Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Lettow, Elston Take Knoxville Checkers

What was supposed to be the concluding night of the Harris Clash turned into the first night Wednesday night. Mother Nature forced Tuesday night's events to be postponed to Thursday night, so the IMCA Deery Brothers late models and the IMCA sportmods would take center stage Wednesday to open up the Harris Clash this year. This year's format was a bit different as transponders were used for scoring, limiting the field to 60 sportmods and late models each while 120 entrants were the cap for IMCA modifieds.

Wednesday night saw 59 IMCA sportmods along with 47 IMCA late models. Six heat races and three bmains set the field for the IMCA sportmod feature that ran fifteen laps. Matt Lettow jumped out to the early lead after starting in the second row. Austin Kaplan, who started inside of Lettow, would grab the lead using the bottom side of the track on the next circuit, but Lettow would power his car back to the lead the very next lap. Behind them, Kevin Sather raced his way to third by lap three after starting eighty by running the low side. All eyes were on the top two drivers as Kaplan grabbed the lead just before the halfway point, but a spin by pole sitter Jared Timmerman brought out the caution to negate the pass.

On the restart, Sather would duck under his cousin Kaplan to take over the second spot. He quickly set his sights on the race leader Lettow. It was noticed that Brian Herrick had made many strides towards the front as he started 21st on the grid and had made his way up to ninth on lap nine, which according to my amateur scoring was his finishing position. Back up front, Sather made attempts for the lead on the bottom side, but it wasn't enough as Matt Lettow took home the $500 payday and bragging rights as he became only the second sportmod winner at the famed Knoxville Raceway. Kevin Sather was second, Austin Kaplan was third, Nate Chodur fourth, and Brett Moffitt rounded out the top five.

The IMCA late model feature would go thirty-five laps to close the night. Jason Frankel took advantage of his pole redraw position and raced to the early lead. A caution on lap five bunched up the field, and Jeff Aikey took advantage as he made the pass for the lead on the bottom side of turn four on the following lap. Fred Remley used the bottom side to get by Rob Toland for third on lap eleven while Toland would give up another spot two laps later to Tommy Elston. Up front, meanwhile, Frankel and Aikey were side by side at the finish line on lap eighteen before Aikey regained the advantage. Elston would slide his car to the bottom side of Remley's machine to take over third with fifteen laps remaining.

Late in the race Aikey maneuvered his car back to the bottom of the speedway to try to work his way by lapped traffic, but that opened the door for Frankel to close in and take the lead away. Unfortunately for Frankel, a caution would come out before the lap could be scored, giving Aikey the lead back. While all eyes were on the top two cars, it would be Tommy Elston making the most noise. Third on the restart, he ducked to the low side of Jason Frankel to take over the runner up spot. After disposing of Frankel, he locked on to the rear bumper of Jeff Aikey. After taking the white flag, Elston drove deep into turn one on the bottom and slid up the track to take the lead away and carry his momentum to the checkers. Jeff Aikey had to settle for the runner up spot, Jason Frankel was third, Fred Remley fourth, and Rob Toland rounded out the top five. Ray Guss Jr, piloting Herschel Roberts' car, would suffer problems in the heat race and borrow Rick Dralle's car for the bmain and feature. After starting 23rd, I believe he finished around the ninth spot. But he slipped to third in points after Frankel's strong run leapfrogged him to second.

The top side was the dominant groove for the late models while the sportmods were able to use both lanes of racing. There was passing throughout the field in both features for an entertaining night of excitement. Hopefully this is a sign to come as the IMCA modifieds roll back into town Thursday for their portion of the Harris Clash. Hot laps are said to get underway around 6:45 with racing to follow. If you're in the area, be sure to make it to the Knoxville Raceway as some of the best modified drivers in the Midwest will be in action to try their luck on the famed half-mile dirt oval.

Thanks to Kevin Yoder with IMCA and Blake Anderson for their hospitality. Blake's mic skills along with Tony Bokhoven were clear and understandable throughout the night. Also thanks for the plug for Positivelyracing.com Blake!

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

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