There was certainly some exciting racing during the night. Especially so in the IMCA Stock Car feature where a driver showed exactly why he has so many feature wins there. The Hawkeye Dirt Tour saw a nice field of 33 Modifieds that came from the surrounding area and one driver drove 14 hours just to get there! It paid off.
The Micro Mod class was a late addition to the racing program. Their 12-lap feature went to 13 year old Broddy Willett from Alburnett.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks ran a 15-lap feature. Jeremiah Wilson led much of the race being chased by track point leader Nathan Ballard and Oelwein hot shoe Benji Irvine. A late race yellow set up a green-white-checkered finish which Irvine took full advantage of. Irvine set his ride to the topside, making it payoff big time, passing both Wilson and Ballard. Irvine took the win, his first at Vinton this year, Ballard was the runner up, Justin Wacha took third place, Wilson held on for a fourth place finish and Justin Lichty rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Northern SportMod feature had several drivers at the helm early. Joey Schaefer led the troops on the opening laps and he swapped leads with Danny Dvorak through lap three. That's when Brayton "Speedy Bray" Carter claimed the number one spot. When the second yellow of the race flew at the halfway mark, Carter was still in command.....but not for long! Colby Heishman flew by and into the lead. He would then hold down that coveted spot the remainder of the distance to the checkers and the win. Carter held on to the runner up spot, third went to Sam Wieben, Tony Olson was fourth and Clint Luellen finished fifth. We believe this is Heishman's first career win.....always a nice thing to witness. This young man has been improving a lot this season, and with that first win under his belt, there are sure to be more to come.
The IMCA Stock Car 18-lap feature was something to see! The first lap was tight at the flagstand with Norm Chesmore, Roger Ciesielski, and Nathan Wood battling it out. Give the lead to Ciesielski at lap two, but who should be right behind him but "The Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty! Murty had started eighth and was showing his prowess on the track that practically has his name stamped on it. More on that later. Murty was challenging Ciesielski on each lap, but contact going into corner two at lap ten, found the two sitting and the yellow flying. Murty and Ciesielski were then relegated to the rear of the field for the restart. Norm Chesmore inherited the lead for that restart, with Nathan Wood and Scottie Pippert waiting in the wings right behind him. A few laps later, who should appear in the picture again, but the familiar #99D of Damon Murty. Murty had flown by the pack and was making his presence known....running in fifth place! Then, a clump of five cars was at the front of the pack with just two laps remaining...Chesmore, Pippert, Jay Schmidt, Murty and Wood! Those final two laps were something else as Murty put on the show! He swung to the topside, and as they approached the final turn on the run to the checkers, Murty swept past the front runners, and beat them to the finish line and the win! That left the grandstand buzzing with what they had just witnessed. First to last....and then back to first! Last corner passes are always exciting but this one was even more so! Following in second place behind Murty was Norm Chesmore, third went to Scottie Pippert, fourth to Nathan Wood, and Ciesielski was fifth. Now about Murty practically having his named stamped on the track. This marked his 71st win at the Benton County Speedway.....what an accomplishment!
Now came the much anticipated feature for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour. Two B mains were run and two provisionals added to the starting field for the 40-lap main event. Those provisionals were for the highest finishing cars on the night that had previously participated in the HDT tour. The consy races were won by Ronn Lauritzen (who was piloting his old car, having to borrow it from new owner, Jason Morehouse after major damage to his car last Friday night at Marshalltown) and Kyle Brown, while the provisional spots went to Nick Roberts and Scott Hogan.
Mark Elliott, a former HDT champion, held down the top spot with David Brown close behind. Brown, who had also suffered major damage in the Marshalltown melee last Friday, was looking to have his car back in working order and challenging Elliott in the early going. Brian Irvine moved into third and started pestering Brown when contact was made going into corner two. Brown would be out of the race and Irvine soon following with his night ended. A restart at lap twelve, still had Elliott leading and the 27W of North Dakota driver, Jason Wolla now up to second place after starting in eleventh, and 2014 HDT Champion, Mike VanGenderen was third, coming from ninth starting spot. Two more yellow flags would fly before the race was completed, but Wolla never gave up the top spot, taking the win. Mike VanGenderen, in his spiffy looking red chrome car, tried to reel in Wolla, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Third went to JD Auringer, who had started twelfth, fourth to Missouri racer Hunter Marriott who had started tenth, and Joe Docekal, a regular at the track, went from starting seventeenth to round out the top five.
Winner Wolla, who hails from Ray, North Dakota, told co-announcer (assisting Ryan Clark) Jerry Vansickel in Victory Lane, that he was working on 2-3 hours of sleep after his 14-hour drive to get to Vinton. This wasn't Wolla's first win in Iowa this season, as he won the Frostbuster special back on April 1 at the Southern Iowa Speedway.
Despite the more than chilly temperatures last night (dang Mother Nature anyway) it was well worth the trip to watch some great racing. We enjoyed our night thoroughly with Positively Racing cohort Jeff Broeg and other racing friends in the stands. The next HDT race on the calendar is scheduled for Memorial Day, May 25 at the I-35 Speedway in Mason City. Check out the calendar of events at www.positivelyracing.com for both the regular track schedules of racing and a separate special event's calendar. Get out and support dirt track racing somewhere!
Now came the much anticipated feature for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour. Two B mains were run and two provisionals added to the starting field for the 40-lap main event. Those provisionals were for the highest finishing cars on the night that had previously participated in the HDT tour. The consy races were won by Ronn Lauritzen (who was piloting his old car, having to borrow it from new owner, Jason Morehouse after major damage to his car last Friday night at Marshalltown) and Kyle Brown, while the provisional spots went to Nick Roberts and Scott Hogan.
Mark Elliott, a former HDT champion, held down the top spot with David Brown close behind. Brown, who had also suffered major damage in the Marshalltown melee last Friday, was looking to have his car back in working order and challenging Elliott in the early going. Brian Irvine moved into third and started pestering Brown when contact was made going into corner two. Brown would be out of the race and Irvine soon following with his night ended. A restart at lap twelve, still had Elliott leading and the 27W of North Dakota driver, Jason Wolla now up to second place after starting in eleventh, and 2014 HDT Champion, Mike VanGenderen was third, coming from ninth starting spot. Two more yellow flags would fly before the race was completed, but Wolla never gave up the top spot, taking the win. Mike VanGenderen, in his spiffy looking red chrome car, tried to reel in Wolla, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Third went to JD Auringer, who had started twelfth, fourth to Missouri racer Hunter Marriott who had started tenth, and Joe Docekal, a regular at the track, went from starting seventeenth to round out the top five.
Winner Wolla, who hails from Ray, North Dakota, told co-announcer (assisting Ryan Clark) Jerry Vansickel in Victory Lane, that he was working on 2-3 hours of sleep after his 14-hour drive to get to Vinton. This wasn't Wolla's first win in Iowa this season, as he won the Frostbuster special back on April 1 at the Southern Iowa Speedway.
Despite the more than chilly temperatures last night (dang Mother Nature anyway) it was well worth the trip to watch some great racing. We enjoyed our night thoroughly with Positively Racing cohort Jeff Broeg and other racing friends in the stands. The next HDT race on the calendar is scheduled for Memorial Day, May 25 at the I-35 Speedway in Mason City. Check out the calendar of events at www.positivelyracing.com for both the regular track schedules of racing and a separate special event's calendar. Get out and support dirt track racing somewhere!
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