Friday, July 24, 2015

Thursday Night Thunder from Webster City

The smell of funnel cakes and racing fumes could only mean one thing. Yep you guessed it was the Thursday night thunder fair race at the historic Hamilton County Fairgrounds. With a packed grandstand and 115 cars in the pit area it was set to be a good night and a good night it was.

First up on the night was the IMCA Sport Compact feature. Nick Hogan would claim the checkers.
Kalan Guthrie and James Peterson were the top 3.

IMCA Hobby Stocks were next on the card.  Doug McCollough and Shane Aldinger made up the front row. Early on they were 3 and 4 wide but it was Aldinger who would jump to the early lead but it was veteran racer Randy Embrey who would quickly charge thru the field. On a restart Embrey made it 3 wide down the back stretch for the lead making the top side work. Embrey would hold off the field to claim the victory Shane Aldinger, Myles Michehl, Cory Roe who started 21st would finish 4th and Webster City driver Craig Graham would round out the top 5.

Up next was the IMCA Sport Mod feature and it was Brad Ratcliff who would claim the checkers. 3rd place starter Jared Vandeest quickly found himself in 2nd. Vandeest, Ty Griffith, Randy Roberts, and Jerid Ratzke would round out the top 5.

The Deery Brothers IMCA Late Model feature was next. Justin Kay and Curt Martin would make up the front row. Kay would take advantage of his pole starting spot and quickly jumped to a lead with Martin following behind in 2nd. As the race went on Martin would close the gap to a car length in lap traffic but Justin Kay was able to hold off the ol' veteran and add to his point series lead. 2nd place points driver Andy Nezsworski would hold off Ryan Griffih and Richie Gustin for 3rd. John Emerson, Jeff Aikey, Jeremy Grady, Tyler Droste and Jason Hahne would round out the top 10.

All 28 IMCA Modifieds would start the feature and it was Adam Larson and Mark Elliott on the front row. Elliott and Larson would go back and forth for a few laps but it Larson would take the top spot and never look back. A few yellows would slow the field up including a spin out that could have been worse as Ryan Ruter who was running towards the front spun in front of the field but fortunately everybody was able to drive around him. After falling to the tail he would come back to finish 10th, But it was Adam Larson who would take his BMS Chassis to victory lane over Mark Elliott. Jason Murray who was driving the Gruebel Farms 64 modified finished 3rd. Greg Elliott and Carter Vandenberg would round out the top 5.

The final event of the night was the Stock Car feature. Jason Minnehan took advantage of his outside front row starting spot and held off the field of 17 hungry stock car drivers. Damon Murty would finish 2nd and Mike Hughes who was driving one of Damon Murty's cars would finish 3rd while Jason Rold who made the 2 and a half hour trip from my neck of the woods would finish 4th and Jason Wagoner would round out the top 5.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Weekend recap July 17-19

Friday July 17th I ventured to one of my favorite race tracks and would go there every friday night if it was about 130 miles closer. Marshalltown Speedway was putting on $1k to win Modifieds and it was $400 to win Hobbies as well. With Harris Clash scheduled to race the day before but was rained out and postponed a few extra Modifieds were in the area and Ventured to the highbanks of Marshalltown. A total of 5 states were on hand Friday with the exception of Iowa...Kansas, California, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Arizona as well Frank Packer who is pilioting a sport mod here this summer, he calls Australia home.

Kyle Strickler made the trip pay off as he found victory lane in the IMCA Modified feature. "Uncle Ronny" Ronn Lauritzen brought his 10k machine home in 2nd. Arizona driver Tim Ward was 3rd followed by Josh Gilman(83g) Jimmy Gustin(19) Scott Simatovich(43s) Richie Gustin(19g) Kyle Brown(21k) Todd VanEaton(v31) and Joel Rust(26j) rounded out the top 5.

