A beautiful Saturday afternoon prompted me to make a return trip to the Algona Raceway. It had been roughly six weeks since I had been to the fast oval, but after last night's racing I'll be sure to get up there again much sooner rather then later. Despite all the rain received throughout the week, promoter Joe Ringsdorf was seen watering the track when I arrived at 5:30pm. He would sprinkle the track several times throughout the evening to keep the dust down to a minimum.
Wesley Steward started shotgun on the field of ten junior hornets, but would wind up taking the win. Steward must have been in the process of adjusting to a different car he had taped-on numbers on the side of his hotrod. The previous week he was in Webster City with a different car number. Point leader Tim Doocy would take the narrow win over Jared Nicoson in the "pro" hornet feature while the tandem of Troy Krug and Kyle Sidles took home the cruiser feature win.
Dustin Smith led the first lap of the IMCA hobby stock feature that yielded a field of seventeen cars. Smith's lead would be short-lived, however, as he pushed up the track. That allowed several cars to get by under him with Chad Krug taking the lead. Point leader Devin Smith was on the charge in the middle of the pack as he climbed his way to third by the halfway mark when he passed Nick Meyer on the inside. Smith would use the same line to get by Micah Lavrenz for the runner up spot. Krug appeared to have things well in hand until the caution came out late in the race to set up a two-lap shootout. On the double-file restart, Lavrenz suffered a flat tire while Meyer clipped the frontstretch wall. Meyer would regroup to finish sixth. Smith was unable to get momentum going again as Chad Krug would take home the win. Smith settled for second, Cory Weishaar third, Chad Gentz fourth, and Alan Ricke completed the top five.
Sixteen IMCA sportmods made the call for their feature event with Gerald Curry leading the first lap before a caution flag waved. On the restart Curry, George Nordman, and Mike Carlson would all get together in turn two to bring out the caution immediately again. Nordman was the only one to drive away as Curry and Carlson would retire from the event. Nordman would inherit the lead with Jake Simpson sitting right behind him. Simpson would power his machine to the outside in turns three and four and make the pass on Nordman for the lead. Simpson would put some distance between himself and Nordman as he captured the win. George Nordman would finish second, Matt Hoeft edged Doug Cook for third, and Tyler Heetland rounded out the top five.
Cory Oftedahl took command of the IMCA stock car field at the drop of the green flag with John Wiemann and Mike Mauer closely behind. Kevin Opheim charged from his seventh-starting spot and passed Mauer for the third position. Opheim would keep going forward as he later passed Wiemann for second. David Smith was also on the move as he climbed into the fourth spot at the halfway point after ducking low of Wiemann. Opheim would drive a bit deep into turn one and make contact with Calvin Lange, resulting in Lange spinning. He would keep the candles lit and keep going. A caution flag would wave, not related to that incident, with three laps to go to set up a thrilling finish. Oftedahl would lead the row of Opheim and Smith to the green flag. Smith and Opheim raced side by side for the duration of the race with Smith nipping Opheim at the stripe on the inside line for second. Cory Oftedahl picked up his third win of the season ahead of Smith, Opheim, Josh Hohensee, and Chad Palmer.
The final event of the night would be the IMCA modifieds. Action didn't get started long before the caution waved when Austin Wolf spun in turn four and smacked the outside wall. Two other cars were involved as well I believe, including Chris Rakness. On the restart things again didn't get up to speed before the caution waved again as Mike Jergens apparently clipped a rut and turned right, making contact with Eric Dailey. That would end Dailey's night while Jergens would return only to exit the track later in the race.
The next restart proved to be just as action-filled as Jeremy Brogaard was still out front of the pack. As the leaders entered turn one, Jeremy Mills drove in a little deep and slid up the track and made contact with Brogaard's machine. Both cars kept moving, but the black flag was waiting for Mills when he came around to the front stretch. That handed the lead over to Ryan Watnem with Ricky Stephan and Josh Ruby behind him. Rob Hughes found the top side to his liking as he began to pick off cars steadily. He would get up to Ricky Stephan for the second position as those two exchanged the spot for a couple laps. As the laps clicked away Hughes was able to prevail but both had nothing for Ryan Watnem as he picked up another win. Hughes was second, Ricky Stephan third, Josh Ruby fourth, and Chris Rakness was fifth.
The racing action was fierce and fast last night. I believe the racing concluded right around 9:30, giving fans ample time to either visit with drivers or be on their way home.
For complete results and a look at the upcoming schedule, be sure to check out www.algonaraceway.com. One race you might want to circle on the calendar is Tuesday, August 3rd. That night the United States Modified Touring Series makes a long-awaited return to the Kossuth County Fairgrounds as part of the Kossuth County Fair. I'm definitely excited to see what the dirt-pounding modifieds of the USMTS can do on that tricky race track!
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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