My 18th race of the year brought me to one of my weekly tracks as the cars and stars from the USMTS series were on hand as well as the USRA Stock Cars and B-Mods. 31 USMTS 26 USRA B-Mods and 22 USRA Stock Cars checked into the pit area. First on the night were 3 B-Mod heats. Local racer Logan Scott dominated heat 1 and his brother Keegan dominated heat 3 after coming the back. Chippewa Falls, WI driver Cory Crapser took checkers in heat race 2 also. 3 USRA Stock Car heats were next and fans were treated to 3 and 4 wide racing. Heat 1 saw the veteran Tom Schmitt cruise to victory over Mitch Hovden. Lynn Panos came from inside row 2 to take the checkers over Kevin Faulk and Jake Masters in what was a very entertaining and good race. Local hot shoe Chris Ullrich dominated heat 3 after passing Steve Jackson early on. The final 4 heat races of the night belonged to the USMTS modifieds. The first heat saw Kelly Shryock and Casey Arneson make contact in turn 1 on the first lap collecting Brian Green as well, all were able to continue. It was no surprise though as Rodney Sanders would cruise to victory in Heat 1. Cade Dillard took advantage of his pole starting spot in heat 2 and dominated. It was Stormy Scott who owned heat 3 and making his return to the Crawford County Speedway it was Jesse Sobbing as he wasted no time picking up where he left as weekly competitor as he picked up the heat race 4 win but not after a hard fought battle with fellow local racer Chris Ableson and USMTS regular Daniel Hilsabeck.
The first feature of the night was the USRA B-Mods. 25 cars took the green flag as Dan Hovden broke right before the start and pulled in right away. Cory Crapser who started outside row 2 wasted no time and was a rocket ship as he took the lead right away and Logan Scott quickly found himself in 2nd. Scott however caught the wall in turn 1 on lap 6 while chasing down Crapser and was able to continue. This brought out a yellow. On the restart Chris Ableson and Brett Bumgartner would make contact resulting in Bumgartner leaving on the hook. A bad restart for 3rd place runner Jake McBirnie bunched up the field and Matt Jones and Josh Most were the victims of it. On the in suing restart Crapser got a great jump on the field and was up to a straightaway lead however a caution on lap 12 would again re-rack and re-stack the field. Chris Ableson who started 25th had just worked his way into 2nd and was on a mission. A good restart for Ableson gave Crapser a run but Cory would prevail. With 2 to go another yellow would slow the field down. On the restart Ableson got a good restart and pulled a slider on Crapser in turns 1 and 2 but couldnt make it stick and it was Cory Crapser who took the first feature of the night. Chris Ableson(5x) Jake McBirnie(82) Jonathan Logue(69) and Dan Wheeler(RED1) rounded out the top 5.
Next on the card was the USRA Stock Car feature. 22 Cars started the feature and it was Tom Schmitt who took advantage of his front row starting spot and jumped out to a commanding lead. A mid race yellow would not be what Schmitt wanted to see as he had distanced himself from the field. I am not one who likes yellow flags in races but this yellow was beneficial for the fan point of view as the 2nd half of the race was very entertaining. For most of the 2nd half you could have thrown a blanket over the top 7 cars. As they continued to race hard side by side it was Chris Ullrich who was the car to watch. Ullrich a weekly competitor at the speedway would show why he calls the Crawford County Speedway his home track. Schmitt and Ullrich raced side by side for final 2 laps. Heading into turn 3 it was Ullrich, Schmitt and Hovden. Hovden would bobble in 4 and coming to the checkers they were 3 wide with Chris Ullrich grabbing the win Hovden would finish 2nd, Nathan Wood edged Tom Schmitt who got shuffled from 1st to 4th in half a lap, while Lynn Panos rounded out the top 5.
The final event was the USMTS feature event. Jesse Sobbing would jump out to the early lead and would dominate the first 7 laps but a yellow on lap 7 would slow the field down. On the restart the B-Mod feature winner Cory Crapser and Brian Green would make contact coming out of 4 with Crapser penciled in as a DNF on the stat sheet. The field was again slowed by a yellow on lap 13 but it was for race leader Jesse Sobbing as he blew a RR tire. Casey Arneson would inherit the lead with Cade Dillard in 2nd. On the restart Arneson would prevail but after a few laps Dillard would make the pass and take over the top spot. Anybody that knows the USMTS tour knows that you cannot count out Stormy Scott or Rodney Sanders as they were charging to the front. Another RR tire would slow the field down on lap 20 this time for Josh Most. On the restart Dillard would get a good jump on the field. Stormy Scott who was charging hard on the top side caught the wall coming outta 4 and this opened the door up for Rodney Sanders. Sanders was in hot pursuit of Dillard. A yellow for debris on lap 30 was not what Cade Dillard wanted to see with Sanders right behind him but was able to hold him off for last 10 laps and record the victory. Rodney Sanders, Jason Hughes, Stormy Scott, Kelly Shryock, Jesse Sobbing (who came back from tail) Casey Arneson, Zack Vanderbeek, Grant Junghans and Daniel Hilsabeck completed the top 10.
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