The 23rd Annual Harris Clash was held last night at the famed Knoxville Raceway. This year, the Modifieds were also running as a Hawkeye Dirt Tour race for the first time. The SportMods had their Harris Clash portion of the program as well, plus the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks were a support class.
The Dirt Trucks ran their 12-lap feature as the Mods and SportMods readied for their turn. There were nine competitors in attendance. Matt Moro led the first lap only to have a yellow fly. At lap two, another yellow flew, this time it was Kevin Sather at the helm. Those two would make it a close contest upfront with Moro getting command as the race was winding down. However, Sather wasn't done yet and with a move down in turn one, did a little "rubbin' is racin" move to take over the top spot. He would then sail home to the checkers first, Moro behind him in second. Third place was Carl Knight, AJ Nelson was fourth and Pat Gordin was fifth. Bret Moyer and Brad Moyer were the final two finishers. Lou Sipolt ended up being towed off on the hook and Bryan Spangler also did not finish. Sather hurried to victory lane, but it was quickly announced that he was being penalized one spot for "questionable driving" and Moro was declared the winner. This brought some vocalization from the crowd in attendance!!
The SportMods ran a 20-lap main event on the historic half-mile. They qualified through six heats and four B mains. The 58 cars were locked down to 24 on the start. It did not start well at all as three cars ended up in a mishap in turn one, halting the action. It took a while to clear the track and one car had to be hauled off on the rollback....the B00K of Dylan Book. Glen Gladson and former two-time winner of the Clash, Matt Lettow were also involved. Lettow was able to rejoin the field for the restart. The race leader when the race was stopped was the 222 of Dustin Crist from Missouri. But while still under caution, he would suddenly exit to the pits! This put second place runner Brett Lowry in command for the restart. From there on, the race went caution free with Lowry at the helm the entire time. Lowry circled the track smoothly, lap after lap, putting his ride mid-track in turns three and four, and low in corners one and two. He stretched his lead and took the checkers by almost a straightaway. The 777 of Omaha driver Cody Olson was second after starting tenth on the grid. Behind him, is where there had been some real action on the track. Minburn, Iowa driver Ty Luellen was third, holding off Matt Looft from Swea City in fourth and Minnesota racer Jared Boumeester in fifth. Winner Lowry who hails from Montezuma, Iowa celebrated in victory lane, receiving hardware and the $1,000 payoff.
The IMCA Modifieds had qualified through eight heats and four B mains. This weeded the 80 cars to twenty-four. Three provisionals were tagged to the tail those being Cayden Carter, Tim Ward and Jay Noteboom. I believe Carter and Ward were for first non-qualifying HDT drivers, and Noteboom as a previous Clash winner.
Lap one scored Aaron Turnbull, from Estavan, Saskatchewan, Canada as the leader. Turnbull still led at lap four when a red flag was flown for a nasty incident right before the flagstand, It appeared to be a chain reaction when a car bogged down, with Jesse Sobbing, Colt Mather and Todd Shute getting the worst end of the deal when they piled into each other. All drivers emerged unaided from their cars.... Sobbing noticeably limping to the pits. When things got back underway after the lengthy stoppage in action to clear the track, plus another no go caution, Turnbull pulled off from his competitors. Kurt Kile made his way to second, Mike VanGenderen followed in third, and Jeff Joldersma not far behind. However, it was the guy running fifth that was flying through the pack. It was the 1X of Sioux City's Chris Abelson. Abelson had qualified through a B main and was really making headway. Turnbull continued his comfortable ride at the point, VanGenderen had moved around Kile to take over second when another caution flew with nine laps remaining. On the restart, Kile got the jump on the 57V of VanGenderen, and took over the runner up spot, and Abelson flew around the outside passing VanGenderen too and into third. There were just six laps remaining, when Abelson, who had now taken second, was reeling in leader Turnbull. A lap later, Abelson flew to the lead and motored off from Turnbull. Abelson crossed under the checkers a comfortable distance ahead of Turnbull in second. He went home with the $2,000 winner's prize. VanGenderen fought back around Kile in the final laps and was scored in third, Kile scored fourth. Luke Wanninger, started sixteenth and was scored fifth. Shortly after the race was completed, it was announced that second place finisher, Aaron Turnbull had not made weight and was disqualified. This gave second place to Mike VanGenderen, third to Kile, fourth to Wanninger and Kyle Strickler was credited with fifth. Strickler, the North Carolina driver had won the two previous Harris Clashes. He had issues early in the race, went to the pits and recovered nicely for a top placing finish.
It was a late night, racing completed right at 11:47 p.m., due much in part to the numerous cautions throughout the night. We were hoping the Modifieds would continue their "Hawkeye Modified Speed Week" as it had been going......all going caution free in the features. It was not to be. Still, we enjoyed our night at Knoxville. We always love seeing the drivers who show for this prestigious show from near and far. All corners of Iowa and in between were represented, plus the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, and North Carolina and Canada. As the evening wore on, those of us sitting at the top of the grandstand were getting pretty cold. It was more like football weather, than a July racing night!
Thanks for reading, and happy racing!
No comments:
Post a Comment