett
10. 224 Gina Greubel
11. 07 Jacob Kaiser
12.  4JJ Jason Reigel
13. 17 Andy Peck
DNF:  224x Casey Greubel
          78 Shannon Anderson
          18H Mike Hughes
          69 Craig Brown
          15X  Roger Vandenbrink
          57 Scott Shull
          32T Bobby Greene

Mod Lite

Feature

1. 99 Josh May
2. 95 Mike Kennedy
3. 27D Dan Keltner
4. 09 Joel Keenan
5. 19JR Danny Foster

Sport Compact

Feature

1. 27 Kassidy Kirkpatrick
2. 2 Merv Chandler
3. 14L Brandon Lambert
4. 92 Kevin Kirkpatrick
5. 95 Tim Burns
6. 77 John Whalen
7. 04 Trent Orwig
8. 26 Jim Garrett
9. 66R Richie Arnold
10. 77T  Tony Baughman
DNF: 29 Kevin Garrett

Sportsman Series also ran a 30 lap feature at the end.  Winner via secondhand, 18W Kris Walker.





               

Osky Fall Challenge - Night #1

Some unofficial results:

Modified - The 6 below will run a dash to determine

starting positions for tomorrow's championship A

Heat #1 - 77F Josh Foster - directly to A tomorrow

Heat #2 - 18 Jake Durbin - directly to A tomorrow

Qualifier A - top 4 to tomorrow's A

1. 1+ Bill Davis, Jr.

2. 68 Bill Crimmins

3. 71W Jeff Waterman

4. 02 Andrew Schroeder

SportMod - The 7 below will run a dash to determine

starting positions for tomorrow's championship A

Heat #1 - 27 Bryon Weyer

Heat #2 - 36 Jason Mallicoat

Heat #3 - 198 Sam Wieben

Qualifier A - top 4 to tomorrow's A

1. 7 Carter VandenBerg

2. 1 Curtis VanDerWal

3. 38 Bill Gibson

4. 12 Eric Flander

Stock Car - The 7 below will run a dash to determine

starting positions for tomorrow's championship A

Heat #1 - 66Z Elijah Zegenbergen - Ocheydan, IA

Heat #2 - 78 Jeff Anderson

Heat #3 - 14 Derrick Agee - Huntsville, Missouri

Qualifier A - top 4 to tomorrow's A

1. 11X Shay Curtin

2. 93 Doug Adamy - Columbus, NE

3. 19A Alan VanGorp

4. 27S Doug Sidle

Hobby Stock - The 6 below will run a dash to determine 

starting position for tomorrow's championship A

Heat #1 - 62B Andy Boeckman

Heat #2 - 10G Dustin Griffiths

Qualifier A - top 4 to tomorrow's A

1. 18H Mike Hughes

2. 78 Shannon Anderson

3. 32T Bobby Greene

4. 69 Craig Brown

Sport Compact - complete show both nights

A Main

1. 2 Merv Chandler

2. 92 Kevin Kirkpatrick

3. 27 Cassidy Kirkpatrick

4. 77 John Whalen

5. 14 Craig Bangert

 Sportsman series:

Heat winner - 45 Matt Deaton

Feature winner - 54 Gene Tish

1. 

Duffy's turn at Marshalltown; Noteboom wins HDT title

It appeared that most people had heeded the forecast and came prepared for the chilly, windy conditions for night #2 of the Havoc on the High Banks and Hawkeye Dirt Tour finale.  Fans were bundled up before the first green flag dropped--and kept layering during the next couple of hours.  We were included in that bunch of fans, and though it was a crisp Fall night, could not have wanted to be anywhere else.  Going into the night, two drivers were tied in points for the HDT title...Jay Noteboom and Jeremy Mills and not far behind them, Mark Elliott.  It was going to be a shoot out to the finish worth the price of admission!

Two extra classes made an appearance on the night, the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks and the IMCA Sport Compacts.  The Sport Compacts kicked off the feature events with their 10-lap feature.  Veteran racer, Merv Chandler...who has much to do with keeping the class alive in the area as he builds many of the little power houses, took the lead at lap one and drove off into the sunset.  Chandler took the win, one of many at the track this past season, Dave Moorman followed a distance behind to take the runner up spot.  Third went to Duayne Herb, fourth was John Gill and the #22T of Neil Nabholz completed the five car feature.

The MADCRA Mod Lite's ran a 15-lap feature.  The 20 car of Jeff Stensland...who was driving his own car tonight after Paul Nagle had hopped in the car the previous night, led the charge in the early laps.  A couple of yellow flags would bunch the field, putting the "Brothers Hennigar" tight behind him on the restart.  Tim Hennigar made a rare appearance on the year, but showed his usual fine racing form, and flew to the lead, Andy Hennigar following him into second.  Andy Hennigar would then soon exit into the infield, his night cut short due to mechanical issues.  Tim Hennigar maintained his point spot the rest of the way home, taking the checkers for what he told announcer Jeremy Fox was his first win of the entire season; having raced only a handful of times in 2012. Mike Kennedy came from row five to take the runner up position, followed by Bryan Zehm, Jason Whitehead and Randy Bryan; third through fifth.

The Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks brought nine machines to the High Banks, running a 12-lap main event.  This one was a duel between brothers Bret and Brad Moyer the entire race.  Bret took the lead from brother Brad about lap seven, and was the first to the checkers flying.  Following the Moyer brother duo to capture a third place finish was Tony Moro, father Carl Moyer finished in fourth and Rick Clark rounded out the top five. As a note, it was announced that a legend in Nascar racing, David Pearson, who I believe calls South Carolina home, was in the pits with Dirt Truck driver Tony Moro.

The IMCA Northern SportMods went 20-laps for their feature.  Southern Iowa driver Curtis VanDerWal, looked to the lead at the drop of the green flag, and kept motoring along at the front of the pack.  That is until the second yellow flag flew.  That's when young Nick Roberts, the IMCA Super National's 2012 champion, made the pass for the lead.  Meanwhile, the previous night's winner, Racer Hulin had gotten to the third place from starting in fourteenth spot, by setting sail on the topside.  Hulin soon made the pass into second and the chase was on to catch Roberts. Tonight, it wasn't to be as Roberts took the checkers, Hulin having to settle for second.  VanDerWal followed up in third place for the second night in a row, fourth went to Joel Rust and fifth to Sam Wieben.

Fifteen laps awaited the IMCA Hobby Stocks.  Scott Durlin led the charge in the opening laps....until what appeared to be a blown motor found him rolling into the infield.  This put John Watson in his familiar looking #4W in the lead on the restart.  Watson was pulling away from the field until another yellow flew and bunched the field; finding Scott Pippert in second place, which was going to make the rest of the race interesting!  It was a close battle to the finish, but Watson prevailed, taking the win for the second night in a row and Pippert finishing second, also for the second night in a row.  Brandon Brinton took third over Aaron Rudolph and Gary Pfantz in fourth and fifth.

The IMCA Stock Cars had a 20-lap feature and the outcome of this one was a flip-flop finish from the previous night.  Donavon Smith and Sean Johnson were the show up front.  A couple of yellows would fly during this event; one of which found Jeff Wollam ending up in the front stretch wall due to contact with another car.  The damage was significant enough to warrant a pull on the hook for the 3W, never a good thing.  When the race resumed, Smith put a bit of distance between himself and second place Johnson which would be the way they would finish--reversing the roles from the previous night.  Jarod Weepie made a late race move to work into third, Steve Meyer following him into fourth, and Jay Schmidt, who had been riding the rim of the track in third much of the race, fell back a bit to hold onto fifth.

The field was now set for the 30-lap grand finale of the night and the race that would determine the point's title in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour.  There were 37 of the HDT modifieds racing for a starting spot in the feature tonight. It took two B mains that transferred five cars each, plus two HDT provisionals--Mike VanGenderen and Cayden Carter, to complete the 24-car field.

The two drivers tied in points were starting 8th (Jay Noteboom) and 12th (Jeremy Mills) on the grid...third in points, Mark Elliott was starting 17th.   Fourth place starter Darin Duffy quickly made his way to the point position and Randy Havlik who had started along side Duffy, trailed in second, and Noteboom had moved quickly up to take over third.  The track had slicked off, but stayed smooth, the dust was filling the air, the temps had dropped considerably, and the racing action was fast and furious!!  This one went 30-laps caution free....maybe the cream does rise to the top!  Noteboom gave it a shot a couple of times, but with the title on the line, made no desperate attempt to take the win on this night.  Duffy made it to victory lane after his second place finish the previous night, Noteboom settling for second after his Friday night win, but also a winner by becoming the Hawkeye Dirt Tour champion for 2012.  Third went to Ronn Laurtizen who had a great run from starting in row five.  Randy Havlik held on to fourth and Jon Snyder finished fifth, coming from a B main and starting 22nd on the field.

Yes, there are still races to be found in our area.  The next several weekends are filled with racing action.  Be sure and check out the racing calendar on the Positively Racing homepage for a race you may want to catch before the season is done. I believe one race not on that calendar is the Fall Challenge at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City scheduled for Saturday September 29.  You can find more info on that race at www.hamiltoncospeedway.com.  We intend to catch a few more before we call it a year.  Happy racing!

Noteboom out lasts Duffy for HDT win

There was a chill in the air for racing last night at the Marshalltown Speedway.  It was the first of two nights for their annual Havoc on the Highbanks.  The track will hosts the second night of a whole new program again tonight with the Dirt Trucks and the IMCA Sport Compacts joining the Hawkeye Dirt Tour IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods, IMCA Stock Cars and the Mod Lites.

