The three-day Dart Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series swing wrapped up on Friday night when the tour traveled north to Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wisconsin.
A nice field of 29 Open Late Models signed in to compete on the fast 3/8-mile oval. Three heat races served as qualifiers with the top three from each of those advancing to the fast dash to determine the front nine positions of the 35-lap feature field.
Heat qualifier Justin Mitchell earned the win in the nine-lap dash, then proceeded to draw the #3 pill at the scales, inverting the top three finishers of that event for the feature. This placed Tim Isenberg on the pole for the main event with Jason Rauen outside of the front row.
When the green flag waved, it was Rauen who quickly shot into the lead as Mitchell worked the low side of Isenberg for second. Those two battled while Rauen pulled away from the field. Rauen built a straightaway advantage by the time he reached lapped traffic 10 laps into the event.
Shortly after Rauen made his way through the first of many backmarkers in his way, the caution flag waved for the first time on lap 12 when Dave Eckrich slowed to a crawl on the back stretch. This put Mitchell, who was running second at the time, and Isenberg on his tail for the restart.
When racing resumed, Rauen again took command and built the same advantage he had before the stoppage. Isenberg, however, ran the high side past Mitchell and into the runner-up spot by the time the only other caution of the event waved on lap 19 for a pile-up in turns one and two that involved a half dozen cars. All competitors from that fracas were able to continue when racing resumed. By the time the second caution waved, defending series champion Chad Simpson, who started 15th after a miscue in his heat left him out of the dash lineup, made his way into the top five behind his brother, Chris Simpson.
On the restart, Rauen again took charge while Isenberg, who elected to restart on the outside of the second row, rocketed ahead of Mitchell. Isenberg was able to momentarily close the gap in the waning laps when Rauen again encountered lapped cars, but was unable to reel in the leader as Rauen drove to the win, leading the event in its entirety. Isenberg ran a strong second ahead of Mitchell. Chris Simpson held off a furious challenge from Chad Simpson to hold onto fourth at the line.
1. 98 Jason Rauen (Farley, IA)
2. 9T Tim Isenberg (Marshfield, WI)
3. 28X Justin Mitchell (Cedar Rapids, IA)
4. 32 Chris Simpson (Oxford, IA)
5. 25 Chad Simpson (Mt. Vernon, IA)
6. 90 Lance Matthees (Winona, MN)
7. 50 Denny Eckrich (Tiffin, IA)
8. 24 Brad Waits (Rochester, MN)
9. 96 Doug Herrick (West Concord, MN)
10. 19 Mike Sorensen (Rochester, MN)
11. 16 Tyler Bruening (Decorah, IA)
12. 6 Nick Herrick (West Concord, MN)
13. 20 Jake Meier (Tipton, IA)
14. 71 Andrew McKay (Eden Prairie, MN)
15. 31 Jason Utter (Columbus Junction, IA)
16. 01 Kyle Jumbeck (Houston, MN)
17. 8 Kelly Anderson (Hager City, WI)
18. 18 Dustin Hapka (Grand Forks, ND)
19. 7 Dennis Hillson (Blooming Prairie, MN)
20. 55 Kevin Kuehn (Winona, MN)
21. 22 Jill George (Cedar Falls, IA)
22. 4G Chris Gilbertson (Trembeleau, WI)
23. 35B Jerry Bloom (Rochester, MN)
24. 3 Kevin Sather (Ankeny, IA)
25. 58 Dave Eckrich (Cosgrove, IA)
Non-Qualifiers
9H Roger Herrick (West Concord, MN)
33L Joe Ludemann (Grand Meadow, MN)
61 Jon Rogers (German Valley, IL)
97X Don Schaefer (Dover, MN)
While my duties with the Corn Belt portion of the show prevented me from taking in much of the action in the other divisions, I was able to see the 25-lap USRA Modified feature.
In that event, Josh Angst was the man to beat as he paced the field to the green flag and quickly pulled away from the field. While Angst led, a number of multi-car battles for position ensued behind him. Jay Ihrke edged John Doelle for runner-up honors while Keith Foss and Les Duellman completed the top five in the caution-free event.
Drew Lawson made the long tow from Oskaloosa, Iowa, (and a fifth row starting spot) to take home the win in the USRA B Mod main event. Elma, Iowa’s Brandon Hare chased Lawson to the checkers. Ben Anderson, Troy Langowski and Parker Hale rounded out the top five.
In other action, Jeff Brauer came from a fourth row start to take the win in the Super Stock feature, beating Dennis Earney to the checkers. Mike Stevens won the A Mini Mod feature on the 1/10th mile oval on the infield of the speedway and Matthew Stevens scored the win in the B Mini Mod feature.
Thank you to the crew at Mississippi Thunder Speedway for an excellent show tonight. The facility and racing surface are both top notch and it is definitely worth your while to make the trip to Fountain City sometime this season. Despite taking time to do some track prep following qualifying events, the final checkered flag waved at 10:30 p.m. That’s about as efficient as a track can be when racing started shortly after 7 p.m. for the multiple divisions competing.
With the three-day Corn Belt swing in the books, it’s time to return to weekly action tonight at Independence Motor Speedway for Pink Night. Be sure to wear pink to the races as we promote cancer awareness at tonight’s show. Hope to see you there!
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