Micheal Jeanette found victory lane in the IMCA Stock Car feature and held off tough company as Donavan Smith, Dave Atcher, Tyler Pickett and Steve Meyer rounded out the top 5.

Dysart driver Sam Wieben held off the always hard charging driver of Jared Vandiest to win the IMCA sport mod feature. Jenae Gustin, Duane Petersen and Brandon Williams were the top 5. */

The Ol` Mayor John Watson was victorious and picked up a $400 pay day for his triumph in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Andy Hick(5h) Eric Stanton(7b) Austin Luellen(3a) and Tyson Overton(42t) rounded out the top 5.

ModLites Top 5. 99 Josh May 89 Travis Stensland 64 Randy Bryan 6 Mike Morril 11r Jason Whitehead.

Saturday July 18th I ventured to the historic Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Webster City.

John Gill was the IMCA Sport Compact winner.

Fort Dodge driver Bryce Summerfeld wasted no time getting to the front from his 4th place starting position to claim the victory but it was Myles Michehl who came back from the tail after spinning on the start and being nearly half a lap down he would finish in 3rd. Craig Graham would finish 2nd while veteran racer Randy Embrey and Matt Byrne would round out the top 5. Matt Mundt and Daniel Ayers would finish 2nd and 5th but were later dq'ed for some post race fireworks in the tech area.

2nd the night before at Marshalltown it was Jared Vandiest who was the winner in the IMCA  Sport Mod feature. Ty Griffith, Matt Lettow, Branden Toftee and Cory Bahrenfuss were the top 5.

Matt Ring held off the always hard charging Jason Minnehan to win the Stock Car feature event. John Cambell, Mitchell Griffith and Jim Mitchell were the top 5.

Carter Vandenberg adn Kyle Brown started in row 4 and would finish 2nd and 3rd respectively but it 6 place starter Mark Elliott who crossed the finish line in first. Greg Elliott and Bob Sutherland rounded out the top 5 in the IMCA Modified feature.

Jason Hahne would bounce back from a heat race wreck to claim victory in the IMCA Late Model feature. Ryan Griffith, Jeremy Grady, Al Johnson and the "Ironman" Darrell DeFrance were the top 5.

Sunday July 19th brought me to my hometrack Stuart Speedway for the John Wetzel memorial hobby stock event.

Nick Roberts once again found victory lane in the IMCA modified feature while rookie contender Matt Webb was 2nd. Todd VanEaton ended up 3rd after leading early on. Jeff Joldersma and Luke Wanniger rounded out the top 5.

Flying Brian Blessington was the winner in the class to tough to tame the IMCA Stock Cars feature event holding off a hard charging Clay Mercer. Josh Daniels, Branden Pruitt and Bryan Snell were the top 5 finishers.

Clint Luellen started 4th but finished 1st in the IMCA Sport Mod feature. Jerry Hinton would settle for the bridesmaid spot while Dusty Masolini, Kendall Davis and Kody Havens were the top 5.

27 IMCA Hobby Stocks from 3 States other than Iowa were on hand for $1,000 to win John Wetzel Memorial. Minnesota, Nebraska and Missouri were the other 3 states.

The field was narrowed down to 20 starters for the feature. John Watson would claim the victory over Shannon Anderson. With just a few laps in 3rd place starter "BuckWild" Buck Schafroth would peak to the inside of Watson for the lead while Anderson followed in 3rd. Contact between the 3 would result in Schafroth going around and chalking up a dnf on the stat sheet. Austin Luellen, Bill Bonnett, Jaime Songer, Eric Stanton, Aaron Rudolph, Jeff Anderson, Andy Hick and Milligan Nebraska Driver Shawn Slezak rounded out the top 10.

Curtis Miller would win for the 2nd week in a row in the IMCA Sport Compact feature.

SideNotes... My Stats so far on the year are 44 races, 18 different tracks and 1 new track. Also I had some racing stickers made up by Amanda Murray that say CZ Motorsports and have passed them out to some drivers be sure to look for a CZ Motorsports driver at a track near you!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Weekend Recap July 10-12

Friday I visited the Crawford County Speedway in Denison with my son. It was pretty good night of racing and a good time with my son.