The Mod Lite feature kicked off the first of the feature events.  After Andy Hennigar led the opening lap of the 15-lap race, it was the red #6 of Mike Morrill taking the helm.  Hennigar hung close to Morrill's back bumper was never able to do better.  Morrill took the win...and as usual, gave away his pretty impressive trophy to a lucky young fan.  Hennigar took the runner up spot, third went to Troy Hudson with Mike Kennedy close on his heels for fourth, and fifth went to Paul Nagle...a name we have not heard in a few years but no stranger to the racing scene from a few years back when he piloted a hobby stock.  He was in the #20 machine usually piloted by Jeff Stensland.

The Northern SportMods raced for 20-laps in their feature event.  The two front row starters, Curtis VanDerWal---a driver we see at the Southern Iowa Speedway weekly and who had a successful year running that big old "Monster Half-Mile"---and Marshalltown Speedway's 2012 track champion, Racer Hulin, battled for the lead in the opening laps.  Hulin established the lead when a nifty move involving lap traffic led to his decision to opt for the outside line and from there on, sailed on to a comfortable win.  Ty Luellen made the pass on VanDerWal as they captured second and third places.  Randy Roberts took fourth and Carter VandenBerg rounded out the top five.

The 15-lap Hobby Stock feature started 27 cars---maybe not a good thing--- as it saw more than it's share of yellow flags waving.  The winner, John Watson didn't let anything bother him on his way to the checkers however. Weekly racer at Marshalltown, Scott Pippert worked his way through the pack from starting back in the sixth row, to capture a second place finish, as he made the late race pass on Devin Smith scored in third.  Fourth and fifth spots went to Justin Lichty and Chris Luloff; two Independence Speedway regulars.

The IMCA Stock Cars did what the Hobby Stocks couldn't.  They went 20-laps caution free.  Sean Johnson had little trouble winning the feature as he led by lap one and sailed to the win.  Donavon Smith got to the second spot and the chase was on but he could do no better.  The two front runners sliced through the lap traffic easily as they went 1-2.  Third went to Chris Wiltse a regular at the I-35 Speedway in Mason City, fourth was Marshalltown's own Jeff Wollam with a good run, and Jay Schmidt came from waaaay back in the starting field to finish in fifth.

The Hawkeye Dirt Tour feature came next for their 30-lap main event.  The point lead was held by Jeremy Mills going into the night, with a slim 6 point lead over Jay Noteboom.  Just 12 points out of the lead was Mark Elliott.  The starting field was completed by two B mains and two provisional HDT regular drivers not qualifying, Ryan Dolan and Mark Schulte, filled out the starting grid.

You would have thought in the early going that having a camera on the car may have offered an advantage
as Darin Duffy and Mark Elliott circled the track at the front of the pack with their camera's hoisted up top.  The only yellow flag flew at lap 10 and on the ensuing restart, Jay Noteboom who had been riding in third, made the pass on Elliott to take over second.  From then on, it was the two guys up front, Duffy and Noteboom putting on the show.  The two diced back and forth for the lead in the closing laps.  Noteboom chose the outside line and made it work as he out lasted Duffy to take the win.  Third went to Jon Snyder who got by Elliott in fourth.  Randy Havlik rounded out the top five.

The fans all got their money's worth in that one!  It was an awesome race and not only that, now finds the points battle going into tonight tied at 404 between Jay Noteboom and Jeremy Mills who garnered a 7th place finish.  Not too far behind is Mark Elliott...9 points out.

Hot laps are scheduled for 6:30 with racing to commence at 7 p.m. tonight.  Dress warm as the temperatures are predicted to dip to the freezing mark late.  Happy racing!

Super Nationals notes and tidbits

The 30th annual IMCA Super Nationals has come and gone. Each year we say there are memorable happenings, and this year was no different.  Six days/nights/mornings of racing was action packed with over 870 (we heard the count was 872) different race cars participating.  And there was RAIN!  In a drought year, and when does it rain?  Super Nationals!  The jet dryer also "gave up the ghost" on the first day of racing, leaving the John Deere's to get the job done.  They did.  Midwest ingenuity also came into play.  With an infield a muddy mess, bales of straw/hay were strewn about, and it was good to go.   I'm not sure that anywhere else could have pulled the whole show off, but happen it did,--- at Boone. Below is what we recall happening during the week---but with little sleep and being tired, hope we didn't get things mixed up!

Monday was WET.  It rained a couple of times before hot laps ever got started at about 6:45 instead of the scheduled 2 p.m.  The jet dryer attempted to rid the track of the water, but a puff of smoke, a few flames and that was all she wrote.  So, out came the trusty John Deere's and they finally got the track ready for racing. The first heat race took to the track at 7:30 p.m.--4 1/2 hours later than the scheduled time for racing to begin. The only thing not run as scheduled was the qualifying heats for the SportMod Race of Champions, which was pushed to day #2.

Monday's headliner was the Deery Brothers Late Model show.  Michael Murphy, Jr. took the win in this one--being crowned the first Super National's Champion of the week.   Jason Utter led the earlier portion of the 50-lapper, but Murphy chopped through the field from starting 22nd, to tag in behind the leader.  Utter broke at lap 34, handing the lead to Murphy, who retained it to the checkers.  Andy Eckrich had a great run, taking second place after having to tag the field at one point.  Third went to veteran Jeff Aikey, fourth was "Ironman" Darrel DeFrance, and Ray Guss, Jr. took fifth.

After qualifying was completed for the Hobby Stocks and the Northern SportMods, it was one LONG night of racing---ending at 5:50 a.m.  We watched the sun rising as we headed to our motel and when we walked in, breakfast was being served!  A couple of hours of sleep, and we were heading back over to the track.

Night #2 had the second Super Nationals Champion crowned when a full show of IMCA Sport Compacts took to the track.  Fifty-five of the front wheel drive cars competed.  They ran a 25-lap A main and the winner was Jake Ellithorpe from Delmar, Iowa.  He took the top spot late in the race, passing Brad Chandler, who was scored as the runner up.  Third went to Mick Rykhus, fourth was Tyler Whalen and fifth was Cameron Meyer.

Night #2 found us heading out a bit early when the winds picked up and we heard that storms were looming nearby.  There were a few consolation races remaining, which we did understand got in.  The campers were really having to "batten down the hatches" and it was tricky walking trying to avoid all of the blowing debris as we headed to our vehicle about 1:15 a.m.

Back at it for Night #3 and the first running of the A modifieds---which is always an anticipated event.  Qualifying for Saturday night's Big Dance continued for the Stock Cars, SportMods and Hobby Stocks and the first for the Modifieds. Racing wound up about 1:12 a.m. and we headed quickly to our motel for some much needed "Zzzzs"!

Night #4 found us being chased by a storm back to our motel at the conclusion of the night's racing AGAIN! I must say, as the Modified qualiftying feature was on the track, it was an absolutely awesome sight with the cars on the track and the lightning flashing to the northwest! No doubt, the Xsan pay-per-view crew with IMCA on Demand that were filming all week long, were getting a bit nervous from some of their high perches when the rumbles and lightning flashes grew closer and more numerous!

It rained pretty good overnight and Friday morning, the dawning of Night #5, found it wet, wet, wet!  There was another round of pretty good winds that blew through after midnight and even hail fell.  The track was very wet and shiny but out came the "green machines" again and after more of Boone's famous "farming" rounds, racing began only 37 minutes late of the scheduled time.  This was after the straw bales were broken open and spread about in the infield to soak up the sloppy mess and even a fresh coat of bright white paint was applied to the tires buried low in the corners of the track.

Tonight, the IMCA Stock Cars concluded their final qualifying for the Big Dance and the Modifieds had another qualifying A main to fill in the outside starting row. Tonight was also the All Star Invitational for the Modifieds. These drivers had all been voted into the race by the fans after qualifying for a ballot by winning a Fast Shaft's qualifying race. Driver's from all regions were in this race and it was a pretty sight to see them display their state flag flying during the parade lap. Jordan Grabouski--or Grabo as he is often called--took the checkers in this one, but hot on his heels and giving it all he had in a late race charge was Mark Elliott.  Elliott had to settle for the runner up spot.   Racing wound up about 1:38 a.m. and it was quickly back to the motel to catch some winks.

Saturday was the long awaited "Big Dance" day.  The final qualifying for the Modifieds filled out the 33 car starting field.  But before that, there were Race of Champions crowned in the Hobby Stocks, SportMods, Stock Cars and Modified classes.   Those winners were Adam Armstrong from Filley, Nebraska in the Hobby Stock division, making him the first non-Iowa ROC winner in the class. John Watson who had another dominating year at the Boone Speedway in 2012, finished as the runner up. Another Nebraskan followed up with a win in the SportMod Race of Champions when James Kleinheksel stole the show by out distancing Geoff Olson out of Sioux City. Lake City, Iowa's Donavon Smith finally scored a Race of Champions victory for Iowa by taking the win in the IMCA Stock Car class. Dustin Larson from Minnesota finished second. The Modified division winner was a second time winner when Kevin Stoa put his #98 across the finish line first, ahead of Arkport, New York racer Michael Smith.

 The first Big Dance was for the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Their 30-lap event went flag to flag and Shannon Anderson dominated this one.  He won his second Super Nationals Championship in the division, never being really challenged. Brandon Pruitt got around Heath Tulp in the waning laps as they finished second and third in that order.  Fourth went to Chuck Madden and fifth was Devin Smith.  We understood that it was announced that Anderson will be moving up to the IMCA Stock Car division in 2013....following in his father Jeff Anderson's footsteps.

Next up was the Northern SportMods for their A main.  This feature was not as fortunate to go caution free as several yellow flags were unfurled.  However, it too was dominated by young driver Nick Roberts who ran the race as the leader the entire 30-laps in a flawless run to the win.  Jesse Sobbing, the very successful driver out of Glenwood, Iowa, took second over "The General" Troy Jerovetz out of Green Bay, Wisconsin in third.  Fourth went to Boone's own Cory Rose and Doug Cook from Algona, Iowa completed the top five. Roberts, at age sixteen, became the youngest Super Nationals Champion in any division.

