Busy Weekend At 34 Raceway

Graduation parties and racing at 34 Raceway kept my weekend hopping before this Memorial Day when we honor the men and women who have served our country with some giving the ultimate sacrifice.

Saturday night I made it to the track just in time for the feature races and the IMCA Stock Cars were the first of six. Shane Watts inherited the pole position when Dean Kratzer dropped to the back after the parade lap and Watts made the most of the gift by going flag to flag to score the win. John Oliver Jr. was a distant second, Jake Wenig finished third, Tom Bowling Jr. recovered from a lap two pit stop to finish fourth and John Brockway completed the top five.

The 305 Sprints had their twenty lap feature slowed by three cautions, plus a red flag when Andy Krieger went for a tumble in turn two. Even with all the restarts nobody could match the pace of Dillan Roth though as the young driver scored his first career feature win. Jarrod Schneiderman ran second early, faded a bit mid-race, and then battled his way back to second at the checkers just ahead of his uncle John Schulz who had started eighth. Daniel Bergquist and Brandyn Martin filled out the top five. Damian Getchell had a nice run going coming from eleventh up to fourth charging to the high side in turns three and four, but on lap eleven he pushed it just beyond the limit and spun sending him to the back of the field.

Veteran drivers Rich Smith and Dean McGee paced the IMCA Modified main event for the first half of the 20-lap race before Brandon Rothzen took the lead on lap thirteen and walked away for his second straight win. Rothzen is definitely fun to watch here as he uses every inch of the racetrack never content to just ride behind somebody in a favored groove. McGee and Smith ran second and third followed by Jeff Waterman and Dennis LaVeine. With several tracks in the region rained out I thought that I might see some visitors and two in the Modified class were Tim Hamburg of Dixon, Illinois, and Matt Webb of Des Moines. They finished tenth and eleventh respectively.

Some visitors in the Sport Mod division swelled the field to twenty-two and unfortunately this race was marred by seven cautions. There was definitely some good racing when the green flag could stay on display and after the pole-sitter Creston Williams led lap one, his fellow front row starter Dan Keltner took over on lap two and held off Brandon Lennox late to take the win. Lennox had started the race from the sixth row. Williams finished third just ahead of last week's winner Sean Wyett while Austen Becerra was fifth. Defending All Iowa Points champion Tony Olson made the trip to 34 after the Independence Motor Speedway rained out and he charged up from the tenth row to finish seventh. Aaron Mitchell was also impressive in his first trip to the track moving from 15th to 8th at the checkers.

The IMRA Midgets pulled a solid field of fourteen with Andy Baugh passing Jeff Mallonee mid-race to take the win. Gedd Ross dropped Brent Burgus to fourth late in the race and Ryan Jamison was fifth. Burgus was also a first-time entrant in the winged 305 Sprints, but suffered mechanical problems mid-race.

The Four Cylinders rounded out the evening and as Kimberly Abbott raced away to the easy win the three car battle for second was intense with plenty of bumping, grinding and paint swapping along the way. Jerrod Nichols prevailed as the runner-up ahead of Brandon Lambert and Ron Kibbe while Ottumwa's Kyle Bond was fifth in his first appearance here.

With a couple more parties to attend on Sunday afternoon I ended up driving nearly over 160 miles to get to the track that is just 20 miles from my doorstep as the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders were the top draw for Sunday's show along with the Crate Late Models and three groups of Vintage Cars. There was a lot of Sprint Car racing going on in the region on this Sunday night with MOWA at Quincy, the NSL at Des Moines and the ASCS Warrior Region at Double X Speedway in Missouri so I was pleased to see the Invaders have the best car count of the bunch with twenty-five in attendance.

Mechanical issues made it an early night though for J.C. Bland, Ryan Jamison and Andy Krieger so with twenty-two cars remaining it was decided to skip the B-Main and start everybody instead of the normal twenty-car A-Main for the series. Lapped cars definitely played a major role in the 25-lap feature as leader Jon Agan was already in traffic on lap four and slower traffic was involved in two of the three red flag incidents. Fourth-running Harold Pohren hopped the wheel of a lapper and went for a hard ride in turn three and later in the race Donnie Steward and Jerrod Schneiderman were racing hard for a top five spot when they split a lapped car and then ran into each other. Bad luck also struck Dustin Clark who had an impressive top-five run going before he tumbled on the turn four cushion collecting Damian Getchell along the way.

