On Tuesday evening I ventured a couple hours to the northeast and visited the Fayette County Speedway in West Union as they hosted the fifth stop on the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA modifieds. Also on the slate of events that night would be a track points night for stock cars and hobby stocks. Much to the surprise of the crowd, and most likely the drivers as well, it would be decided that the stock cars and hobby stocks would run double features to make up for the rain-shortened events from the previous Friday night.
The feature action got kicked off with the seventeen-car field of stock cars. Danny Cole Jr would lead the pack as he darted from the pole position, but crafty veteran Dan Trimble has logged many laps around the fast quarter-mile speedplant and quickly moved into the third slot by lap two. Mitch Hovden would look to the inside of Cole Jr for the lead several times, but was unable to make it stick. Trimble closed the gap to the leaders as he made it a three-car race for the top spot and challenged Hovden's runner-up position. Trimble would take second away from Hovden before riding the cushion and snaring the lead away from Cole Jr. From that point on Dan Trimble was able to cruise to victory as he crossed the finish line ahead of Mitch Hovden, Lynn Panos, Danny Cole Jr, and Kevin Donlan. A sidenote - I was disappointed that Tory Riecks was not in attendance that night. I always enjoy seeing him race, although I haven't seen his name in the results much this season.
Up next would be the thirteen-car field of hobby stocks. Veteran racer Steve Holthaus sat on the front row and quickly charged to the lead at the drop of the green flag. His step-son, Chris Hovden, made it a family affair by sliding into the third spot on lap two as they sandwiched Troy Hovey. Those three along with Steve Larson began to separate from the rest of the field prior to a caution coming out. Hovden and Scott Spilde took advantage of Hovey miscalculating a set of corners as they advanced to second and third, respectively. Hovden and Holthaus would then engage in a seesaw battle at the front of the pack as they swapped the lead a couple of times. Chris Hovden would secure the top spot as the white flag was displayed and would go on to take the win. Scott Spilde edged out Steve Holthaus for second at the line with Dan Hovden and Troy Hovey completing the top five.
The action then turned to the open-wheeled JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA modifieds. Only twenty-six cars were on hand for the evening, but all competitors were able to make the call for the feature. Outside front row starter Nate Caruth got the jump on the field as he took the top spot early on in the thirty-lap event. Three cautions within the first four laps kept things nearly at a standstill, especially considering there was a three-car incident in turn two that required assistance from tow trucks in which only two were on hand during the night. After starting seventh, a driver on the move was Darin Duffy. Duffy charged to the inside of rookie Mike Jergens for the third spot prior to the lap four caution and climbed his way into second just before a lap five caution. Duffy capitalized on the single file restart to dart to the inside of Caruth to inherit the lead. Once out front Duffy began to put some open space between him and his competitors as Jergens got by Caruth for second. I thought a restart with five laps remaining might be an opportunity for positions to swap late in the race, but that would not be the case in this situation. Darin Duffy would take home the win ahead of Mike Jergens, Jeff Waterman, Nate Caruth, and Vern Jackson.
Series points leader Josh Foster was unable to make the trip north as apparently he suffered a non-racing injury and is likely to have to sit out a number of weeks as a result. That is unfortunate news as Foster has been very consistent on the tour and is also the track point leader at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. Rich Smith inherited the points lead in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour as he is out front of Mike Jergens and Richie Gustin. Smith finished sixth while Gustin had a seventh-place finish.
With nearly a two-hour trip back home, I opted not to stay for the makeup features for the stock cars and hobby stocks. From reading Ryan Clark's writeup at "In Staging" here on Positivelyracing.com, it sounds like those two events were clicked off in good time and fans were walking out of the stands by 10:30pm.
For the latest information regarding the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour, log on to their website at www.dirttour.com. For a schedule of events and more information pertaining to the Fayette County Speedway, click on their website at www.fayettecountyspeedway.com.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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