Two drivers added their names to the all-time list of winners at the Benton County Speedway and three top five finishers were found to be illegal during post race tech inspection on a warm and breezy night in Vinton. The added attraction for the night at The Bullring was a new Guinness Book of World Records Candy Dash at a race rack where 218 kids scooped up over 2,400 pounds of candy that had been distributed along the front stretch during intermission and believe me, there were no kids feeling sleepy in the grandstands come feature time. And while the sugar high may have had something to do with that, the fact that the racing ended at 8:50 p.m. while there was still twilight for the start of the drive home was the biggest reason. Perfect for a Sunday night of racing!
The IMCA Sport Compacts were the first of five features on the card with twelve laps the distance on the newly reworked surface. Another day of hot, sunny weather along with winds and dry humidity had sucked the moisture out of the track, plus the facility had hosted a Hairball concert (totally recommended by this writer) the night before which kept them from soaking the surface as per normal track prep. Pole-sitter Thomas Werner would lead lap one before yielding to the eighth starting Logan Clausen on lap two and as Werner tried to battle back he slipped off the top of turn one and went for a nasty barrel roll. Fortunately the safety equipment did its job and Werner was able to climb from the battered four cylinder uninjured.
On the restart defending track champion William Michel would pull even with Clausen and they would race side-by-side for the next three laps before Clausen was able to fight off the challenge. He would inch away lap by lap from there and capture his third victory on the season here at Vinton. We were here for his win at the Frostbuster and during that victory lane interview the pavement convert stated that he didn't know how often that he would come back to the dirt in 2021, but with this being his fourth win overall and currently ranked eighth in the All Iowa Points I would say that Logan has found a new home on the dirt. Michel would settle for second, Lukas Rick was a strong third, Zeke Wheeler finished fourth and Cristian Grady who is now tied for third in the All Iowa Points completed the top five.
The Stock Cars were up next and with the Murtys off racing in Mason City tonight, this one would be wide open for the ten drivers that had signed in. Scooter Dulin would lead the way from the drop of the green hugging the bottom which meant that he was staying as close to the implement tires marking the infield as possible. Jason Doyle would follow in his tire tracks for four laps before stepping to his outside and on lap six Doyle was able to power off the top of turn four to take the lead.
Jay Schmidt would make the move to second and now Dulin was racing with a broken left tie rod, likely after clipping one of those tires, but as the race stayed green he was still able to coax his lame horse around the speedway running in the third spot. With just two laps remaining something broke in the front end of Riley Hanson's car and he spun to a stop on the front stretch bring out the caution and that would end Dulin's run as well with both cars being taken back to the pits by Fisher Towing.
On the restart Doyle did his best to stayed glued to the bottom, but after taking the white flag the division rookie slipped a bit wide in turn two and Schmidt was more than happy to accept the invitation as he went on to take the win and an extra $150 from Christie Door Company for the "last lap pass for the win" bonus. Doyle who already has two Stock Car wins after coming from the Sport Mods finished in the second spot, Miciah Hidelbaugh crossed the line in third only to be disqualified in tech for illegal stock extensions putting last week's winner Leah Wroten on the podium. Shaun Bistline and Ian Huff would fill out the official top five.
The IMCA Modified twenty lap main event would be up next and despite the dry, dusty conditions this one would go green to checkers with good racing throughout. Pole-sitter Mike Burbridge would lead the way with most of the field clamoring for the bottom during the first half of the race. The lone adventurer was Kip Siems who had started sixth and seemed determined to find something in the middle groove. He was able to maintain his running spot for the first quarter of the race before something kicked in and he started to go forward.
On lap ten Siems was able to drive by Burbridge on the outside and once in the lead it might have been expected that he would move down to the bottom to protect. Instead Siems went with what got him there, staying in that middle line and while Burbridge remained within striking distance the rest of the way, he could not mount a challenge as Siems captured his first career IMCA Modified main event victory. Burbridge followed him for second, Ryan Maitland looked to be third only to be found to have Carb Spacer issues in tech sliding Troy Cordes up to the third position at the pay window. California transplant Dylan Thornton moved from ninth to fourth and Derrick Stewart was credited with fifth.
A full field of twenty-four Sport Mods were up next for fifteen laps and they would mostly go to the top side of the speedway for their preferred line. A pair of 22's, Eric Alexander and Brady Hilmer would battle it out after starting as the front row with Hilmer leading lap one before Alexander took over on lap two. When the leader would get a bit too high entering turn one on lap eight, Hilmer would get back to the front and appeared comfortable on the top now setting the pace.
The caution would fly a lap later though when Colby Heishman slowed on the front stretch and as he coasted toward the infield Duane Van Deest would drive over Heishman's left front sending the veteran driver into air momentarily and leaving a field of debris behind them. On the restart Hilmer would run out of room on the top of turn one and when he corrected several cars piled up behind leaving Alexander, Brian Kauffman, Brett Thomas, Ben Chapman and Dale Kite sitting in turn two. Hilmer would be the only car penalized though so it would be a battered #22A of Alexander bring the field back to green.
Entering turn one Brandon Tharp would make a pretty move driving under Alexander and then drifting to the cushion to take the lead and there would be no catching the hometown driver from there as his second career victory would come just eight days after his debut in victory lane at Independence. Tharp nearly had his first career win back in April here at the Frostbuster only to get caught up behind lapped on traffic on the final lap, so there were plenty of well-wishers ready to get in tonight's victory lane photo, or as announcer Ryan Clark described it, "half the city of Vinton."
Maguire DeJong chased Tharp across the line, but a later check of the results revealed that he too was disqualified for a reason not known to me at this time. So the rest of the top five would be Ben Chapman, Tony Olson, Kaylin Lopez and Joe Docekal.
The final feature of the night would be a fifteen lapper for the Hobby Stocks with an anonymous donor putting up an extra $200 for anybody who could beat Kaden Reynolds. On the first try at a start pole-sitter Dalton Weepie was turned sideways coming to the green so third starting Justin Ginther was sent to the rear for the second try. This would slide Reynolds up from ninth to seventh on the grid and after the green flag waved he was one of three drivers making big early moves to get to the front. Weepie would lead the opening lap, but he was quickly overtaken by both Brett Vanous and Jacob Floyd who were riding the rim coming from sixth and eighth respectively.
Reynolds was soon into third until lap four went he tried to throw a slider at Floyd entering turn one. His momentum was too hot though and Reynolds drifted over the top of turn two spinning to a momentary stop before rejoining the race now at the back of the thirteen car field. Vanous and Floyd continued to set a fast pace as Reynold picked his way up to mid-pack, but with four laps remaining he would overshoot turn one and this time he would just take his car to the pits rather than returning to the surface.
Not sure if Vanous was able to collect the extra money with Reynolds not on the track at the checkers, but he should have as there was not going to be anyone catching him on this night as Floyd was a distant second. Joren Fisher drove a borrowed ride in for third, Matt Brown was fourth and Weepie wrapped up the top five.
It was another great Sunday night of family fun at the Bullring and a big thanks to Rick and Corey Dripps, Ryan Clark and all of the friendly faces at Vinton for their hospitality. Don't forget that the Sprint Invaders make their long anticipated return to the Benton County Speedway on July 4th, just another of the many special nights of racing on the schedule for the quarter-mile oval.
Next up for me will be two nights of action at another of my favorite tracks, the Stuart Speedway for the Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel this Tuesday and Wednesday. Hope to see you there!
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