The Harris Clash for 2015 is finally in the books. The race was originally scheduled for July 16 at Knoxville, but it was washed out. Lucky for us fans and the drivers, it was rescheduled for last night at the historic Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa----where it all began back in 1992. There were 59 IMCA Modifieds and 45 IMCA Northern SportMods that entertained the large, enthusiastic crowd.
The Modifieds ran eight heats, and four B mains, taking two from each of those to the A main. One provisional was awarded any previous Harris Clash winner in attendance that did not qualify. The SportMods ran six heats, taking two each to their A main plus four B mains taking four each.
The SportMod's ran a 20-lap A main. When the race went green, it was Brad Ratcliff springing to the lead from his outside front row starting spot. From there, he kept the #1R at the front of the pack all the way to the flying checkers. He finished well ahead of Doug Smith in second. Following in third was Dysart, Iowa's Sam Wieben, fourth was Brayton Carter and Jared Timmerman was fifth. But wait....hold the boat! A post race inspection of Ratcliff's car found it with illegal valve springs, and the race win was awarded to Doug Smith.
The IMCA Modifieds ran a 25-lap feature for $2,000 to win. The heat winners were Ethan Dotson, Colt Mather, Jon Snyder, Richie Gustin, Kyle Brown, Adam Larson, Kelly Shryock and Justin Medler. The four B mains went to Kyle Strickler, Jeremy Mills, Ryan Ruter, and David Brown. The provisional starter was John Logue who started 25th on the grid. The lucky draws for the front row went to Justin Medler and Ethan Dotson.
Ethan Dotson, the young rookie driver out of Bakersfield, California, took the immediate lead. He was still leading at lap eight when the race had a caution when Jimmy Gustin and John Logue were involved in an incident just before turn three. The race was then red flagged to get Logue's car hooked up.....taking two wreckers to return the dangling car to his pits. Lurking in second place was Colt Mather, and Kelly Shryock and Kyle Brown were in third and fourth.
When the race restarted, we noticed a car working, working, working on the bottom side, that of Jon Snyder. Snyder, known as the "Top Side Terror" was changing it up and making headway working the bottom groove! Another yellow flew at lap sixteen when Hunter Marriott and Kyle Brown made contact, sending Brown in spin mode in turn four...and having to tag the field. Dotson was still holding down the top spot for the restart, and Shryock had made his way to the runner up spot. The final laps to the checkers saw Shryock on the hunt, reeling in leader Dotson and wanting, no doubt, more than anything to repeat his Harris Clash win from 1997 and doing it this time on his "home" track from years gone by. It wasn't to be as laps ran out, and the rookie from California took the checkers and the coveted win....leading all 25 laps. Following second place Shryock was third place finisher, Jesse "Crazy 99" Sobbing, who had started twelfth, fourth went to Colt Mather and Nick Deal, the driver from Walnut, Iowa, started 24th and finished fifth.
Ethan Dotson was one happy young man in Victory Lane as he savored the win. Dotson, the Californian who is spending his summer here in Iowa in his rookie year, is now the youngest driver to ever win a Harris Clash.....16 years old! We have watched him just keep improving his driving skills over the summer and now with this special win under his belt, look for him to go places. Congratulations on a race well run!
The track was in beautiful condition last night, thanks to some great track prep. There were multi grooves and the track slicked off and was shining! The drivers did a great job of racing the glassy track.
The weather was fantastic for the night of racing and we enjoyed our evening sitting in the stands. It was great to see some racing friends that we hadn't seen in some time as well. Announcers Ryan Bergeson, who is a regular at Webster City, was joined by Jerry Vansickel. They kept the crowd entertained and informed all night long.....and the speakers in the stands afforded much easier listening for the grandstands than at many other tracks we attend. Thanks to Hamilton County Speedway, promoter Jason Vansickel, and of course, to Bob Harris who put on the show, for a fantastic night of racing. When it was all said and done, we would have liked to have seen them "fuel 'em up, and let's do it again!"
It's off to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for us tonight. The IMCA Late Models are joining the regular classes. Why not make plans for another mid-week night of racing at the Monster 1/2 mile in Osky. Hot laps are 7 with racing at 7:30.
Thanks for reading and happy racing!
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