This long, hot spell has been brutal, day after day of temperatures hovering right at 100 or above. When we left home on Saturday to head to Boone, it was 99 but the farther we traveled, the vehicle's thermometer kept dropping. Was it malfunctioning? When we opened the door in the parking lot, our question was answered. It really was "just" 85 degrees! There was also a good breeze coming from the north. What a welcome relief!!
The Mod Lite feature started off with Jason Whitehead in charge. Bryan Zehm quickly tagged his tail but after an early restart situation, he exited the track into the infield with apparent mechanical issues. Point leader Josh May was now running second behind Whitehead, Mike Kennedy chasing him. May soon made the pass for the lead, Whitehead slipped back a couple of positions allowing Kennedy and Dusty Masolini to advance as well. The race ended with May taking the win, his third of the year, Kennedy held second over Masolini in third and Jeff Stensland scooted into fourth place around Whitehead, who held on for fifth.
The 18th and final lap of the SportMod feature found veteran driver Joe McBirnie take another checkered flag. Brian Eppert had led much of the race, frantically holding off the hard charging McBirnie until lap fourteen, when McBirnie made the pass for the lead. McBirnie took his second win of the year, Eppert having to settle for a hard fought second. Lynn Brockett brought his ride home for a third place finish, followed by point leader Scott Davis in fourth, and Shawn Hunter finished in fifth.
The Modified feature started off with Cale Sponsler, who was a recent proud new father of a baby girl, leading the field in his always pristine looking race car. Jake Durbin quickly came calling and the two were soon dueling it out. Contact was made in turn three, Sponsler's car getting the worst end of the deal, and he rolled his damaged car into the infield--not looking so pristine then. The contact didn't slow Durbin as he continued his flying form around the Boone Speedway, leading challengers by a lengthy distance. Todd Shute got through the pack and set sail on the topside, getting into second place around Texas driver, Greg Dinsmore. Dinsmore has been "racing around Iowa" as of late, and was running what we felt was his best showing so far. Durbin never missed his mark, retaining his big lead, and taking his third-in-a-row feature at the track. Shute finished second ahead of Dinsmore in third, fourth went to Joel Bushore and fifth to Jimmy Gustin, both having come from starting back in row five.
Jay Schmidt went home with his first win at Boone this year in the IMCA Stock Car class. Schmidt took the outside route to grab the lead from veteran Robert Stofer before the mid point of the 18-lap race and continued in fine form topside to hold off any challengers. Donavon Smith, the track point leader, tried to gain ground by going to the bottom, but could wrangle no more than a runner up position. Trent Murphy took third over Alan VanGorp in fourth, and Stofer fell back but hung on to finish fifth.
Earlier in the evening, the Hobby Stocks ran a King of the Hill contest, sponsored by Harris Auto Racing and John Logue. The top two finishers of each heat were the participants for a $500 pay off to the winner.
In the first round, Tim Barber bested Shaun Wirtz, Curt Reed won by default over Jeff Knight who could not get his car to fire, and John Watson beat out Dustin Lynch. The final go around matched up Curt Reed against John Watson. As they took the green, Watson's tire let go, and Reed took home the money, unchallenged.
The Hobby Stocks ended the evening's festivities by giving the kids a thrill by hopping in a race car and taking a spin around the track. After the happy youngsters departed the cars and returned safely to the grandstand area, the twelve lap feature was on tap. This one would end with the first new driver in a long time, taking the win. John Watson, who had been on a tear this year, ended his nearly perfect season by finishing back about 14th position. Watson was involved in a first lap skirmish in turn four, sending him to the rear, and later would be involved again in another incident which left his car a bit battered. So who was it that ended Watson's rein? It would be Dustin Filloon, Toledo, Iowa driver, taking the win. Filloon started seventh and took the lead by lap five, chased by Curt Reed. Filloon kept his distance ahead of Curt Reed the rest of the way, Filloon winning, Reed in second. Third was Brandon Brinton who edged by Matt Hudspeth in fourth, and Aaron Rudolph took fifth.
I think everyone was thankful for the cooler temperatures and the refreshing northerly breeze last night.
It made for a lot more comfortable viewing of the races, and certainly had to help the drivers feel better about donning gear to race. Next week at Boone, it was announced to be "Christmas in July". I believe I heard announcer Jerry VanSickle say that Santa was going to be making an appearance. The kids better get their wish lists started!
Scout out a race to attend in your area. It shouldn't be hard to find as there is an abundance of racing going on in our state. We are so lucky to live in Iowa which has always been called the "racing-est state" due to having so many race tracks. Happy racing!
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