It was a tough night for several drivers, but for one driver it was perhaps his first good night of the year as Jon Agan completed the clean sweep just one night after being involved in a red-flag incident of his own at the Knoxville Raceway. Agan had to fight of a stiff challenge from young Chris Martin on the second restart to preserve the lead and the two-time defending champion completed the sweep by winning his heat, the Budweiser Shake Up Dash and the feature in convincing fashion. Definitely a good way to start a week where he will put racing on the back burner and take his family on a fun Florida vacation.

Martin continues to impress and after this strong runner-up showing and he might just be the man to beat for this year's title. Josh Schneiderman returned to form tonight as well coming from fourteenth at the start to third at the checkers. The next event for the Sprint Invaders will be on Friday June 17th during the Wapello County Fair in Eldon.

Jeff Guengerich was the best of the ten car Late Model field driving the Lynn Richard owned car #15R to a convincing win. With Guengerich in control the race was for second as Sam Halstead held off Colby Springsteen and Tommy Elston for the position. Wisconsin transplant Todd Frank was fifth.

I would love to be in Vinton tonight for the double Modified features including the opener for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour, however a four state business trip that begins tomorrow will keep me home instead. If the timing works out and the weather cooperates though I might just be able to slip in a couple of races along the way before returning to the MLRA doubleheader at Osky on Thursday and Donnellson on Friday.

Check back into the Back Stretch and see where I end up!

State Points Through May 22nd: Missouri, Illinois and Indiana

		Missouri Points
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Justin Wells	Aurora	26
2	.	Aaron Marrant	Richmond	25
3	.	Jesse Stovall	Galena	22
4	.	Cole Wells	Galena	21
5	.	Dustin Mooneyham	Aurora	21
6	.	Jason Bodenhammer	Centerview	21
7	.	Chris Smyser	Lancaster	20
8	.	Jon Melloway	Hallsville	20
9	.	Michael Kloos	Trenton IL	19
10	.	Gordy Gundaker	St. Charles	18
11	.	Brantlee Gotschall	Nevada	16
12	.	David Melloway	Columbia	15
13	.	Shane Essary	Galena	15
14	.	Dustin Hodges	Fulton	14
15	.	Kaleb Stolba	Willow Springs	13
16	.	Tim Manville	Highland IL	13
17	.	Todd McCoin	Barnett	13
18	.	Brandon Ball	West Plains	11
19	.	Tommy Cordray	Browning	10
20	.	Wendell Wallace	Greenbriar AR	10

		Missouri Points
		Modified
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jackie Dalton	Carthage	38
2	.	Michael Long	Fowler IL	29
3	.	Robbie Reed	Mexico	28
4	.	Zach Sanders	Kearney	26
5	.	Jody Tillman	West Branson	24
6	.	Kevin Blackburn	Fulton	24
7	.	Terry Schultz	Sedalia	24
8	.	Brent Thompson	Park Hills	23
9	.	Brian Green	Pierce City	23
10	.	Cory Wray	Trenton	23
11	.	Trevor Drake	Joplin	22
12	.	Bobby Pearish	Joplin	21
13	.	Dean Hoffman	Troy IL	21
14	.	Billy Smith	Park Hills	20
15	.	Mitch Keeter	Webb City	20
16	.	Dennis Elliott	Mount Ayr IA	16
17	.	Greg Swaringim	Bismark	16
18	.	Jeff Cutshaw	Cross Timbers	16
19	.	Rick Conoyer	Wentzville	15
20	.	Jason Russell	Henley	14
21	.	Logan Martin	West Plains	14

		Missouri Points
		Limited Modifieds
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Ryan Gillmore	Springfield	54
2	.	Kris Jackson	Lebanon	47
3	.	J.C. Morton	Springfield	29
4	.	Kodi Savage		24
5	.	Aaron Scroggins	Neosho	22
6	.	Brad Smith	Belton	21
7	.	Shawn Strong	Republic	19
8	.	Trevor Hunt	Kearney	19
9	.	Chad Lebsock		18
10	.	Jeff LeBaube	High Ridge	18
11	.	Logan Martin	West Plains	18
12	.	Joshua Stephens	Buckner	17
13	.	Steve Starmer	New Hampton	17
14	.	Andy Bryant	Fort Scott KS	16
15	.	Kyle Stolzer	St. Genevieve	16
16	.	Spencer Stephens	Buckner	16
17	.	Stephen Muilenberg	Sparta	16
18	.	Randy Ainsworth	Excelsior Springs	15
19	.	Jacob Ebert	Oak Grove	14
20	.	Josh Russell		14
21	.	Tim Eaton	St. Joseph	14

