Elliott nabs first ever Modified win, Murphy goes back to back in Stock Car

It was another Saturday night at the Boone Speedway, and another night of watching the sky.  The forecast was sounding wet, and the radar showed a mass to the west, moving northeast.  But the "Boone Bubble" held true again, no rain fell, and racing went on as usual.  We saw a driver get his first ever Modified win---repeating what we had seen Racer Hulin do in Marshalltown the night before. A few drivers from the Algona area came to play after their show was rained out earlier.  The Hobby Stock win was by mere inches, and new names went in the books for the SportMod and Mod Lite classes.

Joel Keenan took home his first feature win of the year in the Mod Lite division.  He led lap one, only to have Chargin' Charlie Brown snatch it away at lap two.  Keenan continued chasing Brown until lap seven, when a miscue by Brown, brought out a caution. Good grief, Charlie Brown!   Brown had jumped the cushion in turn two, and hit the cement barrier, ending his night, and handing the lead back to Keenan.  Keenan prevailed the rest of the way to the checkers.  Terry Brown finished as the runner up, with Mike Kennedy a close third.  Point leader Josh May was fourth and Bryan Zehm finished fifth.  This was Keenan's first win at Boone this year.

A veteran racer showed up just last week for the first time, racing in the SportMod division---Brian Efkamp. Efkamp was piloting a look-a-like car, nearly identical to lady racer Tara Longnecker's ride.  Efkamp got the pole starting spot this week, and flew off to the lead immediately.  He was looking strong as he flew along the top portion of the track, but there was a car that was working the bottom and making fast headway!  Doug Smith made the low line work, caught and passed the leader at lap nine, and easily kept it to the checkers.  Tim Love ran at the front of the field all night, and finished as the runner up.  Johnathon Logue was a close third, after starting in row five.  Efkamp kept it toward the front and salvaged fourth, and Bill Wears rounded out the top five. This was Smith's first win at Boone for 2014. 

The Hobby Stock feature was a near photo finish!  Dustin Graham led from lap one, letting the cars behind him run in clumps!  When a yellow flew at lap seven, David Rieks, the Eldora racer who pilots the nice looking 78XX car, was running second, and the 78B of Andrew Burg was right behind.  When the race restarted, Rieks made his move around leader Graham before turn two, and Burg followed him into second.  But who should be running fourth, but "The Mayor", John Watson.  Point leader, Watson had picked off cars methodically from starting twelfth, and had his sites set on the front.  The final lap was a real battle, Watson making his charge up to second, Rieks his next victim.  The cars came out of turn four....a toss up as to who would make it to the finish line first.  A final push got Watson there first---by a nose, if that.  Watson chalked up another win, Rieks having to settle for a disappointing runner up spot.  Andrew Burg was close behind in third, Dustin Graham finished fourth, and Seth Janssen, fifth.  Watson continues his point lead, winning for the third time this season.  

Eric Elliott stamped his name in the record books last night, getting a win in the 20-lap Modified A main.Elliott, took over the lead when then leader Randy Havlik appeared to have his car die at lap eight. Just past the halfway mark, a yellow flew for debris in corner four. Elliott then had to ready himself for the restart, as he had some company behind him.  Russ Dickerson was running second, holding off Matthew Meinecke and Scott Davis, and Jammin' Jimmy Gustin was right there in fourth.  The race restarted and remained in that formation until lap fifteen.  At that point, Meinecke and Davis got together in turn two, bringing out another caution, and ending their good run.  The final five lap run to the checkers saw some shuffling behind leader Elliott, but he held firm to his lead.  After the white flag had flown, an incident on the track ended the race under yellow/checkered and Elliott could now bank his first ever Modified feature win.  Dickerson held on to the runner up spot, Gustin close behind in third.  Kyle Brown made headway late in the race, finishing fourth after starting seventeenth, and the Flying Dutchman, Mike VanGenderen completed the top five.  Eric Elliott's first win at Boone was also, what I believe to be, his first win ever in the Modified division after having a very successful couple of years in the SportMod Class. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that statement.  

Trent Murphy went home with back to back wins in the Stock Car class.  Murphy surged to the lead by lap four, after starting eighth, and motored home to the win.  Donavon Smith came from row five, to take the runner up spot, unable to catch the leader even after a restart.  Jerry Gifford came from row nine and finished third, point leader Jay Schmidt brought his white car, and was scored in fourth, and Mike Goldsberry hung around the front all race long, and finished fifth.  Murphy won for the second time this year, going back to back with the victories.

Happily, the weather to the west did not cause a problem with the racing AGAIN, though the strong southerly winds was more than buffeting the crowd.  The racing ended right at 10 p.m. and we headed toward home shortly after. We were expecting to find that it had rained to the east, but never did find evidence of that anywhere. You can't always believe the forecast....especially in Iowa.  

There are more specials coming up in our area.  This week, the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for the IMCA Modifieds will be on tap at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on Thursday night.  The Sprint Invaders will also be on the program.  We plan to attend and hope to see some of you there.  The drivers and fans have all been raving about how well the racing surface has been lately, so we look forward to some great racing.  

Thanks for reading, and happy racing!