While I was able to take in a number of racing events over the weekend, I felt like I spent more time on the highway than anywhere else. My first busy racing weekend of the season left me with little time to write, but provided plenty for one all-inclusive blog entry.
Marshalltown Speedway
Last week I was asked if I could fill in to score the season-opening Frostbuster event at Marshalltown Speedway. Since I was in the tower staring at the front stretch for the 190 car event, I wasn't able to take notes in order to provide a race recap.
The overflowing pit area was a wonderful sight to area race fans as the 34-event program was completed in just over four hours. Toby Kruse and his crew did a tremendous job preparing for the event and the show was a successful way to start the season. Thanks to the folks at Marshalltown for letting me be part of the team Friday night.
Congrats to Friday night winners Jeremy Mills (IMCA Modified), Steve Meyer (IMCA Stock Car), Ty Luellen (IMCA SportMod) and Nick Murty (IMCA Hobby Stock). For a recap of Friday night's action, visit Dick and Joyce Eisele's blog, 4dfan Report at Positively Racing.
34 Raceway
Saturday, I made my second trip of the season to 34 Raceway in Burlington for the season opener of the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models. The Slocum 50, held in remembrance of popular driver Brent Slocum, who died in an accident in the pit area at the track a few years ago, offered up 46 IMCA Late Models for the series' first action of the season.
Andy Eckrich took the early lead at the drop of the green from his pole position start. Denny Eckrich made it a battle of brothers for the lead following a lap three yellow as the front-runners gained a straightaway advantage over Jason Utter, Tom Goble and Jeff Mitrisin.
The leaders ran in side-by-side formation when they entered lapped traffic on the 12th circuit. They then swapped the point as they battled through the backmarkers, allowing Utter to close to within half of a straightaway before a lap 22 stoppage.
When racing resumed, Jeff Aikey (started 12th), Tom Darbyshire (started 20th) and Brian Harris (started 21st) were on the march. Aikey and Darbyshire used the restart to shoot past Mitrisin and into the top five before another caution bunched the field one lap later.
On that restart, Darbyshire raced the top side to third place while the Eckriches continued to swap the lead. Denny Eckrich broke free from his younger brother and pulled away by half of a straightaway until the caution flag waved on lap 33. That caution came when Darbyshire's charge to the front ended as he made contact with the back stretch wall before coming to a rest in turn three.
Denny Eckrich again took command when the green flag waved as Aikey and Harris mounted a challenge for second. Aikey slipped beneath Andy Eckrich for second at the 39 lap mark and attempted to close the gap in the waning laps. As he cut into the lead, Harris made his way into third with two to go.
Although Aikey cut into the lead, Eckrich held on for the exciting win. Aikey ran second ahead of Harris, Andy Eckrich and Utter.
In other action, Chris Larson led all 15 laps of the IMCA SportMod feature to take the victory. He was chased to the checkers by Derek St. Clair and a hard charging Carter Vandenberg.
Adam Gates was the fastest Four Cylinder on the grounds as he was the first to see the checkers in that 12-lapper. (He probably could have driven to nearby Danville and back before the rest of the field crossed the stripe.) Unfortunately for Gates, post-race inspection wasn't as easy as his on-track performance as he did not make it through tech. After second place finisher Michael Grossman also failed inspection, Nicholas Van Hemurt was declared the winner.
Despite windy and cool conditions (that were joined by a rain delay during Late Model B feature action), it was a great night in Burlington. I hope to be back there next Saturday night for the MOWA Sprint special.
Benton County Speedway (complete results below)
Due to last week's cancellation of the Spring Shakedown, Sunday's Frostbuster served as season-opening action at Benton County Speedway. Along with it being the track opener, Sunday's event was the finale of a four-day Frostbuster swing in Iowa.
Among the 100 race teams signed in, 30 IMCA Modifieds were on-hand to compete for the $1,000 winner's share. Pole-sitter Scott Hogan led the 24 qualifiers to green in the 30-lap main event before a trio of cautions slowed action following the completion of one lap.
When racing resumed, Hogan again set the pace with Jeff Waterman and Patrick Flannagan giving chase. After Hogan pulled away from Waterman by half of a straightaway, Waterman slowly closed the gap to within a car-length on lap 11. By that time, J.D. Auringer, who started 16th, made his way into third with 13th starting Richie Gustin chasing him through traffic.
Gustin was able to use the low side of turns three and four to his advantage as he powered beneath his competitors in that set of turns each time around the quarter-mile oval. Gaining ground, Gustin took over third place on the 16th circuit as Hogan entered lapped traffic.
Gustin shot to the low side of three and four again three laps later to steal second from Waterman. One more maneuver to the bottom of the same set of turns one lap later put Gustin in the lead.