The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA Stock Cars now awaited their main event.  They also ran for 30-laps This turned into a shoot out between two cars---Donavon Smith and Chad Palmer.  Palmer led much of the race with Smith dogging him the entire way.  Smith made his move with about eight laps remaining, taking over the top spot and beating Palmer to the finish line for the win.  Third went to Trent Murphy who came out out the three-wide row five starting line up, fourth was Dan Mackenthun and Shawn Havel from Wisconsin finished fifth.

After driver introductions and a trip around the track for them saluting the crowd from the back of pickup trucks, the drivers strapped themselves in and readied for 40-laps of dirt pounding racing.  Front row starters who had qualified for that position by winning their A mains on previous nights, were Brandon Blochlinger, Kyle "The Highside Tickler" Strickler, and Boone's own Joel Bushore.  Strickler and Blochlinger  fought it out for the top spot in the early laps but it was soon the #5xx car of Jeff "The Animal" Taylor from Cave City, Arkansas fighting his way up to tag in behind leader Blochlinger.  They were pretty much freight training around the topside of the track as laps were ticking off.  It was a surge with two laps remaining that pushed Taylor to the lead; as he kept it to cross under the double checkers first, just ahead of Blochlinger in second.  Third went to Strickler, fourth was Brandon Beckendorf from Danube, Minnesota and Waterloo's JD Auringer came home in fifth.

When we started our week on Labor Day by watching it rain and sitting through the delay of waiting for the track to be in racing condition, it seemed a long way off for Saturday's final.  Then we endured more rain, plus wind, lightning, and even hail.  Boone Speedway pulled off the six-night show, even with all the things Mother Nature threw at them.  We looked back at the end of Saturday night and cannot believe how quickly the time passed. We say congratulations to all the winners and to ALL the drivers who came and participated-- a big THANK YOU.  We thoroughly enjoyed our 25th straight year at the Super Nationals in Boone---and making it even more special was getting to share it with family, friends and fans we see but once a year during our "Racin Vacation"  Racing family is the best. Happy racing!

Season Championship night at the Boone Speedway

The craziness of Super Nationals was already evident when we arrived at the Boone Speedway Saturday night. The pits, camping areas and parking lots were already starting to resemble what announcer Jerry VanSickle calls "South Boone".  The population of Boone does grow substantially each and every year during Super Nationals and there was a good start on it showing already.

It was Season Championship night at the speedway---drawing to a close the regular season racing.  The top twenty cars on hand were locked into their features for each class, allowing only non-regular drivers that had raced there at least once during the season, to try and qualify through a consolation race.  Only two classes, the SportMods and the Stock Cars held B mains.

We always enjoy the on track driver introductions which allows fans to see the drivers in person, outside the car and sans their helmets.  Jerry V. provided a little entertaining banter one-on-one with some of those drivers, which also added to the entertainment.

The MADCRA Mod Lites ran first.  All classes ran extended features from the norm, the Mod Lites going 18 laps instead of their usual 15.  Josh May had things wrapped up for a track championship before the green flag even fell.  It was the guy in #95 car, Mike Kennedy that scooted off to the lead when that flag flew, and from there on, he never looked back.  He extended his lead in the caution free event, taking the checkers easily over second place May. Kennedy was racing with a heavy heart, as he had just lost his mother, winning one in her memory, no doubt.  Bryan Zehm was third, followed by Joel Keenan and Jeff Stensland to round out the top five.

The IMCA Hobby Stock track champion also had it all wrapped up before the race even began.  John Watson has had a remarkable second season in a row, with a dozen feature wins.  He also started his season off by taking the Frostbuster win.  Watson was only slowed a bit when a couple of early yellow flags flew, but had no trouble in maintaining his lead.  Aaron Rudolph chased Watson across the line to take second.
Third went to Curt Reed, fourth to Tyler Pickett and fifth was Dustin Lynch.

The Northern SportMod point leader also had little chance of loosing his lead, as Scott Davis held a 19 point lead going into the race.  The 20-lap race's first handful of laps had a good contest going between Davis, Nick Roberts and second in points, Eric Elliott.  Elliott's night ended when he exited the track a bit later.  The second half of the race continued with Davis leading and Roberts searching and searching for a way around him.  It wasn't to be for Roberts as he finished the race in the runner up spot behind winner and track champion, Scott Davis.  Third was Tim Love, Randy Roberts came from starting 17th on the grid to score a fourth place finish, and Cory Rose came from nearly that far back in the pack to take fifth.

Donavon Smith had his track championship in the bag before the start of the 20-lap IMCA Stock Car feature.  In the early going, you could throw a blanket over the top five or six cars; Smith leading, Trent Murphy in second and Wayne Gifford, Robert Stofer and Michael Murphy trying to better their positions.  Murphy was able to make the pass on Smith, taking over the helm.  Contact in turn four sent Smith having to gather it back under him, loosing several positions due to the incident, but able to continue on.  Murphy would then lengthen his lead, taking a comfortable win over second place, Robert Stofer.  As a note, earlier during an interview, we understood that Stofer has been racing for 25 years--a veteran racer for sure.  Michael Murphy, Trent's younger brother finished third, fourth went to Cory Bushnell and Eric Brown completed the top five.


The IMCA Modfieds were looking at 25-laps for their A main.  This one too had it's track champion already decided with Jammin' Jimmy Gustin taking the crown.  Gustin led the pack through the first seven laps, but it was the guy flying on the topside, Todd Shute taking over by lap eight.  Shute continued leading to the checkers, Gustin taking the runner up spot.  A points battle for second place was brewing between drivers Mike VanGenderen and Russ Dickerson who went into the night tied.  A second place finish in track points was going to be the deciding factor in which of the two would qualify for the Race of Champions next week at the Super Nationals.  Since Gustin had already been established as a track champion at Marshalltown Speedway, as well as qualifying as a former SNs winner, second place in points can get into the ROC contenders.  On this night, it was VanGenderen taking third over Dickerson in fourth and thus taking second place track points by ONE. Kelly Lyons finished in fifth.

Racing was done shortly after 10 p.m., but the track did not yet fall silent.  Drivers were allowed to hot lap and with some coming from far and wide, getting a chance to test the track.  Many of the drivers have far different surfaces where they race, so a chance to get on the black gumbo at Boone may have been a whole new experience for many.

We are anxious for the 30th annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals.  It is always an experience, and what we often tell people it is "a happening" that you cannot explain to them if they have not been there.  We plan to be there for the entire six-night run and look forward to not only the racing, but catching up with racing friends.  The first green flag is scheduled to drop for racing at 3 p.m. on Labor Day, and we can't wait.  Hope to catch up with some of you who take a peek at this blog now and then.  Stop us and say hello.  Happy racing!

Boone - Season Championship - 9-1-12

Unofficial results:

Modified - Track Champion - 19 Jimmy Gustin

Feature

1. 5 Todd Shute
2. 19 Jimmy Gustin
3. 57V Mike VanGenderen
4. 28R Russ Dickerson
5. 27 Kelly Lyons
6. 3Z Randy Havlik
7. 58 Denny Pittman
8. 12E Mark Elliott
9. 8 Kyle Strickler
10. 8X Scott Olson
11. 20X Chad Louk
12. X4 Jason Purvis
13. 24 Robert Avery
14. 12C Kent Croskey
15. 5M Matthew Meinecke
16. 4 Tony Hilgenberg
17. E18 Jake Elmquist
18. 88L Mike Louis
19. 87 Joel Bushore
20. 11 Beau Kaplan
21. 5D Devon Havlik
22. 75X Clint Wendel
23. 4R Michael Reichart

SportMod - Track Champion - 81D Scott Davis

1. 81D Scott Davis
2. 23JR Nick Roberts
3. 27 Tim Love
4. 1 Randy Roberts
5. 86 Cory Rose
6. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
7. 63 Daniel Tasler
8. 6 Darren Huntley
9. 66A Anthony Onstot
10. 27L Lukas Onstot
11. 91 Shawn Hunter
12. 77 Jake Myer
13. 22B Brian Eppert
14. 28 James Reichart
15. 13T Taylor Musselman
16. 57 Lynn Brockett
17. 32P Jeremy Pittsenbarger - Cameron, MO
18. 59 Tara Longnecker
19. 63R Richard Fasse
20. 9E Eric Elliott
21. 66 Cody Hennings
22. 34J Jerry Hinton
23. 3B Bradlee Clark
DNS: 24 Brian Miller

Stock Car - Track Champion - 35 Donavon Smith

Feature

1. 25 Trent Murphy
2. 50 Robert Stofer
3. 25M Michael Murphy
4. 55 Corey Bushnell
5. 35 Donavon Smith
6. 24 Eric Brown
7. 45 Larry Crocheck
8. 12+ Ryan Rose
9. 19A Alan VanGorp
10. 23HR Rod Richards
11. 25J Josh Daniels
12. 56 Lonnie Hodges
13. 99D Damon Murty
14. 64X Aaron Parmer
15. 3H Ty Hill
16. 04 Don Vis
17. 3 Tim French
18. 9 Jerry Gifford
19. 19J Jay Schmidt
20. 5 Keith Miner
21. 22 Wayne Gifford
22. 6 Adam Hilgenberg
DNS: 27M Mike Munson
         51 Jared Dirks

Hobby Stock - Track Champion - 4W John Watson

Feature

1. 4W John Watson
2. 38R Aaron Rudolph
3. 4C Curt Reed
4. 5A Tyler Pickett
5. 5 Dustin Lynch
6. 27C Cory Adams
7. 12M Matt McDonald
8. 500 Garrett Eilander
9. 85 Seth Janssen
10. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
12. 22 Chris Jensen
11. 83 Chris Hupp
13. 8B Bobby Smith
14. 16B Jay Arends
15. 43 Nic Shearer
16. 99 Jeff Knight
17. 36S Mike Smith
18. 1BC Tony Cox
19. 911 Darin Rothfus
20. 14 Matt Wahlert
21. 7D Joe DeJoode
22. T15 Tim Barber
23. T15 Jacob Thompson
24. 74J Dean Hartwig
DNS: 46J Jesse Hopkins

