It's strange, normally after seeing 300-plus races involving 800 cars at Boone over the course of six days, I'm ready to be home. For some reason, that wasn't the case this year. I could go another week or so, but that isn't the way it works. There are a number of locals, however, who are glad to be home and tell their stories of success from the past week.
Most notably, perhaps, is the story of one Modified driver from northeast Iowa who never got behind the wheel of his car, yet managed to see his car come across the line eighth in the Modified finale on Saturday night. While Dunkerton's Jason Snyder didn't compete at this year's Super Nationals, he found just the right guy to drive his #98. Snyder put Oakley, California's Kellen Chadwick behind the wheel of his Rage Chassis and, not only did that prove to be a smart move, the damage suffered on Snyder's ride throughout the week was minimal. According to Snyder, his machine had only a scratch on the bumper and a small dent in the quarter panel after four nights of furious competition. That's makes for a damn successful trip to Boone.
The story doesn't stop simply at Chadwick getting behind the wheel of the unfamiliar race car and driving it to such success at the most competitive Modified event of the year. The fact that Chadwick got behind the wheel of any car, or was even able to walk to it, is what makes the story so sweet. Chadwick was involved in a frightening racing accident a few years ago, leaving doctors to tell him he'd never walk again, let alone get behind the wheel of a race car or drive it to an eighth place finish in a field of over 270 competitors.
Yes, these are the types of stories that come out of Boone and Super Nationals. Congratulations to Jason, Kellen and the entire Rage team.
Snyder's wasn't the only Rage in the final starting field of 33 on Saturday night. West Union, Iowa's Justin O'Brien also made it into the field by sneaking into a starting spot in one of the last last chance features before the big dance that night.
O'Brien, who drove to a 28th place finish led the trio of Karyn's Krusaders cars for the week. He, along with Darin Duffy and J.D. Auringer, sported Karsyn's wraps for the event. Unfortunately for Duffy and Auringer, their week came to premature ends on Saturday.
Duffy had a pair of things working against him. Either the draw worked against him for his qualifying heat races or he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. While that tends to be common at Boone, Duffy's bad luck went to the next level.
After being involved in a pretty nasty incident on Friday, Duffy was looking to get into the show the same way O'Brien made it on Saturday. With 10 cars on the track and the top three making it to the main event, the last chance feature on Saturday provides the "easiest" way of getting into the show. The tough part is getting into one of those 10 spots in the last chance feature.
Unfortunately for Duffy, who was riding in second in that last chance feature, he was pressured from behind a little too closely by Humboldt, Iowa's Ryan Watnem. Watnem, who was running in the third and final qualifying spot, not only tagged Duffy heading into turns one and two part-way through the event, he spun Duffy and eventually landed on his engine compartment, ending the week for both competitors.
It should be noted, however, that Troy Cordes, in the same last chance qualifier, came home to the third and final qualifying spot and made it into the big show. After starting 30th, Cordes drove to a 19th place finish in the finale. It was the eighth straight year Cordes qualified as one of the final 33 at Boone.
The toughest break of the night with the most on the line had to go to Jefferson's Luke Wanninger. The first-year driver was pressuring leader Brandon Blochlinger of Concordia, Kansas, throughout much of the event. The pair ran side-by-side and nose-to-tail throughout much of the event until a lap 32 caution seeled Wanninger's fate. Wanninger was left out to dry on the restart as Beatrice, Nebraska's Johnny Saathoff swept beneath him, forcing Wanninger to drop back a number of spots before racing to a seventh place finish.
Congratulations to Jimmy Gustin and crew on a great win in the Modified feature. Definitely one of the crowd favorites, Gustin ran strong all week and was very deserving of his Super Nationals championship.
Marengo's Paul Shepherd may not have been everyone's first local pick to have the most successful week in the Stock Car division, but he drove to a fantastic eighth place finish in that division's feature. It isn't because Shepherd isn't a good driver, but he has driven a very limited schedule this season in anticipation of his plans to run at Super Nationals. In fact, prior to his qualifying run on Friday, I spoke with Paul in the pits. He said his focus all season was Super Nationals, so it was great to see him not only qualify, but finish toward the front.
Justin Temeyer was the other area driver to qualify for the Stock Car feature. He made it a relatively stress-free week after he made the dance after qualifying on Wednesday night during the first night of qualifying for that division. After winning the third of 16 heats, Temeyer raced to a sixth place finish in the qualifying feature. After running in the front half of the main event, Temeyer got sideways coming out of turn two midway through that event (I'm not sure if it was a solo act or if he had help), which forced him to a 21st place finish in the big dance.