Deb Braasch won the IMCA Sport Compact feature with the Stapleton boys of Alec and Cory finishing 2nd and 3rd. Tony Kerger and Aric Schneckloth rounded out the top 5.

Wiota racer and the newest CZ Motorsports driver Kody Havens jumped out to the early lead in the sport mod feature and looked like he was going to get it but with 3 to go he made contact with a lapped car resulting in the lap car spinning around. A yellow would come out and slow up the field. Havens would bobble on a lap later allowing Logan Scott to get around and pick up the win. Havens would settle for 2nd while Jake Sachau, Keegan Scott and Daniel Tasler rounded out the top 5.

Cory Madden would take advantage of his outside front row starting spot and cruise to victory in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Jason Kohl, Jason Fusselman, Chuck Madden Jr and Justin Nehring rounded out the top 5.

IMCA Stock Cars saw Mike Nichols once again pick up the checkers. Daniel Hilsabeck, Chris Ullrich, Brian Blessington and Clay Mercer rounded out the top 5.

Craig Reetz jumped to the early lead in the IMCA Modified feature but it was Chris Ableson who would get the victory. Reetz would finish 2nd followed by Ricky Stephan, Shane Demay and Dale Ransom rounding out the top 5.

Saturday my son and I ventured to Boone Speedway and braved the heat to see some good racing. The IMCA Modifieds ran a last man standing race that saw the fastest 12 drivers from the heats from there transponder times. Josh Truman would be the one who would claim checkers in the race.

ModLite Feature (23)
46z Zehm
3 Dennis
99 Josh May
89 Stensland
3g Glick
17 Sauerman

Sport Mod Feature (24)
25r Ryerson
82 McBirnie
62 Pestonik
69jr Logue
911 Rothus
3r Roberts
22m McNace
198 Wieben

Stock Car Feature (17)
5t Inman
5a Pickett
26k Bass
19j Schmidt
55 Bushnell
35 Smith

Modified Feature (23)
24 Avery
87 Bushore
69 Logue
57v Vangenderen
69x Snyder
19g Gustin
47 Truman
5d D.Havlik

The IMCA Hobby Stock feature saw Bryan Keeny pick up his first career win over Solomon Bennett. Dustin Graham, Eric Stanton and Dustin Lynch were the top 5.

Sunday brought me to my hometrack. Starting an hour late due to the heat the track was perfect. It was tacky and fast. It was what I describe as a Crate Killer track.

The ModLites were on hand for another of a few visits to the Stuart Speedway as well. Also during intermission there was a brief power outage but was short lived and features got underway as soon power was resumed.

ModLite A(12)
6 Morrill
99 Josh May
89 Stensland
88 Rankin
3g Glick

Sport Mod Feature (13)
93n Nelson
3L C.Luellen
67x Williams
99re Schouten
30 Cooney
8r Rudolf
8s Masolini
99k Havens

Sport Compact A(4)
411 Miller
30x Reiter
6gk Bunce
54 Rush

Stock Car Feature (10)
63 Nichols
98 Rohe
92b Blessington
1f Fagen
25j J. Daniels
22p C.Pruitt

Hobby Stock Feature (10)
78 Anderson
56 Schirm
3a A. Luellen
23g Gilbert
92 Schafroth
4w Watson

Modified Feature (7)
23jr Roberts
v31 VanEaton
66 Joldersma
71 James
25d B.Daniels
14b S.Bash
51x Webb

My plans for this week are the Harris Clash on Thursday. Marshalltown on Friday. Webster City on Saturday and Stuart on Sunday.

Also on Sunday its the John Wetzel Memorial Hobby Stock feature which pays 1,000 to win.Per Des Moines racer Jaime Songer drivers from Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas are expected to be there.

