We had just headed out for our usual trip to the Boone Speedway on Saturday. We had seen a big red blob on radar looking to be in the area however, and did have a concern that it could "do in" the races. Sure enough, not long into our voyage, I got the text saying "canceled". About an inch of rain had dumped there in a short period of time. Another check of radar showed everything threatening was south of Highway 20, so off we went to Webster City! Back in the late 80's and early 90's, the Hamilton County Speedway was our Saturday night home, so it was kind of nostalgic to be going back for a weekly show after so many years. We have been there for specials as of recent times though. We were surprised to hear veteran announcer and former racer, Bill Haglund on the PA system, another "blast from the past", as he was taking over for a couple of weeks for regular announcer Ryan Bergeson.
They had a good field of 10 IMCA Sport Compacts; larger than most tracks we attend. A new driver for the night was Taylor Elliott. Adam Strunk led the first lap but was soon passed by Jarid Kuchenreuther, the point leader, who never looked back from there on. Strunk finished in second just ahead of Alex Davis. Roben Stanbrough finished fourth and Ryan Boland was fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stock feature was won and dominated by Ty Griffith. Griffith led all laps on his way to the feature win. Point leader Randy Embrey finished in the runner up spot ahead of Austin Wolfgram, Corey Roe and John Watson, who were scored 3-5 in that order. John Watson made the trip to the Hamilton County Speedway from his regular Boone Speedway Saturday night.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran a 14-lap main event. A good field of 26 cars were on hand with all eligible to run the feature. It didn't got off to a very good start, when just after taking the opening green flag, a mess occurred down at the bottom of turns one and two, resulting in a full restart situation. Joel Rust led the opening lap or two, but Racer Hulin put his #505 to the outside, and made the pass for the lead. Hulin and Rust put on quite the show as they distanced themselves from the frenzy behind them, as they ran wheel to wheel for several laps. Hulin chose the top side in turns one and two, preferring lower in three and four. It seemed to be working to perfection and he appeared to be on his way to a win. Enter a yellow flag with two laps remaining. By this time, local favorite Matt Lettow had made his way into the runner up position and you knew it was going to be a shoot out to the finish. Hulin led the restart, led at the white flag---when, "oops", a wheel just a bit too high in turn two gave Lettow the opportunity he was waiting for! Lettow flew under Hulin and would then take the checkers first. With Lettow first and Hulin second, it was Blake Conant taking third over Nick Roberts in fourth, and Joel Rust finished fifth.
The unsanctioned stock cars went 15-laps in their feature. This one would end under a "green-white-checkered" situation. It didn't take Ryan Leeman long to take the lead from Vince Loewen (a name we know from "back in the day") and he would then take comfortable command of the point spot. He was pulling away from second place runner Jason VanSickle, when the yellow flag reared it's ugly head again. This set up the "green-white"checkered" finish. Leeman took the white flag leading and when the cars were then coming out of turn four with the checkers in sight, it was close, close, close! From our angle...sitting in not our usual spot at the track, but further into turn one, it appeared VanSickle nipped Leeman at the finish. It was so close, that even announcer Bill Haglund didn't know who won, and as far as we know, no announcement was made as to who had actually won the thing. Today I heard via someone, via someone, that the official verdict was that Leeman held the lead and took the win over VanSickle. Third place went to Adam Silvey, Dennis Plain was fifth and Vince Loewen came back through the field after an early race spin, to nab fifth place over Jim Mitchell in sixth. Going into the evening, and according to the point sheet we picked up, Jim Mitchell was leading points by 2 over Leeman, so it appears Leeman may have taken over the point lead with his win. However, not knowing how the unsanctioned point system is handled, I could be wrong.
The IMCA Modifieds had thirteen cars on hand. All would start the feature. This one yielded about a handful of yellows, which would also eliminate several race cars. Early leader was the #47 of Greg Elliott, previously known to us as "the Wild One", though not sure if that still holds true. Elliott held the lead at the halfway mark, Travis Prochaska dogging him the entire race. The two fought for the lead as the laps wound down, Prochaska taking the lead then Elliott inching back by....but only briefly. Prochaska took command then, and JD Auringer had made his way past Elliott to take over second. With two laps remaining, Auringer found himself spinning at the bottom of turn four, and yielding one of those yellow flags. On the restart, Prochaska led the charge, Elliott back in second, young Devin Havlik had been having a great run and was in third, and Kyle Brown and Mark Elliott were restarted in fourth and fifth. The checkers was taken first by Prochaska, claiming the win, Kyle Brown sneaked by both Elliott and Havlik to finish as the runner up, Elliott taking third over Havlik in fourth, and Mark Elliott was fifth.
Nine IMCA Late Models were on hand for racing last night. A couple of drivers, Greg Kastli and Travis Smock made the trip over after getting rained out at their regular Saturday night track, the Independence Speedway. The Late Models made this one a refreshing caution-free race. Riley Larson led the first lap, but veteran Darrel "Ironman" DeFrance took the lead shortly and sailed off from the field. DeFrance took the comfortable win over Ryan Griffith. Third was Al Johnson, fourth, Riley Larson, and Jason Hahne was fifth.
We were happy we made the decision to head a bit farther (about 30 miles) to take in some racing last night. It was also great to see some local friends as well as racers, and even met up with a "racer from the past" that we hadn't seen in a long time, Craig Torgeson, #T39 IMCA Modified in days past. That made it even a more nostalgic night for us.
Busy time coming up for racing. Seek out a race to attend. Check the Positively Racing's calendar for a race you can put on your list. Happy racing!
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