Fifty-one IMCA Late Models began the process of setting the field for the Pepsi USA Nationals at 34 Raceway Friday night with qualifying and five heat races. Coming out past the midway mark, Denny Woodworth would set quick time for the night and that would line him up on row two of the first heat race as all heats inverted the top four, with three advancing to Saturday’s 100-lap headliner.
Defending event champion Jason Frankel, driving the #72 normally piloted by Billy Genenbacher, dominated the first heat race and with this win Frankel will start the main event from the pole position on Saturday. Jason Perry qualified second with Josh Most coming from sixth to take third just ahead of Woodworth. The story of the first heat though just might be the story of the weekend as Mark Burgtorf failed to report to staging in time and did not compete. We were told that there may have been some confusion as to how Burgtorf’s crew read the lineup board and they thought that he was to start in heat two instead of heat race number one. Sure enough Burgtorf slowly pulled up to staging as his actual heat race was taking the green flag. This will put Burgtorf at the back of one of the two B-Mains on Saturday and it will likely be quite a show as he tries to race his way up to third in order to make the dance.
Nate Beuseling who looked so stout here back in April repeated that performance winning heat race number two ahead of Darren Miller. Second fastest qualifier on the night, Tyler Bruening ran a strong third. Keith Pratt drove the #11 car of Darin Weisinger and finished well back in the pack.
Lonnie Bailey was one of the top contenders in this event last year and look for him to be up front again on Saturday as he ran away with heat race number three. Veteran driver Ron Elbe locked himself into the show with a solid second-place performance and Jay Johnson held off Terry Neal for the third and final transfer. The third fastest qualifier on the night Leroy Brenner pulled to the pits on lap number one. Stephan Kammerer was behind the wheel of the #99 normally driven by Doug Curless.
The fourth heat race offered up some of the best racing of the night as Boone McLaughlin and Tom Goble fought it out for the lead, while Justin Reed tried to hold back Ray Guss Jr. for third. With two laps to go though Goble slowed and pulled to the infield with steam spewing from his overflow and this allowed both Reed and Guss to advance to the big show.
The fifth and final heat belonged to Andy Eckrich as he went flag-to-flag for the victory. Joey Gower backed up his fifth fastest qualifying time by running second and Kevin Blum, in the Christner #67, survived some last lap contact with Jay Chenoweth to take third. It was an impressive run for Chenoweth who came from eighth to finish fourth ahead of Jack Sullivan and Jeff Aikey. Sullivan, the GRT house car driver is giving the Richard Realty car #15 a whirl this weekend while Aikey was driving the new car in the Hershel Roberts.Ray Guss Jr. stable after the motor let go on Aikey’s regular ride during hot laps.
The fourteen drivers that have been at every Deery Brothers Summer Series show this season lined up inverted by points for the twenty-lap J&J Steel Ironman Challenge and it was T.J. Criss who drove away from the field from his pole position. Criss survived a late bid from Terry Neal to take the victory, Mark Preston followed Neal in for third while Andy Eckrich and Ray Guss Jr. completed the top five.
Prior to that Ironman race the 305 Sprint Cars and the IMCA Stock Cars waged their feature event battles for twenty-laps each. The Sprint Car feature seemed to take forever, and nearly did, as several cautions and a red-flag period slowed the action. Sixteen-year-old Carson McCarl started on the outside of row one and had the advantage racing into the first turn. But when he got too sideways he collected the fourth starting Jayson Dittsworth and both cars were through for the evening. On the restart Brandyn Martin grabbed the lead, but the caution waved again for a three-car skirmish in turn two involving Pat Moore, Jarrod Schneiderman and Harold Pohren. With the Delaware-style double-file restart Josh Higday was supposed to restart inside of the first double row, but he pulled even with the leader Martin going down the back stretch and then just drove past him before the green flag came out. Starter Donnie Williams said "no, no" to that and sent Higday to the rear of the twenty-car field and once again he jumped the start. Surprisingly not tossed after that second incident, Higday driving the second Hetrick Racing #23 entry then put on an amazing show making his way all the way back up to third before he retired to the pits with six laps remaining.
Meanwhile, back in front, Justin Parrish had taken the lead from Martin on lap four, but by lap ten Brandyn was pulling even with Parrish in turn four. On the same lap that Higday called it an evening, so too did Martin as he slowed down the front stretch and pulled to the infield. Before all this happened though, on a lap eleven caution for Bazil Hicks, we had a bit of drama on the front straightaway. Bobby Mincer missed his heat race and then lined up 19th on the starting grid for the 305 feature. By lap eleven Mincer was up to fourth and was challenging Kevin Hetrick before the Hicks caution, but while riding slowly around the track, the engine compartment of his #14S started on fire and Mincer shut it down quickly before climbing out with the leg of his driver’s suit in flames. Bobby rolled around on the track trying to put it out and it was sixty-year-old race photographer Dennis Krieger who sprinted like Usain Bolt to the rescue and he laid on Mincer’s leg until the flames were smothered. It was cool to be there later in the pits when Mincer walked up to shake Krieger’s hand and thank him for what he did, and there wasn’t even a singe mark on Krieger’s Kraig Kinser sweatshirt.
Anyway, back to the racing. With Martin and Higday both leaving on the same lap, Parrish now had a full straightaway lead and he cruised to the victory with ease. Matt Stephenson was a distant second, Kevin Hetrick finished third, Chad Huston made the trip from Jamesport, Missouri, payoff by taking fourth while Matt Krieger, despite damage to his nose wing, finished fifth.
Jeff Mueller started from the pole of the Stock Car main event and he held off a late bid by Nathan Wood to take a flag-to-flag victory. Wood was second, Jim Redmann finished third, Derek St. Clair was fourth and Kirk Kinsley rounded out the top five after starting in tenth.
Two B-Mains and the 100-lap $10,000-to-win main event remains for the Late Models on Saturday night at 34 Raceway, plus the Mod-Lites and Four Cylinders will provide the support action. I have another commitment on Saturday night and will not be able to attend, but make sure that you check out coverage from Ryan Clark "In Staging", Brian Neal "Midwest Racing News" and Danny Rosencrans "Racin’ Down The Road" online at Positively Racing.
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