Following a caution period on the following lap, Gustin pulled away, leaving Hogan to battle Auringer for second. Hogan slipped off the high side of turn three to bring out a final caution with four laps to go.
When the green flag waved one last time, Gustin held off the charging Auringer to take the thrilling win. Auringer, last year's Frostbuster winner at the speedway, finished second ahead of Waterman.
Damon Murty has won more IMCA Stock Car features at Benton County Speedway than any other driver in history. A front row starting spot in Sunday night's 20-lapper did nothing to put that record in jeopardy.
Following a pair of early stoppages, Murty rocketed into the lead, putting a straightaway between himself and second running Matt Junio in just six laps. Murty entered lapped traffic on the 11th circuit, then extended his advantage each time past the flagstand.
Unchallenged the entire way, Murty raced to the win by half of a track ahead of Junio. Tyler Smith survived an exciting four car battle to take third by a nose over Stock Car rookie Scott Pippert. Norman Chesmore and Luke Lemmens chased them across the line in fifth and sixth, respectively.
A handful of cautions in the 20-lap IMCA SportMod feature did not deter Clint Luellen in his first-ever visit to the speedway. Luellen took advantage of his outside front row starting spot to take the lead at the drop of the green ahead of Kip Siems.
Luellen encountered his first lapped car just six laps into the event while Danny Dvorak raced from a third row starting spot and into second place. Luellen was enjoying a straightaway lead over Dvorak until a pair of cautions slowed action with five laps to go. When racing resumed, he held on to take the victory ahead of Dvorak and Austin Moyer.
After taking a year off, Kyle Parizek found himself on the front row in the first IMCA Hobby Stock feature of the season. Parizek paced the field while Benji Irvine and Eric Stanton pursued.
The race was slowed the first time on lap four when fourth-running Matt Brown ran high in turn three and barrel-rolled his car off the corner. Although he was okay, Brown's first night of the season ended in forgettable fashion.
On the restart, Shannon Anderson rocketed past both Stanton and Irvine in just one lap, then made his way around race leader Parizek at the midway point just as Parizek suffered a flat right rear tire on his #17K.
Anderson, who started in the fifth row, led the remainder of the event to take his first-ever win on the Vinton oval. Irvine ran second ahead of Brian Happel.
Nathan Chandler worked the low side past Craig Bangert in turn four of the opening lap to drive away to victory in the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature. Chandler took the checkers by more than a straightaway over Bangert and Bill Whalen Jr.
It was nice to have Jerry Vansickle in the house Sunday night. Jerry called the action in the three previous Frostbuster events over the weekend - at Iowa State Fair Speedway, Marshalltown Speedway and Boone Speedway - and he joined BCS announcer Bucky Doren for the call Sunday night.
Yes, Jerry, I broke my snow shovel moving snow this winter, but I won't be bringing it to the Hawkeye Dirt Tour event in Vinton next month. I was unaware until tonight, but somebody fixed the shovel! Assuming I'm done shoveling snow for the season, it will remain in hibernation until next winter. Of course, as deep as it gets when you're on the mic, I may bring it anyway, just in case...
Next Sunday, weekly points racing gets underway in Vinton. All five classes on-hand for the Frostbuster will also comprise the weekly wars on the quarter-mile oval. Hot laps are scheduled for 5 p.m. next week with racing to follow.
Have a great week!
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 19G Richie Gustin; 2. 00 J.D. Auringer; 3. 71W Jeff Waterman; 4. 21K Kyle Brown; 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 6. 08 Johnny Whitman; 7. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 8. 12D Joe Docekal; 9. K1 Kyle Krampe; 10. 2G Matt Ganson; 11. 64 Vern Jackson; 12. 33X Dan Roedl; 13. 80 Jerry Dedrick; 14. 33D Scott Hogan; 15. 27W Jason Wolla; 16. 11B Mike Burbridge; 17. 5R Matt Rechek; 18. 27 Kyle Lentz; 19. 71 Troy Cordes; 20. 74 Eric Arneson; 21. 149 Jason Murray; 22. 70 Mitch Morris; 23. 75 Lance Arneson; 24. 5D Devin Havlik.
Heat one (5 qualify, 4 redraw): 1. Havlik; 2. Hogan; 3. Waterman; 4. Morris; 5. Gustin; 6. 99X Jeremy Christians; 7. Auringer; 8. Krampe; 9. Docekal; 10. 19R Todd Reed.
Heat two: 1. Rechek; 2. Wolla; 3. Flannagan; 4. Lentz; 5. E. Arneson; 6. Whitman; 7. Brown; 8. Ganson; 9. Roedl; 10. T23 Tony Olson.
