We chalked up another county fair race on Thursday night when we took in the Hamilton County Fair in Webster City. This was billed as their 7th Annual Thursday Night Thunder and with big money on the line, we expected a good car count. That proved to be true, as 132 cars packed the pits and the fans came out in droves. Those two things were surely helped by the weather being more comfortable...finally!
The IMCA Sport Compacts kicked off the features. The first lap was not completed when one of the cars rolled over in turn four, bringing out the red. The driver was okay and at the drop of the green again, the compacts were able to keep it that way to the checkers. Cory Flanigan led all laps in taking the win. David Moorman finished second with the 7N of Mike Nehring nipping at his heels. Adam Strunk was fourth and Jordan Prehn was fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks were vying for a $1,000 pay day to the winner tonight. Hometown driver, Corey Roe looked to be setting his mind at nabbing the money as he led through lap nine of the 15-lapper. However, never count out that 62B car of Andy Boeckman, whenever he happens to show up at a track, or where ever he happens to start on the grid. Not many cars on the night took the highroad, but Boeckman did, swinging topside and taking the lead by lap ten. Boeckman would motor home to the relatively easy win, Roe holding second. Third went to Brandon Pruitt who made the trip over from Dexter, Iowa, Craig Graham finished fourth and Austin Wolfgram was fifth.
The stock car feature turned into a yellow flag fest! Just when they were about to get their racing rhythm going, out came another yellow. This didn't seem to bother leader Jason VanSickle, "The Flyin' Electrician", as he would pull away from competitors on the restarts. Then, just after a restart at lap fourteen, with cars bunched behind the leader and a pack jockeying for position as they entered low in turn one.....all "h-e-double hockey sticks" broke loose! Eleven or twelve cars were involved, and the track was blocked with cars scattered all over. It took a good while to get the mess cleared, and to say that some drivers were blaming everyone else....including the flagman, is an understatement! The stock cars were able to finally get their 18-lap event completed without another yellow, and Jason VanSickle held off Lance Deal's last ditch efforts out of four, to take the $1,000 win. Third went to John Campbell, fourth was Reid Keller and Adam Silvey rounded out the top five spots.
The IMCA Northern SportMods also ran an 18-lap feature. Veteran driver Joe McBirnie and young Tyler Droste sat on the front row of the starting lineup. This one too was a "no go" on the start, causing us to fear the worse of another repeat from the previous stock car feature. Joel Rust took the lead by lap three, and Racer Hulin got through the pack to take over the runner up spot, Droste hanging close in third. This one was looking to end pretty uneventfully until yellow after yellow flew in the closing lap, requiring green-white-checkered finishes---three of them I believe. Rust took the $1,500 winner's check tonight, Tyler Droste sneaked by Hulin at the final try as they finished second and third. Fourth was McBirnie and Rocky Caudle took fifth. We call races that end under green-white-checkered finishes, "bonus laps" and this one sure had those!
The winner of the IMCA Modified feature almost claims the track as his own as he has been so successful there. Mark Elliott took the win, his 252nd over all. This one wasn't a done deal for him though as Chris Abelson and Jacob Murray were the guys up front through lap fourteen. Elliott chose to try it on the outside and made it into second by lap 16 and with two to go, Abelson and Elliott came across the line nearly in a dead heat. Elliott pulled it off with a lap to go, establishing first place, and then going on to the win. Abelson was scored in second, Murray took third over Chris Horn and Tyler Prohaska in fourth and fifth. As a note, the blue #01 car has been a curiosity to me since seeing it at the Harris Clash and not knowing who it was. Turned out to be Chris Horn from Cedar Rapids, and the son of the legendary Fred Horn of the glory days of IMCA's 200-300 lap races. Saw father Fred battle many a time against my all time favorite "hero", Ernie Derr.
The IMCA $2,000 to win Late Model race also ended with "bonus laps". However, this one was not really a contest from the start. The "Ironman" Darrel DeFrance took the lead on lap one, never to look back. Jeff Aikey kept digging hard to catch the leader, but never got close enough to make a challenge, even at the bonus lap restart. With DeFrance taking the win and Aikey the runner up, it was then "Hollywood" Jason Hahne putting his #76 in the third spot, Ryan Griffith recovered from an early spin to get back up to finish fourth and veteran Craig Jacobs took fifth.
The racing action concluded shortly after the bewitching hour and with a long drive home, it was the wee hours of the morning before we made it home. It was nice to catch up with racing friends in the stands and we appreciate the shout out for Positively Racing by announcer Ryan Bergeson. We will regroup and be back on the road again tonight to catch more racing action, this time a lot closer to home at the Marshalltown Speedway. Happy racing!
No comments:
Post a Comment