		Missouri Points
		Winged Sprints (410 & 360)
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jonathan Cornell	Sedalia	29
2	.	Joey Montgomery	Fredericktown	16
3	.	Tommy Worley Jr.	Bismarck	16
4	.	Tyler Thomas	Collinsville OK	14
5	.	Brad Loyet	Sunset Hills	13
6	.	Brandon Hanks	Burlison TN	12
7	.	Derek Hagar	Marion AR	11
8	.	Randy Martin	California	11
9	.	Kasey Burch	Farmington	10
10	.	Corey Nelson	Eugene	8
11	.	Jimmy Bridgeman	Farmington	8
12	.	Tim Montgomery	Fredericktown	8
13	.	Tyler Blank	California	7
14	.	Zach Daum	Pocahontas IL	7
15	.	Jimmy Hurley	Springfield IL	6
16	.	Kent Buckley	Farmington	6
17	.	Brian Brown	Grain Valley	5
18	.	Bryan Clauson	Noblesville IN	5
19	.	John Carney II	Lubbock TX	5
20	.	Sammy Swindell	Bartlett TN	5

		Illinois Points
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	McKay Wenger	Fairbury	32
2	.	Chad Zobrist	Highland	25
3	.	Michael Kloos	Trenton	22
4	.	Kevin Weaver	Gibson City	20
5	.	Todd Bennett	Peoria	19
6	.	Mike Spatola	Manhattan	18
7	.	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood	17
8	.	Tim Manville	Highland	16
9	.	Jay Brendle	Kirkland	15
10	.	Ryan Unzicker	El Paso	15
11	.	Scott Schmitt	Tonica	14
12	.	Denny Woodworth	Mendon	13
13	.	Jim Moon	New Florence MO	13
14	.	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin	12
15	.	Daryn Klein	Fairview Heights	12
16	.	Rich Bell	Sheffield	12
17	.	Rick Salter	Albers	12
18	.	Travis Denning	Sterling	12
19	.	Charley Hess	Bartonville	11
20	.	Brian Shirley	Chatham	10
21	.	Josh Richards	Shinnston WV	10
22	.	Matt Ryan	Davenport IA	10
23	.	Todd Malmstrom	Moline	10

		Illinois Points
		Modified
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Mike Harrison	Highland	53
2	.	Ray Bollinger	Kewanee	45
3	.	Michael Long	Fowler	44
4	.	Allen Weisser	Peoria	42
5	.	Steven Brooks	New Lenox	34
6	.	Brian Bielong	Summerfield	33
7	.	Chad Evans	Mattoon	31
8	.	Dave Crawley Jr.	Decatur	30
9	.	Brian Lynn	Mason City	29
10	.	Jeff Leka	Buffalo	27
11	.	Gabe Menser		22
12	.	David Wietholder	Liberty	21
13	.	Mike McKinney	Plainfield	21
14	.	Tyler Deibert		17
15	.	Greg Durbin	Colona	16
16	.	Lance Dehm	Chatsworth	16
17	.	Rick Conoyer	Wentzville MO	16
18	.	Zach Fair		16
19	.	Jay Ledford	Pontiac	15
20	.	Josh Allen	Trivoli	15
21	.	Matt Maier	Thomasboro	15
22	.	Tait Davenport	Benton KY	15

		Illinois Points
		Crate Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Dakota Ewing	Decatur	32
2	.	Nick Bauman	New Berlin	29
3	.	A.J. May	Peoria	22
4	.	Jose Parga	Auburn	22
5	.	Matt Shannon	Peoria	20
6	.	Matt Taylor	Springfield	20
7	.	Jake Little	Springfield	16
8	.	Zac Kuhel		16
9	.	Evan Fink	Glasford	14
10	.	James Carmody	Dunlap	13
11	.	Austin Simpson		12
12	.	Guy Taylor	Springfield	12
13	.	Jim Hagedorn		12
14	.	Roben Huffman	Clinton	12
15	.	Jeremy McLaughlin	Danforth	7
16	.	Matt Murphy	Peoria	7
17	.	Robbie Bauman Jr.		7
18	.	Eric Wilson	Downs	6
19	.	Jeremy Kingsley	Peoria	6
20	.	Blaze Burwell	Mt. Vernon	5
21	.	Cory Daugherty	Blue Mound	5
22	.	Dave Polak Jr.		5
23	.	Shawn Diggs	Leroy	5