Heat three: 1. Cordes; 2. Murray; 3. Lauritzen; 4. L. Arneson; 5. Dedrick; 6. Burbridge; 7. 8 Kyle Strickler; 8. 137 Bill Pittaway; 9. 17 Mike Krall; 10. Jackson.
Last chance (9 transfer): 1. Auringer; 2. Whitman; 3. Brown; 4. Burbridge; 5. Ganson; 6. Docekal; 7. Krampe; 8. Jackson; 9. Roedl; 10. Pittaway; 11. Krall; 12. Reed; 13. Christians; DNS Strickler; DNS Olson.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 99D Damon Murty; 2. 10 Matt Junio; 3. 8X Tyler Smith; 4. 47 Scott Pippert; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore; 6. 00 Luke Lemmens; 7. K17 Rick Kriegel; 8. 76 Mike Galli; 9. 81X Randy Killen; 10. 4 Jerry Miles; 11. 45 Michael Dancer; 12. 20V Dustin Vis; 13. 5K Stefan Klym; 14. 87 John Emerson; 15. 19J Jay Schmidt; 16. 8B Scott Beauregard; DNS 7H Phil Holtz; DNS 97 Jamie Suchoki.
Heat one (5 redraw): 1. Murty; 2. Emerson; 3. Schmidt; 4. Junio; 5. Pippert; 6. Beauregard; 7. Miles; 8. Dancer; 9. Suchoki.
Heat two: 1. Kriegel; 2. Lemmens; 3. Vis; 4. Smith; 5. Galli; 6. Klym; 7. Chesmore; 8. Holtz; 9. Killen.
IMCA SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 3L Clint Luellen; 2. 3R Danny Dvorak; 3. 25 Austin Moyer; 4. 1 Austin Kaplan; 5. 26J Joel Rust; 6. S16 Kip Siems; 7. K3 Kyle Olson; 8. 8C Rob Charapata; 9. 00 Jim Buhlman; 10. 7M Kurt Moeding; 11. 24B Brandon Brinton; 12. 7D Dakoda Sellers; 13. 03 Cody Hudson; 14. J2 Dave Schulze; 15. 10S John Schaefer; 16. 3B Brian Anderson; 17. 30 Tracy Wassenberg; 18. 22H Curt Hilmer; 19. 95 Mike McDonald; 20. 44G Brady Graham; 21. CH19 Colby Heishman; 22. 1JR Ben Chapman; 23. 57R Ryan King; 24. 57K Ross Kitner; 25. 34 Jerry Hinton.
Heat one: 1. Schulze; 2. Moyer; 3. McDonald; 4. Dvorak; 5. Chapman; 6. Anderson; 7. Hilmer; 8. Kitner.
Heat two: 1. King; 2. Siems; 3. Charapata; 4. Graham; 5. Olson; 6. Sellers; DNS Hinton; DNS Rust.
Heat three: 1. Kaplan; 2. Luellen; 3. Wassenberg; 4. Moeding; 5. Heishman; 6. Buhlman; 7. Hudson; 8. Brinton; 9. Schaefer.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 78X Shannon Anderson; 2. 79 Benji Irvine; 3. 46 Brian Happel; 4. 99JR Nick Murty; 5. 3A Austin Luellen; 6. 67 Justin Stander; 7. 99 Erick Knutsen; 8. 55 Vince Buchholz; 9. 07 Jacob Keiser; 10. 7 Jim Ball; 11. 4 Matt Sorenson; 12. 27C Cory Killen; 13. 45 Justin Wacha; 14. 5 Destiny Klym; 15. 17K Kyle Parizek; 16. 7B Eric Stanton; 17. 19 Bill Bonnett; 18. 78 Matt Brown; DNS 35 Brett Vanous.
Heat one: 1. Luellen; 2. Irvine; 3. Stanton; 4. Murty; 5. Stander; 6. Knutsen; 7. Ball; 8. Klym; DNS Bonnett.
Heat two: 1. Anderson; 2. Brown; 3. Wacha; 4. Happel; 5. Parizek; 6. Buchholz; 7. Killen; 8. Keiser; 9. Sorenson; 10. Vanous.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 22 Nathan Chandler; 2. 99B Craig Bangert; 3. 00W Bill Whalen Jr.; 4. 2 Merv Chandler; 5. 11 Steve Miedke; 6. 99J Jeremy Lerch; 7. 22T Travis Losenicky; 8. 30 Shawn Cooney.
Heat: 1. N. Chandler; 2. M. Chandler; 3. Miedke; 4. Bangert; 5. Losenicky; 6. Whalen; 7. Lerch; 8. Cooney.
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