Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Tim Rupp Scores First Career Sportmod Win at Alta

Making only his fifth start in an IMCA sportmod, Tim Rupp found his way to victory lane in grand fashion as he took the lead at the start of the race and never looked back. Rupp made the jump from the IMCA hobby stock division in which, ironically, he also picked up his first win in that division at the Buena Vista Raceway in Alta last year. As exciting as that was for him, the rest of the night was also full of excitement and chaos.

Four IMCA sport compacts visited the track tonight along with three "guest drivers". Eagle, Nebraska driver John Sedlachek made the long three and a half hour tow worth it as he took home top honors. Josh Egesdal, Cory Flanigan, and Mark Lindgren rounded out the field.

Two caution flags waved before the first lap of the IMCA hobby stock feature was completed. On the initial start, Ryan Roder and Devin Smith were casualties as both drivers went to the pit area for the remainder of the night. Mark Hill took command early on once the green flag came out, but Cherokee driver Kyle Robinson was right there keeping pace. At one point, five cars were battling for the top spot before a caution flag settled things down. Robinson would power his machine around Hill for the top spot as the race hit the midpoint with Rusty Montagne also getting by Hill for second. Shannon Anderson, who started 11th, methodically worked his way to the front and challenged Montagne for the runner up spot with just three laps to go. A caution flag waved on the next circuit, setting up a two lap shootout. The top three cars broke away from the rest of the field as Anderson again tried to challenge Montagne for second, but he came up short at the line as both drivers followed Robinson to the checkers. Montagne was second, Anderson third, Justin Nehring was fourth, and Craig Brotherton rebounded nicely after being involved in a caution to finish fifth.

Twelve laps was the distance for the IMCA sportmod feature, but it only took Tim Rupp the first lap to grab the lead and start to break away from the field. Brett Meyer quickly made his way to third after just two laps after starting eighth. Meyer would slip past Mike Bailey going into turn one on the inside of the track. But Meyer could not run down Tim Rupp as he led every lap in the flag to flag race to pick up his first career sportmod win in only his fifth start. That's quite an accomplishment if you ask me! Meyer finished second, Bailey was third, Tony Pogeler fourth, and Doug Smith charged his way to fifth after starting sixteenth. Smith suffered mechanical issues in the heat race, but obviously fixed the issue.

Sixteen IMCA stock cars hit the track next for their fifteen lap feature event. Not to be outdone, this race would not see a caution flag. After taking the green flag, the top spot was hotly contested as cars went three-wide coming out of turn two and into the next set of corners. Jason Ward would lead the first two laps before giving way to Trent Murphy. David Smith and Josh Suhr battled side by side for third while Dustin Smith started reeling both of them in. Back up front Donovan Smith was starting to cut into Murphy's lead, but it was not enough as Trent Murphy went on to take the win. Donovan Smith settled for second, Dustin Smith got by brother David Smith for third, and Josh Suhr completed the top five.

The most interesting and intriguing race of the night would prove to be the twenty lap feature for the IMCA modifieds. Stacey Mills appeared to be shot out of a cannon as he jumped out front to an early lead. After a couple restarts, Chris Abelson found himself challenging for second as he completed a slidejob on Jeremy Mills. Mills did not like the way the pass was made as he made contact with Abelson's rear bumper coming off the corner. This would be the start of complete chaos as Abelson, Mills, Nick Deal, and Brad Williams would make contact with one another throughout the next couple of laps, including caution flag periods. The crowd was on their feet in anticipation of seeing who was going to what next. Mills was lined up on the inside of Abelson on a restart, but the two made contact in turn four before the field got to the flagstand to bring out another caution. Mills kept his machine moving, but Abelson and Nick Deal were not so fortunate. The crowd was really getting into by this time, cheering and booing different drivers. After another caution waved on lap fourteen, Jeremy Mills kept paced with his brother Stacey as the two would battle it out for the top spot. Jeremy would attempt a couple slide jobs to get by, but Stacey outsmarted him every time to maintain the lead. Jeremy tried one last effort on the last lap, but Stacey's car was too strong as he held off his brother at the line. Reese Coffee finished third, Jeff Nielsen was fourth, and Nick Deal battled back to finish in fifth.

The wild and wacky night finished up with a stock car King of the Hill race. The finals came down to feature winner Trent Murphy versus David Smith. A local sponsor put up $250 for the winner, so flagman Toby Kruse conducted a coin toss to make it fair to both drivers. Murphy would line up on the inside with Smith outside for the two lap shootout. Neither car wanted to budge an inch as Smith cut down low and Murphy leaned on Smith throughout the first lap. Going into turn three on the final lap, Smith gained the advantage on the outside and powered his machine to the extra money.

Quite a night of racing at the Buena Vista Raceway tonight!! The track will not be running its normal Wednesday night of racing next week as the track will host the USMTS series on Thursday, June 4th. Check the track website or the USMTS website for start times. Last year's event saw Kelly Shryock and Jason Krohn battle it out to the checkered flag for an exciting finish.


UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Hobbies
1. 32 Kyle Robinson
2. T1 Rusty Montagne
3. 78 Shannon Anderson
4. 20N Justin Nehring
5. 45B Craig Brotherton
(all I got, 24 cars)

Sportmods
1. 33 Tim Rupp
2. 1M Brett Meyer
3. 98 Mike Bailey
4. 9 Tony Pogeler
5. 12 Doug Smith
6. 90 Chris Grothe
7. 44 Harvey VanderWeer (sp?)
8. 11T Geoff Olson (someone else's car?)
9. 59 Eric Puhrmann
10. 60 Tanner Powers
11. 23 Jared Hanson
12. 14z Zach Norgaard
13. 57 Doug Bartels
14. 17 Ronnie Fogelman
15. 04J Jay Brannan
16. 53 Tim Hanson
17. 83K Ken Peterson

Stock Cars
1. 25 Trent Murphy
2. 35 Donovan Smith
3. 85 Dustin Smith
4. 8 David Smith
5. 16 Josh Suhr
6. 66 Jeff Joldersma
7. 5B Stefan Sybesma
8. 92B Brian Blessington
9. 37 Mike Jergens
10. 01U Chris Ulrich
11. 41 Jason Ward
12. 7 Derick Barglof
13. 2 ??
14. 56 Tom Sierck
15. 60 Ben Sanderson
16. 3s Travis Schuller

Modifieds
1. 10E Stacy Mills
2. 10 Jeremy Mills
3. 16 Reese Coffee
4. 42 Jeff Nielsen
5. 55D Nick Deal
6. 27 Randy Brands
7. 1cc Clayton Christensen
8. 21 Jesse Hoeft
9. 17s James Slawson
10. 83 Jesse Cowles
11. 17 Justin Sackett
12. 23 Jim Thies
13. 61 Brian Schmitt
14. 1x Chris Abelson
15. 22BW Brad Williams
16. 18z Mick King
17. z3 Mike Albertson
18. 3 Jason Briese
19. 7N Jay Noteboom (DNS)

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

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