		Illinois Points
		Limited Modifieds
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jimmy Cummins		29
2	.	Robbie Eilers	Highland	27
3	.	Butch Weisser		24
4	.	Tim Hancock Sr.	Mount Olive	24
5	.	Trey Harris	Hillsboro MO	24
6	.	Matt Parrott	East Peoria	23
7	.	Tommie Seets Jr.	Alton	20
8	.	John Stanton	East Alton	18
9	.	B.J. Deal	Brownstown	17
10	.	Mark Anderson		15
11	.	Richie Biswell		15
12	.	James Eden		14
13	.	Joey Gower	Quincy	14
14	.	Benji Rine		13
15	.	Doug Tye	Troy	13
16	.	Kevin Morrow	Pekin	13
17	.	Steve Phillips	Neoga	13
18	.	Tony Dunker	Quincy	13
19	.	Nathan Schmitt	Trenton	12
20	.	Ryan Buckler		12
21	.	Tanner Klingele	Quincy	12

		Illinois Points
		Winged Sprints (All)
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Parker Price-Miller	Kokomo IN	9
2	.	Jerrod Hull	Sikeston MO	6
3	.	Joey Saldana	Brownsburg IN	5
4	.	Kody Kinser	Bloomington IN	5
5	.	Ryan Bunton	Morton	5
6	.	Sheldon Haudenschild	Wooster OH	5
7	.	Bill Balog	Brookfield WI	4
8	.	Brad Loyet	Sunset Hills MO	4
9	.	Ian Madsen	San Souci NSW	4
10	.	Shane Stewart	Bixby OK	4

		Indiana Points
		Non Wing Sprints
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Kevin Thomas Jr.	Cullman AL	28
2	.	Shane Cottle	Kokomo	20
3	.	Brady Short	Bedford	19
4	.	Brady Bacon	Broken Arrow OK	17
5	.	Dave Darland	Lincoln	17
6	.	Jeff Bland Jr.	Bedford	15
7	.	Kyle Cummins	Princeton	15
8	.	Bryan Clauson	Nobelsville	13
9	.	Shane Cockrum	Benton IL	13
10	.	Shawn Westerfeld	Guilford	13
11	.	C.J. Leary	Greenfield	12
12	.	Jarrett Andretti	Indianapolis	11
13	.	Chase Stockon	Elizabethtown	10
14	.	Chris Windom	Canton IL	10
15	.	Jon Stanbrough	Brownsburg	10
16	.	Joss Moffatt	Columbus	9
17	.	Nick Bilbee	Indianapolis	9
18	.	Scotty Weir	Marion	8
19	.	Jake Scott	Morgantown	7
20	.	Robert Ballou	Rocklin CA	7

		Indiana Points
		Modified
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jamie Lomax	Lake Village	43
2	.	Josh Harris	Bedford	19
3	.	Derek Groomer	Bloomington	18
4	.	Derek Losh	Rensselaer	16
5	.	Joey Kramer	Hanover	15
6	.	Scotty Kincaid	Rising Sun	15
7	.	Todd Sherman	Churubusco	15
8	.	Matt Hamilton	Aurora	13
9	.	Nick Allen		13
10	.	Randy Lines	Marion	13
11	.	Dillon Nusbaum	Sepncerville	12
12	.	Kyle Herbert	Greensburg	12
13	.	Victor Lee	Danville KY	12
14	.	Ken Schrader	Concord NC	11
15	.	Bill Lewis	Montpelier	10
16	.	Jim Mallery	Mooresville	10
17	.	Kyle Schornick	Sunman	10
18	.	David Spille	Harrison OH	9
19	.	Devin Gilpin	Columbus	9
20	.	Dustin Beck		9
21	.	Jacoby Hines	Trafalgar	9
22	.	Mark Grosvenor		9
23	.	Richie Lex	Morgantown	9
24	.	Travis Shoulders	Greencastle	9

