Thursday, July 9, 2020

Carter takes bounty on Agee, Hughes stays perfect

It was a hot and sticky night for racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway Wednesday, and a short car count as well as a light crowd.  The drivers had voted for the races to run however, despite the heat warning, the Monster Half-Mile got its sixth race of the season in the books.

Jonathan Hughes would keep his streak in the non wing Sprints going, the bounty going unclaimed.  Cayden Carter on the other hand, claimed the $100 bounty on Derrick Agee when he took the Stock Car win.  Dustin Griffiths got back to his winning ways, snagging the Hobby Stock feature event, as did Curtis Van Der Wal when he took the checkers in the SportMod Division, and Billy Cain made it win #2 for the season in the Sport Compact class.

No one was about to get the $250 bounty on Jonathan Hughes last evening.  He won the Non-Wing Sprint feature by half a lap.  He started third, and had the lead immediately.  Kelly Graham took second followed by Garrett Alexander in third, Doug Sylvester was fourth, Tyler Graves fifth, and Lance Silvers was sixth.  Next week, there will be a $300 bonus for anyone that can beat Jonathan Hughes.  Hughes has won six in a row this year at the track....working on a perfect season.

Curtis Van Der Wal had things back on track last night, winning the SportMod 16-lap feature going away.  He led all caution free laps to take the checkers.  Youngster Maguire DeJong finished as the runner up.  Last week's winner Logan Anderson took third, Steve Berry was fourth, and veteran racer Steve Ruepke rounded out the top five.

Billy Cain claimed his second win of the season by taking the checkers in the Sport Compact division.  Last week's winner Tyler Haring was appearing to be on his way to victory when he developed mechanical issues while leading and dropped out of the race.  Seth Meinders took the runner up spot, Dalton Sowers was third, followed by Kevin Garrett in fourth and James Haring in fifth.

Dustin Griffiths took home the trophy in the Hobby Stock class when he won the 14-lap feature event.  Griffiths snatched the lead away from Rick VanDusseldorp at lap three.  However, VanDusseldrop never let the leader rest as he persistently pestered him the remainder of the race, peeking low for a way around.  It wasn't to be though, as Griffiths raced home to the checkers and the win...his third of the season.  VanDusseldorp had to be content with second place, Brad Stephens finished third, fourth going to Jesse Williams, and Aaron Martin completed the top five.

The night cap was sixteen laps of Stock Car racing.  Derrick Agee was going for his fourth win in a row and a $100 bounty had been placed on his head.  That extra $100 incentive would pay off for Cayden Carter who was back racing the "Orange Crush" machine.  Carter led all laps on his way to victory.  Derrick Agee was right on his tail the entire time however as the two pulled away from the field.  He looked for anyway around leader Carter, but had nothing for him, and had to be satisfied with the runner up spot last night.  Following a distant third was Howard Gordon, Jr., Mike Petersen, in his first appearance at the track, was fourth, and Jason McDaniel was fifth.

A special thanks to Saif Grafke and company from Dirt n Asphalt for handing out cold water to the drivers, infield workers, and fans last evening.  It was a great gesture on their part, and one that was greatly appreciated.

Next week will be Hall of Fame induction night, with Carl Vander Wal, Dan Dickey, and Tim Folkerts joining the prestigious names already voted in.  It was announced last evening that a fourth inductee, I believe being added by the three new inductees, will be former flagman Engel DeKock.  Announcer Jerry Mackey also announced that he will be joined on the mic by an already Hall of Famer....Bobby Greiner, Jr. which should no doubt, add to the evenings entertainment.  Hot laps are 7:15 with racing scheduled for 7:45.

Find a race to attend and support the sport we all love....dirt track racing.






No comments:

Post a Comment