On Thursday, August 11, I made my first trip north to the Hancock County Speedway. The 16th Annual Night of 1,000 Stars on the schedule, and this year it was joined by the Hawkeye Dirt Tour. With plenty of money up for grabs for IMCA modifieds, there was no surprise when fifty-seven cars were checked into the pits. Also racing that night were IMCA stock cars and IMCA hobby stocks.
The modifieds ran seven heat races with the top two cars transferring directly the to feature. Two big "b-mains" were later run that transferred the top eight from each. The rest of the thirty-five car field was set with five provisionals.
Before the modifieds came out, the other two classes had their feature events. First up was the IMCA hobby stock feature. Outside front row starter Brad Ratcliff grabbed the top spot with Nick Meyer and Cody Knecht battling for second. Knecht would begain to fade back as John Madson and Chad Gentz both got by him. Stac Schroeder was on the move as well as he passed Gentz for fourth. With two laps to go Schroeder worked his way by Madson for second, but the gap was too big to Ratcliff as Brad Ratcliff picked up the impressive win. Schroeder slowed on the final lap, allowing Nick Meyer to finish second. John Madson was third, Chad Gentz fourth, and Brandon Nielsen rounded out the top five. Schroeder rebounded for sixth.
Seventeen of the nineteen IMCA stock cars took the green flag of the feature. Bruce Wickman held down the top spot when the caution waved on lap one. Restarting in ninth, Damon Murty quickly worked his way to fifth in two laps before making passes on Kevin Opheim and Larry Portis for third. A short time later he got by Ned Kalis for second and Bruce Wickman for the lead. Murty wasted no time in opening up a comfortable advantage from that point as he won in dominating fashion. It would also be Murty's 100 career IMCA stock car feature win as he joins a narrow list of guys who have accomplished that feat. The rest of the top five were Bruce Wickman, Ned Kalis, Kevin Opheim, and Derek Green.
The time had arrived for the big IMCA modified feature. The format of the race would be twenty-five laps segments with the leader at the halfway point earning an extra $1,000. After that first twenty-five laps, a ten-minute pitstop occurred where drivers could make any adjustments they wanted, including adding fuel and changing tires. Thirty-five cars would be starting three-wide when the green flag dropped. Jeremy Mills, Jason Snyder, and Rob Hughes found themselves on the front row. Mills would take the lead while Jake Durbin and Hughes battled it out for second before a caution waved on lap one. Hughes would ride the rim to second after passing Durbin before using the same line to get by Mills for the lead.
Another caution waved when Mark Noble slowed down the backstretch. Soon after racing resumed, Durbin used the inside line to make the pass on Hughes for the race lead. Ryan Watnem was on the move as well as he passed Michael Long to move into fourth and later got by Mills for the third spot. Watnem would also get by Hughes for the second spot before the halfway point and the crucial pitstop.
So at the halfway point, the field looked like this- Durbin, Watnem, J. Mills, Ryan Ruter, Pat Graham, Rob Hughes, Clint Hattlestad, Jay Noteboom, Mark Elliott, Jeff Feaster, Keith Schmitz, JJ Wise, Clayton Christensen, Mike Jergens, Vern Jackson, Alex Yohn, Ron Pope, Michael Long, Ricky Stephan, Curt Badker, Terrance Prochaska, Richie Gustin, Rich Smith, and Todd Stinehart. That's 24 of the 35 cars remaining. And just like the initial start, the field would be lined up three-wide behind race leader Jake Durbin.
When racing resumed, Noteboom advanced two spots to take over sixth. Mills passed Watnem for the second spot before the caution came out when Noteboom spun in turn one. On the resart Ruter made a good move to advance from fourth to second. Pat Graham also made his way by Mills for third with sixteen laps to go. Hawkeye Dirt Tour points leader Rich Smith pulled to the infield during the next caution. Ruter would make the pass on Durbin for the lead but the caution waved once again with seven laps remaining. That's when things got a little interesting!
After the restart, contact was made between Jake Durbin and Ryan Ruter that resulted in Ruter spinning to a stop in turn two. Ruter was sent to the tail of the field, but not before swerving at Jeremy Mills, who had inherited the lead. Apparently Ruter thought Mills spun him out. Durbin was blacked flagged for the initial contact, and Ruter was black flagged for his outburst on Mills.
So with seven laps to go, the lineup looked like this: Mills, Watnem, Jackson, Graham, Hughes, Hattlestad. Remember, Jackson was 15th at the halfway point. Pat Graham snuck by Vern Jackson on the restart to take over third. Up front it was Jeremy Mills taking the win ahead of Ryan Watnem, Pat Graham, Clint Hattlestad, and Jeff Feaster. Jackson faded to 12th while Hughes faded to sixteenth, the last car running at the end.
So with the turn of events, Mike Jergens on the strength of his sixth-place finish becomes the new Hawkeye Dirt Tour points leader. Rich Smith sits second and Richie Gustin is third with three races remaining. Two of them will be at Gustin's home territory, the Marshalltown Speedway, in September as part of the Havoc on the Highbanks event.
I'd like to thank promoter Joe Ringsorf for his hospitality Thursday night! I'd also like to thank Bucky Doren and Chris Marchese from the HDT. They took time to chat with me after the races and thanked me for coming. Marchese filled in nicely as the assistant flagman. And I'd like to thank Brett Root for answering some random questions I had as well.
For complete results from the night, there are several places you can look. www.dirttour.com has the modified results and updated Hawkeye Dirt Tour point standings. www.hcspeedway.com has the stock car and hobby stock results. www.imca.com has results from all three classes.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
No comments:
Post a Comment