Two-time Stock Car champion Brian Irvine failed to make the big show for the first time in his career, however he did get a little redemption as he picked up the win in the Race of Champions for the Stock Cars. Rumored to be his last race, it was good to see Irvine go out on top.
Jeff Mueller, who also competed at area tracks periodically throughout the season, ran 23rd in the feature while northeast Iowa hotshoe Lynn Panos finished 22nd. All three of those cars, I believe, are Dominator Chassis built by Nick Wroten.
The story of success of the budget racer may have been best defined in the Hobby Stock division. Waterloo's Russel Damme Jr., in just his second full year in the division, blew away the field in his last chance heat race on Tuesday before qualifying fifth in that night's feature. Damme finished 17th in the division's 30 car field on Saturday. Damme, whose family runs the wreckers at both Independence and Vinton during the season, was down to his last motor after being claimed midway through the year. It was even rumored that the spare engine for the wrecker was going to find its way into Damme's #4JR if needed. That's proof right there that money can't buy you the ability to wheel a race car. Congrats to Russel, his crew and Dominator Chassis, on yet another successful run.
Josh Irvine also did the Irvine name proud. He came home sixth after starting mid-pack in the 30-lapper.
SportMod driver Danny Dvorak had a great week with high expectations entering the weekend. Not only did Dvorak qualify for the outside of the front row for the SportMod Race of Champions, he also won the final qualifying feature on Tuesday to start outside of row one for the feature. It appeared as though handling problems pestered Dvorak all night Saturday, however, as he finished seventh in the RoC and 23rd in the feature. Regardless, congratulations to Danny and his crew on a successful week at Boone.
Kyle Bentley came out of retirement of sorts to compete at this year's Super Nationals. The 2009 track champion at Independence Motor Speedway took off the 2010 season to focus on his new house and family. He got the racing bug late in the season, however, as he drove Kevin Robinson's SportMod on championship night at Indee and then at Super Nationals. He drove to a 15th place finish in the big dance.
Indee and Vinton track champion Austin Kaplan also qualified for the Saturday show, however he pulled off early to finish 26th. Eric Flander, who raced a few times with us at Independence, led much of the 30-lap main event and drove to an impressive second place finish. The locals represented well in the SportMod division.
Area Late Model driver Tysus Pattee survived the carnage to race to a 10th place finish in the Late Model/Deery Series portion of the week. While 10 yellow flag periods and a red flag for Jason Rauen's rollover slowed the event, Pattee raced to his best finish at Boone.
Thanks again to track announcer Johnnie Tharp and his Super Nationals sidekick Blake Anderson (the walking encyclopedia of all things Super Nationals) for inviting me into the announcing booth throughout the week. While the unexpected invitation was great, it was just as nice to have a reserved seat in the grandstands all week without rotating trips among friends downstairs to keep a spot on the catwalk!
My hat is also off to the Lawtons, track prep crew, IMCA officials, track officials and the rest of the crew that makes the six-day event such a success. Their efforts are monumental and often times overlooked. Flaggers Grant Oskvig and Nick Breuklander are the officials probably the most vulnerable to public scrutiny, however they did an excellent job all week. While a few message board posters have shared thoughts to the contrary (we can always count on them to do little more than that), Grant and Nick should be applauded for flagging a consistent show all week long. Great job, guys!
One last note on the trip to Boone involves, of all things, Sprint Cars. Most know that, while I don't mind an occasional Sprint Car race, Sprints are not at the top of the list to get my racing dollar. Knoxville Raceway announcer and Sprint Car geek (I use that term as nicely as possible) Tony Bokhoven was at Boone. While I hadn't seen Tony in quite a few years, I was almost shocked to see him at Super Nationals since Sprints were removed from this year's schedule. Despite his love for Sprint Car racing, it was nice to see Tony again after so many years!
The six-day visit to Boone brings my season total to 59 race events in 2010. I'll hit my goal of 60 and close in on 65 within the next two weeks if Mother Nature cooperates. After a few days of getting back in the groove at work, my plan is to head south to 34 Raceway in Burlington this coming weekend for the two-day Pepsi USA Late Model Nationals, the final event on the 2010 schedule for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models. Following that, it'll be back to Vinton on Sunday for season championships at Benton County Speedway in Vinton, then the season finale at Highway 3 Raceway when the rescheduled USMTS race takes place on Tuesday the 21st. After that, it will be back to Burlington for the finale of the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour.
While Super Nationals is often the last event for many in the area, there are still a lot of specials on the calendar so get out there and support those tracks before the season winds to a close. See you at the races.
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