It was a warm one at the Boone Speedway on Saturday night and a sparse crowd due to the extreme temperatures and humidity. The racing went on however as the IMCA Sport Compacts joined in the fun, along with the regular weekly classes.
It was Water World night at the track on the grandstand side, and the youngsters....and others....got to enjoy a slip 'n slide for some cooling off fun on the sweltering night.
Jimmy Gustin returned to Victory Lane after a long absence in the IMCA Friesen Performance Modifieds. Johnathon Logue returned to the winner's circle in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, and Braden Richards took his second feature win of the season in the IMCA Friesen Performance Northern SportMod class. Riley Christensen got win number one when he took checkers in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, it was Joe Glick winning the IMCA STARS Mod Lite feature, and the IMCA MACH-1 Sport Compact win went to Kolby Sabin. The 2-person Cruisers completed their season at Boone Speedway, and the Tag Team Belt went to Max Allen and Michael Miller.
Feature racing kicked off with the STARS Mod Lites running their 15 lap main event. Joe Glick took the win by holding off the challenges of Joel Huggins in a close one at the finish line. Following a ways behind in third was Austin Gray. Bryan Zehm was fourth, and early leader Ben George came home in fifth. This was Glick's second win of the year.
At lap ten of the Mod Lite feature, the race was red flagged when Chad Culp came to a halt in turn one. It was then determined that there was some sort of medical issue, and the ambulance came to help him out of his car. He was alert and talking, but was transported. No word on what may have happened.
The IMCA Northern SportMods 18 lap feature was plagued with yellows, which seemed at times to come every one or two laps.
Jeremiah Reed led the opening laps, but on lap three it was Camden Vincent as captain of the ship. Reed would weather through four more yellows before Braden Richards, who had been pressuring the leader lap after lap, was finally able to make the pass for the lead with just two laps remaining. Richards would also have to withstand a caution and subsequent restart in a green-white-checkered finish. He was able to do so and snagged his second win of the 2022 in this, his rookie year in the SportMod division. He is the son of Stock Car driver, "Hot" Rod Richards.
Following second place Vincent across the line was St. Joseph, Missouri's Tim Eaton, who started twelfth, and finished in third. Fourth went to early leader Jeremiah Reed, and completing the top five was Dusty Masolini.
It was a crowd-pleasing win in the IMCA Modified 20 lap main event when Jimmy Gustin saw the checkers first. Gustin, who started ninth, took the lead from Adam Hommerding, visiting Lake Havasu City, Arizona racer, just before the halfway mark of the event.
As the race wore on, Gustin had some heavy hitters breathing down his neck in the likes of Tim Ward, Jake McBirnie, Nick Roberts, and Russ Dickerson who were duking it out behind him for position. However, as the checkers flew, it was Gustin taking the win. Ward, McBirnie, Roberts, and Dickerson filled out second through fifth respectively.
Gustin exclaimed in his Victory Lane interview, that it had been a long time in coming....his first win since June of 2020. He is a previous track champion, a Super Nationals champion, and has won many times in the past, so this one was extra sweet after not seeing that checkered flag for so long.
The IMCA Sport Compacts got their Super Nationals Shake Down run as they joined the other IMCA classes last night. They ran a 15 lap feature event.
Kolby Sabin started ninth, took the lead on lap three and drove away. He finished far ahead of second place Tyler Fiebelkorn, who was successful in fending off the advances of third place Jacob Walding. Matt Miller started eleventh and took fourth, and it was Tayla Lange taking fifth place.
The IMCA Stock Cars had their own caution plagued 20 lap feature event, the time limit being called on lap fourteen when the fifth yellow flew....then going caution free the rest of the way. In the end it was Johnathon Logue standing in Victory Lane after he passed polesitter Brandon Williams on lap eight, and then held on to claim the win.
Josh Daniels, who had just come off his Salute to Veterans win, worked the bottom of the track and finished as the runner up after starting back in eighteenth. Early leader Brandon Williams took third, fourth was seventeenth place starter David Smith, and Mike Vondrak, Galva, Iowa was fifth.
The night cap was 15 laps of IMCA Hobby Stock racing, and they went flag to flag. Riley Christensen saw his first win, as he led all but a brief moment to capture his first ever win at the Speedway. Chad Rigby was the one challenging Christensen for much of the race. He was able to take the lead for just a fleeting moment, and had to settle for second place. Third went to Matt McDonald, John Watson was fourth, and Solomon Bennett was fifth.
It's less than a month away until the 40th IMCA Super Nationals will be running. August 20 is Season Championship night, then on the following Saturday, August 27 it will be the Tune-Up for the Super Nationals. The Wild Rose Casino Prelude to the Super Nationals follows the next weekend, September 3 and 4, and then Monday, Labor Day August 5, is day #1 of the Super Nationals for 2022. This will be our 35th straight year of attending the Super Nationals, and we look forward to it once again.
It hardly seems possible that it is that time of the year again, with racing winding down at most tracks. Keep supporting the sport we all love....dirt track racing!
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