It was finally looking like a perfect weather night of racing at the Boone Speedway on Saturday. The sun was shining, the wind wasn't blowing, and nothing threatening was appearing on radar. A nice crowd was on hand to watch the 117 cars that came for some fun. Several drivers ventured to the track from Algona and Webster City, since their shows had been washed out. All five classes had between 22 and 25 cars competing.
One of the two new winners of the the night came from the Mod Lite class. Their feature kicked off the main events, with Cory Sauerman, Grimes, Iowa, leading the early portion of the race. His night ended when he bounced off the backstretch wall and rolled, bringing out a red flag situation. He was not hurt. The lead was now in the hands of James May, but Randy Bryan had other ideas, and grabbed the lead quickly. From there on, it was Bryan's race, and he stamped his name in the record books for the first time in 2014. Bryan Zehm started in row six, and took the runner up spot, James May was third, Mike Kennedy and Travis Brandt were fourth and fifth. James May continues to hold a slim one point lead over Bryan Zehm in the point's race.
The SportMod feature was a yellow flag fest. The track had turned dry slick, very unusual for Boone Speedway, and the drivers seemed unaccustomed to that situation. Factor in drivers that were racing there for the first time, and it got to be a marathon. Funny how it seems that they can keep better control after they have been warned of a time limit in place. After the time limit was announced at lap ten, the race continued the remaining eight laps caution free.
Randy Roberts took the helm by lap five, and had no trouble in keeping it to the checkers. Johnathon Logue crossed the finish line in second place, a distance behind the winner. However, he was disqualified for some sort of infraction concerning the body parts of his machine. This gave the runner up spot to point leader Ben Kates. Cory Rose was scored in third, Rick Ringgenberg came from row eleven to be credited with fourth place, and Chad Ryerson completed the top five. Roberts won for the second time this year.
The Hobby Stock 12-lap feature event had Tyson Overton leading the first half of the race, only to have Eric Stanton snatch it away at lap seven. Stanton kept hold of that top spot the rest of the way to the flying checkers. Eldora, Iowa driver David Rieks came from starting beside Stanton in row five, to take second.
Shannon Anderson started in row six, and finished in the third position, Overton held on for fourth and Dustin Graham was fifth. Stanton scored his second win this year.
Twenty laps of IMCA Modified action was up next. Randy Havlik took command from his outside front row starting spot immediately. He never relinquished the lead the rest of the way to his first win this year. Eric Elliott, last week's winner, chased him most of the race, and finished as the runner up. Jon Snyder took third after starting in row five, Boone's own Scott Davis was fourth and Chris Webb finished fifth. A broken gear sent Jimmy Gustin (who had been leading points going into the night) to the infield, and with a ninth place finish, Kyle Brown is now leading points.
The Stock Car 18-lap feature had a handful of yellows fly in their main event---an uncommon occurrence for this class. Corey Piffer showed the way through lap six when the second yellow set up a restart situation. By this time, Jerry Gifford had made the outside of the track work, and moved to the runner up spot after starting tenth. He pulled off the pass for the lead the very next lap. Gifford weathered the last three yellow flags that flew, keeping his lead and scoring the win. Jay Schmidt, point leader, showed how it's done, flying from his sixth row starting spot, to finish as the runner up. Third place was Lonnie Hodges who ran with the leaders all night long, fourth went to Cory Bushnell, and Donavon Smith rounded out the top five. Jerry Gifford chalked up his third win of the year.
There was also a guest announcer behind the microphone last night. Tom Lathen, who has announced at numerous racing events in the past, filled in for Jerry VanSickle. IMCA's Western Regional Director, Paul Vetter, was also in attendance, taking in the racing action at Boone on his tour de racing in Iowa.
As I complete this blog, I have already received text messages saying Vinton, Mason City and Stuart have had to pull the plug on racing tonight. After our deluge of rain.....right at 2 inches in half an hour, I'm not surprised. As far as we know, the Fair race at Eldon, Iowa is still on.....maybe to be the only racing action to catch in the state of Iowa tonight. Hot laps are 6 p.m. for the half-mile track located south of Ottumwa, Iowa.
Thanks for reading, and happy racing!
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