The rain didn't clear out at the Boone Speedway on Saturday until mid-day, and then the heat came. I think you could have wrung out the air when the racing began. It was Walmart night at the races, there was a bunch of bike giveaways to the kids, racing family helped out one of their own when drivers passed the helmets in the grandstands, and Boone Speedway employees took the ALS ice water challenge! A freak accident at the flagstand also sent the flagman to the hospital for some medical attention. The night was packed full of racing as well with 163 cars on hand.
The MADCRA Mod Lites hit the track first for their 15-lap A main. Joe Glick took the lead past early leader Jason Whitehead at lap two, and from there on held command to the checkers. Bryan Zehm got to the runner up spot and tried to challenge, but to no avail, settling for second. Third was point leader James May, last week's winner Travis Stensland finished fourth and Mike Kennedy was fifth. Glick won for the first time ever at the Boone Speedway.
There were 37 SportMods on hand, which meant whittling the starting A main to 24 cars through two B mains. Those wins went to Robert Moore and Austin Kaplan. The feature began with JD Robinson taking charge as the green fell, and Rocky Caudle tucked into second place. By lap three, it was Montezuma's Brett Lowry getting around Caudle and taking over the runner up spot. Lowry, who has been having a good season, looked to the low side and slid under Robinson, taking over the helm by lap five. He couldn't get comfortable though, as now all eyes were on the #23K of Ben Kates. Kates, a familiar face at the Boone Speedway this year, had started eleventh, and by lap six, had taken over the runner up spot......and the chase was on! Lowry held his ground, Kates taking a look to the outside for a way around. His persistence paid off just after lap thirteen was scored. As the cars went down the backstretch, Kates took the lead. There was a yellow at lap fourteen and on the restart, it was now Lowry bothering Kates, however it didn't work, and Kates took the victory, Lowry having to settle for a close second place finish. Third went to sixteenth place starter, Sam Wieben, fourth was Jake McBirnie, last week's winner, and Rocky Caudle hung to the front all race, and finished in fifth. Kates won for the seventh time during the regular season, plus also having a win in the pre-season Frostbuster.
There were a couple of early lead changes in the 12-lap Hobby Stock feature. Troy Phillips led the troops through the first four laps, then pushed up the track, allowing Dustin Graham to slip by and into the lead. Meanwhile, another "Dustin" was on the move, Dustin Lynch. Lynch got to second and was bothering the leader, when Graham suddenly suffered the fate of a tire going down. Lynch seized the moment and took over the lead. The last portion of the race, found Lynch holding tight to the lead, being chased by last week's winner, Cody Gustoff all the way to the checkers. Seth Janssen followed in third place, fourth was Andrew Burg, and Tyler Pickett completed the top five. This was Lynch's first win ever at the Boone track. This made the 13th different winner in the Hobby Stock class in their regular season.
The starting 20-lap feature for the Modifieds had to be completed with the running of two B mains to whittle the 38 cars to 24. Those winners were Russ Dickerson and Shay Woods. Two drivers who appeared for the first time at the track last week, the #11V of Alex Hanson from Kensett, and the #29 of Brandon Kern from Des Moines, sat on the front row of the A main. Lap one got completed, but then Hanson lost the handle as he went into turn two, collecting several cars who could not avoid him. When things were cleaned up, Tony Cox had inherited the lead, and Webster City's Greg Elliott was sitting in second, and Joel Bushore was in third. As things restarted, another car was making headway----point leader Jimmy Gustin had moved into fourth, and you just knew he wasn't done yet! Gustin tightened the screws on Cox and at the halfway mark had made the pass into second place. The reeling in of leader Bushore began and at lap fourteen when a yellow flew for veteran Denny Pittman at a standstill in turn four, Gustin was no doubt a happy camper in anticipation of the restart. The green flew for the restart and by lap fifteen, Gustin had taken the lead, as Bushore slipped up the track in turn four. Gustin kept command in the closing laps, and took the win. It was a yellow/checkered finish when Scott Davis was sitting on the track in turn four, after the field had taken the white flag. Bushore held on to second place and Tony Cox finished third. Mike VanGenderen was the last car to qualify for the A main. He finished second in the second B and tagged the field in 24th place. He maneuvered his way through the stout field, to finish in fourth place. Greg Elliott rounded out the top five positions. Gustin won for the third time this year and leads points going into the season championship next Saturday by a comfortable 23 points ahead of Kyle Brown.
The night ending 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature had to have the final four cars in the starting line up determined by two B mains. Those wins went to Josh Daniels and Matt West. Most of this one had Damon Murty and Jeff Deal at the front of the pack and running "up top". Digging down low, was the #55 of Cory Bushnell, but things never changed from that running order----Murty taking the checkers over Deal in second, and Bushnell in third. Trent Murphy took fourth place and Donavon Smith moved from starting eleventh, to finish fifth. This race also ended under the yellow/checkered as the white flag had flown before a car sat idle on the track. This was Murty's first win at Boone this year, but his 24th over all for the season.
As mentioned earlier, there were many other scenarios going on during the night. Many kids went home happy with a new bike. There was a great display of "racing family" during the farming session, as drivers came across the track and into the grandstands, and passed their helmets. This was for longtime track worker Jerry Denning, who has been diagnosed with cancer and is needing to begin treatment. Around $2,000 was raised and the track matched it for a $4,000 night's total. Also during that farming session, several Boone track employees, including the Lawton's, made their way to the infield, as they had accepted the "ice water challenge" in support of ALS. They did it the Boone track way! The water was released on them from one of the John Deere bucket scoops.....to the delight of the onlookers! You can take a look at the video by going to www.raceboone.com and clicking on the video at the right.
Another incident happened that could have been so much worse. At lap ten of the Stock Car feature, the race was stopped when flagman Nick Breuklander had a solid mud plug come flying at him, hitting him in the side of the head. He was attended to immediately after staggering from the flagstand, and as he stood up to get on the gurney, head wrapped like a mummy, he smiled and waved to the crowd. One tough guy. Word later was he got ten staples, and a CAT scan was okay. This just shows what a dangerous job many track workers have. Another track worker, long time employee Rod Robbins, finished the flagging duties of the race.
Next Saturday, August 30, is season championship night. I believe the top 20 cars in points in attendance will be locked in and any cars that have run during the year with points, will be allowed to try and fill in the 24-car starting fields. I am sure there will be many, many cars from far and wide there as well, waiting in the wings for Monday's first day of the 32nd running of the IMCA Super Nationals....starting it's six-night run. Can't wait for this "Racin' Vacation" spectacle! It's something that you must experience! Hope to see many of you there as well as catch up with racing friends coming from afar.
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