Another IMCA Super Nationals has come and gone. To look back and recall the first time we attended the event at Boone Speedway back in 1988, it's absolutely amazing how it has grown. Back then, it was a four day event, and you could arrive at the track each night just like a regular race night at the track. Now, the south side of Hwy. 30 is "Boone South".
Of course, Mother Nature had to rear her ugly head with a deluge of rain on Sunday night before the first day of Super Nationals on Labor Day. This brought about a change in Monday's format before things even began. The Deery Brothers Late Models were pushed back to Thursday night's program with the hopes of the grounds being more fit for their arrival. Some of the pit areas were mud bogs, and though it didn't rain again to cause any major problems, (it did sprinkle just enough on Thursday night to delay the racing for maybe an hour and a half) there were areas in the pits as well as camping and parking areas that never were usable.
Monday's show still had to be delayed due to the rain. The track crew worked the track continuously from the time it stopped raining in the wee hours of the morning, until the first heats were on the track at 3:35 p.m. The corners were rough, especially turns one and two, and even with the constant attention to the track surface, those ruts were there for two or three days. Finally, they got ironed out. Monday's show qualified inside and middle 8 rows for the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and the inside row of 8 for the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods. The two Hobby Stock features were won by Mike Pruitt from Redfield who came from starting twelfth, and Des Moines' John Watson who started sixth. The Northern SportMod winner was Nebraskan Kyle Prauner who started on the outside front row and led the entire 20-laps. Racing was done at 11 something. Yeah...I forgot to write it down.
Tuesday, the track was again worked continuously until race time which began shortly after 2 p.m. On this day, the first of the Super National's winners was crowned, that being in the Mach-1 Sport Compact class. Qualifying for the big dance continued in the Hobby Stocks and Northern SportMods as well. The outside row of 8 for the Hobby Stocks was completed and the middle and outside rows for the Northern SportMods was set.
In the IMCA Sport Compact Big Dance, Nate Coopman from Mankato, Minnesota started on the outside of row four in the 3-wide format and claimed his first Super National's championship after four years of trying. Second was Josh Barnes from Keokuk, Iowa who started deep in the field in 17th starting spot, Matt Brehmer from Sobieski, Wisconsin finished in third coming from the middle of row six, fourth was Wilton, Iowa's Ryan Walker who started sixth, and rounding out the top five was Ramsey Meyer from Pierce, Nebraska who, started in the middle of row nine.
Tuesday's winner in the Hobby Stock qualifying feature was Andrew Burg. The two qualifying feature winners in the Northern SportMod class were Clint Luellen, Minburn, Iowa and 16 year old Lucas Lamberies from Clintonville, Wisconsin. Racing was completed at 12:33 a.m.
Wednesday's program had the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars as well as the Xtreme Motor Sports Modifieds racing for the first time. There were 192 Stock Cars and 277 Modifieds checked in. This was a record for the Stock Cars. The IMCA Hobby Stocks and the Northern SportMods saw their final six starting spots for Saturday's main event stamped into the books. They would be tagging the tail of the starting feature. Adam Armstrong from Beatrice, Nebraska rallied back after suffering a roll over accident on Monday that left him with a very damaged race car, to win the final Qualifier. In the SportMods it was Boone driver Jake McBirnie with the win.
There were 20 heats of IMCA Stock Cars and 30 heats of IMCA Modifieds on Wednesday night. Two features were run for each class, qualifying only 4 cars each for Saturday's "Big Dance". The two Stock Car features went to Sioux City's Chris Mills and Harlan, Iowa's Mike Nichols. Kody Scholpp from Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada won the first of the two Modified features. He has quite the story after suffering severe injuries less than two years ago in a vehicle accident that left him wondering if he would ever walk again, let alone race. The second of the features went to Williston, North Dakota driver, Mike Hagen.
Racing was completed on Wednesday night just a few minutes after midnight. Thankfully the threatening skies parted....as they often do at Boone, and the rain went around the track.
Thursday was the longest day of racing. There were also pesky sprinkles that interrupted the racing a couple of times...though nothing heavy. The cars had to be pulled from the track twice, but the tractors immediately took to the surface and the track was never lost. The IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models had their rescheduled full show that was pushed back from Monday's original date. Qualifying also continued for the IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars and SportMods.
The Deery Brothers Late Model 50-lap feature was the BEST we have every witnessed! There was more "sliders than at White Castle" as announcer Jerry Vansickel put it! More swapping back and forth than we could have ever imagined took place in this feature. But in the end....it was Jeff Aikey from Waterloo stepping on the podium as the Champion for the fifth time at the Super Nationals. Aikey had to work his way from starting fifteenth and did not take the lead until lap 38. Prior to that it was Justin Kay, Richie Gustin and Todd Cooney swapping sliders for the lead. This continued through most of the race and had the crowd enthralled! Following Aikey across to finish as the runner up was Deery point leader Justin Kay, third was rookie to the division and a guy who has justly proven himself a real contender in this class, Richie Gustin. Fourth went to another young participant who is already proving himself as well, Tyler Droste, and fifth was Dubuque's Joel Callahan.
