Sunday, June 12, 2011

David Rieks Cashes in Jerry Dixon Memorial Moolah

Saturday I found myself looking forward to the weekly trek to the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City. Car counts are solidly 100+ and the track conditions are getting better every week. After seeing how good the track was in Fort Dodge on Friday night, I had a little extra motivation to see what Webster City would showcase.

Upon arrival, however, I found out that track officials had their work cut out for them. Apparently the moisture was not drying very fast and officials had to rip up the surface early Saturday afternoon. Many people were on the track with tractors and personal vehicles working on both ends of the speedway. Hot laps would get underway about twenty minutes late, but I didn't mind it as the track is more important to me then time.

Heat race action kicked off and laps on the speedway began to take its toll. Ruts started showing up in both corners. Several cars got some "major air" while somehow keeping control of their cars through the soft surface. Intermission came and the appearance of the box scraper and grater were inevitable. Work was done on both corners, and feature action would begin.

First to the speeway would be the nine-car hornet feature. Mike McFarland jumped out to the early lead, but Adam Strunk quickly threw his name into the hat and passed McFarland on the outside to overtake the lead on lap two. McFarland and Strunk raced side by side swapping the lead on occasion, allowing Daniel Ayers to close in from his third position. Ayers and McFarland both ran out of time as Adam Strunk won his fourth consecutive feature at Webster City. Mike McFarland was second, Daniel Ayers third, Angie Webb fourth, and Keaton Graffunder completed the top five.

It was then time for the Jerry Dixon Memorial event for IMCA hobby stocks. Jerry Dixon was very instrumental with the hobby stock class as he not only raced in this division, but he also had his own chassis business in which many competitors bought and raced. Jerry unfortunately lost his life to cancer. He was later inducted into the Hamilton County Speedway Racing Association's Hall of Fame, and last night would be the inaugural running of the Jerry Dixon Memorial. Several businesses and invidiuals throughout the night decided to donate money to the winner's purse, more then doubling it as the winner would pocket $650.

Roger Caquelin and David Rieks sat on the front row of the twenty-car field as three competitors were unable to make the call. Caquelin would lead the first lap, but Rieks swept under him to snare the lead away on lap two. The two seasawed positions back and forth the opening laps until a caution on lap four slowed the pace. Two laps after the restart, points leader Kevin Fee had advanced six positions to climb into the top five. Another caution would come out with three laps remaining, setting up an exciting conclusion. Fee would work the inside of Caquelin to take over the second spot, but he would suffer a right rear flat tire upon exit of turn four to end his great run from the tail. Eric Knutson, making his first visit of the year, would pick up the chase on Reiks as the laps wound down. Knutson was closing the gap and tried working the inside off turn four to checkers, but he would run out of time as David Reiks picked up his first win and collected a cool $650 payday. Eric Knutson would finish second, Roger Caquelin third, Brad Ratcliff finished fourth after starting twentieth, and Matt Webb rounded out the top five.

Focus would now turn to the IMCA sportmods as twenty-four cars took to the track. Pole sitter Matt Lettow got the early lead, but youngster Cayden Carter was there to challenge him. Carter ducked to the inside on lap two to take over the lead, but Lettow would battle back and reassume his spot at the front of the field on the next circuit. The two front runners would swap the lead as each competitor gave the other plenty of room despite changing lanes throughout the race. Points leader Joel Rust took advantage of a lap eight restart as he passed Kyle Brown and later Brandon Leeman to take the fourth position. Carter would hold the lead with two laps to go, but Lettow saw the white flag first. As the two entered turn three on the final lap, Carter dashed to the inside and let the car slide up to the middle groove. Lettow tried to power around on the cushion, but didn't have enough momentum as Cayden Carter picked up his second win of the season. Matt Lettow settled for a close second, Shawn Albers finished in third, Bryon Weyer was fourth, and Joel Rust was fifth.

Eleven stock cars were next up and Adam Silvey used his number one starting spot to grab the early lead. Curt Hook made a daring move entering turn one to sneak under both Ryan Leeman and Jim Mitchell to snag the runner up position on the third lap. First time visitor this season, Nathan Wood found himself up to fourth after passing Reid Keller. Up front Hook would make the pass on Silvey for the lead around the halfway point. Wood would get by Leeman for third with four laps to go before taking the second position past Silvey. Wood would quickly close the gap to Hook, but simply ran out of time as he caught the rear bumper of Hook when the checkered flag waved. Curt Hook picked up the win ahead of Nathan Wood, Mark Elliott was third, Adam Silvey fourth, and Ryan Leeman finished fifth.

Twenty-five IMCA modifieds were on hand Saturday night, and perhaps a little excitement was in the air as 4-time IMCA national champion David Murray from Oberlin, Kansas had ventured into town to try his luck. He and teammate Jay Noteboom looked good in their respective heat races. Feature pole sitter Kyle Krampe would hold his position as he took the lead early. Todd Shute got to the inside of Mike Jergens to claim the second spot before sneaking by Krampe on the bottom for the lead. His time at the front would be short, however, as JD Auringer powered his machine to the top side and overtook the lead. His pass would be nullified by a caution flag.

Shortly after the green flag came back out, Auringer again put his machine on the cushion and sailed to the front with Shute following to second. Mark Elliott would join the top two drivers and made the pass on Shute for second. Shute and Elliott swapped positions a few times, and behind them Richie Gustin had made his way around Mike Jergens and Krampe to sit fourth. Auringer, Shute, and Elliott were ahead of the pack by a straight away when David Murray got by Krampe to climb inside the top five with just four laps remaining. Murray would be penalized two spots for jumping the restart as the caution flag came out for that reason. When the green flag was displayed again, the only position to change hands was Mark Elliott passing Richie Gustin for third. JD Auringer picked up his second win of the season as he finished ahead of Todd Shute, Mark Elliott, Richie Gustin, and Levi Nielsen. Murray would suffer a flat tire to end his night.

The finale of the night would once again be the IMCA late models. Ryan Griffith led the seventeen-car field to the green flag, but the caution would quickly come out on lap two when Paul Watters hit the wall in turn three. Upon the restart cars tangled on the inside row of the double file restart. Victims of the crash were Al Johnson, Darrel DeFrance, and Kyle Wahlert. When racing resumed Todd Cooney was on a mission as he grabbed the lead away from Griffith utilizing the inside groove. Last week's feature winner Jeff Aikey made his way by Griffith to climb into second and began to reel in Cooney. Aikey used the low side to overtake Cooney at the front of the field on lap nine and immediately began to stretch it out. The field got spread out the rest of the way, and Jeff Aikey would take the win in commanding fashion. Todd Cooney would finish second, Ryan Giles was third, Kelly Tapper finished fourth in his first appearance of the season, and Jason Hahne completed the top five.

While track conditions were definitely a challenge, I thought the feature races were entertaining and competitive. There were two grooves of racing despite the rough surface as evident by the sportmod race between Lettow and Carter. I'm sure the Hamilton County fairboard will get ripped to shreads because of the track conditions, but I'll give them high praise for putting the effort to attempt to race. I am highly confident that the track will get better.

For a full rundown of results, updated point standings, and upcoming race schedule be sure to log on to the Hamilton County Speedway website. I'd like to thank the fairboard for their hospitality and also announcer Ryan Bergeson for the Positivelyracing plug.

Plans for tonight (Sunday) are to head northwest to take in the USMTS show in Worthington, Minnesota. I also look forward to a trip to Fort Dodge Monday to take in that USMTS show. So if you see me walking around, stop and say hi.

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