The "Bubble" leaked a little at the Boone Speedway, but it didn't burst, and racing went on as scheduled on Saturday night. Pictures prior to Saturday, showed heavy rain had resulted in two ponds in the infield, the west equipment area flooded as well as part of the east catwalk area. Somehow, the place was drained, the track had been sealed over before the rains came, and even with rain on Saturday....and still raining when we arrived about 5:45 p.m., the minute the rains stopped, out came the tractors and the track farming began.
The first green flag fell at 7:30---right at the scheduled start time. Thanks to the dedicated track workers for what had to be endless hours in letting the night happen.
The Mod Lites went first for their 15-lap feature. When the race began, Charlie Brown went to the point, and brother Terry Brown tagged him in second. The two chased each other around the track in that order until lap eleven. Terry Brown had been peeking to the outside of brother Charlie for sometime, and his persistence finally paid off and he took over the lead. Meanwhile, Bryan Zehm had been reeling in the Brown duo, he made a final push in the closing lap, and scored second, getting around Charlie Brown who was third. Fourth went to Randy Bryan and Mike Kennedy was fifth. Terry Brown won for the second time at the track. Zehm is now the new point leader after James May finished back in fifteenth spot.
It was appearing that there would be a first time ever winner in Jake McBirnie in the SportMod feature. McBirnie, in his first year of competition, led from the drop of the green. Doug Smith was running in the runner up spot, but McBirnie consistently hit his line, and kept Smith at bay. That is until the final run to the checkers. Enter lap traffic, and the more experienced Smith saw his chance as they came out of turn four. Smith surged in the last few feet to the finish line.....winning by mere inches. McBirnie, had to settle for what had to be a disappointing runner up finish. Johnathon Logue came out of row five, to score third, fourth was Tim Love, and Brandon Williams was fifth. This was Smith's second win at Boone this year. Point leader Ben Kates had mechanical issues in his heat race, had to start twenty sixth on the feature field, but finished a very respectable eighth place and keeps his point lead.
The Hobby Stock class followed up with a thrilling finish of their 12-lap A main. Shane Butler and Daniel Hagen led the troops through the first seven laps. Hagen then dropped his drive shaft on the frontstretch, and he was out of the game. Somehow, third place runner Josh Saunders avoided getting caught up in Hagen's misfortune, and when the race restarted, was aligned in second for the restart. A few laps later, Dustin Graham, Shannon Anderson and Eric Stanton got into contention, and were fighting for a top finish. Butler was still leading as the white flag flew, Graham was in second with Anderson nipping at his heels. Stanton was waiting in the wings in fourth, Saunders hanging tough in fifth. Butler saw the checkers ahead as they came out of turn four.....but it was Shannon Anderson beating him to the finish line and snatching the win. Butler was second, Stanton finished a close third, Graham was fourth and Saunders took fifth. Anderson scored his third win of the year. Point leader going into the night, John Watson experienced trouble in the heat race, and had to qualify through a B main. He finished in thirteenth place, but still holds the point's lead.
The 20-lap Modified feature also had an exciting finish though not quite as close as some of the earlier features. Veteran racer, Robert Avery jumped to the lead immediately from starting in row two. Pole sitter Tony Cox, tucked into second. Then all eyes were on the #19 of Jammin' Jimmy Gustin, who was putting on his usual demonstration of driving skills! He moved from starting tenth, up to third by lap four. Gustin methodically reeled in Cox, taking over the runner up spot with five laps remaining. He now had his sights set on the leader. Gustin drew closer and closer, finally making the pass on Avery with a lap remaining and scored the win. It was Gustin's second win of the year. Avery finished as the runner up, Cox held third. Randy Havlik was scored in fourth place and Russ Dickerson was fifth. Point leader Kyle Brown finished sixth, and with Gustin's win, he cut the lead to just four points.
The Stock Car feature did not get the first lap scored before an incident occurred on the frontstretch near the flagstand. Craig Carlson nearly climbed the inside cement wall by the flagman, sending Grant Oskvig scrambling, Scott Bailey also ending up against the wall and point leader Jay Schmidt unable to avoid the incident. Schmidt ended up with a broken radiator plus more damage to the front, sending him to the pits, his night done. When things were cleaned up, the race restarted with Wayne Gifford in command. From there on, he just drove off from the rest of the field, the race continuing to the checkers caution free. Gifford won his first feature at Boone this year by a straightaway. Tenth place starter Donavon Smith got to second by lap twelve, but just had to watch Gifford in the distance as the race concluded. Jerry Gifford followed Smith to score a third place finish, fourth was Josh Daniels and Corey Piffer was fifth. Schmidt keeps hold of his point lead, Jerry Gifford closing in just seven points behind in second.
Many area tracks had already pulled the plug on racing, and that brought a few new drivers to test their skills on the Boone Speedway. Ricky "Racer" Stephens made the haul over from South Sioux City, Nebraska, after his usual Saturday night track, the Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, was cancelled. Evan Nemitz from Kiron, Jacob Sachau from Denison, and newcomer Chase Rudolf from Norwalk joined the SportMod class for the night. The Hobby Stock class had some drivers join the fun after their weekly shows were rained out too. Kyle Schmauss came from Eagle Grove, Greg Gilbert from Oseola and a couple of Des Moines and Webster City regulars raced as well. Stock Car racers Adam Hensel from Atlantic and Jeff Frevert from Ft. Dodge were on hand. There were 117 cars in the pits, and surprisingly, a nice crowd in the stands---all this despite the threatening weather. The racing concluded shortly after 10 p.m. with another cloud bank approaching from the west and lightning visible to the northwest. It was Boone's twelfth weekly show in a row, plus the Frostbuster program being shortened back on April 12 after getting only one feature in the books.
It's a busy week of racing coming up. Check the calendar at Positively Racing for a race you may want to attend. Tuesday is Independence Motor Speedway's Deery Brothers show as well as the Hawkeye Dirt Tour in Algona. You have many choices for the week. Our plans are for the 19th Annual Stock Car Shoot Out in Osky on Wednesday and Thursday, July 2-3. Then it will be the 4th of July at Marshalltown Speedway for a regular night of racing, plus their 50th anniversary celebration, and fireworks.....all for $5 admission. Then back to Boone next Saturday night.
Thanks for reading and happy racing!
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