		Indiana Points
		Crate Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Marty O'Neal	Spencer	21
2	.	Mike Staggs		16
3	.	Hudson O'Neal	Martinsville	15
4	.	Jeremy McLaughlin		12
5	.	Brian Shewmaker		9
6	.	Remington Gill	Mitchell	8
7	.	Tom Smith		8
8	.	Trent Low		8
9	.	Gerald Gault	Morgantown	7
10	.	Cody Fultz		6
11	.	Jim Bailey		6
12	.	Justin Shaw	Whiteland	6
13	.	Raymond Humphrey	Bloomington	6
14	.	Dave Polak Jr.		5
15	.	Tom Knippenberg		5
16	.	Britan Godsey	Mitchell	4
17	.	Greg Amick	Columbus	4
18	.	Jeremy Owens		4
19	.	Steve Barnett	Franklin	4
20	.	Steve Godsey	Bedford	4

IMCA Win Number 199 For Murty

The weather was absolutely gorgeous for racing Sunday night and the Benton County Speedway in Vinton served up a race event that was of equal quality to the conditions with a six division program that started on time at 6 p.m. and had the final checkers of the night waving at 8:50. There were some new faces as well as some very familar ones in victory lane and, with Ryan Clark back on the mic for one night, there plenty of great statistics that not only enhanced the evening, but will do the same for this report.

It seems like every time that I go to Vinton Don Erger wins the Micro Mod feature in flag-to-flag fashion. On this night the veteran driver benefitted from two jumped starts by the original pole-sitter allowing Erger to move forward and into that position for the third try. He moved to the lead at the drop of the green and then pulled away to an easy win over Cole McNeal. It was the third win of the season for Erger here, the second that I have seen, and his 17th career win at Vinton in the Micro Mod division.

Pole-sitter Ryan King would lead the opening circuits of the 16-lap Sport Mod main event before Joey Schaefer swept around him on lap three. A caution for a Mitch Manternach spin bunched the field on lap four with Tony Olson lining up in the eighth position for the restart. Olson had won the last two features here in Vinton, plus he had won the night before in Independence, and it was easy to see why as when the green flag waved again he found a bite around the bottom of the quarter-mile and in just three laps moved all the way up to second.

Schaefer did his best to ward off the Olson onslaught, but on lap eleven Tony moved to the lead just a lap before Manternach again spun in turn two to end his evening. Dakoda Sellers slid off the back stretch to cause a yellow on lap thirteen and on the restart, the leader's cousin Kyle Olson spun in turn one collecting four other cars in the mishap. Those cautions just delayed the inevitable though as once back to green it was Tony Olson pulling way to his third straight win here and eighth victory overall in 2016. Sam Wieben slipped past Schaefer late to finish in the second spot, Danny Dvorak was fourth, Curt Hilmer fifth and Ethan Braaksma had a nice run in his first BCS appearance of the year coming from the sixth row to finish in sixth.

The IMCA Stock Cars were up next for 18-laps with Shane Ebaugh using that same low line to make a big move on the opening lap to go from fifth to first. With most of the front of the field deciding that the rail was the way to go they lined up in bumper-to-bumper fashion around the bottom while some in the back looked for another groove. Never one to play follow-the-leader, tenth starting Damon Murty first tried the middle line, but when that only gained him a spot or two through the opening five laps he moved up to the cushion and set sail toward the front. On lap nine Murty drove around Ebaugh and then drove away to score his 199th career IMCA sanctioned Stock Car victory and his 77th career win at Vinton, more than any other driver at the quarter-mile oval. It also marked the 15th consecutive season that Murty has won a feature at the Benton County Speedway and while Damon looks ahead to that 200th IMCA victory, know that he has won several other non-sanctioned feature races over the years as well. No wonder that he is a three-time defending All Iowa Points champion and ranks second to only Brian Blessington in the cumulative Stock Car points since 2000.

While Murty was well out front at the checkers the battle for second on back was very entertaining with Ebaugh holding on for the runner-up position. Justin Stander made a big move up from eleventh at the start to third at the checkers, Jared Daggett also used the cushion to come from eighth to fourth and Scott Pippert completed the top five.

