Jeff Aikey took over on the third lap, then ran away from the pack and hid in lapped traffic to earn his second Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series win of the year when the tour made its second appearance of the season at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton.
Pole-sitter Denny Eckrich paced the field for the first two laps while Aikey quickly made his way past Jason Rauen from his second row start. Working the low side, Aikey worked under the race leader on lap two as the two battled side-by-side before Aikey cleared for the lead one lap later.
Aikey remained glued to the tractor tires on the low side of the speedway while Eckrich went to work up high with Rauen in third and Kurt Kile fourth. The top four remained unchanged throughout the first half of the event as Aikey pulled away from the pack.
From a fourth row start, Justin Kay worked the high groove of the lightning fast, smooth, 1/4-mile oval. He made his way into the top five after the 10th of 35 laps while Aikey continued to extend his advantage.
Aikey built up nearly a straightaway lead by the time he encountered lapped traffic on the 12th circuit. He flawlessly made his way through the backmarkers leaving the field to do battle behind him. Kay, continuing to run up high, gained ground on the leaders as he made his way into the top three a handful of laps later.
With around 10 laps to go, Aikey was holding on to his straightaway lead as Kay swept to the outside of Eckrich for second. Kay securely took away that position, but was unable to chip away further at the leader's big margin as Aikey drove to the $2,000 win. Kay came home second ahead of Eckrich and Rauen. Series points leader Chad Simpson, who was unable to start his heat and was relegated to a 24th place starting spot, roared through the pack to come home fifth. For Aikey, it was his second series win in the last three events, his first coming last month at Fayette County Speedway in West Union.
Corn Belt Clash
1. 77A Jeff Aikey
2. 15K Justin Kay
3. 50 Denny Eckrich
4. 98 Jason Rauen
5. 25 Chad Simpson
6. 77 Kurt Kile
7. 32 Chris Simpson
8. 20 Jake Meier
9. 56 Andy Eckrich
10. 78 Dale Stolte
11. 38 Colby Springsteen
12. 31 Jason Utter
13. 58 Dave Eckrich
14. M2 Wayne Hora
15. 33 Nick Marolf
16. 60 Kevin Pittman
17. 74A Russ Adams
18. 5M Mike Fryer
19. 74 Ron Boyse
20. 18 Brian Beaudry
21. 69 Todd Hormel
22. 28X Justin Mitchell
23. 88 Kevin Kile
24. 4 Joe Dirks
A stellar field of 30 Modifieds signed in to do battle for the $700 top prize. Mark Schulte drew the #1 chip for the feature and took advantage of it to lead that 25-lapper from flag-to-flag.
From his pole position start, Schulte immediately went to work on the high side of the speedway as Bill Butteris gave chase. Dan Chapman and John Bull followed while local hotshoe Ryan Dolan worked the high groove from his third row start.
After just two laps, Dolan motored into second place and quickly worked to run down Schulte. Running the high line as well up until that point, Dolan was forced to work the low groove to get around the leader. After multiple unsuccessful attempts, Schulte pulled away to score the victory.
Numerous terrific battles for position behind the leader were common throughout the 25-lap event. Mike Burbridge, who started alongside Dolan, was the lone driver willing to try the low groove early on. Those efforts proved successful as he crossed the line third behind Dolan. Dan Chapman, who ran both high and low throughout the event, came home fourth ahead of Steve Stewart.
Modified (top 10)
1. 27M Mark Schulte
2. 7 Ryan Dolan
3. 11B Mike Burbridge
4. 1 Dan Chapman
5. 17 Steve Stewart
6. 27 John Bull
7. 61 Bruce Hanford
8. 2B Bill Butteris
9. 26 Scott Fridley
10. 61C Noah Coppess
Brad Chandler took charge of the 19-car 4-Cylinder feature just prior to a lap three caution to drive to victory in that 12-lapper. From his second row starting spot, Chandler worked beneath leader Steve Miedke to assume command early on his way to the dominant win. Jarrod McMichael raced through the field and into the second spot with only a handful of laps remaining to take second ahead of Nathan Chandler.
4 -Cylinder (top 10)
1. 2 Brad Chandler
2. 5 Jarrod McMichael
3. 22 Nathan Chandler
4. 8 Chuck Hanson
5. 11R Steve Miedke
6. 6 Brannon Bechen
7. 72 Jacob Ellithorpe
8. 33D Darren Hartman
9. 52 Jamie Witham
10. 17 Mitchell Bielenberg
It was a great night of racing at CCR, my first visit there since the spring of 2002. The track was one of the smoothest and fastest I've seen anywhere all summer, which provided for outstanding racing all night.
While Aikey was the big winner of the night, Chad Simpson proved why he's been the man to beat in the series this year. Simpson, who was not only unable to start his heat due to mechanical problems, briefly left the track during a first-lap caution of the Late Model feature. It was the first night behind the wheel of a new car for Simpson, who is closing in on his first CBC series title.
Denny Eckrich's night may have been determined by the thrilling finish of his heat. Eckrich, who was running fifth in the late stages of that event, squeeked by brother Andy at the line to steal one of the four redraw spots. He then received the pole position start for the feature after the "1" was the lone remaining number in the bag at the end of the redraw. Andy, who missed out on the redraw, started the Late Model feature in 15th.
There were six drivers making their first Corn Belt appearances this season. Russ Adams, Todd Hormel, Dale Stolte and Colby Springsteen were among the newcomers. Other newcomers included Wayne Hora, who is normally seen driving a Street Stock around the Tipton oval, and Kevin Pittman, who was piloting the #60 normally driven by Dean Wagner. For Pittman, it was his first time behind the wheel of a Late Model in many years. He indicated he hadn't driven in that division since his track championship run at Independence... in 1998.
Thank you to Al and Kathy Dlouhy for being exceptional hosts and putting on a well-run, efficient mid-week show. While hot laps didn't start until the 7 p.m. hour, the final checkered flag waved just after 9:30.
The series continues its three-day swing on Thursday night at Highway 3 Raceway in Allison. If the cards fall in the right direction, Simpson may lock up the series title despite two races remaining on its schedule. The third and final race of the three consecutive nights of racing for the CBC boys will be Friday at Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minnesota. It wraps up in September at Deer Creek Speedway.
While I won't make it to Friday's show, I will be calling the action in Allison on Thursday night. Come on up to see the final appearance for the Late Models this season on the fast 1/2-mile. A full report will be right here at positivelyracing.com early Friday morning.
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