Saturday turned out to be a wet one for sure, and message after message of track cancellations came through during the day. Word came that Boone was still a go, so off we went. It was raining here when we left and we drove through rain....downpours at times, until we were close to Ames. Then....blue sky and sunshine! It wasn't that Boone had not had rain...more than a little moisture for sure, but the timing had been perfect. The track had been sealed over prior to the rain, and by the time we arrived, the Green Machines were farming the racing surface. Had the rain continued falling for another hour, the show may not have gone on. A nice field of 122 race cars was on hand for some fun on the hammer down track.
Things kicked off with the Mod Lite 15-lap feature. Mike Kennedy led the early portion of the race but at lap six, it was Josh May taking over as captain of the ship. May then pulled away to take the easy win. Kennedy, who's CAR had gone to victory lane at Marshalltown the previous night with Travis Stensland behind the wheel, held on to the runner up spot, with Bryan Zehm a close third. Fourth went to Charlie Brown and Joel Keenan completed the top five. May won for the first time at the track in 2017.
Daniel Tasler saw the winner's circle by taking the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature event. Tasler led all 18 laps on his way to victory. Robert Moore chased Tasler the entire distance to take second place. Third was tenth place starter Randy Roberts, Hunter Longnecker was fourth and rookie to the class, John Watson, was fifth. This was Tasler's first win of the season. The race went caution free.
Another driver leading his entire 20-lap feature was Joel Bushore, in the IMCA Modified division. Bushore jumped to the immediate lead, and pulled away from his competition to take the comfortable win. Russ Dickerson started eighth and finished as the runner up. Robert Avery was third, just holding off tenth place starter, Mike VanGenderen. Pole sitter Chad Louks rounded out the top five. Bushore was also a first time winner at the track this season.
Veteran racer Robert Stofer led all but the opening lap of the IMCA 18-lap Stock Car main event, on his way to his first win this year. Jay Schmidt maneuvered through lap traffic and around Justin Nehring on the final turn after he'd made many attempts to nose under him previously, as they finished second and third respectively. Rod Richards was fourth and Tyler Brauckman finished fifth. This was also Stofer's first win at the track this year. The race went flag to flag.
The IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars ran a 20-lap feature. Devin Wignall led through lap nine when a caution flew. The restart proved to be his nemesis as Tyler Thompson flew around him to take over the top spot as the race went green. Two laps later, Thompson had misfortune, when he broke and had to retire to the infield. The lead was then handed over to Michael Johnston, with Michael Moore hot on his tail. Moore made his move at lap fourteen, with a slide around Johnston to take command. He would then hold the top spot the rest of the way to the checkers. Johnston was the runner up, third went to early leader Devin Wignall, Iowa Falls racer Bob Hildreth, was fourth and CJ Houseman was fifth. This was Moore's second win at the track.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks completed the night's feature racing with a scheduled 12-lap event. Dustin Lynch led the entire race and went to victory lane for the first time. Ryan Wells out ran Aaron Rudolph as they finished second and third. Fourth was David McQuisten, and Dean Hartwig was fifth. The race was called complete at lap eleven when the time limit expired.
For the second time this week, we've seen a new Modified chassis make it's debut. Earlier, the VanderBuilt Chassis that is the undertaking of Zack VanderBeek, was the new ride of Cayden Carter. Last night at Boone, the Assault Chassis built by long time racer Randy Havlik made it's first appearance on the track with Havlik himself behind the wheel.
Next up at the Boone Speedway is the annual Memorial Day special with the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models headlining on Monday, May 29. The IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods and IMCA Hobby Stocks will also be racing. Gates open at 3, hot laps at 4, and racing at 5.
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