Saturday was Casey's night at the Boone Speedway and another great night of exciting racing action. One hundred thirty cars filled the pits for the six classes in competition that saw two drivers make their first trip to victory lane.
Randy Bryan was the first driver of the night that put his ride in the winner's circle after winning the 15-lap Mod Lite feature. Bryan inherited the lead at lap ten when then leader Charlie Brown drove off the top of turns three and four. Bryan, who had started tenth, had to hold off second place Mike Kennedy who made it interesting at the line, but was able to secure the win. Third went to eleventh place starter Travis Stensland, fourth was Tanner Gannon and Joe Glick completed the top five. This was Bryan's second win of the year. Travis Stensland holds a slim two point lead in the track points over Joe Glick.
There was lots of close racing action in the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod A feature as several cars battled for the lead. Cory Pestotnik made it to the front on lap three after starting sixth, but was soon nagged by Johnathon Logue and not to be outdone, Jake McBirnie and then Austin Luellen joined in the tussle at the front. Logue took the top spot at lap five, but had the hounds barking at his heels. Jake McBirnie was able to take command on lap nine, after a backstretch pass, and then put a bit of breathing room between himself and the pack. He crossed the finish line comfortably ahead of second place Logue. Austin Luellen finished third, fourth was early leader Cory Pestotnik, and Adam Shelman made a charge through the field from eighteenth starting spot, to finish fifth. Luellen continues to hold down the point lead in the SportMod class.
Lincoln, Nebraska racer Matt Richards made the haul over to Boone and went home with his first IMCA RaceSaver Sprint feature win. Richards, in his sharp looking #1R, overtook then leader Joel Thorpe at lap ten and held the lead to the flying checkers. Ben Woods came from eighth starting position, to finish a close second at the line. Tyler Thompson, Joel Thorpe and Devin Wignall rounded out the top five. Thompson continues his hold on the points lead, ten points up on Mike Moore.
The 18-lap IMCA Stock Car main event was up next, and it was Jay Schmidt taking the win in this one. Schmidt started eleventh and by lap three was already up to fourth, when the yellow flag waved. The restart found Schmidt ready to challenge leader Craig Carlson, and just three laps later got the job done, taking over as captain of the ship. Schmidt distanced himself from the battle going on for second place between Carlson and Jeff Mueller, and took the comfortable win. Carlson and Mueller battled side by side to the finish line, with Mueller squeaking by Carlson as they finished second and third respectively. Tyler Pickett and veteran Robert Stofer completed the top five. This was Schmidt's first visit to victory lane this season. Schmidt took over the point lead with the win last evening, but it's a tight race. He leads by a mere one point over veteran racer Johnny Spaw, and sitting just three points out, is Donavon Smith.
The close racing continued in the IMCA 20-lap Modified feature. Tim Ward started tenth and found his way to the front at lap eleven, but had several challenging him for the top spot. Nick Roberts, last week's winner, hounded Ward in the late part of the race, but then Jon Snyder and Jimmy Gustin appeared on the scene to throw their hats into the ring. Ward however, was able to ward off any challenges, and took the double checkers. Not far behind in second was Jon Snyder who had started twelfth, Roberts was third, hard charger Jimmy Gustin came from twenty-second to take fourth, and Thor Anderson came from fourteenth, to finish fifth. Ward won for the second time in 2018, and now leads Randy Havlik by one point in the track championship battle.
The night's racing ended with the flag to flag 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Adam Tiernan held down the top position much of the race, had it taken away briefly by Keith Burg, and then regained it. Tiernan was looking to be on his way to his first ever Hobby Stock win, but John Watson burst his bubble. Watson took the lead on the white flag lap, and snatched away the win. Tiernan had to settle for the runner up spot, third and fourth were the father/son duo of Andrew Burg and Keith Burg, and Shane Butler was fifth. Watson matched his win from last week, and now has three wins for the year. Andrew Burg holds down an eighteen point lead for the point's battle over Solomon Bennett.
Boone Speedway completed its eleventh straight week of racing on Saturday night, only having lost the first two scheduled pre-season Frostbuster specials. I was surprised when checking my records, that they have escaped Mother Nature's wrath that has played havoc with the racing programs around the state this year. Let's hope I haven't jinxed the rest of the season!
Next Saturday night's show at Boone will be Rodeo Night. Special guest will be Jason Dent, the Humeston, Iowa rodeo clown that appeared on the Big Brother television show. He will be signing autographs as his alter ego, "Whistle Nut", and perhaps, bringing along his bovine friend, "Ole". It's also another "Super Saturday" on the docket. The IMCA Modifieds will be running for the $1,000 to win prize, and the IMCA Northern SportMods will be vying for $750. Those two classes will be a draw/redraw show. The Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks, RaceSaver Sprints, and Mod Lites will also be running.
It was sad news this morning to learn of another loss of the racing family. World of Outlaw driver Jason Johnson, the Ragin' Cajun" from Louisiana, succumbed to a racing accident suffered at the the Beaver Dam Raceway last evening. RIP, Jason.
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