Saturday, May 30, 2009

Mark Elliott Wins 2, Picks Up Career Win 200

Growing up as a kid, Mark Elliott probably never dreamed of a career like he has been fortunate to have. Tonight he conquered a substantial notch in the belt as he picked up feature wins in both the stock cars and the IMCA modifieds at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City. The stock car win propelled his total to 150 career stock car wins, while the modified win later on gave him 200 total for his career! Congratulations on the accomplishment Mark.

The features would start off with the IMCA sport compacts. Gary Peiffer would take home top honors as he has now won every Saturday night except one at the Hamilton County Speedway.

Next up would be the IMCA hobby stocks. Chace Pruismann would power his machine to the top spot from the pole, but he soon felt pressure from Andy Jones. Jones worked his way to the front after starting sixth and took the lead on lap four, but the caution flag waved to negate the pass. On the ensuing restart, Jones again put his foot on the gas and took the top spot away using the high line of the track. Ryan Caquelin was maneuvering through traffic and found himself up to fourth after starting fourteenth, but a flat tire would end his night with only four laps to go. Jones would take home the win while Pruismann settled for second. T.J. Mortenson was third, Justin Ades fourth, and Craig Graham rounded out the top five.

One of the more exciting races of the night would be the stock car feature. Ryan Leeman took command early on while deeper in the field, Jason Wagoner was making his way to the front. Wagoner made his way to fourth on the second circuit after starting tenth. Mike Wiemann would take the lead as Wagoner followed him to settle in to second. At this point in the race, most of the cars were using the top side of the track. But not Mark Elliott. Elliott continued to take his car to the bottom of the corners and made it work. Elliott would slowly pick cars off and finally took the lead just before taking the white flag as he took home his 150th career stock car feature. Jason Wagoner followed him across the line for second, Ryan Leeman was third, Curt Hook finished fourth, and Jason Minnehan rounded out the top five. A scary moment occurred during the race as Todd Foster went low in turn one and apparently the left front tire either caught a tire or the inside burm and sent his machine in the air. The car must have rolled about eight times, but fortunately he got out of the car on his own power.

The IMCA sportmod feature was next to hit the track as twenty-one competitors were checked in tonight. Bill Hoover jumped out to the early lead from his second row start. Austin Kaplan was charging towards the front as he made his way to third by about lap seven. Kaplan tried to use the cushion to his advantage to get around the leader Hoover, but the momentum wasn't enough to get by as Hoover took home the win. Kaplan held off Brandon Leeman at the line for second and third, respectively, followed by point leader Matt Lettow and Rocky Caudle.

Mark Elliott grabbed the lead of the IMCA modified feature on the first lapped and never looked back. A caution on lap seven that sidelined Adam Larson was the only thing that slowed Elliott down as he won by half of the front stretch. Scott Olson finished a distant second as he held off Jon Snyder. Mike Bennett, Ryan Ruter, and Adam Larson completed the field of cars. As mentioned earlier, this win would be Elliott's 200th career win. He took a parade lap around the track to celebrate.

The final event of the night would be the IMCA late models. Jason Hahne took the early advantage by racing his machine to the bottom side of pole sitter Scott Anderson. Ryan Griffith followed Hahne to the front as he settled in behind, but Hahne extended his lead by almost a straight away. Around the midpoint of the race, Darrel DeFrance made his way to second with Todd Cooney following him to third. Cooney would get by DeFrance on the following lap and set his sights on Hahne. Al Johnson took his car to the top side of the track and made up some ground as he raced into third around DeFrance. But nobody had anything for Jason Hahne as would take the win. Cooney was second, Ryan Griffith got by Al Johnson at the line for third and fourth, respectively, and Darrel DeFrance rounded out the top five. Kelly Tapper started shotgun on the field (14th) and finished sixth.

While the car count was a little low tonight, the racing action proved to be pretty good. Hopefully cars will return in the next few weeks. Races were done shortly before 10pm, plenty of time for people to make their way home or down to the pits to talk with their favorite drivers. Next week will be Kids Night as car rides will be given at the start of the night while a nickel and candy toss will be done during intermission.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!

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