Mod Lite  - Track Champion - 99 Josh May

Feature

1. 95 Mike Kennedy
2. 99 Josh May
3. 46Z Bryan Zehm
4. 09 Joel Keenan
5. 20 Jeff Stensland
6. 15 Andy Hennigar
7. 41Z Ed Zehm
8. 8 Dusty Masolini
9. 11R Jason Whitehead
10. 6 Mike Morrill
11. 01 David Schmalzried, Jr.
12. 64 Randy Bryan
13. 3C Duane Coffman
14. 19 Brad Melton
15. 44J Justin Hopkins
16. 19JR Danny Foster
17. 23 Michael Parcel
18. 76 Terry Sorenson
19. 4L Larry Sorenson
20. 08 Ben Larson
21. 93 Tim Milner
DNS: 16 Angelo Montgomery
          57 Tim Hennigar

Blog will follow

Marshalltown Track Championships to Gustin, Meyer, Hulin, Pippert, Morrill and Chandler

The Marshalltown Speedway held their season championships on Friday night, drawing to a close another successful season under the helm of promoter Toby Kruse.  A couple of close points battles were brewing going into the night, but when all was said and done, all point leaders stood.

The first feature was the IMCA Sport Compact class and with only three of them on hand, front stretch introductions and their 8-lap feature was over and done in "quick time".  Veteran Merv Chandler led the whole 8 laps on his way to his 14th feature win at the track this year, as well as clinching the track championship---by a huge margin. Duayne Herb was second and John Gill was third.

The Mod Lite feature pitted the only two guys that had wins the entire season---Mike Morrill and Josh May---to fight it out from the front row.  We were expecting one of the two to take the win, but the guy starting eighth, Andy Hennigar was the victor on this night.  Hennigar fought by Morrill and May to take over the point spot in the closing laps.  May followed him to take second, Morrill was third.....and also took the track championship....fourth went to Dusty Masolini and fifth was Tim Hennigar.  

The IMCA Northern SportMods went 20-laps for their season championship bout.  It was looking to be a walk away by point leader Racer Hulin, but when a race of that length goes caution free, there is always lap traffic that may...and this time DID...play into the outcome.  Jake Strayer had been chasing Hulin from a bit of a distance most of the race, but in the closing lap, lap traffic gave things a twist.  After taking the white flag, it got a bit congested going into turn one, Hulin avoiding disaster, but with even more lap traffic lying ahead, the often lethal last corner proved to be the thing settling the outcome tonight.  Strayer maneuvered the lap traffic just a tick better than Hulin.  Strayer got to the checkers first, Hulin having to settle for second---but still securing the track championship---third went to Scott Davis, fourth to Nick Roberts and Joel Rust was fifth. This was Strayer's second win of the season.

Up next were the IMCA Hobby Stockers.  Point leader Scott Pippert showed just why he was in that position, as he led all 15 laps of the feature.  One caution flew, but was no deterrent to Pippert as he pulled away from his competition on the restart.  Pippert took the win and the season championship, Eric Larson was second, third went to Kevin Fee, and Eric Knutson and Josh Saunders finished fourth and fifth.

The IMCA Stock Cars went 20-laps.  A couple of visiting drivers from out of state joined the field tonight and one of those, Justin Jacobsen from Black Creek, Wisconsin, found himself in an upside down world in turn two on lap nine. Not a good way to start out what we can only assume to be his time back in the area for the upcoming IMCA Super Nationals.  The good news, he was okay.  Tracy Gienger started on the outside pole of the race, and led the entire contest.  It was a good battle for second between point leader Steve Meyer and Damon Murty for much of the race.  Murty won that battle as he was scored in second, Meyer taking third but keeping the points lead and the track crown.  Fourth was Jeff Wollam, on this the Larry Wollam Memorial Season Championship night.  Larry Wollam was a long time driver as well as former promoter at the track, who unfortunately, lost his battle to cancer thirteen years ago.  Jeff is Larry's son. Trent Murphy completed the top five finishers.

The IMCA Modifieds polished the night's feature racing off with a 25-lapper.  Point leader Jimmy Gustin, "had it in the bag" for another track championship, but no driver----and especially Jimmy Gustin----is even going to consider just "cruising along" conservatively in a race.  Gustin took this one in convincing manner, leading all laps as the race went flag to flag.  Ronn Laurtizen took the runner up spot, as well as the runner up in points.  Lauritzen gained points on Luke Wanninger who had been second in points, when Wanninger's motor "went south" during hot laps.  However, Wanninger was able to make the feature, as he piloted Jimmy Gustin's "old" car.  Love to see driver helping driver like this and ya gotta love the "racing family"!  Third place went to Zach Rawlins sporting a new body on his racing machine, fourth was Kyle Brown, and Scott Simatovich was fifth.

As we sit in the parking lot prior to races, we often check out the race cars as they pull up to the pit gate, seeing if there are any newbies on the night.  From a distance, we spotted a Modified with a #24 on the side that we didn't readily recognize.  As I walked toward the pit entrance to do a little checking, I was pleasantly surprised to find that car to be Farmington, New Mexico driver, Regan Tafoya.  We were expecting to meet up with him at the IMCA Super Nationals, as we have over the past several years, but were not expecting to see him at Marshalltown!  We enjoyed catching up a bit with him, his wife Yvette, and pit crew member Tyrone Yazzie, who has also done a bit of racing in the past himself.  Regan not only is a racer, but also took on promoting this past year at the Cortez Speedway in Cortez, Colorado. Look for him at the Super Nationals in the #24R Spitfire Racing ride.

We are gathering our thoughts as well as "stuff" for heading to Boone for the six-nights of racing at the Super Nationals starting on Labor Day.  But before that, it will soon be time to head to Boone tonight for their season championships before the "Big Dance" prelude gets started.  Until next time.  Happy Racing!

New winners and track champions crowned at Osky

The final regular season night of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway ended on a great note--weather wise and racing wise.  An added attraction for the night was the MADCRA Mod Lite division which ran for the first time ever on the Monster Half-Mile. A couple of new faces visited victory lane as well.

All of the  IMCA classes, ran heats and started via the invert system as they do each week.  Some tracks choose to start the features "straight up" by points on Season Championship night, but that was not the case at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Each class was brought to the front stretch for driver introductions prior to their feature event.  That is always a feature that we really appreciate....not only for us as fans, but that the drivers get a little extra recognition.

The IMCA Northern SportMods ran their 15-lap feature first.  Young Brayton Carter led the charge, looking strong as he piloted his #01 ride around the big old half-mile.  Curtis VanDerWal made his way up to second, with Tony Johnson chasing him.  With the race continuing under green, VanDerWal seized his opportunity to make the pass on Carter with a lap remaining. VanDerWal took the checkers, his second of the year, Carter having to settle for the runner up spot.  Jesse Sobbing, the track champion, made his way through the field to score a third place finish, fourth went to Carter VandenBerg and Eric Flander was fifth.

Next was the IMCA Sport Compacts.  Tonight, the track had a new winner.  John Whalen won the 8-lap feature after taking over from brother Bill Whalen, Jr. with a couple of laps remaining.  Merv Chandler nabbed second on the final lap after getting by Bill Whalen, who finished third.  Fourth was Anthony Cassat, fifth was Cory Howk and Kimberly Abbott made the trip over from Camp Point, Illinois to complete the six-car field.  Merv Chandler is the track champion for 2012.

Eight IMCA Modifieds were on hand for the final night of points racing, but two cars "gave up the ghost" before they could even compete---Jeff Waterman and Jason Riegel.  At the drop of the green flag, the field was called back for a "bad dog, no biscuit" as announcer Tony Paris calls a start by some overly anxious drivers.  That yellow restart also found the 10C of Cayden Carter in trouble with some toe out problems which would send him to the pits.  When the race did get underway, it was Dakota Hayden out in front and looking strong.  He had earlier won his heat race in convincing manner, and the feature was no different.  He sailed easily to the win, as the race went caution free after the initial recall.  He finished well ahead of second place "Hollywood" Brandon Banks.  Third went to Jacob Murray, fourth was Andrew Schroeder and Mark Widmar was fifth.  This was Hayden's first win at the Southern Iowa Speedway.  Cayden Carter, though having mechanical issues, still had a good night as he took the track championship.

The MADCRA Mod Lites ran their 13-lap feature next.  This would be the inaugural running at the track for the class.  Mike Morrill and Josh May, two drivers we have seen duke it out at the Marshalltown Speedway all season long.  Tonight, Morrill scooted off to the lead from his outside front row starting spot, only to have May, who had started right behind him in row two, tag in on his bumper.  Morrill looked to the outside, Morrill looked to the inside, and finally was able to make one of those peeks work, taking the lead by lap eleven.  May went on to take the win, Morrill finishing second.  Far behind in third was Andy Hennigar, fourth went to Randy Bryan and Dusty Masolini finished in fifth.  Thirteen of the motorcycle engine powered machines were on hand for their first time ever running at the track.  For more information on this class, check out www.madcra.org.

The IMCA Stock Car feature went 16-laps.  With less than a handful of laps in the books, disaster was avoided after last week's winner Todd Reitzler and Kyle Harwood appeared to get hooked as they came out of turn two.  The two freed themselves as they struggled down the back stretch, Reitzler continuing on, but Harwood retiring to the pits. Meanwhile, Todd Phillips had been motoring along at the helm of the race, and the Chelsea Charger, Damon Murty had made his way into second.  A yellow flag flew at lap eleven, bunching up the field.  On the restart, Murty was on the hunt and looking for the lead.  He would make it work going down the back stretch with a lap to go, stealing away the win, Phillips having to settle for second. Corey "from just across the street" Stout, came home in third place, fourth was Nathan Wood and fifth went to Todd Reitzler.  The track championship went to Matt Greiner.

