We were back at our Saturday night home last night, the Boone Speedway. The season championship was held for the inaugural RaceSaver Sprints, and a first time track champion was crowned. There was a spectacular finish in the Modified feature, and just an all around good night of racing through the entire night's events. A good field of 118 cars checked in and a nice crowd was on hand to witness it all.
This was the first year for the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint cars racing at the speedway, and their season ended on Saturday night with the running of their 25-lap championship event. Mike Moore weathered four yellow flag situations and led all laps to take the victory. Tyler Thompson came home in second place, Ben Woods started fourteenth, and finished third, fourth went to Bob Hildreth, and Michael Johnston completed the top five. Moore ended his year with four wins, and was crowned the inaugural RaceSaver Sprint track champion at Boone.
Charlie Brown would also lead all laps on his way to the Mod Lite feature win. Bryan Zehm came from ninth starting spot, to finish second, third was Joel Keenan, Joe Glick was fourth, and Kevin Grisham took fifth. Brown won for the second time at the track this season. Zehm holds a healthy lead in the points battle going into the final weeks.
There was quite the battle up front in the 18 lap IMCA Northern SportMod A feature. Johnathon Logue started eleventh, and worked his way to the front by lap nine, grabbing the lead from Algona, Iowa's Doug Cook. Cory Pestotnik joined in the fun, as the three duked it out, and not to be left out, Jake McBirnie had now made his way from twelfth, and was getting in the mix. The final laps were intense, but Johnathon Logue withstood all advances to take the win, McBirnie finishing a close second. Cory Pestotnik finished in third, fourth went to Doug Cook, and Sam Wieben came from sixteenth starting spot, to capture fifth place. This was Logue's fifth feature win of the year, and he is the point leader in the division.
The IMCA Modifieds rolled out next for 20 laps of what turned out to be another intense battle. Cory Sauerman had the lead at lap six, as he flew around the top of the track. He was soon joined by Mike VanGenderen, and Russ Dickerson in what turned into a fierce battle. Sauerman and VanGenderen ran side by side for several laps, as Dickerson waited for a mere bobble from either driver. Sauerman and VanGenderen threw slide jobs at each other, never touching. VanGenderen gained the lead at lap seventeen, but Sauerman regained it...never to relinquish it again as he took the flying checkers. Russ Dickerson took advantage of VanGenderen's slight bobble, and passed him on the final lap to take the runner up spot, VanGenderen taking third. Tyler Prochaska was fourth and Andy Tiernan was fifth.
Sauerman is in his first year of racing a Modified after jumping up from the Mod Lites. Sauerman was greeted in victory lane by the other top finishers, offering him congratulations on a job well done, on his first ever win in the Modified. He has come a long way in his first year of competing in the Modified class. Going into the final races, defending track champion VanGenderen continues to hold his point lead.
Another first time winner for the year came out of the IMCA Stock Car class. Tyler Pickett started third, and took over the top spot at lap two. Pickett had to hold off a hard charging Wayne Gifford much of the race, but was able to take the win, Gifford having to settle for second. Visiting Beatrice, Nebraska racer, Kyle Vanover, started tenth on the starting line up, and finished third, fourth was Josh Daniels, and Donavon Smith was fifth.
Point leader of the division, Jay Schmidt suffered woes in his heat, and did not finish. He started twenty-fifth for the feature, and finished ninth. He holds the point lead by a slim one point over Donavon Smith.
The night concluded with the running of the 12 lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Shaun Wirtz took his first ever career win on July 15, and followed up with his second win on Saturday night. Wirtz had the lead by lap two, and never looked back to secure the victory. Several yellows plagued the feature, and a final one flew at lap eleven. This set up a green-white-checkered finish (that was under the time limit at this point) Wirtz taking the win and tenth place starter, Dustin Graham crossing the finish line in second place. Third was Dustin Lynch, Jack Phillips was fourth and Dean Hartwig came from sixteenth, to finish fifth. Ryan Wells was a DNF in the feature. His point lead dwindled to just four points ahead of Dustin Graham going into the final weeks.
Three out of state Stock Car drivers came to test the Boone waters before the upcoming Super Nationals. As mentioned above, Kyle Vanover had a good run to finish third in the feature. Brandon Czarapata, Pulaski, Wisconsin, is a former Super Nationals champion who also made his way to the speedway last night. He had a sixth place finish last evening. Another Nebraska driver, Shane Stutzman, finished tenth.
The upgraded scoreboard was up and running last night, showing the top ten positions via transponders. It is a perk for the fans, and looks to be a good thing for the upcoming Super Nationals.
Next week, August 5, the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks will join the field. There will also be a TiLube challenge race in the Modified division, where the top timed drivers from hot laps (via transponder times) will be locked into a 12-15 car, 15-lap race to cap off the night's racing. The winner will receive over $1,000 (as more sponsors are added) and the regular modified feature is also paying $1,000 to win, thanks to generous sponsors Saints Avenue Cafe in Boone, and West Side Auto Pros of Clive. It will also be a Fast Shafts Qualifier for the 2018 All Star ballot, and the Modifieds will be running a draw/redraw program.
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