Kurt Kile started outside of the front row, took charge at the drop of the green flag and led all 30 laps on his way to victory in Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series action at Highway 3 Raceway in Allison on August 26. Kile first fended off the challenges of Jason Rauen, then held a late-charging Chad Simpson at bay to take home the $2,000 top prize.
Kile assumed command from his outside front row start as he rocketed past his brother and polesitter, Kevin Kile, at the drop of the green. Jason Rauen, who started outside of row two, moved to the inside and made his way into second by the time the first caution flag waved on lap three. The yellow flag waved twice more in the 30-lapper, on laps seven and eight, with the top three remaining unchanged.
By the time the caution flag was put away for the night, series points leader Chad Simpson worked the low groove into the top five after starting 10th. On the final restart following the lap eight stoppage, Simpson went to work on the low side, making his way past Jake Meier a short time later for fourth. By lap 11, he made his way below Kevin Kile and settled into third.
Out front, Jason Rauen was working the low groove to challenge Kurt Kile for the lead, however Kile was too fast in the higher groove and held him off while Simpson closed on the lead pair. He reeled in the leaders as the top three broke away from the field just past the midway point of the race.
As the leaders dueled, Chris Simpaon was making noise of his own, racing from his eighth starting spot into fourth. After clearing Meier and Kevin Kile, he pulled to within five car-lengths of the lead trio with only 10 laps to go.
With only a handful of laps left, Chad Simpson cleared Rauen and set his sights on Kurt Kile as the leader came upon lapped traffic. Although Simpson closed on the leader and made a brief bid to his inside for the top spot, Kile held on for the victory by a few car-lengths at the line. Chris Simpson made his way past Rauen to finish third. Meier completed the top five.
Heat winners were Kevin Kile, Chad Simpson and Jason Rauen.
Corn Belt Clash
1. 77 Kurt Kile
2. 25 Chad Simpson
3. 32 Chris Simpson
4. 98 Jason Rauen
5. 20 Jake Meier
6. 88 Kevin Kile
7. 77A Jeff Aikey
8. 33 Nick Marolf
9. 85 John Kaanta
10. 31 Jason Utter
11. 3 Kevin Sather
12. 22 Jill George
13. 15C Curt Schroeder
14. 22M Charlie McKenna
15. 7 Dennis Hillson
16. 50 Denny Eckrich
17. 99D Darrel DeFrance
18. 33L Joe Ludemann
19. 15K Justin Kay
20. H2O Paul Watters
21. 60 Kevin Pittman (DNS)
In companion action, a pair of drivers continued their hot streaks at the speedway as Mike Van Genderen and Danny Sacquitne picked up wins in the Stock Car and Hobby Stock features, respectively.
For Van Genderen, it was his fourth straight win in the Stock Cars as he took the lead with only six laps remaining in that 15-lapper. When the green flag waved, it was pole-sitter Loren Kuennen sprinting into the lead. Van Genderen quickly made his way into second after starting in the second row.
Running the middle of the track, Kuennen paced the field throughout the first half of the event while Van Genderen attempted to get a run on his low side through the corners. Repeated attempts on Van Genderen's part failed throughout the first half of the race as Kuennen proved too fast off the corners.
While the leaders battled, Larry Portis closed the gap and appeared poised to challenge. Finally, however, on lap nine, Van Genderen went into turn one a little higher than he had done previously, then rocketed to the inside of the leader. He and Kuennen emerged from turn two in side-by-side formation with Van Genderen taking a slight advantage into turn three. He led the remainder of the event to take the victory. Portis ran third ahead of a late-charging Kevin Donlan in fourth. Shay Curtin completed the top five.
In the Hobby Stocks, Chris Hovden assumed the early command from his pole-position start. Dan Hovden and Danny Sacquitne, who both started in the second row, battled behind him for the second spot. The top three broke away from the pack and entered a three-car battle out front. Both Sacquitne and Dan Hovden reeled in the leader with only three laps to go as the trio went three-wide for the lead. Sacquitne inched ahead of his competitors to take the exciting win, his third straight at the speedway. Chris Hovden ran second and Dan Hovden finished third. Kyle Anderson, who entered the battle out front late in the event, raced to a fourth place finish.
Jimmy Broszeit led the entirety of the 15-lap B Mod headliner. From his outside pole starting spot, Broszeit took the lead at the drop of the green while Brandon Hare and Troy Hovden raced for second. Four stoppages slowed the middle stages of the event with Broszeit leading the way to the green flag on each restart and Hare and Hovden behind him.
Finally, Nate Whitehurst broke into the battle among the leaders with five laps remaining. His charge to the front, however, came up short as Broszeit led the event in its entirety to take the win. Hare worked past Whitehurst late to steal second. Kip Siems finished fourth ahead of Ryan Ashton, who dodged spinning cars in turn four on the final lap to come home fifth.
Blake Fosaaen took the early lead in the 4-Cylinder feature to drive to the win in that six-lapper. Irv Fosaaen came out on top in a battle with Adam Gates for second. Bill Whalen Jr. and Kelly Miller completed the top five.
H3R Notes: It was a good night of racing in Allison as the final checkered flag waved shortly after 9:30, despite a late start due to late arrivals for the weeknight show. The Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks opened the night's feature action and both events went caution-free. In fact, the first yellow flag to wave during the features came on the fifth lap of the B Mod feature - 32 straight laps of feature racing without a yellow. A total of 65 cars signed in to the pits and a few more folks were in the grandstands than the most recent two shows. That will almost certainly keep improving when the USMTS tour pays a visit next Thursday for the season finale at the speedway.
Chad Simpson locked up the points title of the Corn Belt Clash Series. His dominance in the series this past spring and earlier this summer is paying off in the later stages of the schedule as he does not even have to make the trip to Chateau Raceway tomorrow or Deer Crreek Speedway next weekend to be assured of the outright title. The battle for second, however, is still very much up for grabs. Jason Rauen currently leads Chris Simpson by only two points (1 position on the track) in the overall standings. While each driver's worst two showings are removed from the 15-race schedule toward the final points, both drivers are currently positioned to remove the same finishes from their overall points. If the season ended today, both Rauen and Chris Simpson would get to throw out a "0" and a "32" from their overall totals. That battle will undoubtedly be undecided until the final checkered flag waves next weekend.
Up next for me is season championship night at Independence this Saturday. Along with championship features in all five weekly divisions, a number of cash dashes are planned, along with a kids' candy dash and Legends cars. In addition, Karsyn's Krusaders will be celebrating its first full year and the final results of the season-long Fantasy Race Night of Champions will be revealed. The schedule is going to be loaded for one final night of weekly racing at Independence so be sure to stop out and say hi! Hope to see you there!
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