The final feature event was the IMCA Hobby Stocks.  They ran a 15-lap feature.  The only yellow in this one flew at lap four when point leader Shannon Anderson found himself in the spin mode in turn one, and though he kept going, he was the one bringing out the yellow, and was then relegated to the tail of the field on the restart.  This one was led by Justin Hook who battled three-wide with Mike Hughes and Dustin Griffiths for the top spot.  At lap eight, it was Hughes taking over the helm, Griffiths in hot pursuit. Griffiths then took over the number one spot, Hughes then chasing him.  The final checkers flew with Griffiths taking the win, his fifth of the year, Hughes took the runner up spot, Hook finished in third and Bobby Greene and Kevin Fee rounded out the top five.  Shannon Anderson is the track champion.

Though there was a bit of entertainment still left for the evening---a powder puff and mechanics race---we opted to head out.  We were happy to share the night's racing with visiting friends from California who are back here for the upcoming IMCA Super Nationals, as well as Positively Racing colleague Jeff Broeg.  Make sure to stop by www.positivelyracing.com for Jeff's take of the night's racing under "Backstretch".  As a note, it was announced last night that Mike VanGenderen will be back at the helm of the racing action next year after what we would deem a pretty successful first year of promoting/managing the track.

The track will fall silent until October 5-6 when the 26th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge will once again bring the track back to action.  Make plans to attend this always excellent racing show.  Until next time, happy racing!

Osky - Season Championships - 8-29-12

Unofficial results:

Modified

1. Dakota Hayden - 1st win at Osky
2. 22 Brandon Banks
3. 48J Jacob Murray
4. 02 Andrew Schroeder
5. 7W Mark Widmar
DNF: 10C Cayden Carter - Track Champion
DNS: 71W Jeff Waterman
          19 Jason Riegel

SportMod

1. 1 Curtis VanDerWal
2. 01 Brayton Carter
3. 99 Jesse Sobbing - Track Champion
4. 7 Carter VandenBerg
5. 12 Eric Flander
6. 38 Bill Gibson
7. 198 Sam Wieben
8. 10R Ryan Fullencamp
9. 8T Tony Johnson
10. 53 Greg Strohman
DNF: 43 Jeremiah Jones
          42 Tyler Heckert
          34Z Corey VanZante
DNS: 72 Brett Lowry

Stock Car

1. 99D Damon Murty
2. 7 Todd Phillips
3. 94 Corey Stout
4. 52 Nathan Wood
5. 22R Todd Reitzler
6. 29 Matt Greiner - Track Champion
7. 19A Alan VanGorp (driving a borrowed car.  Appeared to be a Killen car)
8. 25C Shane Paris
9. 73c Carl Yaw
10. 77T Trent Jeanes
DNF: 30J Alex Buffington
          1 Chad Scandrett
          38 Rich Vogt
            4 Shane Weller (in Toby Johnson car?)
           46B Mike Bilyeu
            15K Kyle Harwood
            62 Brad Pinkerton

Hobby Stock

1. 10G Dustin Griffiths
2. 18H Mike Hughes
3. 33 Justin Hook
4. 32T Bobby Greene
5. 52 Kevin Fee
6. 69 Craig Brown
7. 78 Shannon Anderson - Track Champion
8. 224 Casey Greubel (driving his mother Gina's car)
9. 73 Aaron Martin
10. 6 Jarred Gann
DNF: 53D Ron Downing, Jr.
          84 Danny Thrasher
         2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
         18 Kris Walker

Sport Compact

1. 77 John Whalen
2. 2 Merv Chandler - Track Champion
3. 00W Bill Whalen, Jr.
4. 15A Anthony Cassat
5. 48 Corey Howk
6. 71 Kimberly Abbott - Camp Point, IL

Mod Lite - Inaugural running at the track

1.  99 Josh May
2. 6 Mike Morrill
3. 15 Andy Hennigar
4. 64 Randy Bryan
5. 8 Dusty Masolini
6. 20 Jeff Stensland
7. DC5 Dalton Dingman
8. 11R Jason Whitehead
9. 87 Blake Woodruff - Galesburg, IL
10. 23 Michael Parcel
DNF: X50 Joel Huggins
         09 Joel Keenan
DNS: 19JR. Danny Foster

Blog to follow

Stock Car win to Schmidt at the checkers!

It rained on us all the way to Boone on Saturday, stopping just before getting to the track.  A peek of the track showed it VERY wet, with puddles standing on it.  Track workers had prepped the track the night before for the expected rain, sealing it over.  By 5:30, the jet dryer was fired up and after several circuits of pushing the water down toward the infield, the farming session began--spring tooth and then repacking. Racing began just before 8 pm, less than a half hour late.  Race cars and fans arrived late, but a count of 139 cars was pretty darn good considering the weather.  No doubt, many were sitting at home awaiting the text message as to whether or not racing was going to happen.

The Mod Lite feature went flag to flag and was led the entire time by Jeff Stensland.  A couple of drivers fighting it out a good distance behind him for position were Joel Keenan and Josh May;  Keenan keeping the upper hand as he took the runner up spot over May in third.  Fourth went to Mike Kennedy over Dusty Masolini in fifth.  This was Stensland's second feature win of 2012.

Three yellows in the first four laps of the IMCA SportMod feature was a bit frustrating, but after that "third time is the charm", the race went the rest of the distance caution free.  Taylor Musselman was at the helm through lap seven.  That was when Nick Roberts made the pass into the lead, and Eric Elliott followed him into second.  Elliott could do no better than to closely chase Roberts across the finish line at the checkers as they finished first and second.  Third was Musselman who hung around at the front of the pack, fourth went to Jerry Hinton and Tom Burke was fifth.  This was Roberts third regular season feature win plus having also taken the Frostbuster back on April 8.  Earlier, a B main had to be run to complete the starting field.  It was won by Jason Mallicoat.

The 20-lap Modified feature had a mishap at lap one sending Jimmy Gustin and Mike VanGenderen to the pits for tire changes, and then both tagging the field on the restart.  David Brown led the opening laps, then Cale Sponsler changed that, as he took over the helm at lap five.  A few laps after a restart at lap nine, contact between cars fighting for third, sent Brown to the pits when contact was made...his night done.  Sponsler was out in front and sailing along easily as the laps wound down, and would take it home to the checkers flying.  This was Sponsler's second win of the season.  Kelly Lyons took the runner up spot, finishing just ahead of third place Jay Noteboom, who had started twelfth, in fourth was Russ Dickerson and fifth was Chad Louk.  Going into next week's season championship, it looks as if Jimmy Gustin holds a comfortable 31 point lead over two guys tied for second, Mike VanGenderen and Russ Dickerson.

The IMCA Stock Car feature didn't disappoint, as it seldom does.  It is still one of the most competitive classes we see, week in and week out.  This one went 18-laps caution free, which adds much to the racing action all over the track.  Much of the race up front was between Jay Schmidt and last week's winner, Trent Murphy.  Behind them, Wayne Gifford had gotten into third, and behind him was a big battle for fourth place between Todd Fisher, Eric Brown, Jerry Gifford, and Donavon Smith.  Murphy had made the pass on Schmidt by lap eight and was appearing to be on his way to back to back victories at the track.  Oops!  Lap traffic coming into play on the final lap.  Schmidt opted for the highside of the track as they came out of turn four, avoiding the lap cars as Murphy tucked it in on the low side.  This night, it was the outside lane that worked, and Schmidt snatched away the win as they took the checkers.  This was Schmidt's third win at Boone this season.  Murphy settled for second over Wayne Gifford in third, fourth was Donavon Smith and Todd Fisher held on to fifth.

Just one Hobby Stock feature was run but it took two B mains to qualify the final four cars to complete the starting line up.  Andrew Burg and Craig Graham took those consy wins.  Kyle Dirks found himself out in front the entire 12 laps, never to be really challenged in taking his first win this year.  Second and third was a different story with Matt Hudsputh winning out over Matt McDonald in a good contest.  Fourth was John Watson and fifth went to Aaron Rudolph.

Next week, September 1 is season championship night--ending the regular season at the track.  It sure isn't the end of the racing action though!  Labor Day, September 3 will be the first of six straight nights of racing in the 30th annual IMCA Super Nationals.  It is the 25th straight year the Super Nationals have been at the Boone Speedway and our 25th year of attending.  What a change we've seen!  Can't wait.  If at all possible, try and make at least one night of racing during "America's Racin' Vacation"! It's a real happening!  Happy racing!

