I think it's safe to assume that the list of drivers who have passed Jeff Aikey for the lead in a Late Model feature is a very short one. Tommy Elston not only assured himself a place on that list, but he passed the all-time career wins leader in the Deery Brothers Summer Series for I.M.C.A. Late Models twice on his way to victory lane in a series classic on May 20 at Highway 3 Raceway in Allison, Iowa.
Thirty-five I.M.C.A. Late Models signed in to compete on the 1/2-mile oval, along with 44 drivers in the other four divisions competing in the first race held at the Butler County Fairgrounds in 2009.
Throughout the day, wind speeds of 30mph and stronger kept the track prep crew busy watering the track with the hope of keeping the dust down. Unfortunately, the winds blew throughout the night, although they did calm quite a bit once the sun went down. As it turned out, the winds came from the south, directly toward the grandstands. Although this unpreventable situation created less than ideal conditions for those in attendance, the action on the track more than made up for it.
Front row starters T.J. Criss and Joe Zrostlik exchanged the lead for the first three laps of the 35-lap Late Model headliner while Aikey went to work on the high side of the speedway from his second row start. Aikey swept around Zrostlik in turn two on the fourth lap to assume command.
While Aikey paced the field, Elston followed him to the front of the pack from his third row start. Running the low groove, Elston settled into second on lap six as he and Aikey gained half of a straightaway lead on the field when the yellow flag waved on lap eight.
After racing resumed, Elston shot to the inside of Aikey to take control for the first time in the event on the very next lap. Immediately, the duo again to put distance on the rest of the field while Rob Toland was making his way through traffic from a fifth row starting spot.
Elston and Aikey continued to battle side-by-side with Elston holding the advantage each time around the speedway until Aikey nosed in front at the completion of the 15th circuit. By this time, Toland made his way into fourth chasing down Criss.
Aikey began to extend his lead over Elston when the leaders encountered lapped traffic two laps later. He put a straightaway distance on the rest of the field as he navigated through the backmarkers. It was also on lap 17 when Toland worked past Criss for third and Ray Guss, who qualified for the feature by winning a B feature, settled into the top five.
A dozen car-lengths out front, Aikey's lead vanished on lap 21 when the caution flag waved for Darrel DeFrance's No. 99D which was stranded on the high side of turns three and four.
As the race returned to green, Aikey held his ground out front while Toland moved to the inside of Elston for a brief two-car battle for second. Guss entered the mix as he made his way into the top four.
Elston then pulled away from Toland, leaving him to do battle with Guss as he attempted to chase down Aikey once more. With the lead pair remaining unchanged, Guss made his way around Toland just prior to a lap 25 caution.
On the ensuing restart, Elston went to work on the high side of the speedway and inched ahead of Aikey one lap later when the caution flag waved again, this time for Jason Frankel. Frankel, who won the other B feature earlier in the evening, started the event from the seventh row, and was charging through the pack and into the top five when he entered the first set of turns too hard and spun his No. 0F.
Elston paced the field to the green flag with only nine laps remaining as Guss worked the low side of Aikey for second. He snagged the position just prior to the race's final caution flag on lap 29.
When racing resumed for the final time, Elston ran high and Guss tried to make a move on the low side of him. Despite pulling even with Elston a couple of times, Guss could not make it stick as Elston drove to the win by a couple of car-lengths. Aikey crossed the line in third. Terry Neal quietly made a late run to take fourth ahead of Toland.
One interesting note about tonight's field, series points leader Mark Burgtorf was not in attendance. Robby Warner, who entered the night 10th in series points, was the only other driver in the top 10 in the standings not to compete.
Also, a caution during B feature competition caused a brief delay as Jill George, the driver of the No. D1, was involved in a multi-car caution. After a few minutes of tending to her, Jill was able to walk to the ambulance under her own power, however she did not return to competition this evening. We're all hoping for a quick recovery, Jill!
Feature Results (starting positions in parentheses)
1. Tommy Elston (5)
2. Ray Guss Jr. (14)
3. Jeff Aikey (4)
4. Terry Neal (7)
5. Rob Toland (9)
6. Boone McLaughlin (6)
7. Jay Johnson (12)
8. T.J. Criss (2)
9. Darren Ackerman (15)
10. Jason Frankel (13)
11. Tyler Bruening (3)
12. Al Johnson (20)
13. Charlie McKenna (23)
14. Travis Smock (16)
15. Joe Zrostlik (1)
16. Bryan Klein (19)
17. Greg Kastli (21)
18. Bobby Hansen (24)
19. Tom Darbyshire (17)
20. Gary Webb (8)
21. Darrel DeFrance (11)
22. Justin Kay (22)
23. Dale Hackwell Jr. (18)
24. Matt Strassheim (10)
Non-Qualifiers
Jill George
Ryan Giles
Luke Goedert
Sam Halstead
Jon Merfeld
Luke Pestka
Rob Petsche
Leon Thomsen
Carey Umbarger
Kyle Wahlert
Paul Watters
In other action, pole-sitter Shane Barnett held the early advantage in the 12-lap Hobby Stock feature. Running the high side, Barnett fended off the challenges of Chris Hovden's attack from the low groove.
Barnett held the point until racing resumed following a mid-race caution. At that time, Hovden rocketed beneath the race leader to take command. Hovden extended his lead over the next few laps, however Barnett closed the gap in the waning moments.
By a car-length at the line, Hovden held off Barnett's late charge to score the win. Brandon Harris motored from a fourth row start to take third.
Austin Curtin led wire-to-wire in the 10-lap Stock Car main event. A relatively easy win, Curtin held a 10 car-length advantage over Arlen Hoy when the checkers waved. Jake Ludeking ran third.
Another flag-to-flag winner, Irv Fosaaen coasted to victory in the Hornet feature by a straightaway margin ahead of Ricky Kay. Bill Whalen crossed the line in third.
Dan Farrell was the winner in the 12-lap B Modified feature. Farrell withstood the efforts of Curtis Engen to take home top honors. Kaleb Bentley made an impressive run from a fifth row start to finish third.
Overall, it was a good night of racing at H3R. In every previous visit to the speedway, I watched the events unfold from the crow's nest announcing the races. It was a nice change of pace to view from the grandstands despite the dusty conditions. While many tracks have struggled with track conditions for their season openers this year, the crew at H3R prepared a very racy surface for its opener.
One concern that I did have (and always have when it comes to mid-week shows) was the fact that five divisions were scheduled to compete. Generally, two or, at most, three divisions is plenty for a mid-week show. I believe tonight's car count was a testament to that belief. While the racing was good in all five divisions, having that many classes of cars wasn't really necessary. Granted, the final checkered flag waved at 10:25 after the 7 o'clock start, however the six stock cars and nine hornets may have only delayed the event. When you schedule a special event during the week, chances are high that you'll have many visitors who travel long distances. Getting everyone out of the gate by 10pm is always a good rule of thumb to go by when you're racing during the week.
One other housekeeping note concerned the lack of driver information. The first heat race was completed before the drivers' names were made available to the announcer. For the fans in attendance, it's always good to know who you're watching. For drivers and fans of those specific drivers, it's also always nice to hear your name over the loud-speaker. Although I'm familiar with many drivers from the area, a few names were new to me. Some were also difficult to decipher over the PA so I apologize if any are listed incorrectly in tonight's recap.
Slated for a half-dozen specials this season, there is no weekly racing scheduled for the fast 1/2-mile, however the USMTS will be making a visit in the near future, as will the Corn Belt Clash for Late Models (formerly the Indee Open Series). The Deery Series is also scheduled to make a return visit later this summer.
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