Friday, June 15, 2012

Cooney tops IMCA Late Models during Wapello County Fair special at Eldon

Todd Cooney appeared to have the fastest car in heat race qualifying, then proved it in the 25-lap feature when the IMCA Late Models made a special appearance at Eldon Raceway during the Wapello County Fair.

Cooney, who was fast during his qualifier, settled for a fourth place qualifying run on the narrow half-mile, redrew the front row for the feature, then checked out to earn the victory.

A strong field of 14 cars took the green flag with Cooney and pole-sitter Kevin Kile setting the pace. Cooney made his way to the front as Kile and Spencer Diercks gave chase. Cooney's lead was half of a straightaway at the six lap mark, then a full straightaway by the time the only caution flag waved on lap 13.

On the restart, Diercks shot past Kile for second while Cooney again built a sizable lead. Diercks briefly challenged the #30 for the lead before Cooney powered away from the pack to take the dominant win. Diercks ran second, half of a straightaway behind Cooney, with Kile the same distance back in third.

Feature - 1. 30 Todd Cooney; 2. Spencer Diercks; 3. 88 Kevin Kile; 4.42 Tom Darbyshire; 5. 77 Kurt Kile; 6. 33 Nick Marolf; 7. 15K Justin Kay; 8. 74 Ron Boyse; 9. 46 Nate Beuseling; 10. 38 Colby Springsteen; 11. 62 Greg Cox; 12. 31 Jason Utter; 13. 99D Darrel DeFrance; 14. 66 Todd Johnson.

Todd Phillips led the entire distance in the Stock Car feature, although not without pressure the whole way. From his pole position start, Phillips led the 13-car field to green with outside front row starter Nathan Wood on his rear bumper. The leaders ran nose-to-tail over most of the event, stretching their advantage to half of a straightaway after just five laps.

Wood closed numerous times throughout the course of the event, challenging to the inside of the leader at various stages. Wood pulled to the inside of Phillips in turn one on the 11th circuit as the leaders ran in side-by-side formation through the first set of turns a full straightaway ahead of the field. Phillips exited turn two with the lead as Wood settled in once again on his rear bumper.

Exiting turn four on the final lap, Wood shot to the inside of Phillips and drag raced the leader to the stripe where Phillips held on by just a few feet for the win. Rich Vogt ran third ahead of Shane Paris and Mike Harward.

Ryan Fullenkamp made the fair race extra memorable as he earned his first-ever win in the B Mod division. Fullenkamp took charge at the drop of the green while Jason McDaniel worked the high side from his third row starting spot. McDaniel raced into second and was working his way past Fullenkamp for the lead, just as the race's first caution waved on lap four.

Fullenkamp held the point for the restart, with McDaniel, Mike Shelton and Curtis Vanderwal pursuing. Then, things got a little strange. One lap after racing resumed, Vanderwal exited when he lost a left rear spring on his ride, then the same thing happened to McDaniel two laps later. While under caution, it was discovered Shelton also lost a left rear spring, however he opted to continue. In the meantime, McDaniel made the necessary repairs to his #85 and rejoined the tail of the field for the lap six restart.

When racing resumed, Fullenkamp held serve and survived a late caution to take the milestone win. Tyler Heckart raced to a second place finish ahead of McDaniel, who made his way through the pack to finish third. Brandon Dale and Tom Lathrop completed the top five.

Dustin Griffiths led most of the way in an entertaining 15-lap Hobby Stock feature. From his pole position start, Griffiths took charge at the drop of the green while Mike Hughes was making his way through the field from a fourth row starting spot.

Hughes pulled to within a bumper's width of the leader as the top pair made its way down the back chute on lap five. Hughes tried numerous times to work the low side past Griffiths in the corners, however his #18H consistently pushed in the turns, allowing Griffiths to retain the lead.

Hughes was able to pull even with the leader a couple of times off turn four, with the leaders exchanging paint down the front stretch each time. Finally, as the leaders made their way through turns three and four with just a couple of laps to go, Hughes powered into the low side and again slid up in the corner. This forced Griffiths to the top side with barely enough room to keep his #10G straight and off the outside wall. Hughes pulled away quickly from his pursuer to take the win by half of a straightaway. Craig Brown, Tony Teninty and Rocky Fosdyck rounded out the top five.

Kevin Kirkpatrick took command at the midway point of the 4-Cylinder feature to drive to the win in that 10-lapper. Travis Tedrow and Darin Smith completed the top three. Early leader John Whalen ran fourth.

It was nice to see such a great field of cars and good crowd on-hand at Eldon. For a track that is running a limited schedule this season, the fair board was likely pleased with the show on Thursday night. Thanks to announcer Tony Paris for the Positively Racing plug and for his help with driver names prior to the show.

Tonight, it's back to Lee County Speedway for another night of weekly points racing. After a few questions the last couple of weeks about my pink outfit from Independence earlier this month, I decided to wear the pink shoes to Donnellson tonight. Yes, folks, they are real!

Be sure to take in a race at your area dirt track this weekend! See you at the races!

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