"G Money" takes the money times two at Boone

It was the TiLUBE Challenge, Super Saturday, and the Watermelon Classic all rolled into one at the Boone Speedway on Saturday night.  The IMCA Modifieds were racing for $1,000 each to win the TiLUBE Challenge and the Super Saturday Modified A Main feature, plus the feature winners, as well as the heat winners in all divisions, went home with that special watermelon prize. Yes, the drivers were racing for watermelons last night. 

Charlie Brown led the troops in the opening laps of the 15-lap Mod Lite feature but soon had Randy Bryan knocking at his door.  Bryan slipped by for the lead at lap nine and never looked back on his way to the checkers and the win.  Tenth place starter Bryan Zehm hustled his way to the front and finished as the runner up.  Charlie Brown took third, fourth went to Travis Stensland, and visiting racer from Salina, Kansas, Justin Kinderknecht raced from fourteenth starting spot, to finish fifth.  This was Bryan's third victory of the season.

The points battle in the Mod Lite class continues to be a tight one.  Stensland took over the point lead, but both Bryan Zehm and Joe Glick sit just one point back. 

It was a fight to the finish line in the IMCA Northern SportMod A Main event, with Austin Luellen barely beating out Chad Ryerson for the win.  A close third went to eleventh place starter Johnathon Logue who had done battle with the two top finishers much of the race.  Jake McBirnie made a surge through the field to finish in fourth from starting twentieth, and tenth place starter Cory Pestotnik rounded out the top five.  Luellen captured his fourth feature win at the speedway this year.

Luellen holds a nineteen point advantage over Logue for the track championship race with just three more weekly races remaining. 

The Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks made their second appearance at the track and Myles Michehl repeated his win from earlier in the year.  Michehl led from the drop of the green with Pat Graham tucking in right behind him.  Graham pestered Michehl much of the race, but had to settle for the runner up spot.  A distant third place went to Jeff Frevert, Shonn Mapes was fourth and Lou Sipolt was fifth.

It was veteran racer, Robert Stofer taking a trip to victory lane in the IMCA Stock Car feature.  Stofer started seventh and ran down then leader Rod Richards to take the lead at lap five.  A couple of yellow flag restarts didn't hinder Stofer's road to the checkers for the first time this season.  Richard held on to the runner up spot, third went to Josh Daniels, Scott Davis was fourth and Donavon Smith completed the top five.

Another tight battle for the track championship continues in the Stock Car division as Donovan Smith leads Jay Schmidt by one point, and Johnny Spaw sits thirteen points out, as the season nears it's end.

The TiLUBE Challenge for the IMCA Modifieds saw twelve drivers qualify for a chance at the $1,000 prize.  Drivers winning their heats were automatically qualified, and then through the calculations of  posting quick lap times run during hot laps, passing points and finishing positions taken into account, the remaining nine drivers were locked into the starting field.  The twelve drivers started three-wide and four rows deep for the 15-lap challenge that saw cars eliminated if they were running last on the track.

Richie Gustin, the driver known as "G Money" with his habit of winning when there is extra money on the line, drew the pole starting spot and shot to the immediate lead.  From there on, he stayed at the head of the field, and swept to the win and took home the $1,000.  Jimmy Gustin was second, Kelly Shryock third, Tim Ward finished fourth, and Ricky Thornton was fifth.

In the 20-lap IMCA Modified's Super Saturday feature event, and another $1,000 on the line, it was once again Richie Gustin taking home the prize.  His fight for the win was a tough battle keeping Ricky Thornton at bay, but in the end, he took the checkers first, Thornton going second.  Tim Ward was a close third, followed by Kelly Shryock in fourth and Russ Dickerson rounding out the top five.

Randy Havlik continues his point lead in the Modified class, leading Eric Elliott by fifteen points.

The finale of the evening was the running of the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature.  Adam Tiernan would lead all but the opening lap of the race, and captured his first ever feature win.  He fended off the late race challenges of Gregg Anderson who had to be content with the runner up spot.  Third was Matt McDonald, fourth went to twelfth place starter John Watson, and Shane Butler took fifth.

Andrew Burg holds a huge lead for the championship in the Hobby Stock class, leading second place Solomon Bennett by 56 points.

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