Boone - 8-25-12

Unofficial results: 139 cars

Modified - 26 cars

Heat 1 - 10C Cayden Carter
Heat 2 - 21 David Brown
Heat 3 - 93 Cale Sponsler

Feature

1. 93 Cale Sponsler
2. 27 Kelly Lyons
3. 7N Jay Noteboom
4. 28R Russ Dickerson
5. 20X Chad Louk
6. 3Z Randy Havlik
7. 8X Scott Olson
8. 58 Denny Pittman
9. 83G Josh Gilman
10. 87 Joel Bushore
11. 19 Jimmy Gustin
12. 57V Mike VanGenderen
13. 21K Kyle Brown
14. 1+ Bill Davis, Jr.
15. 23 JJ Scott
16. 4 Tony Hilgenberg
17. 12C Kent Croskey
18. 5M Matt Meinecke
19. 4R Michael Reichart
20. 21 David Brown
21. 10C Cayden Carter
22. 22T Tyler Prochaska
23. 18 Jake Durbin
24. E18 Jake Elmqist
DNS: 5 Todd Shute
         36 Jeff Conner

SportMod - 30 cars

Heat 1 - 93 Mike Stark
Heat 2 - 13T Taylor Musselman
Heat 3 - 6 Darren Huntley

B Main - 3 advance

1. 36S Jason Mallicoat
2. 57 Lynn Brockett
3. 25R Chad Ryerson
4. 4A Dan Swank
5. 21ZC Cody Cleghorn
6. 57R Ryan King
7. 59 Tara Longnecker
8. 42 Matt Hays - Panora, IA
DNS: c63 Cory Tasler

Feature

1. 23JR Nick Roberts
2. 9E Eric Elliott
3. 13T Taylor Musselman
4. 34J Jerry Hinton
5. 5B Tom Burke
6. 66A Anthony Onstot
7. 36S Jason Mallicoat
8. 27 Tim Love
9. 25R Chad Ryerson
10. 91 Shawn Hunter
11. 6 Darren Huntley
12. 81D Scott Davis
13. 57 Lynn Brockett
14. 1 Randy Roberts
15. 3F Cole Ferguson
16. 93 Mike Stark
17. 3B Bradlee Clark
18. 22B Brian Eppert
19. 33 Jesse McCollaugh
20. 55R Rick Routh
21. 63 Daniel Tasler
22. 66 Cody Hennings
23. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
24. 27L Lukas Onstot

Stock Car - 26 cars

Heat 1 - 6 Adam Hilgenberg
Heat 2 - 50K Kevin Balmer
Heat 3 - 19J Jay Schmidt

Feature

1. 19J Jay Schmidt
2. 25 Trent Murphy
3. 22 Wayne Gifford
4. 35 Donavon Smith
5. 44 Todd Fisher
6. 9 Jerry Gifford
7. 25M Michael Murphy
8. 02 Mike Goldsberry
9. 23HR Rod Richards
10. 50 Robert Stofer
11. 50K Kevin Balmer
12. 12+ Ryan Rose
13. 56 Lonnie Hodges
14. 556 Terry Cornelsion
15. 46B Mike Bilyeu
16. 21 Ross Marshall
17. 6 Adam Hilgenberg
18. 3 Tim French
19. 45 Larry Crocheck
20. 76 Norm Belew
21. 24 Eric Brown
22. 5 Keith Miner
23. 55 Cory Bushnell
24. 38C Kellie Schmit - Britt, IA
25. 04 Don Vis
26. 3S Bryan Snell

Hobby Stock - 37 cars

Heat 1 - 00 Kyle Dirks
Heat 2 - 5A Tyler Pickett
Heat 3 - 99 Jeff Knight
Heat 4 - 8B Robert Smith

B Main #1 - 2 advance

1. 78B Andrew Burg
2. T56 Tim Barber
3. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
4. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
5. 13D Dan Wetzel
6. T71 Marcus Kyle
7. 4D Daniel Ayers
8. 48B Brett Knight
9. 47W Shaun Wirtz

B Main #2 - 2 advance

1. 13G Craig Graham
2. 22R Bill Richards
3. 911 Darin Rothfus
4. 33D Ed DeLong - Cleghorn, IA
5. 500 Garrett Eilander
6. 16B Jay Arends
7. F1 Blaine Frist
DNS: 46J Jesse Hopkins

Feature

1. 00 Kyle Dirks
2. 3W Matt Hudsputh
3. 12M Matt McDonald
4. 4W John Watson
5. 38R Aaron Rudolph
6. 8B Robert Smith
7. 5A Tyler Pickett
8. 22 Chris Jensen
9. 13G Craig Graham
10. 22R Bill Richards

Mod Lite - 20 cars

Heat 1 - 20 Jeff Stensland
Heat 2 - 46Z Bryan Zehm

Feature

1. 20 Jeff Stensland
2. 09 Joel Keenan
3. 99 Josh May
4. 95 Mike Kennedy
5. 8 Dusty Masolini
6. 46Z Bryan Zehm
7. 15 Andy Hennigar
8. 64 Randy Bryan
9. 3C Duane Coffman
10. 11R Jason Whitehead
11. 19 Brad Melton
12. 16 Angelo Montgomery
13. 01 David Schmalzried, Jr.
14. 44J Justin Hopkins
15. 23 Michael Parcel
16. 76 Terry Sorenson
17. 19JR Danny Foster
18. 4L Larry Sorenson
19. 37 Mike Thomas
DNS: 41Z Ed Zehm

Reimer scores first career win

It's always special when we get to see a driver earn his first ever career feature win. That is just what happened in the IMCA Stock Car class last night at the Marshalltown Speedway.  Two other classes sent winners to victory lane for the third week in a row.  Oh...and mustn't forget the night ending "added attraction" of the Truck Tug of War!

The IMCA Sport Compacts had a new feature winner this week.  Dave Moorman led the entire race on his way to victory lane.  Veteran Merv Chandler got around John Gill in the final lap as they went second and third.  Fourth went to Duayne Herb and fifth was Jer Pedersen.

In the Mod Lite division, Mike Morrill took his turn at seeing the checkers first.  Morrill took the lead early on and sailed to the win.  Josh May--who is the ONLY other winner in the class this year--got to the runner up spot, but could do no better.  Third was Tim Hennigar followed by brother Andy Hennigar in fourth and Joel Huggins rounded out the top five.  Before the feature was even completed, there was a line of youngsters lining up behind the flagstand, in hopes of being the lucky recipient of Morrill's trophy. 

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature had trouble getting past lap three last night!  There seemed to be real bad "mojo" down in turn two and several cars ended up getting into scrapes, some with night ending consequences. After finally getting the third lap in the books, it would be the last yellow to fly. Gatlin Leytham was keeping the lead from his front row starting spot, but Jenae Gustin was the driver on the move!  Gustin, who had started in row five, had moved into second, tucked in right behind Leytham and was dogging him continually.  Back in the field, there was some awesome racing happening.  Point leader Racer Hulin had been having a bad night, having to qualify through one of two B mains and had started back in 22nd spot.  He had somehow avoided near disaster in the skirmishes in turn two and was making headway fast, running in fifth.  The final laps of the race were intense with Gustin challenging constantly.  It was only on that often fateful last lap that she was able to pull off the pass, and make it to the checkers first.  Leytham finished as the runner up, Ty Luellen had run in third much of the race, which would be where he would finish.  Racer Hulin made the pass late on Jake Strayer as they finished fourth and fifth. This was Gustin's third win in a row; fifth on the season.

Up next were the IMCA Hobby Stocks. for their 12-lap race.  This one turned into a two-man race between leader Brice Udelhoven and Scott Pippert.  It was looking as if Udelhoven was going to be able to hold off Pippert's attempts for the pass, but veteran Pippert made it work with a lap to go and sailed home to  the win.  Pippert was greeted in victory lane by announcer Jerry VanSickle for the third week in a row and chalked up his seventh win at Marshalltown.  Udelhoven had to settle for second, third went to Eric Knutson, fourth to Kevin Fee and Randy Embrey took fifth.

Wow!  What a race the IMCA Stock Cars put on for the fans!  Bunches...and I mean bunches, of cars were fighting all over the track for position.  Kevin Rose led from the get go only to have last week's winner Tracy Gienger tuck in right behind him and Derek Reimer battling him.  A yellow flew with six laps to go and when the green flew on the restart, there were about eight cars in a tight bunch up front.  Reimer maintained his lead and his composure though Rose and now Donavon Smith applied the pressure.  Reimer took the win--his very first career win--Rose held on to second over Smith, Geinger and John Emerson made his first trip to the speedway pay off with a fifth place finish.  Reimer was a happy camper in victory lane and with the way he has been running as of late, would think that would just be the first of more victories to come.  

The Modifieds had a stellar field of cars which included three former IMCA Super National Champions--Randy Havlik, Jimmy Gustin, and Richie Gustin.  Jon Snyder got to first early and he would survive a couple of restart situations without much trouble.  He went on to the win, his third of the year at Marshalltown.  Ronn Lauritzen made the pass on Luke Wanninger in the waning laps as they finished second and third.  Fourth went to Jimmy Gustin as he was nearly the only one searching the top of the track, and Scott Simatovich took the fifth place.  

The night ended with three trucks giving it a go in the Tug of War contest.  The winner seemed to get the upper hand when he got his opponent spinning his wheels, he then slammed on his brakes, and then back under power--pulling away to the win.  It was an interesting end to the night.  

Next week will be track championship night.  For some classes, the quest for a track championship seems to be over.  Merv Chandler holds a huge 135 point lead over John Gill in the Sport Compact class making that a done deal.  Mike Morrill holds a nine point lead over Josh May in the Mod Lite division. Scott Pippert is 60 points ahead of Eric Larson in the Hobby Stocks, so call that one over too.  In the SportMod division, Racer Hulin redeemed himself from near catastrophe in his heat and having to qualify through a B main just to get a chance in the feature, to score a fourth place finish to keep a slight six point lead over Joel Rust and nine points over Jake Strayer. The Stock Cars finds Steve Meyer leading by 11 points over Tracy Gienger and Jimmy Gustin has it wrapped up in the Modified class, leading by 34 points over Luke Wanninger.  

Time is slipping away in this 2012 racing season.  Of course, there are some big specials coming up, one of which is the IMCA Super Nationals coming up on Labor Day.  Six nights of intense racing lies ahead and we will be there for it all.  Enjoy a race somewhere.  Happy racing!

Sobbing wins again at Osky

Kids are back in school, but a chance to see Ronald McDonald still brought a good number of them to the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday night.  They also got to enjoy car rides and a candy toss.  An extra class on the docket for the night was an added attraction as well, as the Iowa Sportsman Series joined the regular classes of cars to run their separate show.

