Friday, June 5, 2009

Roberts Sails to Easy Win in Late Model Action at Fort Dodge

Friday night, June 5th, marked the 30th different track I've visited so far this year as I made my way to the Mineral City Speedway in Fort Dodge. Tonight's racing action had a special treat as the IMCA late models made an appearance.

The feature action started off with the hornet class. Nine cars made the call for the green flag that saw Dustin Haggard grab the lead early and stroll to the easy win. Six econo stocks were next as Adam Suhrbier jumped out front in the early going. He would soon be challenged by Josh Niemand as Niemand powered his #2EZ machine to the outside on lap three. A late caution bunched the field up, but Niemand held the competition at bay as he took home top honors.

The hobby stocks got off to a slow start as the caution flag waved a couple times before the first lap could be completed. The third time was the charm for Andy Jones as he raced to the lead. Jones originally started eighth, but the early cautions involved some of the drivers starting up front. Jones would receive heavy pressure from traveler Jeremy Auten and Brad Ratcliff. Ratcliff tried to maneuver his car to the inside, but his car pushed up the track in turn three and barely grazed the left side of Auten's car, resulting in Ratcliff's machine spinning around. No caution flag was thrown, but the contact slowed Auten's attempt at the race lead as Andy Jones went home with the trophy. Jeremy Auten was second, Jeff Lyon was third, Kevin Berger fourth, and Kevin Schmauss rounded out the top five.

After watching Andy Jones lead wire to wire, Doug Bartles would try to do the same in the bmod feature as he jumped out front early on. He saw his lead increase every lap over Scott Forbes and Brandon Leeman until the caution came out as the field was coming to the white flag. Forbes tried to make a move, but he efforts came up short as Doug Bartles grabbed the checkers first. Scott Forbes finished second from the pole, Brandon Leeman finished third, Eric Puhrmann was fourth, and Bob Sutherland charged up to fifth after starting twelfth.

Only ten stock cars were on hand tonight, but their feature was one of the two more entertaining for the fans. Randy Biederman would lead the first lap, but Dave Hubbard and Matt Mundt were glued to his rear bumper from the start. Jason Minnehan quickly joined the top three and made it three-wide for the second spot momentarily. Mundt would pull ahead to secure the second spot for the time being, but a lap later he ducked to the inside of Biederman to take over the top spot. Soon six cars were on top of each other up front that saw Minnehan advance to second and Jeff Deal to third. Mundt's car would later slide up the banking in turn three that allowed Minnehan to dart to the inside for the lead. Behind him Deal powered his machine past Mundt for second and challenge Minnehan for the lead on the last lap. Minnehan's car was too strong off turn four as he took home the hard-fought win. Jeff Deal would finish second, Matt Mundt third, Wayne Crimmins was fourth, and Dave Hubbard slipped back to fifth.

The modifieds also provided a lot of racing action for the fans. Shane Demay darted to the front from outside the front row, but Bill Crimmins would snatch it away just a few laps later. Defending track champion Dave Doughty soon caught Crimmins and challenged him on the inside while Tyler Pemble made his way to third after starting eighth. After Doughty's failed attempt on the inside for the lead, he tried the outside and this time made it stick as he took over the lead. While Pemble was inching his way closer to the top two, he positioned his car on the bottom to get by Crimmins with five laps to go. Unfortunately for him, the caution flag came out before the lap was completed, negating the pass. On the restart, Crimmins took the advantage back while Pemble followed him to grab second, sliding Doughty back to third with two laps to go. Crimmins would extend his lead the last couple of laps as he went on to take the win. Pemble came home second, Doughty was third, Brad Williams finished fourth, and Scott Williams rounded out the top five.

The IMCA late models was the final event of the night. Fourteen cars took the green flag as Craig Roberts took the bull by the horns to snag the lead early on from the pole. Roberts would appear to extend his lead as the laps clicked off. The rest of the field got spread out and Roberts would encounter lapped traffic that allowed Jason Hahne to briefly reel in the race leader. But Roberts quickly disposed of the lapped cars and cruised to a convincing win. Hahne finished second, Todd Cooney third, Al Johnson was fourth, and Josh Most completed the top five.

Overall the racing was pretty good. The stock cars and modifieds were by far the best action of the night. I'm sure some fans were unhappy about the amount of dust in the air, but that's all part of dirt track racing. Races were done by 10:25, so the program was moved right along with the exception of the intermission. After seeing the action tonight, I can't wait to see the heart-pounding action of the USMTS as they come to town on Tuesday, June 23rd.

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

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