A full field of 24 IMCA Modifieds were on hand just a week ahead of a big doubleheader weekend that I will tell you more about at the end of this story and it was Mike Burbridge who also used that low line on the opening lap to go from third to first. Action was frantic throughout the field with drivers going three and even four wide on the very racey surface and Burbridge was under fire from both Patrick Flannagan and Tony Snyder. On lap nine as Flannagan rode to the cushion around the leader in turn two, Snyder charged below Burbridge with Snyder's right rear wheel hopping up and over the leader's left front sending him into a spin with the damage requiring a wrecker to tow a dejected Burbridge back to the pit area.

On the restart it wasn't Flannagan or Snyder that would secure the lead though as J.D. Auringer dug low off of turn four to take cross the stripe ahead by inches before the caution waved for a Dennis Betzer spin in turn one. Jake Strayer would nail one of the track tires marking the infield on the following lap and once back to green there would be no touching Auringer who scored his 17th career win here at Vinton. Flannagan faded to fifth at one point, but charged back to finish in the second spot with Snyder in third. Zach Less was in contention the entire distance and finished fourth ahead of Troy Cordes while Bill Roberts Jr. made the tow up from Burlington to finish sixth after starting in the eighth row.

The opening lap of the 15-lap Hobby Stock main event was a wild one as drivers raced four-wide for the lead into turn three. Daniel Wauters emerged from that pack to lead that first one before August Bach, who had started sixth, rode the cushion to the front on lap two. Nathan Ballard is always a threat to win here at Vinton and he was quickly into the top five after starting tenth before his race ended on lap five after losing his right rear wheel. Once back to green Bach stayed committed to the cushion while Justin Wacha used the bottom to pull even with him on a few occasions, but he could never complete the pass as Bach notched his first career feature win here at Vinton. And, with another amazing stat from Ryan Clark, August Bach is the 89th different Hobby Stock driver to win a weekly show here at the speedway. Wacha would hold off Brett Vanous to finish in the second spot, Leah Wroten was fourth and Matt Pohlman edged out Zach Swanson by inches at the checkers for fifth.

The IMCA Late Models made their second of five appearances here at Vinton in 2016 and it was their 25-lap feature race that would serve as the finale for the evening. Once again that low line was the place to be on the opening lap as third-starting Ben Seemann charged to the front to pace the field for the first ten laps. Darren Ackerman who had started second stuck with the high line and saw it payoff as he moved to the lead on lap eleven and behind him Todd Cooney was also using the top side to move to the front. The winner here back in April, Cooney had started ninth and moved to second on lap fifteen, but by then he was a full straightaway back from the leader. Pushing to close the gap, Cooney slipped off the top of turn two on lap 17 giving back a couple of positions as he raced back onto the speedway. Two laps later, Cooney again drove off the back stretch this time dropping him out of the top five as Ackerman cruised to the win in the non-stop event. Joe Zrostlik started sixth and finished in second, Seemann was third, Jerry King fourth and John Emerson came from tenth to fifth. Unofficially the remainder of the top ten were Bobby Hansen, Cooney, Luke Pestka, Curtis Glover and Kip Siems.

For the second week in a row my lovely wife Christine joined me at the races (she now has three events in the book this year equalling her total in 2015) as we made it a full day by stopping in the Amanas for a beer at the Millstream Brewery after attending my nephew Declan's graduation from Williamsburg High School. A big thanks to promoter Mick Trier and everybody at the Benton County Speedway for the hospitality and to Ryan Clark for the Positively Racing plug. Just remember Ryan, we are holding your place for you!

As mentioned above, the Benton County Speedway will host a big doubleheader of racing this coming Memorial Day weekend as on Sunday night the full weekly show will feature the IMCA Modifieds in a draw-redraw format for $1,000-to-win. That race will serve as a preview for Monday night's opener of the 2016 Hawkeye Dirt Tour for the IMCA Modifieds while the other four classes will be back for another night of points racing. I have another commitment on Sunday, but Monday's show is definitely on my wish list!

Perhaps I'll see you there.

Pohren Party Continues at 34 Raceway

Word on the street is that the pitside party after Harold Pohren's win at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on Friday night was a big one. And, after making a late race pass to score the win at 34 Raceway in Burlington as well, the stamina of his family, friends and fans were tested once again Saturday night. I'm sure that they passed with flying colors!

