After last weeks rain out at Boone, people and drivers must have been eager to get back at it! There was a good crowd in the stands, and the pits were packed! We counted 153 cars competing on the night. For the first time this year, there were two features in the Hobby Stock class, and with 34 and 36 cars in the SportMods and Stock Cars...two B mains were needed. There was also five new names added to the books as feature winners this year.
The Mod Lite feature was the only class that saw a driver win for the second time. Bryan Zehm shot from the second row and into the lead by lap two and from there on, never relinquished that lead. Point leader Josh May closed in on the leader, but couldn't get any closer than second. Mike Kennedy came from row four to finish in third, followed by Jeff Stensland and David Schmalzried, Jr. in fourth and fifth.
The IMCA Northern SportMods had a nice field of 34 cars. A B main was required to complete the 24 car starting field in the feature. Car 17 Jon Plowman--no hometown given--was the winner of the consolation race. Matt Pinegar led the early portion of the feature but Brian Miller soon made a challenge on the leader. He would make the pass by lap ten and then go on to take the checkers. This was Miller's first win of the season at the track. Pinegar held on to second, Joe McBirnie finished in third, and Shawn Hunter and Eric Elliott finished fourth and fifth.
Harris Auto Racing's John Logue was on hand again last night....offering up $500 to the winner of a King of the Hill challenge in the Modifieds. The top two finishers in the three heat races were up against each other.
The first rounds saw Jon Snyder eliminate Kelly Lyons, Jimmy Gustin beat Mike VanGenderen, and Todd Shute took out Denny Pittman. Second round it was Shute against Gustin with Gustin winning. Since Snyder had a bye, the finale was Snyder against Gustin...two Harris chassis duking it out, to the delight of John Logue, no doubt. Snyder took the win, and took home the $500.
The feature for the Modifieds, a 20-lap event, found Adam Larson barely holding off Scott Simatovich for the first couple of laps. Simatovich made the pass for the lead shortly and would then go on to lead all the remaining laps. Larson remained in second but was challenged by Jake Durbin for several laps until Jon Snyder was able to take over the third spot. Durbin slipped back a bit after some contact was made allowing Russ Dickerson to slip by him as well. The race would end with Simatovich the winner, his first of the season at the track, Larson held second over Snyder, Dickerson and Durbin--third through fifth.
The Stock Cars ran it through their 18-lap feature without a caution. Plenty of action was going on through the pack without any stoppages. Jerry Gifford had taken the lead on the first lap. He would pull away at the end and take the win, but behind him, is where the real racing was happening. Jay Schmidt was digging hard fighting off challenges, running in second. Jerry Gifford had gone topside trying to catch Schmidt but would be showing some smoke. Trent Murphy was able to work himself into third spot and Donavon Smith, point leader, tagged in right behind him, taking fourth. That would be the finishing order....Gifford taking the win, followed by Schmidt, Murphy, Smith, and Wayne Gifford held fifth. This was Jerry Gifford's first win this year at Boone.
The first Hobby Stock feature found Watson in victory lane.....but not the Watson that has been so dominate this year! Danny Watson, brother of John Watson started from the pole position, and led the entire 12-lapper, his first win of the 2012 season. John Watson did get into the second spot, making it a Watson and Watson one-two finish. Dustin Filloon was third, Tim Barber fourth, and Bill Atcheson came from starting fifteenth, to take fifth place.
The second Hobby Stock feature also went to a first time winner. Scott Pippert, Elberon, Iowa has been having a good season this year as we've watched him at Marshalltown and Vinton, slice through the field for wins. Pippert started tenth and got to second early on, dogging leader Ryan Grochala who had started on the point position. Pippert made the pass into the lead with four laps to go, and then distanced himself from Grochala at the finish, putting his name in the winner's list for the first time this year. Grochala held second, Curt Reed came from starting in row five, to finish third, Matt McDonald followed in fourth and Tyler Pickett completed the top five.
This ended our five night in a row run. Battling the heat earlier in the week and being on the go so much, we've opted to take a few days off before taking in our next race. Sounds as if we may be thrown back in the furnace by Mother Nature again. We will be searching out some racing this week though....one that may be on our agenda is the Hamilton County Speedway's fair race scheduled on Thursday. It is their 7th Annual Thursday Night of Thunder race and paying $2,000 to the Late Model winner, $1,500 to SportMod, $1,000 to Modifieds, Stock Car and Hobby Stocks, plus $250 for Sport Compacts. The Fair Board is promoting this race, with racer/promoter Mike VanGenderen running the show. It might be one to put on your list of races to attend. Happy racing!
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