The format for Thursday's show was unique in that not only did it serve as a practice night, but those drivers in attendance also went on the clock in a qualifying session where the top three in each division would be locked into Friday's redraw without having to run a heat race. The night was then topped off with Powder Puff and Mechanics races making for a fun night at the track that was quite a hit with those in attendance. Friday's show would advance that theme as the top three finishers in each feature would then be locked in for the redraw in Saturday's Fall Madness finale.
The fifteen lap Sport Compact feature would roll out first with Chris Pittman pacing the opening circuit before Steven Schmitz went storming by on lap two. It was quite a pack doing battle up front ad kudos to the Four Cylinder brigade as they would have likely went the distance under green if not for some bad luck in the closing laps for three of the top contenders.
Jay Crabill took the lead from Schmitz on lap eight and a few laps later Steven would slip off the top of turn one. He was able to make the save and rejoin the field, but now near the back of the pack. With three laps to go Jake Anderson who had come from eleventh up to fourth had his motor go up in smoke and there was one burst of flames from under the #54A as he pulled it into the infield. Then, one lap later, Stephen Randall's car let out a big plume of smoke and as the driver in third coasted out of turn four looking to turn into the infield flagman Jeff Kropf threw the caution to make sure that none of the other drivers would get caught up in a mess.
That would setup a green-white-checkers finish with Cristian Grady riding the back bumper of the leader for the final two circuits and he would not be able to make a challenge as Crabill scored the victory. Jaice Tuttle came home third, Korey Lana started fourteenth and finished fourth while Thursday's quick qualifier Robert Rundle was fifth.
Twenty laps of Sport Mod action would follow with cousins Tony and Kyle Olson bringing the field to green. Tony would take the point with Kyle, and several of the top Sport Mod drivers in the state in hot pursuit. The first of four cautions would wave on lap five when Dave McCalla slipped off the top of turn one and then when he came back up onto the track he collected Noah Beenken.
The pace was still a quick one after the restart as the eighth, tenth and twelfth starters Dylan Van Wyk, Taylor Kuehl and Tyler Bannister were making their way toward the front where Cole Suckow was now putting the pressure on Tony Olson. Van Wyk had made it up to third when Will Wolf spun on lap twelve and on the restart the top three all went for the bottom in turn one. Suckow would get loose and spin in turn two to bring out the caution and he then drove back to the front hoping that he would get his spot back apparently thinking that he had some help. From my vantage point that was not the case and the turns one and two official must have agreed and instead of going to the back for the restart, Cole headed for the pits.
One side note on Cole Suckow, back in July he traveled west to run in a big Sport Mod show at the Yreka Speedway in California and on the way he stopped for a Friday and Saturday event at the Idaho Falls Raceway where he ran second on Friday and won on Saturday. Cole would then finish twelfth at the big show in Yreka.
Back to this race, one more caution would wave as the back of the field bunched up on the restart, and once back to green it was Van Wyk looking for his opening from Olson. That would come just two laps later as Dylan swept to the lead and he would then pull away over the final six laps to take the win. Olson would fight off Kuehl to hold on to second at the checkers, the California visitor Bannister finished fourth while Kyle Olson held down fifth.
A stout front row of Braden Richards and Kaden Reynolds would bring the Stock Cars to green for twenty laps with Reynolds having the edge on lap one before three cars tangled in turn four. On the restart Richards would miss the top in turn one dropping him deep in the twenty-five car field as Reynolds tried to put some distance on his challengers. Ty Hill would miss the entrance to turn one just past the mid-race mark and slide to a stop bringing the field back to the leader with the twelfth starting Gage Neal now in contention.
Neal would get to second after a lap thirteen restart and while he was able to stay close to the leader over the closing laps, he could not find a way around Kaden Reynolds who would take the win. Rowdee Van Genderen joined the podium in third, veteran driver Mike Weideman finished fourth ahead of another long-time competitor Norman Chesmore.
The sixteen lap Hobby Stock feature was chock full of thrills and spills with Zach McNeese digging off the bottom to come from fifth to first on the opening lap. Matt Miller would spin on lap two and once back to racing Justin Hanson would go to work on McNeese taking the lead on lap eight just before a caution was needed a lap later for Garrett Ball's spin in turn four.
Three more laps would go in the books before the fourth place car of Chad Clubine spun in turn two and apparently Chad thought that he had some held as he stopped on the front stretch to plead his case before going to the rear. On this restart as they raced into turn three both McNeese and Bradly Graham drove deep into turn three under Hanson and with contact all three would spin in front of the field. It was determined that Graham was to blame for this one as he was sent to the rear while both Hanson and McNeese would restart from the front and the caution would wave again one lap later for a McKenna Koch spin.
When the green waved again it looked like Trenton Neuhaus clipped Quinton Miller in the left rear entering turn one sending both cars for a spin, but with Neuhaus staying in motion he was not charged with the caution as only Miller went to the tail. On this restart Briar Kriegel would make his move getting by Hanson and he would lead the final six laps to take the win. Hanson finished second, Brad Graham came from thirteenth to finish third, McNeese slipped to fourth still one position better than where he started while Neuhaus took fifth.
The Mini Mod feature had one early caution and then three more in the final three laps as Jacob Steere went the distance to dominate from the pole position for the win. Matt Dales chased him all the way for second, Dave and Owen Rosberg were third and fourth respectively while Matt Post took fifth.
The Modifieds would close out the evening with twenty-five laps as Mark Schulte would ride the high line around pole-sitter Jeff Aikey to take the early lead. Aikey and Ethan Braaksma would apply the pressure to Schulte until the caution waved for a slowing Jerod Ballhagen on lap six. Once back to green Braaksma would get to second and when the leader used the middle groove in turns three and four on lap eight, Ethan would get a run off the top of turn four and then dive to the bottom of turn one to execute the perfect slider in two to take the lead.
One final caution would wave on lap twelve when Patrick Flannagan slipped off the top of turn one and then collected a rim riding Brennan Chipp. When the green flag waved again, Braaksma was gone as he built up a half of a lap advantage over the second half of the race to take the dominating win, his twenty-second victory in an impressive 2024 season. Justin O'Brien slipped past Aikey late to finish second, Schulte slipped to fourth while Troy Cordes filled out the top five.
 |
| Ethan Braaksma from an early season win at Bloomfield - Barry Johnson photo |
A big thank you to both Dana Benning and Mike Van Genderen for their hospitality in this my fourth trip up to Independence this season. It might be a little cooler tonight, so take a jacket for the Saturday night finale of Fall Madness.
I have a retirement party for a good friend to attend tonight so my next action will come next week when I plan to do some traveling for a Thursday, Friday, Saturday road trip with a goal of hitting at least one "new to me" track. The weather forecast will determine my destinations, but wherever I end up I hope to see you back here soon on the Back Stretch!
No comments:
Post a Comment