Meyer Takes Stock Car Last Chance, Hatlestad Tops Outside Modified Row

The IMCA Supernationals are now down to their final night of the six-day extravaganza as Friday night as come to a conclusion. Despite Mother Nature's attempt to wash out the night, the track prep crew deserves a huge amount of credit for getting the track back into racing condition not just once, but twice. Persistent showers in the afternoon along with more rain later in the evening delayed the action for at least two hours. The crew brought out the jet dryer when the rain subsided and got dried out the surface to allow the rest of the tractors to do their magic.

Friday night marked the final chance for the IMCA stock cars to make the big dance come Saturday. Eight last chance races were run with the top three cars advancing to a qualifying feature. Steve Meyer and Paul Shepherd sat on the front row, and when the green flag fell it was Meyer securing his spot at the front of the field. The caution flag soon followed, however, as a group of cars got tangled up in turn two on lap two. While officials worked to clean up the situation and get the cars realigned, the second rain delay would come into play.

As the rain came down, officials decided to move the stock cars back to the staging area. Drivers were able to take their safety equipment out of their cars and add more tearoffs due to the weather. There were not, however, allowed to work on their car during the delay. Once the track was deemed raceable, the cars returned to the track to finish their event.

On the restart Josh Daniels worked his way by Shepherd for the second spot while Kevin Opheim got by Ryan Rose on the inside to move into third. On lap four Damon Murty would also get by Rose to take over the fourth position. Up front Opheim would pull to the inside of Meyer as the two raced side-by-side for several laps as they swapped the lead. With two laps remaining Murty ducked inside of Opheim and snagged the second spot before the caution flag waved. While under caution Opheim's right front tire began to lose air, but officials did not make his leave the track. When the green flag waved, Opheim was unable to maintain the pace as he pulled off the track. That was all Steve Meyer needed as he came away with the win and the outside of the front row for Saturday night's main event. Damon Murty would finish second, Josh Daniels third, Jeff Turner fourth, Paul Shepherd fifth, Stefan Sybesma sixth, Ryan Rose seventh, Merlyn Hegland eighth, Justin Jacobsen ninth, and Nathan Burke rounded out the qualifying drivers.

As the stock cars exited the track following their main event, the IMCA modifieds soon entered the track for their twenty-five car qualifying feature. Chad Estes and Chris Derenne paced the field to the green flag with Derenne jumping out front for the lead. The caution waved on lap four, bunching the field back up. Cale Sponsler took advantage as he powered by Chad Estes for fifth. A lap later Luke Wanninger also made his way by Estes. On lap ten Clint Hatlestad worked his way under Derenne for the lead and quickly pulled away from his competitors. With ten laps remaining Reese Coffee utilized the inside groove to make his way by Derenne for the runner up spot. Derenne would continue to back-pedal as Sponsler and Wanninger both leapfrogged him. A late caution set up a three-lap dash to the finish. Kellen Chadwick was extremely happy to see that caution as he restarted in seventh. However, when the checkered flags waved he would finish in the third position. It would be Clint Hatlestad picking up the win and securing his spot on the outside of the front row come Saturday night. Reese Coffee finished second, Chadwick third, Cale Sponsler fourth, Luke Wanninger fifth, Todd Shute sixth, Chris Derenne seventh, and Rich Smith rounded out the field of qualifiers. For Smith it is the first time in over twenty years that he has qualified for the big dance. Smith also qualified for the very first Supernationals event.

The final race of the night would be the FastShafts All-Star Invitational race. Twelve drivers voted on by the fans drew tshirt bags for starting positions. But unlike in the past, officials let the fans vote as to whether to start the field in two-wide or three-wide formation. The crowd chose three-wide. Pole sitter David Murray wasted no time in snaring the lead while Brad Pounds followed closely in second. Murray opened up his lead with every passing lap as he went on to take the dominating victory. Brad Pounds was second, Dave Hardesty third, Keith White was fourth, and Mike Smith rounded out the top five.

One difference from years past is the mandatory raceceivers for the modified drivers. One-way communication is directed from a race director to the drivers. When I heard that these were being utilized this year, I was happy thinking that realigning cars wouldn't take as long as it has in the past. However, the first three nights I have noticed that it has not made any difference. I'm not sure if the communication is being used, but track officials are spending just as much time directing cars to their appropriate positions as in previous years. I realize this is the first year for the raceceivers, but hopefully the powers-that-be get used to them and can better utilize them for next year.

Saturday's pre-race ceremonies get underway at 2pm with the first green flag scheduled to drop around 3pm. For more complete results, be sure to check out www.imca.com. And speaking of IMCA, I'd like to thank their entire staff for extending their hospitality towards me and my fellow Positivelyracing comrads.

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