Another warm day on Sunday prompted me to get out of the house and head to another race. Today's destination would be the I-35 Speedway in Mason City. A fair amount of cars were checked into the back gate for tonight's action.
Taylor Frerichs would lead flag to flag and take home a dominating win in the junior hornet feature. Alan Aird picked up his second win of the season as he did the same in the "pro" hornet feature.
A field of twenty IMCA hobby stocks made their way to the track. Kory Adams held down the top spot after starting on the point, but Chad Gentz was on the move early as he climbed into the third spot after passing Bernie Adams on the high side. Scott Dobel would dart to the inside exiting turn four to take the lead away from Kory Adams on lap four. Gentz would look to the inside of Dobel and made contact, but both competitors were able to keep their cars straight and continue on with Gentz taking over the lead. Last week's feature winner Stac Schroeder was on the charge as well as he passed Dobel on the inside to snare the runner up spot away. With three laps remaining, the leaders encountered lapped traffic on the backstretch. Gentz went low while Schroeder went high, and Schroeder took advantage and powered his way to the lead. Stac Schroeder would go on to take the win ahead of Chad Gentz, Scott Dobel, Mick Meyers, and Heath Tulp.
Twenty-two IMCA sportmods took the green flag as three cars were unable to make the call. Corey Klouse took advantage of starting on the pole and raced to the early lead with Nate Whitehurst sitting just behind him. Klouse would lose the handle in turn four which allowed Whitehurst to slip under him and take over the race lead. Nick West was making a run on Klouse on the front straight when the two cars got together, sending West's car sideways on the front bumper of Klouse's machine. West's car would then make contact with the outside wall before coming to a stop. This caution would set up a double file restart behind the leader Whitehurst as Klouse and Shane Swanson made up the first row. However, Swanson would stop on the backstretch and need the assistance of a tow truck to the pits to end his night early. More on what happened next later.
Adam Ackerman took advantage of that restart to jump to the outside of Whitehurst and power his machine to the lead. Dan Tenold and Alex Zwanziger held down the third and fourth positions, respectively, while Ackerman cruised to the win. Nate Whitehurst finished second, Zwanziger got by Tenold on the final circuit for third, and Corey Klouse completed the top five.
Next up would be the IMCA stock cars. Twelve drivers were on the starting grid with pole sitter Brad Broers getting the early nod up front. Joe Willier found the top side to his liking as he passed Calvin Lange for third. Lange would give up the fourth spot a short time later to Merlyn Hegland as the battle up front heated up. Kevin Paca used the inside line to squeeze by Broers with Willier just a few feet behind, but Willier was able to make a run of his own on the inside and get by both front runners to snag the lead for himself. Joe Willier would go on to take the feature win ahead of Kevin Paca, Calvin Lange, Brad Broers, and Chris Adams. Paca was able to fend off Lange and Broers at the end as his car was smoking heavily when it exited turn four for the final time.
Eleven IMCA modifieds hit the track for the final event of the night. Levi Nielsen jumped out front early with Jeremy Brogaard settled in behind. JJ Wise ducked to the inside of Brogaard on lap two to take the second position away. Levi Nielsen appeared to be leaking fuel while running a quick pace, but no black flag was thrown. He would eventually come to a stop in turn four to bring out a caution as some pondered if he ran out of fuel.
Wise would inherit the race lead, but the battle behind him was starting to get good. Curt Badker restarted in second, but Shane Monson got by Brogaard for third to set up a battle of racing grooves. Badker used the inside groove while Monson rode the cushion and made the pass for second. Monson would later swap the lead with Wise before a caution came out again with five laps remaining. Monson bobbled just enough entering turn one that allowed JJ Wise to dart under him and scoot away for the race win. Shane Monson would settle for second, Curt Badker was third, Alex Yohn fourth, and Jeremy Brogaard in fifth.
Now, back to that restart in the IMCA sportmod feature. I'm not sure what the track or IMCA rules state, but the end result seem to be a little unfair in my eyes. With Nate Whitehurst out front by himself, Corey Klouse and Shane Swanson made up the first row with John Warrington and Adam Ackerman behind them. Let me see if I can illustrate this a little better:
49 Whitehurst
8 Klouse 55 Swanson
64 Warrington 5 Ackerman
When Swanson stopped and was taken off the track, Ackerman and the rest of the outside line moved directly ahead. Now I know IMCA rules say on the initial start that they don't criss-cross, but I haven't heard of any rule regarding restarts. So while Ackerman was in fifth place prior to Swanson leaving, he should have been realigned in fourth. Instead, he was placed outside of Klouse and therefore was in third on the ensuing restart.
This just prompted another thought into my head. I've been to several tracks that use the double-file restarts. It seems that each track is a little bit different. One track may let the second place decide where he/she wants to be, and another may require the second place car go to the inside. Some tracks have the fourth place car always go to the inside, and some have them on the outside if the second place car chooses the outside. I personally think all tracks, or IMCA, need to get together and mandate a specific rule for restarts. As a fan it gets a little confusing figuring out what's going on unless the track announcer informs you.
Ok, off my soap box for the night. The races were run in swift order tonight as they were completed by 8:30pm. For more results, be sure to check out www.i-35speedway.com.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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