Five track titles claimed at Boone Speedway

Saturday night saw the Boone Speedway close out their regular season schedule.  It was season championships, and at the end of the night, five drivers were crowned with a track title. There was a big crowd on hand to witness the night's racing program.

The top 20 in points were locked into the features, all classes starting straight up by points. B mains would have been run to fill in the fields, but with a top count of 25 in the Stock Cars, none were needed.  The drivers were introduced on the frontstretch prior to their respective main event, allowing fans to show their appreciation.

Only one point separated three drivers in the Mod Lite chase for the track title going into the final contest. Bryan Zehm sat one point up over both Joe Glick and Travis Stensland.  Stensland started third, and immediately flew to the lead.  From there on, it was all Stensland's race, leading all laps in the caution free event.  He took the checkers, the win, and the track championship.  He finished well ahead of second place Mike Kennedy, who started tenth.  Third went to Joe Glick, fourth was Randy Bryan, and Charlie Brown completed the top five.  Stensland won the championship by two points over Glick.

Andrew Burg had the season championship wrapped up before the feature began for the IMCA Hobby Stocks, leading by 31 points, but he added an explanation mark by winning the 15-lap feature in easy fashion.  Burg led flag to flag, in the race that went caution free.  Jack Phillips finished as the runner up, third went to Aaron Rudolph, Solomon Bennett finished fourth, followed by John Watson in fifth.   This was Burg's sixth trip to victory lane at Boone Speedway this season, and his first track championship at the 1/4 mile track.

Johnathon Logue started outside the front row beside point leader Austin Luellen in the 20-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature.  There was 15 points separating the two for the track championship.  Logue took the lead as the race went green, and kept his ride at the front of the pack the entire distance to take the checkers and the win.  Austin Luellen finished second, but had a real battle to pull it off with Jake McBirnie, Cory Pestotnik, and Chad Ryerson.  Cory Pestotnik took third place, in a charge to the finish line, just beating fourth place Jake McBirnie, followed closely by Chad Ryerson in fifth.  Logue captured his fourth feature win at Boone this year and Austin Luellen held on to his point lead to claim the track title.

Jay Schmidt went into the 20-lap feature in the IMCA Stock Cars up by 16 points, but with a field of 25 cars, it wasn't a given track championship quite yet.  Johnny Spaw was the driver sitting in second place, and just 2 more points behind him, was Donavon Smith.  As the race began, Spaw jumped to the lead, never to look back on his way to victory.  Donavon Smith took a couple of peeks for a way around, but had to be content with second.  Thirteenth place starter, Devin Smith was the hard charger of the race, as he finished third.  Fourth went to Scott Davis, and Robert Stofer was fifth.  Spaw took his fourth feature win of the season, but with a seventh place finish, Jay Schmidt took the track championship, repeating his 2015 title.

Just 8 points separated Randy Havlik and Eric Elliott for the track title in the IMCA Modifieds.  Elliott snatched the lead as the 25-lap race began and Havlik tucked in right behind him to run second.  At lap nine, it was fifth place starter Tim Ward taking command and from then on, never giving up that top spot the remaining laps to the checkers.  He finished comfortably ahead of second place Eric Elliott.  Third went to seventh place starter Tony Hofbauer, a close fourth was Al Wolfgram, and Randy Havlik rounded out the top five.  Ward chalked up his fourth win at the speedway, and Havlik claimed the track championship as well as the $8,000 Snap on Tool Box that went along with it. Havlik, in  his Assault Chassis, claimed his first Boone Speedway track championship.

The regular season has drawn to an end at the Boone Speedway, but there is much racing yet to come on the track.  Next Saturday night, September 1 is the Prelude to the Super Nationals.  Pits open at 2, grandstands at 3, hot laps at 4, and racing at 5.  Expect a plethora of cars tuning up for the 36th Annual Super Nationals that starts on Labor Day, Monday, September 3. A look back at last year's Prelude, shows that 287 cars packed the pits, for a full and long night of racing action. Many of the campers will be already set up in the parking lot as well, awaiting the six night Super National's run.