After earlier running two heat races, the Iowa Sportsman Series ran their 20-lap main event, kicking off the feature racing.  It's our understanding that the series runs at different tracks throughout the year, racing once a month.  You can check their website at www.iowasportsmanseries.com for a bit more info.  Chad Scanderett led the first five laps, until a right rear ended his run.  Dave Rodda took over the helm then but it was the #18 car of Kris Walker, no stranger to the track, making headway quickly.  Walker took the point by lap thirteen and sailed on to the win.  Rodda took second followed by Gene Tish, Aaron Martin (who did double duty tonight, also running in the Hobby Stock class) and Travis Dawson finishing third through fifth.

Though only four of the IMCA Sport Compacts were on hand last night,  they did provide an entertaining feature race.  John Whalen led the first lap only to go up in a cloud of smoke by lap two.  Brad Chandler took the reins then and from there on, it was dad Merv Chandler trying to catch his son, and Bill Whalen, Jr. in pursuit of them both.  This was Brad Chandler's third win at the track this year, but his first in his own car.The previous two wins had come as he piloted the 00W car of Bill Whalen who finished third behind Merv Chandler, the runner up.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks took their feature 15-lap race, flag to flag.  Veteran racer Mike Hughes was soon to be "out in front and showing the way", as announcer Tony Paris often says. Shannon Anderson came from starting in the fifth row, to tag in behind leader Hughes.  Anderson continued in "chase mode" the rest of the way but was not able to make the pass on this night.  Hughes took his first win this year and though no stranger to victory lane in days gone by, this was no doubt his first visit in more than a few seasons.  Craig Brown followed Anderson to score a third place finish, fourth was Justin Hook and Adam Bonnett was fifth.

Only six of the eight IMCA Modifieds were able to start their 12-lap feature.  The two unable to begin the main were Wade Francis and Cayden Carter.  Carter appeared to jump the cushion and smacked the turn one wall in his heat, leaving his ride battered and unable to race.  Andrew Schroeder flew to the lead from his outside front row starting spot and pulled away.  Schroeder, running the cushion, grabbed his first win of the season.  Joining him in victory lane was his father, Randy Schroeder, who often took the checkers at the big old half-mile monster in days gone by.  Dakota Hayden finished second after having mechanical problems while leading his heat earlier. Third went to Mark Widmar a good distance behind and Brandon Banks and Scott Dickey were fourth and fifth.  Sixth went to Jacob Murray who did not finish.  This race also went flag to flag.

The IMCA Northern SportMods went sixteen laps for their A main event.  Eric Flander was looking for his first win at Osky as he led and pulled away from his competition through lap eleven.  That would be when a yellow flag flew for debris on the track, tightening up the field.  And who should be in second but Jesse Sobbing.  Sobbing, sporting a new ride.....a Jet Chassis....had worked his way up to second and was now awaiting the restart.  That yellow flag would be Flander's nemesis as Sobbing took advantage and flew to the lead on the restart, Curtis VanDerWal and Bill Gibson following suit.  Sobbing took the win, his ninth at the Southern Iowa Speedway in 2012, his 36th IMCA win on the year, and his 50th win over all for the season.
VanDerWal finished in second, Gibson took third, fourth went to Flander and Carter VandenBerg was fifth.

The always exciting IMCA Stock Cars ended the night's activities with their 16-lap feature.  Most of the real racing was behind leader Todd Reitzler in this one.  Zach VanderBeek, Alan VanGorp and Matt Greiner were battling 3-wide for second and behind them, Brad Pinkerton, Nathan Wood and Damon Murty were in their own 3-wide battle.  Reitzler rode the rim all the way in this one, VanderBeek getting into second and trying to gain ground on the low road in turns one and two.  A valiant try coming to the checkers was in vain as Reitzler kept his lead and took the win---his second of the season.  VanderBeek finished in the runner up position, Greiner made it to third over Brad Pinkerton in fourth and Corey Stout in fifth.

So ended another night of racing on a Wednesday night at Osky.  Next week will be Season Championship night, ending the season point's racing.  The track will then fall silent until Friday and Saturday, October 5-6 when the 26th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge will bring the track back to action.  This is one you shouldn't miss.  There are still races to be found as the season winds down, so find a race to attend.  Happy racing!

Osky - 8-22-12

Unofficial results:

Modified

1.. 02 Andrew Schroeder
2. 12H Dakota Hayden
3. 7W Mark Widmar
4. 22 Brandon Banks
5. 40 Scott Dickey
DNF: 48J Jacob Murray
DNS: 10C Cayden Carter
          7S Wade Francis

SportMod

1. 99 Jesse Sobbing - in a new Jet chassis
2. 1 Curtis VanDerWal
3. 38 Bill Gibson
4. 12 Eric Flander
5. 7 Carter VandenBerg
6. 72 Brett Lowry
7. 10R Ryan Fullencamp
8. 30X Josh Modde
9. 34Z Cory VanZante
10. 01 Brayton Carter
11. 198 Sam Wieben
12. 53 Greg Stroben ?
DNF: 8T Tony Johnson
          8 Tom Lathrop

Stock Car

1. 22R  Todd Reitzler
2. 33Z Zach VanderBeek
3. 29 Matt Greiner
4. 62 Brad Pinkerton
5. 94 Corey Stout
6. 52 Nathan Wood
7. 19A Alan VanGorp
8. 38 Rich Vogt
9. 7 Todd Phillips
DNF: 23HR Rod Richards - Madrid, IA
          8X Nick Patterson
          73C Carl Yaw
          99D Damon Murty
DNS: 15K Kyle Harwood

Hobby Stock

1.  18H Mike Hughes
2. 78 Shannon Anderson
3. 69 Craig Brown
4. 33 Justin Hook
5. 19 Adam Bonnett
6.  84 Danny Thrasher
7. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
8. 52 Kevin Fee
9. 73 Aaron Martin
10. 6 Jarred Gann
DNF: 10G Dustin Griffiths
DNS: 32T Bobby Greene


Sport Compact

1, 26 Brad Chandler
2. 2 Merv Chandler
3. 00W Bill Whalen
DNF: 77 John Whalen

Iowa Sportsman Series

1. 18 Kris Walker
2. 12 Dave Rodda
3. 54 Gene Tish
4. 73 Aaron Martin
5. 77 Travis Dawson

2 or more laps down or DNF:

17 Andy Peck
1 Chad Scandrett
88 Denny Binns
47 Darin DeZwarte
4J Jack VanDyke
4CSM  Caleb Seibert
45 Mike Deaton
151 Wes Alexander
8 Paul Meinder
4 Chad Reynolds
88H Randy Hemsley

 

Close finishes at Boone determined at the flagstand

Was rain predicted for Saturday?  It took me completely aback when a chance glance at radar showed rain moving into the northwest part of the state.....heading for Boone!  We hit rain three miles to the east of the Boone Speedway and though it was just light sprinkles, appeared to have been happening for a while.  The track was shiny slick, but the tractors and packers were continuously kept on the track.  The rain drops ended and the first heat took to the track just a few minutes past its scheduled 7:30 start time.  Good thing, as the pits were full again--176 cars by my count--and a good crowd on hand.

Bryan Zehm took the win in the Mod Lite feature; going back to back for victories.  The very start of the race found Mike Kennedy on his lid in turn two, leading to a complete restart; Kennedy tagging the tail after being flipped back onto his wheels.  Tim Hennigar and Joel Keenan battled for the lead early on, having started side by side on the front row.  It didn't take long until Bryan Zehm joined in the chase, taking over the  helm by lap twelve of the 15-lap race and going on to take the win.  Joel Keenan followed Zehm to finish in second, Hennigar held on to third and Jeff Stensland and Randy Bryan completed the top five positions.

Forty IMCA Northern SportMods competed on the night.  Two B mains were required to complete their 24-car starting field.  Those consolations winners were Rick Ringgenberg and South Dakota racer Todd Boulware.  The early portion of the race was led by Levi Chipp from Latimer as he fended off the challenges of Rocky Caudle and Eric Elliott. Lap five found Racer Hulin taking an easy roll over in turn four...which turned into a nemesis for several drivers.   Lap six drew another caution when point leader Scott Davis spit out his drive shaft.  This was looking good for Eric Elliott who sits in second in points, hoping to tighten up the points battle.  Elliott took the lead but his night soon ended too when his right front appeared to dig into the track in turn four, nearly sending him for a roll.  With Elliott's night also ending, Chipp was back as the leader when racing got back underway.  Fierce fighting at the front of the field would also soon end Chipp's run when a bit of contact was made--again in turn four.  Now it was Jason Mallicoat, Joe McBirnie and Randy Roberts in a shoot out for the lead. It came down to just that, as the three cars frantically vied for position.....Mallicoat leading but Roberts giving it a last ditch effort on the final lap, and grabbing the win. Roberts claimed his second win of the season after winning back the early part of May---I believe when he was then piloting the car that McBirnie has been in recently.  Mallicoat finished as the runner up, McBirnie held third and Ty Luellen who started eleventh took fourth over Rocky Caudle in fifth.

The IMCA Modifieds had 31 cars on hand; their class requiring one B main.  That consy race went to Shay Woods.  Rookie to the division, Kyle Brown was looking impressive and appeared well on his way to grabbing his first ever win in a Modified at the Boone Speedway.  He was holding off the challenges of Cale Sponsler and Jake Durbin, and putting distance between his pursuers. A caution waved at lap twelve when Mike VanGenderen got high sided at the top of turns three and four, which would then tighten up the field.  Brown maintained his lead but with close company in Jake Durbin who was applying plenty of pressure now.
Durbin was able to make the pass with just two laps remaining, going on to the win, his fourth of the year. Brown took the runner up spot followed by Jay Noteboom in third, Jimmy Gustin in his new 2013 Harris in fourth, and Cale Sponsler in fifth.

