On a chilly, gloomy Sunday afternoon I decided to call up some friends and invite them along to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. I knew some of them had never been there before, so knew this would be a new experience for them. Upon arrival the wind was just as gusty there as it had been at home. Fortunately it wasn't blowing directly at us but rather from our left side. A good field of cars along with an above average crowd were on hand despite the less-then-ideal settings.
The IMCA hobby stock feature proved to be a race in which "it's not over til it's over". Wes Stanek Jr was out front leading the pack after a few laps and received a heavy challenge from last week's feature winner Bill Bonnett. Stanek Jr and Bonnett raced several laps side by side as the laps wound down. On the final circuit, Bonnett dove to the inside but went in too hot as he slid up the track and made contact with Stanek Jr. The two cars straightened each other out, but by that time Brad Forbes had snuck past on the low side and stole the checkers at the finish. Bonnett beat Stanek Jr in the mini drag race to the line for second and third, respectively.
IMCA Sportmods then hit the track next for their fifteen lap feature event. Last week's feature winner Austin Kaplan wasted no time getting to the front from his ninth starting spot as he took over the race lead around lap five. It seemed as though Kaplan had it "in the bag", but his car went away from him in the closing laps and had to hold off a fierce challenge by Jesse Sobbing at the stripe. Jim Buhlman edged out Drew Fish for third while Jeremy Schaufenbuel rounded out the top five.
Sixteen IMCA stock cars were next to hit the speedway with Norman Chesmore setting the early pace. While he stayed out front most of the race, he was receiving a lot of pressure from Justin Temeyer, Mike Shephard, and Damon Murty. Chesmore's car appeared to get a little lose with two laps to go when he and Temeyer made the slightest of contact in between turns 3 and 4 resulting in Chesmore slowing up to avoid the tractor tire. That opened the door for Temeyer as he went on the race win. Shephard, Murty, Rodney Grother, and Jason Deshaw rounded out the top five while Chesmore fell back to a disappointing 8th place finish. Murty was the driver on the move as he started shotgun on the field after suffering a flat tire in his heat race.
Twenty-one IMCA modifieds took to the track for their twenty-lap finale. Don Erger sat on the pole and put it on cruise control most of the race as he distanced himself from the rest of the field. He would catch lapped traffic as the laps were winding down, allowing a hard charging Troy Cordes to cut the deficit each set of corners. Erger would take the win followed across the line by Cordes, Joe Docekal, Max Corporan, and Buster Pate.
All in all, it was a good night of racing at the Benton County Speedway. Racing action started a few minutes before 6pm and we were loading up the vehicle at 8:30. While there were a few ruts in turn 1, the track seemed to be in good shape otherwise as the stock cars were running three wide for several laps in their feature event.
Not quite sure what my racing plans will include for next weekend. The Deery Brothers IMCA late model series race scheduled for Quincy, Illinois for tonight was postponed til Thursday night, so I may decide to venture that way to catch that show. Friday night is still open at this point while Saturday night will probably find me at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City as the IMCA late models make their season debut on the historic half-mile.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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