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!
No comments:
Post a Comment