The qualifying for Saturday's feature continued for the IMCA Modifieds and Stock Cars...with eight going to the middle row. Two more A's were run for each of the classes with four going from each. The Modified winners were last year's Super Nationals champion, Kyle Strickler from North Carolina and Beatrice, Nebraska's Jordan Grabouski. In the Stock Cars, the winners were Britt, Iowa's Heath Tulp and Lynn Panos from Calmar, Iowa. Racing was completed at 1:51 a.m.
On Friday, the outside row of eight qualified for the IMCA Modifieds and the IMCA Stock Cars. It was also the prestigious Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. The two features for the Modifieds were won by Walnut, Iowa's Nick Deal and "Gasman" Cayden Carter from Oskaloosa. Stock features went to a pair of Minnesota brothers, Dustin Larson and Jeff Larson. The All-Star Invitational was led the entire 30 laps by Marshalltown, Iowa's Jammin' Jimmy Gustin. Gustin started on the inside of row three and grabbed the lead immediately, and was never threatened on his way to the checkers. Racing was completed at 1:05 am.
Saturday was the dawn of the "Big Dance". The day's racing would include the final nine qualifying spots for the IMCA Modifieds and the final six for the IMCA Stock Cars. There was also the Race of Champions for Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods and Hobby Stocks. The Race of Champions for the IMCA Hobby Stocks was won by Fort Dodge racer Myles Michehl who led all ten laps. The SportMod Race of Champions went to 16 year old Lucas Lamberies from Clintonville, Wisconsin who also led the entire ten lap race. The IMCA Stock Cars saw Beatrice, Nebraska driver Kyle Vanover lead the entire race EXCEPT for the final run to the checkers when veteran racer Kevin Opeheim from Mason City nipped him at the finish line for the win. Dustin Smith was the victor in the Modified Race of Champions. He led the entire ten laps as well.
Now it was time for the Super National championship events...what we had all been waiting to see come to fruition the whole week. The first up was the 30 lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Jason Wilkinson from Neligh, Nebraska took home his second Super Nationals championship in this one. Andrew Burg, a regular at the speedway was second. Third went to Brandon Nielsen from Spencer, Iowa who started in the middle of the fifth row, fourth was John Watson, another Boone Speedway Saturday night regular and Corey Madden from Avoca, Iowa was fifth.
After 30-lap of the IMCA Northern SportMod "Big Dance", it was Clint Luellen standing tall on the winner's podium. It was a three-car battle between him, Jonathon Logue and Mike Meyer in the latter portion of the race. Luellen won the battle for the win over second place Logue and Meyer in third. Fourth went to Lucas Lamberies, the 16 year old from Wisconsin, and Ellis, Kansas driver Daniel Gottschalk was fifth.
The 30-lap Dance for the IMCA Stock Cars turned out to be mostly a race between the two Larson brothers from Minnesota. Dustin Larson was the man in charge as the race went green and brother Jeff Larson tucked in right behind. The two raced in that order until going down the backstretch on the final lap....contact was made, leader Dustin Larson escaping unscathed but Jeff Larson suffering a tire deflating. Mike Nichols seized the opportunity and got around the slowing Larson to finish as the runner up, as did Sioux City's Chris Mills who finished third. Jeff Larson made it across the finish line to garner fourth place. Lynn Panos rounded out the top five.
The grand finale, the IMCA Modified feature completed the night's racing. After driver introductions, and a bit of well deserved pomp and circumstance for the 33 drivers about to "dance", the green flag fell. Mike Hagen, Williston, North Dakota and the pole sitter and Josh Most, the driver from Red Oak, Iowa who races just about anything, battled back and forth for the lead in the early portion of the 30-lap race. But, at lap eight, it was the 8K of Kyle Strickler, from Mooresville, North Carolina leading. From there on out, he never relinquished the lead and secured his second Super National's championship in as many years. He started in the middle of row two. Second place was a former Super Nationals champion from 2013, Osceola, Nebraska racer Dylan Smith who had started tenth. Third place finisher Ricky Thornton from Chandler, Arizona came from the inside of row seven. Fourth place was Beatrice, Nebraskan, Jordon Grabouski and Ankeny, Iowa's Adam Larson started on the outside of row six and made it to fifth place.
There were 876 cars at this year's Super Nationals, a record, representing 25 different states plus Canada and Australia. We thank each and every one of them who came. There were some scary moments throughout the week, but none more so than when Jamie Johnson shot....I mean SHOT off of corner three in his modified last chance heat on the final night. Johnson, from Waterloo, Iowa rolled violently after leaving one side of his car danging in a tree and his car ending up nearly out of the race track grounds near the west side road. He does have injuries we've heard, which include a broken leg or ankle, a concussion and some compression fractures of his spine. This is all second hand. As he left the grounds in the ambulance, we understood that he gave a "thumbs up" and we wish him a speedy recovery.
It's been tradition that we stick around for the engine auctions after the races, and we did so again this year. The winning Hobby Stock of Jason Wilkinson went for $2,100, Clint Luellen's SportMod brought $2,300, Dustin Larson's Stock Car was $5,400 and Kyle Strickler's Modified went for $5,500.
We also celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary on September 11, at the Super Nationals this year. Quite appropriate for us two race fans who grew up going to the dirt tracks in the area. No better place to do so.
There are still a few specials left around our area to help satisfy the drivers and fans. Check the calendar at www.positivelyracing.com for a race you may wish to attend.
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