The IMCA Stock Cars followed up with their own exciting race....a near photo finish at the flagstand. Earlier, with 38 cars in attendance, two B mains were needed.  Mike Munson and Alan VanGorp took those wins.   Jay Schmidt was looking as if he was going to be claiming a win; quickly getting to the lead from starting in row five. Yellows flew, bunching up the field and now Trent Murphy was nipping at Schmidt's heels.   Donavon Smith had started back in eighteenth place and had worked his way to run third.  Schmidt's night would end at lap fourteen, when in that infamous turn four, his car seemed to shut down; his night ending. With just four laps remaining, you knew the finish was going to be a good one between now leading Smith and Murphy on his bumper.  The two ran the closing laps in tight contention, Smith keeping the point when with just a slight slip high by Smith as they approached the checkers out of turn four, Murphy was able to go under him and get the advantage as they crossed at the flagstand.  Murphy claimed win number two on the year, Smith scored in second.  Third place went to a driver making his first trip to Boone this year, Travis Shipman from Mason City, fourth was early leader Cody Clark from Yorktown, and Alan VanGorp was fifth. After the race, a rare claim occurred when Bob Daniels claimed Travis Shipman.

Two A mains were run for the third week straight in the IMCA Hobby Stock class. John Watson who had just been dominating until recent weeks, got back to his winning ways, and took home another feature win. Watson, who started tenth, was leading by lap three.  He had little trouble in keeping the lead, pulling away at the finish to claim win number ten in the regular season; eleventh including the Frostbuster.  Randy Embrey charged to the front from starting fourteenth to take second.  Third place went to Aaron Rudolph, a winner last week, Craig Graham, also a winner last week, was fourth, and Ray Stock, Jr. was fifth.

The evening closer was the second A main for the Hobby Stocks.  This one produced a brand new winner for the season in the class.  Bill Atcheson took over the helm by the halfway mark of the the twelve lapper, holding it to the finish and the win.  Curt Reed closed in the final lap but could only garner a second place finish.  Third was veteran driver Chris Jensen making his 2012 debut, fourth went to Matt Hudspeth and Dustin Filloon finished fifth.

Just two weeks remain for regular season racing at the track---August 25 and September 1.  September 1 is season championship night and then we are right into the IMCA Speedway Motors 30th annual Super Nationals starting on Labor Day.  It will be six straight nights of incredible racing action that we look forward too.  It will be fun and "Happy Racing!".

Boone - 8-18-12

Unofficial results - 176 cars

Modified - 31 cars

Heat 1 - 93 Cale Sponsler
Heat 2 - 7N Jay Noteboom
Heat 3 - 28 Jamie Anderson
Heat 4 - 87 Joel Bushore

B Main - 4 advance

1. 20W Shay Woods
2. 4R Michael Reichart
3. 4 Tony Hilgenberg - dq- too light
4. 12C Kent Croskey
5. 28R Russ Dickerson
6. X4 Jason Purvis
7. 23 JJ Scott
8. E18 Jake Elmquist
9. 21 David Brown
10. 11 Beau Kaplan
11. 10C Cayden Carter
12. 131S Ed Seibert

Feature

1. 18 Jake Durbin
2. 21K Kyle Brown
3. 7N Jay Noteboom
4. 19 Jimmy Gustin
5. 93 Cale Sponsler
6. 27 Kelly Lyons
7. 12E Mark Elliott
8. 22T Tyler Prochaska
9. 87 Joel Bushore
10. 3Z Randy Havlik
11. 58 Denny Pittman
12. 1+ Bill Davis, Jr.
13. 36 Jeff Conner
14. 57V Mike VanGenderen
15. 28 Jamie Anderson
16. 28R Russ Dickerson
17. 55 Jim Cole
18. 20W Shay Woods
19. 12C Kent Croskey
20. 75X Clint Wendel
21. 4R Michael Reichart
22. 5M Matthew Meinecke
23. 69X Jon Snyder
24. 5 Todd Shute

SportMod - 40 cars

Heat 1 - 32L Ty Luellen
Heat 2 - 66C Levi Chipp
Heat 3 - 9E Eric Elliott
Heat 4 - 99 Rocky Caudle

B Main #1 - 2 advance

1. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
2. 63 Daniel Tasler
3. 6 Darren Huntley
4. 27L Lukas Ontot
5. 3S Adam Shelman
6. 13T Taylor Musselman
7. 33 Jesse McCollaugh
8. 22H Clay Hale - Cameron, MO
9. 36H David Hoover
10. 66 Cody Henning

B Main #2 - 2 advance

1. 14X Todd Boulware - Jefferson, SD
2. 57 Lynn Brockett
3. 23JR Nick Roberts
4. 3B Bradlee Clark
5. 26T Anthony Wagoner - Iowa Falls, IA
6. 22B Brian Eppert
7. 4A Dan Swank
8. 39 Larry Embrey
9. c63 Cory Tasler
DNS: 56 Joe Simbro

1. 1 Randy Roberts
2. 36S Jason Mallicoat
3. 182 Joe McBirnie
4. 32L Ty Luellen
5. 99 Rocky Caudle
6. 86 Cory Rose
7. 27 Tim Love
8. 93 Mike Stark
9. 28 James Reichart
10. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
11. 14X Todd Boulware
12. 63 Daniel Tasler
13. 64 Casey Greubel
14. 57 Lynn Brockett
15. 77 Jack Byers
16. 91 Shawn Hunter
17. 30 Matt Pinegar
18. 5B Tom Burke
19. 66C Levi Chipp
20. 9E Eric Elliott
21. 81D Scott Davis
22. 505 Racer Hulin
23. 66A Anthony Onstot
24. 34J Jerry Hinton

Stock Car - 38 cars

B Main #1 - 2 cars advance

1. 27M Mike Munson
2. 11G Nyle Godwin
3. 11J Jeff Johnson
4. 7I Steve Inman
5. 46B Mike Bilyeu
6. 3 Tim French
7. 556 Terry Cornelison
8. 6 Adam Hilgenberg
DNS: 52N Nathan Wood

B Main #2 - 2 advance

1. 19A Alan VanGorp
2. 25J Josh Daniels
3. 23HR Rod Richards
4. 44 Todd Fisher
5. 56 Lonnie Hodges
6. 5 Keith Miner
7. 50 Robert Stofer
DNS: 36T Trevor Titus

Feature

1. 25 Trent Murphy
2. 35 Donavon Smith
3. 87 Travis Shipman - motor claimed by 25X Bob Daniels
4. 69 Cody Clark
5. 19A Alan VanGorp
6. 27M Mike Munson
7. 25J Josh Daniels
8. 12+ Ryan Rose
9. 97 Adam Silvey
10. 26K Butch Bass
11. 22 Wayne Giffored (in brother Jerry Gifford's car)
12. 64X Aaron Parmer
13. 45 Larry Crocheck
14. 11G Nyle Godwin
15. 25X Bob Daniels
16. 27 Gary Bass
17. 76 Norm Belew
18. 37E Jason VanSickle
19. 19J Jay Schmidt
20. 21 Ross Marshall
21. 24 Eric Brown
22. 55 Cory Bushnell
23. 3H Ty Hill
24. 04 Don Vis

Hobby Stock - 43 cars

Heat 1 - 32 Bill Atcheson
Heat 2 - 4C Curt Reed
Heat 3 - 4W John Watson
Heat 4 - 78D David Rieks
Heat 5 - 3W Matt Hudspeth
Heat 6 - 10S Ray Stock, Jr.

Features

Hobby Stock #1

1. 4W John Watson
2. 40 Randy Embrey
3. 38R Aaron Rudolph
4. 13G Craig Graham
5. 10S Ray Stock, Jr.
6. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
7. 911 Darin Rothfus (in the 59 car of Joe Myers)
8. 78B Andrew Burg
9. 3X Scott Durlin
10. 224 Gina Greubel
11. 36S Mike Smith
12. T71 Marcus Kyle
13. 83S Scott Lograsso (in Brinton's car)
14. 1BC Tony Cox
15. 85 Seth Janssen
16. 47W Shaun Wirtz
17. 8B Robert Smith
18. 48B Brett Knight
19. 78X Tim Hadley
20. 9 Andrew Arends
DNS: 59 Joe Myers

Hobby Stock #2

1. 32 Bill Atcheson
2. 4C Curt Reed
3. 22 Chris Jensen
4. 3W Matt Hudspeth
5. 51D Dustin Filloon
6. 12M Matt McDonald
7. 500 Garrett Eilander
8. 13D Dan Wetzel
9. 5 Dustin Lynch
10. 74J Dean Hartwig
11. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
12. 4D Daniel Ayers
13. 16B Jay Arends
14. 7D Joe DeJoode
15. T56 Tim Barber
16. 8R Cory Roe
17. 46J Jesse Hopkins
18. 5A Tyler Pickett
19. F1 Blaine Frist
DNS: 78D David Rieks
          19 Rex Bonnett

Mod Lite - 23 cars

Heat 1 - 99 Josh May
Heat 2 - 20 Jeff Stensland
Heat 3 - 95 Mike Kennedy

Feature

1. 46Z Bryan Zehm
2. 09 Joel Keenan
3. 57 Tim Hennigar
4. 20 Jeff Stensland
5. 64 Randy Bryan
6. 8 Dusty Masolini
7. 15 Andy Hennigar
8. 41Z Ed Zehm
9. 99 Josh May
10. 11R Jason Whitehead
11, 01 David Schmalzried, Jr.
12. 95 Mike Kennedy
13. 3C Duane Coffman
14. 93 Tim Milner
15. 15X Travis Brandt
16. 23 Michael Parcel
17. 19JR Danny Foster
18. 44J Justin Hopkins
19. 76 Terry Sorenson
20. 4L Larry Sorenson
21. 37 Mike Thomas
22. 47 Cory Sonner
DNS: 19 Brad Melton