When he signed in at the pit gate, Darin Duffy drew the poker chip numbered "1" out of the bag of 100. He made sure he ended the night right where he started it - by winning the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour feature at Fayette County Speedway in West Union.
Twenty-seven IMCA Modifieds signed in to compete in the series' fifth of 10 events this season. All but one made the starting call for the 30-lap feature event on the 3/8-mile oval.
At the drop of the green, outside front row starter Nate Caruth made his way around pole-sitter Jeff Waterman to lead the first circuit. A number of caution periods slowed the early stages of the event, which allowed Duffy to work from a fourth row start and into the top three only a handful of laps into the event.
When the first long green flag run followed a lap five restart, Duffy worked the low groove of the speedway to sneak past Mike Jergens and put the move on Caruth. Around 10 laps into the event, Duffy made his way under the leader in the first set of turns to take charge.
Duffy continued to pace the field, extending his lead to over half of a straightaway before Jergens eventually made his way past Caruth a few laps later. By that time, Duffy entered lapped traffic, which allowed Jergens to stay within striking distance.
As Duffy's lead was down to just a few car-lengths over Jergens by the time the leader entered heavier backmarkers, the race's final yellow flag waved with just five laps to go. Duffy held serve over the final five circuits to score the victory ahead of Jergens and Jeff Waterman, who made a late pass on Caruth to come home third. Vern Jackson completed the top five.
Mod Notes: Not only did Duffy win the feature, he also won his heat, putting an extra $100 in his pocket for his clean sweep on the night... If my quick math is correct, Ed Thomas was the hard charger on the evening. After starting in the 25th position, Thomas gained 13 positions to come home 12th... Series points leader Josh Foster was not in attendance tonight and apparently won't be racing for a few more weeks. Word going around the pits was that he suffered a broken leg due to a non-racing related incident over this past weekend... Riley Emmel made the longest tow of all drivers in competition tonight as he came down from Saskatchewan, Canada. Emmel has also done some time at other area tracks in Iowa over the course of the summer.
Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modifieds
1. 19D Darin Duffy
2. 37X Mike Jergens
3. 71W Jeff Waterman
4. 7C Nate Caruth
5. 64 Vern Jackson
6. 8 Rich Smith
7. 19G Richie Gustin
8. 12J Justin O'Brien
9. 11B Mike Burbridge
10. 27M Mark Schulte
11. 98 Jason Snyder
12. 01 Ed Thomas
13. 10K Ronn Lauritzen
14. 60 Kurt Krauskopf
15. 12EH Riley Emmel
16. 57B Dennis Betzer
17. 11T Toby Hartman
18. 86D David McClain
19. 45 Ron Pope
20. 86 Jeff Morris
21. 12 Mark Elliott
22. 62 Greg Cox
23. 19J Jimmy Gustin
24. 91 Shawn Ryan
25. 12C Kent Croskey
26. 32 Rick Speck
DNS 12T Ty Glass
Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks were also on-hand for the event as those two divisions were racing for weekly points. As an added bonus, fans were provided with double features in both of those divisions. Last Friday's weekly program was cut short due to rain, so make-up features were run in addition to the regular features.
In the regular Tuesday night Stock Car feature, Dan Trimble, Mitch Hovden and Danny Cole Jr. engaged in a thrilling three-car battle out front for most of the 20-lap event. Cole held the point for much of the event after starting on the pole, but was heavily pressured by Hovden and Trimble as those three drivers broke away from the field.
Running the high side, Trimble worked into that battle after starting in the third row as Hovden worked the low side of the speedway. Trimble took over for good late in the race and held off Hovden at the line to score the victory. Lynn Panos made a late pass on Cole to steal third.
Stock Cars
1. 20 Dan Trimble
2. 15 Mitch Hovden
3. 97 Lynn Panos
4. 00C Danny Cole Jr.
5. 33 Kevin Donlan
6. 37 Loren Kuennen
7. 47 Mike Mauer
8. 98 Jeff Roete
9. 20R Gary Rotenberger
10. 55 Derek Dettmann
11. 00 Jeffory Fels
12. G1 Mike Padden
13. 29X Paul Fauser
14. 7 Rodney Rema
15. 67 Kyle Falck
16. 57V Mike VanGenderen
17. 15T Tim Helle
Trimble made it a clean sweep on the night by also winning the July 16 make-up feature. This time, starting inside of the third row, Trimble made much quicker work of the field as he moved to the front of the pack early. From there, he pulled away from his competitors to score the win by nearly a straightaway ahead of Panos, Donlan and Falck in the caution-free event.
Stock Cars (July 16 make-up)
1. Trimble
2. Panos
3. Donlan
4. Falck
5. Hovden
6. Rotenberger
7. Mauer
8. Cole
9. Kuennen
10. Dettmann
11. Helle
12. Padden
13. Roete
14. Rema
The Hobby Stocks provided another barn-burner in that division's regularly scheduled main event. Pole-sitter Steve Holthaus, Chris Hovden and Troy Hovey battled out front for much of that event. Working the high groove, Holthaus shot into the lead from his pole position start while Hovden worked low from a row three starting spot and Hovey worked a groove higher.
The leaders started to distance themselves from the field before a late caution bunched the field. On the restart, Hovey didn't make it up to speed when the green flag waved, allowing Hovden to skate by with little effort. Hovden remained committed to the low groove before finally making the pass on Holthaus, his step-father, to drive to the exciting win. Scott Spilde made a nice run through traffic from a fourth row start to take second ahead of Holthaus.
Hobby Stocks
1. 70C Chris Hovden
2. 18 Scott Spilde
3. 70 Steve Holthaus
4. 16 Dan Hovden
5. 76X Troy Hovey
6. 98R John Roete
7. 32 Casey Colsch
8. 8 Justin Kupka
9. 000 Ruth Fels
10. 30 Steven Ritter
11. 22 Steve Larson
12. 17 Andy Shannon
13. 98 Kyle Anderson
Spilde didn't have to run through as much traffic to make his way to the front of the make-up Hobby Stock feature. From his pole position start, Spilde checked out on the field at the drop of the green to lead that event in its entirety. He took the checkers a straightaway ahead of Larson and Holthaus.
Hobby Stocks (July 16 make-up)
1. Spilde
2. Larson
3. Holthaus
4. D. Hovden
5. Anderson
6. C. Hovden
7. Kupka
8. Roete
9. Ritter
10. Fels
11. Colsch
12. Shannon
As always, the Fayette County Fairgrounds was a great place for racing. Despite the slow start to the Modified feature, those in attendance were treated to a fantastic show from start to finish. It was nice to see promoters Chuck and Todd Ihde offer the make-up features to those in attendance tonight and still have everyone on the way home by 10:30. I admit, I did question the move at first given the lengthy intermission that followed heat race qualifying, but it turned out to be a good choice as the two make-up features were completed in just under 20 minutes.
The next date for the HDT is next Thursday, July 29, at Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah. While that race was originally scheduled for July 28, it has been pushed back to July 29. If you're planning on going, point the car north next Thursday night. If you get there Wednesday, it'll be a long, lonely wait before the first green flag waves.
Up next for Fayette County Speedway is the second appearance this season of the Dart Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series. The Late Models roll into town next Tuesday, July 27, to kick off the Fayette County Fair. Lance Matthees earned a thrilling win there last month in a great battle with Adam Hensel. I understand regular weekly divisions will also be competing for points that night. Check out http://www.fayettespeedway.com/ for details.
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