Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions point leader Chad Kemenah may have been caught off guard by a late race pass, but he came charging back to collect the feature win on a hot and windy night at 34 Raceway near Burlington Sunday. A strong and diverse field of 35 Sprint Cars, including series owner Tony Stewart, put on a good show despite the challenging conditions with a temperature in the low nineties and a stiff south wind.
The thirty lap main event got off to a wild start as just after five cars near the back of the field tangled in turn two, outside front row starter Ian Madsen smacked the wall and rolled a couple of times in turn four. The work area then became busy as not only did drivers from the turn two scramble head there to check damage, Madsen also had his car towed there for quick repairs and all twenty-four cars were able to make the restart.
Pole-sitter Chad Kemenah would lead the field into turn one only to have Brian Brown pass him off of turn two. Kemenah then charged back under Brown in three and four to officially lead lap one and nearly every driver then scrambled for the bottom line around the 3/8th-mile high-banked oval. For several laps it looked and felt like this would be a one lane parade around the bottom, and that must have been Kemenah's opinion too as he settled in behind the lapped car of Jake Blackhurst mid-race. Behind him though business had picked up with both Kerry Madsen and Bill Balog finding that the the top side, especially in turns one and two, had plenty of bite to offer.
Those two drivers had originally started on the fourth row and as they made their way toward the front other drivers, including Danny Lasoski and Brian Brown took notice and also left the bottom and the pack of four quickly reeled in Kemenah. As they were gaining on the leader the battle between Balog and Madsen was entertaining enough in itself as they swapped the position several times and it would be Balog who would surprise Kemenah by sweeping around him on the outside to take the lead on lap twenty-one.
This put an obvious spark into Kemenah as he went elbows up and started to use more of the track himself to dispense of Blackhurst and go after Balog while still primarily using the low line around the speedway. With six laps remaining Kemenah would drive back under Balog to regain the lead and as he pulled away to take the win the battle for second continued to the checkers with Balog holding off Kerry Madsen. Brown and Lasoski were joined by Paul Nienheiser for a thrilling battle for fourth that went to Brown. Nienheiser who restarted the race in fifth was completely sideways off turn four on the opening lap, but somehow made the save without being drilled by the rest of the field. He may have been the fastest car on the track at the finish though as he fought his way back to fifth passing Lasoski in the final laps. Dominic Scelzi finished in seventh, Ryan Smith was eighth, Tony Stewart won his heat race earlier in the night and finished ninth while Brooke Tatnell completed the top ten.
Support class action included the Aaron Hull Memorial for the IMRA Midgets, a 24-lap feature paying tribute to the young driver who was lost in a tragic shop accident a year ago. Jeff Mallonee raced to the lead at the drop of the green only to have Tyson Hart pass him coming off of turn four to lead the opening lap. As Hart maintained the lead Dillon Morley moved to second and when Hart suddenly slowed and drove to the pits on lap fifteen Morley gladly assumed the point. He had challengers though in Jeremy Hull, Mallonee and Adam Taylor, but when Hull got sideways in turn two on lap eighteen all three of those drivers stacked up eliminating Mallonee and sending the other two to the back of the field for the restart.
Brett Burrow now found himself in second and he applied some pressure for a lap or two before Morley pulled away for the win. Burrow would be the runner-up ahead of Jacob Sollenberger while Hull and Taylor would race their way back into the top five at the checkers.
With Mike Morrill starting on the front row of the fourteen car Mod Lite main event this one figured to be a race for second and Morrill lived up to expectations in the early laps. The race was stopped early when Scott Sappington Jr. rolled his car at the end of the front stretch on a lap two restart and once back to racing everybody was chasing Morrill. With Jason Masengarb applying some pressure though, Morrill spun in turn two on lap seven to bring out the caution and he would go to the back of the twelve car realignment. There would be no challenging Masengarb from there as he cruised to the win over young guns Wyatt Wilkerson and Devon Rouse. Randy Bryan finished fourth while Morrill made it back up to fifth at the finish.
The Crazy Coyote Mini Hauler Trucks gave the crowd a thrill as Billy Stanford and Dane Fenton crossed the finish line side-by-side with Stanford awarded the victory by inches in a photo finish.
The crowd was a good-sized one, but not as large as I had expected and hoped for with this unique event that not only brought in drivers who seldom, if ever race in Iowa, but also had the star draw of Tony Stewart in action. Several factors went against it though including the heat and the wind, although I must say that a solid job of track preparation kept the dust factor at a level much lower than I would have thought it would be. Also, a Sunday show following two nights of World of Outlaws at Knoxville may have been a strain on the Sprint Car fans' budget. Hopefully the bottom line was good enough though to bring the All Stars back to 34 Raceway again in 2018!
No racing on this Monday night before a busy stretch of four in a row starting with the Deery Brothers Summer Series Late Models and the Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modifieds at the West Liberty Raceway on Tuesday night. It will be my third annual "Old Ladies Night Out" event so stop down and say hi to my mother Dee and her cousin Jean, two of three women who got me hooked on this sport at an early age. I am sure that grandma Velma will be joining us in spirit as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment