It was a full night and more of racing at the Boone Speedway on Saturday night with 171 cars packing the pits. Three make up features from last week's Frostbuster were run first thing and then a complete show for the season opener got under way. The youngsters even got to partake in a quest for Easter eggs prior to the start of the evening's activities. It was a pleasant night for all of the festivities as well and that "R" word did not enter into the picture.
The IMCA Hobby Stock Frostbuster make up feature went to Mike Pruitt. Pruitt out ran second place finisher John Watson to the checkers. Pruitt, took command at lap three, never to look back. A caution late in the race was no deterrent for the winner. Third went to Austin Luellen, fourth was Eric Stanton and Bill Richards finished in fifth.
The IMCA Stock Car make up was a hot and heavy 20-lap battle. Jerry Gifford led the opening laps, soon to be joined by Donavon Smith, Randy Brands and Wayne Gifford in a tight battle behind him for position. Brands would be eliminated from the tussle when he had to retire to the infield, but the jousting continued with Josh Daniels, Trent Murphy and Bob Daniels joining in. Smith managed to pull off the pass for the lead with three laps remaining, put distance between himself and second, and secured the win. Jerry Gifford took the runner up spot. The third through sixth spots were a real toss up in the waning moments,with Josh Daniels in the 25J being scored in third, fourth going to Wayne Gifford in the 22, Bob Daniels in the 25D and 25 Trent Murphy in another #25 ride scored in sixth. It was a scorer's nightmare with such a tight finish and all of the 25's!
The Modified make up feature was 25-laps with Todd Shute capturing the win and leading the entire distance. Shute finished a comfortable distance ahead of Troy Cordes, in second. Mark Elliott took third over Russ Dickerson in fourth, and Jimmy Gustin rounded out the top five spots.
The Mod Lite feature was the first of the regular night's main events. Dusty Masolini got his season off to a good start by taking the first win of the season in the division. Mike Morrill finished in second, ahead of Jimmy May in third. It was nip and tuck at the line, but Randy Bryan beat out Bryan Zehm as they went fourth and fifth. As a note,it is going to take a bit to get use to Jimmy May and son Josh May's cars this year as I can't spot them as easily in their black rides.
Up next was the 18-lap Northern SportMod A main. Cody Hennings grabbed the lead from Brandon Williams at lap five but was soon being tailed by a flying Ben Kates. Kates, who started eighth was able to make his move around Hennings at lap nine, never to relinquish it. Kates took the win, his second in as many weeks, as he was the winner of last week's SportMod Frostbuster---the only feature that was able to be completed before the rains came. Hennings hung around to finish in the runner up spot, giving the winner a good challenge at times. North Dakota driver Justin Medler finished third, Clint Luellen was fourth and Brandon Williams took fifth place.
Ronn Lauritzen and veteran Denny Pittman drew the front row for the start of the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Pittman grabbed the lead when the green dropped. When a yellow flew at lap four, Jimmy Gustin was the guy on Pittman's tail having gotten around Lauritzen. Pittman didn't let the restart situation bother him in the least, speeding off again to the lead. Pittman drove a perfect line around the oval, Gustin doing everything to get around him. There was no waiver in Pittman tonight, as he continued without a flaw, taking the checkers for the win.....the first for him in a good while. Gustin had to settle for second, and Ronn Lauritzen for third. Jacob Murray took fourth and Eric Elliott came from eighth to finish in fifth.
The IMCA Stock Car feature saw Donavon Smith take the early lead, but Jerry Gifford took over the top spot with just a handful of laps in the books. Gifford never gave up that lead the rest of the distance to the checkers, securing his first win of the season. Trent Murphy closed the gap on the leader in the last couple of laps, but could only garner second place. Donavon Smith hung toward the front the entire race and finished third. Jay Schmidt had an impressive run, coming from eleventh to finish fourth, and Marcus Fagan took the fifth place.
The 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature was won easily by Shannon Anderson. Anderson, who started on the pole, drove off from the rest of the field. Mike Pruitt had a good run, coming from tenth to finish in the runner up spot. Tyler Pickett took third, John Watson started twelfth to be scored in fourth, and Eric Stanton started ninth and finished fifth.
It was nice to see some of the long-distance travelers return to race again this week. Regan Tafoya, the Farmington, New Mexico Modified racer, returned---and brought his wife and two girls back to Iowa. North Dakota Modified racer Jason Wolla also returned as did the "Minot Mafia" SportMod brothers, Justin and Darren Medler.
Boone Speedway will still be running with their early times next Saturday, April 26, for the final time this year. The hot laps will be 5 and racing at 6 for one last time before returning to their regular race time of 7:30.
Thanks for reading and Happy Racing!
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