Gustin "walks the dog" for the Modified win at Boone

Iowa just cannot shake this chilly, damp, and windy weather this spring, as fans sat bundled up once again at the Boone Speedway on Saturday night.  The racing action however, was stellar as 135 race cars were in competition.  An added King of the Hill for the IMCA Modifieds also entertained the crowd with Mike VanGenderen standing atop the hill.   Jimmy Gustin found victory lane for the first time this season in the IMCA Snap-on Tools Modified class, Jay Schmidt returned with a repaired race car from an incident last week, to find the winner's circle in the Arnold Motor Supply IMCA Stock Car division.  Cory Pestotnik looked strong in winning the Elmquist Towing IMCA Northern SportMod feature. The K1 Race Gear IMCA RaceSaver Sprint feature saw DJ Palmer snag his first career win in the division.   John Watson returned to victory lane in the Pickett Salvage Hobby Stocks, as did Bryan Zehm in the My Race Pass MADCRA Mod Lites.   The Two-Person Cruiser feature saw the duo of Mason and Agan repeat their win from last week.

The Mod Lite feature went to Bryan Zehm who led the 15-lap caution free race from start to finish.  He kept his ride on the low side during the contest, had close company the whole way and had to fend off second place Randy Bryan and third place finisher Justin Rankin the entire race.  Mike Kennedy finished a close fourth place, and last week's winner Joel Huggins, completed the top five.  This was Zehm's second win at the speedway this season.

The IMCA Northern SportMods just could not get their rhythm going early on as they saw four caution flags fly in the first six laps of their 18-lap main event, but then were able to race without stoppage the rest of the way to the checkers.   Cory Pestotnik started eighth and had the lead with a handful of laps in the books, and from there on out, pulled away to a decisive win....his first of the year.  Tyler Inman chased the winner across the finish line from a distance to score the runner up position.  Eleventh place starter Tony Olson was third, fourth went to Jake McBirnie from sixteenth starting spot, and Kyle Olson was fifth.

The IMCA Modified 20-lap feature went flag to flag and it was Jimmy Gustin with a "walking the dog" win.  Gustin, who started eleventh, was in the hunt early in his pursuit of early leader Denny Pittman.  Just after lap six was scored, Gustin made his way around Pittman to take over the lead, and then pulled away from the field.  Behind him however, there was a fierce battle going on between Pittman, Thor Anderson, Al Wolfgram, and Ricky Thornton, Jr. After several position swaps, Thor Anderson held down the runner up spot, third was Al Wolfgram, fourth went to Denny Pittman, and Ricky Thornton, Jr. rounded out the top five.  This was Gustin's first trip to victory lane at Boone Speedway this season. He has put up a personal challenge at the track this year with $2,000...betting he will be the track champion.  Last night showed, he may have put his money where his mouth was.  Time will tell the tale on his challenge at the track.

Earlier, there was a King of the Hill competition in the Modified division with a $500 pay off, and it was Mike VanGenderen in the final round besting Al Wolfgram, Thor Anderson, and Josh May.

Jay Schmidt's bad luck from last week, which left him with a disabled race car and a bruised body,  had a big turn around this week as he took the win in the IMCA 18-lap Stock Car feature.  Early leader Justin Nehring had the bad luck turn this week, as he had to exit during a caution at lap ten, which left Mike Goldsberry inheriting the lead.  Meanwhile, he had some heavy competition closing in as the race wore on.  He was having to fend off the advances of Jay Schmidt, Cody Gustoff, Scott Davis and Kevin Opheim.  An incident on the track resulted in a green-white-checkered finish, and it was defending track champion, Jay Schmidt getting his redemption for last week, as he flashed under the double checkers first and scored the victory.  Mike Goldsberry was second, third was Cody Gustoff, Scott Davis finished fourth, and Kevin Opheim took fifth. Schmidt said in his post-race interview with Coty Mallicoat, that he had to thank all those that worked feverishly this week to get  the race car back together after last Saturday night's incident that found the drive shaft coming up into the race car a tad too close to his seat.

A new first time winner took the podium in the RaceSaver Sprint 20-lap feature.  DJ Palmer scored his first career win in the sprint car class, and did a little wing dance in celebration.  C. J. Houseman was closing in on Palmer, who had led from the drop of the green, but ran out of time to score more than the runner up spot.  Mike Houseman also closed in on the leaders in the final moments, but had to be content with third place.  Fourth went to Tyler Thompson, and fifth was Joel Thorpe.  The race went caution free. Palmer, from Des Moines, is piloting a sprint car for the first time this year.

John Watson got back to his winning ways and scored the Hobby Stock win.  Watson came from eighth starting spot, to take the victory in the 15-lap contest.  Aaron Rudolph started ninth, and took second, third went to Kaden Reynolds who started twelfth, Shaun Wirtz came from sixteenth to score fourth place, and Dillon Magnussen started thirteenth, and was fifth.  This was Watson's second win of the 2019 season.

There were several Missouri and Kansas racers in the house last night due to their regular Saturday night tracks getting weathered out.  Cory Wray made the trek from Trenton, Missouri to compete in the Modified class.  In the Northern SportMods, Cameron, Missouri was represented by Coleman Browning and Caleb Pugh.  St. Joe, Missouri's Jeffrey Sears was in the house, and Josh Munsen came from Atchison, Kansas, and Nicholas Carpenter traveled from Leavenworth, Kansas to try out the Boone Speedway.  The Stock Cars had visitors from the south as well with Carson and Connor Masoner coming up from St. Joe, Missouri.

Next Saturday, all classes will once again be in competition, and the UTV Side-by-Side machines will be exhibiting with a race on the frontstretch and through the infield.  Hot laps are 5:45, and racing at 6:30.  Hopefully, it will be a warmer night of racing!

Get out and find a race to attend in your area and help support the sport we all love....dirt track racing!