Wednesday night's slate of action at the Buena Vista Raceway was twice the fun for race fans as they would be treated to two sets of feature races in every class. All heat races were run a week ago before the rain set in and forced the postponement of the features to this week.
First up on the busy night would be the BVR bombers. Mike Draper would lead flag to flag in capturing the first feature of the night. He was followed across the line by Keith Demey, Austin Reicks, Jake Bieret, and Lucas Vote.
It was then time for the IMCA sport compact feature. Cory Flanigan rocketed to the lead from his fifth starting position on the first lap. Randy Cass was slowly reeling in the leader, but ran out of time as Flanigan pocketed another win. Cass finished second, Merv Chandler was third, Dallas Chandler fourth, and Jeff Roemen rounded out the top five.
Next to the track was the full field of IMCA hobby stocks. Pole sitter Justin Nehring set the early pace, but a caution quickly slowed the action. Following the restart, Andy Boeckman made a big charge and advanced from sixth to the third spot while they were three-wide behind him for fifth. Matt Mahoney made the bottom side work to his liking as he passed Nehring for the lead. Boeckman would follow to second while Devin Smith worked his way into the fourth position at the halfway point. Smith ducked under Nehring to climb to third and began to track down Mahoney and Boeckman at the front of the field. Boeckman would get loose in the corner, allowing Smith to advance into the second position. A caution at the white flag proved to be a deciding factor as Smith used the inside row on the restart to take the lead away. Another caution came out following another white flag, and on this final restart Michael Murphy took advantage as he passed two cars to move into the second spot when the checkered flag waved. Smith would take the win followed by Murphy, Boeckman, Mahoney, and Craig Brotherton. Boeckman was later disqualified in post-race tech.
Following that exciting feature was the IMCA sportmods with sixteen cars taking the green flag. Again the pole sitter would get the advantage on the start with Keagan Scott taking early command. Doug Smith was on the move in the middle of the pack as he worked his way into fourth on lap two after starting ninth. Smith would click off a few more spots and find himself in second before working under Scott for the lead. Jesse Sobbing methodically was working his way to the front as well as he found himself in second just five laps into the race after starting tenth. Two cautions would give Sobbing ample opportunity to knock on the door, but Doug Smith would not be denied as he picked up the win. Sobbing finished second, Tony Pogeler was third, Chris Grothe finished fourth, and Brett Meyer rounded out the top five.
With brothers Devin and Doug already finding victory lane, the pressure was on IMCA stock car competitors Dave and Donavon to keep the streak going. Things got off to a rocky start as pole sitter Jay Brannan pushed up the track on the start in turn four, bounced off Stefan Sybesma, spun and got collected by Brian Blessington. Sybesma would be done for the night, Blessington would make repairs and return, and Brannan continued on from the back of the pack before retiring later. David Smith would lead the field once the green flag waved, but he would receive pressure from brother Donavon as the laps wound down. Donavon was unable to work in a second groove, however, and it was David Smith taking the win. Donavon Smith was second, Kenny Hansen third, Chris Ullrich fourth, and Brian Blessington completed the top five.
Sixteen IMCA modifieds were then set for their first feature of the night. Pole sitter Jim Thies took command from the start with outside front row starter Mike Jergens right behind him. Following an early caution, the double file restart proved to be an exciting one as Mike Jergens and another car tangled on the front stretch. Jergens kept it straight, but upon exiting turn two the car got sideways and contact from another machine led to a gentle rollover of Jergens. He would be okay. After starting sixteenth, Josh Most would take the lead shortly after the restart with Matt Bonine on his heels. Justin Sackett took the second spot away from Bonine, but Bonine would spin in turn four along with Dustin Smith and Brad Williams. No caution was thrown as the drivers got their machines going. With a clear track, Josh Most would go on to take the win ahead of Justin Sackett, Andy Gage, Chris Abelson, and Jim Thies.
Track officials took some time to do some track prep before the heat races would be run. Austin Reicks would dominate the BVR bomber feature as he picked up the win ahead of Josh Mahler, Lucas Vote, Colby Davis, and Jake Bieret.
Cory Flanigan again set the early pace in the IMCA sport compact feature, but Merv Chandler would take the lead away using the bottom side to his liking. Megan Lappegard snuck under Flanigan for the second position before Flanigan made major contact with an implement tire in turn three. From there Chandler would hold off Lappegard for the win, with Dallas Chandler and Bill Whalen Jr rounding out the top five.
Another big field of IMCA hobby stocks took to the track for their second feature of the night. Justin Nehring led early, but Kyle Robinson found some bite on the top side to snare the lead away. Following a lap four caution, Devin Smith charged from fifth up to the second position. Smith passed Robinson on the low side to take over the race lead, and despite a couple more cautions was able to fend him off the rest of the way to pick up his second win on the night. Kyle Robinson was second, Cody Nielsen finished third, Matt Mahoney was fourth, and Michael Murphy rounded out the top five.
Pole sitter Tim Wilcox would lead the first lap of the IMCA sportmod regular feature, but eighth place starter Jesse Sobbing quickly used the top line to climb to second on the first lap. Doug Smith worked his way into the third position on lap three while Sobbing took over the lead using the inside groove. Smith would use the same line to get by Wilcox, but he was nearly half a straight away behind Sobbing prior to a caution waving at the halfway point. Sobbing was clicking on all cylinders, however, and would not relinquish the lead as he picked up the feature win. Doug Smith finished second, Tim Wilcox was third, Doug Bartels fourth, and Matt Pittman rounded out the top five.
With two cars unable to make the call for the second IMCA stock car feature, ten cars took the green flag and it was anybody's guess as to who led the first lap as Roger Tripp, Travis Schueller, and Donavon Smith raced three-wide at the line. Smith would get the advantage off turn two to secure the lead while Chris Ullrich followed him to settle into second. Kenny Hansen and David Smith both used the bottom groove to slip past Schueller for third and fourth, respectively. From that point on the field would run single file and Donavon Smith would prevail for the win. Ullrich finished second, Hansen third, David Smith fourth, and Travis Schueller rounded out the top five.
The final event of the night would be the second feature for IMCA modifieds. Pole sitter Brad Williams grabbed the lead, but Mike Jergens used a lap two restart to wrestle the lead away as Jay Noteboom advanced to second. Another caution involving six cars slowed the pace, but when the green flag was displayed Noteboom wasted little time in assuming the lead. The end of the race was plagued by a few yellow flags and one red flag that involved Dustin Smith rolling hard in turn three in which he landed outside the race track and out near Highway 7 that runs parallel to the back stretch. He was said to be okay, but was transported out of precautionary measures. Mike Jergens would fend off Jay Noteboom to pick up the win. Mike Albertsen finished third, Craig Reetz was fourth, and Jason Briese completed the top five.
It was a late night as the final checkers waved sometime around midnight. Temperatures were a bit on the chilly side as the night progressed as fans grabbed sweatshirts and jackets.
For a complete rundown of results and updated point standings, be sure to check out the Buena Vista Raceway website. Thanks to promoter Jeff Herring and his sidekick Eric Blum for their hospitality, and I can't wait for the annual visit by the USMTS series on June 22nd!
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
No comments:
Post a Comment