Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Barker is best in Hawkeye Dirt Tour action at Cedar County Raceway

A strong field of 33 IMCA Modifieds were on-hand at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton on Tuesday night for the third event of the 2011 JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour. When the checkers waved, Modified veteran Ron Barker stood in victory lane for his first HDT win.

Pole-sitter Ronn Lauritzen paced the 23 starters at the drop of the green. Running the low groove of the smooth, multi-groove 1/4-mile, Lauritzen powered ahead of Jeff Waterman. A pair of early cautions kept the field bunched together and allowed Kurt Krauskopf to challenge Waterman for second. Krauskopf made his way past Waterman following the second caution on lap four, then worked the high side to chase down Lauritzen. Those efforts were assisted when the final caution of the event waved three laps later.

On the restart, Lauritzen held the point while Krauskopf elected to start on the outside of the second row with Waterman to his inside. Krauskopf again went to work up top with Lauritzen a groove off the bottom while Dusty Kraklio battled his way into contention. As Kraklio went to work on the low side of Lauritzen in turns one and two on the eighth lap, the field battled three and four-wide behind them for position.

Kraklio inched ahead for the lead one lap later while Barker settled into the top four after starting eighth. Running the high side, Barker swept past Krauskopf on the 11th circuit, then made his way past Lauritzen one lap later. Following Barker on the high side of the track was Jacob Waterman, who started deep in the field, but made his way into fourth as Barker passed for second.

Committed to the high groove, Barker made his way around Kraklio on the following lap as Jacob Waterman tried to keep pace with the new leader. Waterman took the high side around Lauritzen and Kraklio just past the midway point.

Barker's lead appeared insurmountable until he reached lapped traffic with just five laps to go. As he navigated the backmarkers, Waterman closed the gap while Brian Webb reeled in the leaders. Barker shot beneath the lapped car of Larry Herring with just two laps to go, putting traffic between himself and Waterman to close the deal as Barker drove to the exciting win. Waterman held off Webb for second.

1. 37B Ron Barker
2. 69 Jacob Waterman
3. 6 Brian Webb
4. 2 Dusty Kraklio
5. 60 Kurt Krauskopf
6. X Ryan Dolan
7. 1 Dan Chapman
8. 21A Kelly Meyer
9. 71W Jeff Waterman
10. 10K Ronn Lauritzen
11. 19G Richie Gustin
12. 27M Mark Schulte
13. 62 Greg Cox
14. 70 Mitch Morris
15. 8 Rich Smith
16. 11B Mike Burbridge
17. 25X Jake Bowman
18. 67 John Ahlers
19. 12 Mark Elliott
20. 8T Tony Snyder
21. 96 Larry Herring
22. 57B Dennis Betzer
23. 21 Todd Hansen
24. 17D Todd Dykema (DNS)

Josh Foster, who suffered mechanical problems throughout the night, was scheduled to be the series provisional for the feature, however he was unable to make repairs in time so that position went to Tony Snyder. Todd Dykema, the track provisional, was also unable to make the starting call.

My main duty of the night was to fill in and sell HDT T-shirts on the grandstands side so I was unable to see the Stock Car or 4-Cylinder features. Tim Current broke Chip Kohl's winning streak in the Stock Car division to take the win in that feature while Nathan Chandler came out on top in the 4-Cylinders.

Although I wasn't able to take in all of the action on the track tonight, it was a pleasant change of pace to have the chance to visit with race fans in attendance. It was nice to meet Mike Weikert Sr., the father of Modified driver Mike Weikert Jr., although Mike Jr. struggled throughout the event and was unable to qualify for the feature. I had the chance to chat with former Pro Stock and Late Model driver Tom Struve of Palo. While he hasn't been racing this year, Struve's weekend schedule has been kept busy with six grandchildren. I also enjoyed watching the Modified feature with Ginny Thomas, the mother of Modified driver Ed Thomas. While I've spent a lot of time at the Thomas Racing shop in Waterloo over the years, it was the first time Ginny and I had actually watched a race together. Thanks for saving my spot, Ginny!

Thanks also to tour director Bucky Doren for inviting me down to help out tonight. It was a blast. And, as always, I have to give credit to promoters Al and Kathy Dlouhy. Some of the friendliest people you will meet, they truly define the word "promoter" when it comes to our sport. While many people in charge of racing facilities simply "put on races," the Dlouhys take pride in their product and truly care for their drivers and fans. They not only have a successful weekly program, but they are willing to bring in specials that they know drivers and fans want to see in that area. They don't just stick out their necks, take a chance and hope for the best - they work their tails off to get the job done right.

To top it off, they know what they're doing. The Dlouhys don't saturate and lengthen a mid-week show by adding numerous classes in support of the headlining division. Three divisions for a mid-week special is the perfect number and they proved it again tonight by providing a great show that had people on their way home by the 10 o'clock hour. Their efforts are shown each time I make the trip to Cedar County and they have a top notch staff in place to ensure your visit to Tipton is well worth it. If you still haven't put Cedar County Raceway on your schedule for this season, take the time to do it. The hospitality and quality of racing are second-to-none

That's all of the mid-week racing for me this time around. Another weekend of weekly racing at Independence and Vinton are up next before my schedule starts to slowly pick in anticipation of the "blur" that is July. Have a great week!

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