Tanner Gebhardt would race out to a comfortable lead in the 20-lap 305 Winged Sprint main event while two drivers were working their way up through the field. John Schulz had scratched from his heat race earlier in the evening, but whatever was ailing his car before had obviously been resolved as he was passing cars each lap after starting last in the sixteen-car field. The other driver on the move was Pohren who had started eighth and passed Jarrod Schneiderman for second on lap eleven.
Pohren was closing the gap on the young leader and had it down to five car lengths when the caution waved for a two-car tangle between Donnie Steward and Dillan Roth with three laps to go.

A three car spin near the back of the field negated the first restart and on the second try, when Gebhardt slipped up the track exiting turn two, that was all that Pohren needed to shoot to the lead down the back stretch. A Travis Howard spin in turn three slowed the field again with one lap remaining and while drivers behind him swapped positions on the restart, Pohren charged to his second win in two nights. Schneiderman made the pass on Gebhardt on that final lap to finish second while Schulz slipped under Evan Epperson to complete his big run up to fourth.

The IMCA Modified feature saw plenty of action in its 20-lap distance as veteran Rich Smith would lead lap one before racing three-wide along with Dennis LaVeine and Blake Woodruff in turn one on lap two. LaVeine would emerge from that trio to now lead the field before a caution waved for a three-car tangle in turn one involving Brandon Rothzen, Dustin Smith and Dugan Thye on lap five. Rothzen and Thye would restart from the rear while Smith's car was towed to the pits.

LaVeine would continue to lead while Rothzen used every inch of the track to get back into contention taking over the second spot at the halfway mark. Two laps later the caution would wave for a Darrow Lillie spin and following the restart Rothzen started to work on LaVeine. He tried him high, he tried him low only to have LaVeine fight him off until lap 17 when Rothzen hammered the cushion in turns one and two and sailed around the leader heading down the back stretch. Brandon would then pull away over the final three laps to score the "back to front" victory. LaVeine and Woodruff would run second and third while Jeff Waterman and Bill Roberts Jr. completed the top five.

Ray Raker raced to the lead on the first of sixteen laps for the Stock Cars and he then drove a solid mistake-free race to record his first win of the season. Chad Krogmeier kept him honest, but he had to ward off Jake Wenig through the closing laps to finish second. Tom Bowling Jr. came from the fifth row to finish fourth with Chase Klenk in fifth.

Seventeen IMCA Sport Mods checked in for racing, but only thirteen of them would be able to start the 15-lap main event with Dan Keltner setting the early pace. Sean Wyett wanted to quicken that pace though and he would drive under Keltner for the advantage off of turn four on lap three. Wyett was pulling away before Wesley Mayfield tagged the wall on the front stretch setting up a four-lap run to the checkers. With Keltner trying to fight off Austen Becerra and Brandon Lennox after the restart that allowed Wyett to pull away and win the feature with Lennox coming home second ahead of Becerra and Keltner. Ninth-starting John Oliver Jr. would bring the Cossel Racing #15 home in fifth.

Mike Morrill was the class of the field in the Mod Lite division again coming from eighth to take the lead on lap three and then pull away for the win. Jason Masengarb was equally impressive though as after his car spun in a ball of smoke during his heat race, the Quad City area driver started twelfth and raced his way up to second at the checkers. Jimmy Halcomb, Devon Rouse and Erin Turner filled out the top five.

Jacob Ogelsby would lead the first two laps of the 12-lap Four Cylinder finale before his right front wheel decided to strike out on its own in turns one and two. Defending track champion Kimberly Abbott would assume the lead on the restart and would then go unchallenged over the final ten laps to secure the win. Jerrod Nichols was running second mid-race before his pink car #15 started serving as a bank board for drivers going around him and following the second hard shot the radiator hose came loose and Nichols pulled to the infield with just a few laps to go. Brandon Lambert made his way from sixth to second, but could not chase down Abbott while Craig Bangert drove Lambert's "team car" tonight to a third-place finish.Ron Kibbe came from eighth to fourth while Larry Miller parlayed a front row start into a top-five finish.

Thanks to the entire 34 Raceway family for the hospitality and to the track's new announcer Tony Paris who had me come up topside where I could warm up in the booth on what became a bit of a chilly evening. The West Burlington track has a big double header coming up on Memorial Day weekend as Saturday's weekly show can be seen for just a $5 admission price, then on Sunday night the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders will be featured along with the "Lee County Late Models" and the Vintage Cars. Hope to see you there!

For this Sunday night though my plan is to take in another Sunday night of action at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton where the IMCA Late Models are back in town for the evening!