Also on a side note I made my first ever visit to the West Liberty Raceway for Deery Brothers IMCA Late Models and IMCA Modifieds on Tuesday July 7th. Ryan Harris smoked the field literally as he some engine problems about halfway thru but was able to hold off the always hard charging 15k of Justin Kay. Richie Gustin would claim the IMCA Modified checkers.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Weekend recap July 2-5, 2015

Thursday July 2nd brought me to the Iowa State Fair Speedway for 360 Sprint Invaders as well as Sport Mods and Dirt Trucks. 22 Sprint Invaders invaded the fairgrounds. The opening lap would see Jaime Ball get upside down in turn 4 after a multi-car incident. All drivers involved were okay but the same could not be said about cars which included the machine of the "Dude" Danny Lasoski. Ian Madsen would be the one who would be victorious at the end of the night. Agan, Hendricksen, Moro, Schilling and Chris Martin completed the top 6.

Sport Mod A(8)  Top 5
1 Austin Kaplan
71 Glenn Gladson Jr.
10h Jack Housley
34 Jerry Hinton
33r D.J. Robinson

Truck A(10)  Top 5
2m Matt Moro
7x Rich Clark
98 Brad Moyer
21 Brett Moyer
9 Lou Sipolt

Friday July 3rd I stayed in the area and attended the Good Guys car show and then went back to the fairgrounds for a regular Friday night show.

Hobby A(15)
1k Tommy Killen Jr
66 Brandon Cox
1 Blake Miller
27c Cory Adams
78 Shannon Anderson
19 Bill Bonnett
74 Matt Smith

Sport Mod A(12) ]
1 Austin Kaplan
71 Glenn Gladson Jr
2+ Bill Wehrs
13t Taylor Musselman
10h Jack Housley
1+ Kendall Davis
2b Robert Moore

305 Sprint A(8)
10 Matt Moro
100 Clint Benson
14j Micheal Johnston
55kc Bob Hildreth
12k Koddy Hildreth

Modified A(12)
5 Todd Shute
81d Scott Davis
23jr Nick Roberts
25 Tyler Vandekamp
51x Matt Webb
36 Russ Gladson
62 Greg Cox

Stock Car A(15)
64 Casey Gruebel
27 Gary Bass
19a Alan VanGorp
18c Ronald Bougher
3d Daniel Gordon
81x Randy Killen

Late Model A(12)
77 Jeff Aikey
43 Jeremy Grady
22 Charlie McKenna
21 Ben Nading
99d Darrell DeFrance
15x Ryan Griffith
33 Paul Glenndenning
15c Curt Schroeder

After taking the 4th of July off from racing to spend with family/friends I found myself at Stuart Speedway for another regular sunday night of racing. IMCA Late Models and Micro-Sprints were also on hand as well. Regular car counts were down but the racing was not.

Micro-Sprint A(25)
12 Galusha
15 Galusha
81e
49c Forsythe
All I got and I didnt know many of the Micro-Sprint drivers sorry...

Sport Mod A(13)
93n Colton Nelson
3L Clint Luellen
zer0 Shawn Kralik
8r Chase Rudolf
8s Dusty Masolini
99k Kody Havens
99re Arie Schouten
3a Austin Luellen

Sport Compact A(5)
30x Reiter
411 Miller
54 Rush
18p Peters

Stock Car A(11)
63 Mike Nichols
1f Marcus Fagen
10b Branden Pruitt
25j Josh Daniels
92b Brian Blessington
98 Derrick Rohe
44 Todd Fisher

Hobby A(14)
78 Shannon Anderson
92 Buck Schafroth
4w John Watson
27c Cory Adams
56 Jaime Schirm
3a Austin Luellen

Modified A(9)
83g Josh Gilman
23jr Nick Roberts
71 Jeff James
66 Jeff Joldersma
14b Scott Bash
51x Matt Webb
3f Cole Fergusen