Justin Kay took not just one, but two feature winner trophies with him out of the Davenport Speedway Thursday night during the opener of the two-day Iowa Governor's Cup event. Thursday night's show was contested on the half-mile track and that, along with the threat of rain throughout the afternoon and evening suppressed the car count some, but there was still a nice crowd on hand to witness the action "half-mile style".
The IMCA Modifieds topped the twenty car count leading the way for the four divisions and they were racing for a healthy $1,000 top prize in the 15-lap feature. Dakota Hayden would take the lead from the front row and lead the field for lap one before the caution waved for Todd Hansen who was up against the wall exiting turn two. Following the restart the second-place car of Bryce Garnhart got sideways in turn three and, as the field scrambled, first Justin Kay clipped Garnhart's left front with his right rear and then, with nowhere else to go, Bruce Hanford door slammed the spinning car. Kay would be able to continue with sheet metal damage only while Hanford, who is always tough here on the big track, was done for the evening.
Once back to green Hayden raced out to a half straightaway lead before Kay made a nifty move to go from fourth to second in turn four on lap five. The chase was now on and Kay reeled in the leader over the next four laps before driving under him exiting turn four on lap ten. Kay would nose ahead at the line only to have Hayden come storming back in turns one and two to retake the lead down the back stretch, but before they could get back around to score another lap the caution waved for Brian Bushong who was coasting down the back stretch with flames showing from the engine.
Going back to the last fully completed lap, Kay would bring the field back for the restart and he then pulled away over the final five laps to take the win. Hayden, Darin Duffy, Bob Dominacki and Matt Werner all finished where they started, second through fifth respectively, but don't let that lead you to believe that there wasn't some good racing action at the front of the field.
During his feature winner's interview Justin noted that he was now ready and excited to jump into his Late Model after drawing the front row for the 20-lap finale of the evening and that meant that most of the crowd were now placing their bets on who would run second figuring that the Daily Double had already been decided. The crowd was right.
At the drop of the green Kay won the drag race with pole-sitter Chad Holladay into turn one and immediately put some distance on the field down the back straightaway of the opening lap. A mid-race caution for Thad Wilson's spin down the back stretch brought the field back to the leader and while it looked like Rob Toland might be able to mount a challenge, Holladay did not allow that to happen by holding off Toland in the race for second as Kay again pulled away. Another trophy and another big check, this one for $2,000, were waiting for him in victory lane as the soft spoken driver from Wheatland continues to establish himself as one of the most dominant in years, tonight racing on the same track as some others who have done the same in the past such as Rob Toland, Ray Guss Jr. and Gary Webb.
Holladay was impressive in second, Toland who is looking like a good bet to win his fourth All Iowa Points title (he was the Late Model champion in 2004, 2006 & 2007) finished third, Ray Guss Jr. came from row five to finish fourth and Brunson Behning followed Guss into the top five after starting eleventh.
The Street Stocks were the first feature of the night and, after watching Rob Henry work his way through the field in the heat race, he was the odds on favorite to win this one after drawing the pole position for the 12-lap race. Henry lived up to expectations and went unchallenged in the non-stop event, but the race for second was a good one as Keith Blum passed both Kevin Dickey and Jesse Owen in turn four as they were coming to the white flag. Blum, who started eighth on the grid, was the runner-up with Dickey and Owen close behind while heat race winner Cary Brown was fifth.
Despite a $500 check waiting for the night's winner only six Sport Mods signed in with Tony Olson's name going on the Payee line after he passed Andrew Burk on lap two. Burk held off Dan Anderson to finish second, Dustin Schram was fourth and Kyle Eller was the last car still running at the checkers, however in the official finish Eller was marked as disqualified.
The tech inspector had a busy night as Modified heat race winner Ray Cox Jr. was DQ'ed for illegal tires and Late Model heat race winner Spencer Diercks was dinged for an illegal MSD box.
The weather forecast is much nicer for Friday's finale of the Governor's Cup and with the action returning to the quarter-mile where the Davenport Speedway weekly attracts a strong field of cars on Friday nights you can expect a great night of action with some big money on the line!
Thanks to Carrie Rouse and Ken Reimers for the hearty welcome and to promoter Bob Wagener and his entire crew for a well run program that saw the final checkered flag waving at 9:05!
No more racing for me this Independence Day weekend as I celebrate one of those "milestone birthdays" for my beautiful wife Christine who is truly my firecracker baby! But I do look forward to a busy stretch next week with racing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Look for me on the Back Stretch!
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