Thursday, May 28 marked the season opener event at the Calhoun County Speedway in Rockwell City. This track is set to run five races on Thursdays throughout the season after running a handful of events last year. Unfortunately not many cars decided to try out the track on this night as only thirty-three cars or so were on hand.
The first feature of the night would be the front wheel drive class. Five cars took the green flag and Dustin Haggard took the lead on the third lap, but a couple laps later Tyler Pickett made a bold move on the top side as he got past two cars to take over the lead. Pickett made it look easy from there on as he grabbed the checkers first. Haggard was second, Cory Flanigan third, Mike Monnehan (spelling) fourth, and David Williams rounded out the field.
Up next would be the econo feature. This class also allows enduro cars to run with them, evident as several drivers were not wearing protective firesuits. Jess Bieret would immediately take a stranglehold on the field as he raced out front and never looked back. He would take the easy win over the seven car field as only two cars were on the lead lap at the finish. Austin Reicks finished a distant second, Josh Niemand third, and Brian Williams fourth.
Michael Murphy got the early jump on the field in the hobby stock feature as he led the first couple of laps. His lead would evaporate as Devin Smith quickly closed in and challenged for the top spot. The two drivers swapped positions several times for three laps before Smith would eventually retire to the pits as a result of a flat tire. From that point on Murphy had it on cruise control as he took home the hardware ahead of Cody Gustoff. Michael Becker finished third while Daniel Hilsabeck limped his car across the line in fourth after suffering a flat tire on the white flag lap.
Eight cars took the green flag in the sportmod feature event. Brett Meyer raced to the lead from the pole, but the caution quickly came out after the first lap was in the books as a spring came to a rest on the inside of the track on the front stretch. The following caution came as a result of an electrical issue as the yellow and red lights came on in the corners. But these distractions didn't stop Meyer as he held off a few challenges from Tony Pogeler to capture the top prize. Mike Bailey was third and Jay Brannan rounded out the cars remaining on the track at the finish.
The final event of the night would prove to be the most exciting race. Donovan Smith and Mike VanGenderen led the field of stock cars to the green flag. The two drivers battled side by side going into turn three, but Mike Jergens snuck his car to the inside of both cars and made contact with Smith's car. Smith's car turned sideways as the tire caught a bump and bounced into the air, landing on the hood of VanGenderen's car. Smith took his car to the pits after that while both VanGenderen and Jergens remained in the race. On the restart, VanGenderen grabbed the lead down the front stretch just before more contact was made in turn two behind him. Apparently Dustin Smith and Brian Blessington made contact that sent Smith towards the outside and collecting a helpless Bill Reetz's machine. Reetz drove his car to the pits while Smith was assisted by a tow truck.
When the race resumed, VanGenderen received heavy pressure from David Smith as the two raced side by side for a couple laps. Smith dove to the inside in turn three, but his left front wheel came off the ground and his car pushed up into VanGenderen's door panel. VanGenderen's car got loose, but caught the right rear of Smith's car resulting in Smith spinning entering turn one. Track officials sent both cars to the tail as Smith was the cause of the caution flag and VanGenderen was tagged with questionable driving.
This handed the lead over to Mike Jergens, who looked to have things well in hand after taking the white flag. However, his car would get loose coming out of turn two on the final lap, allowing the other three remaining cars to join the battle for the top spot. Entering turn three, David Smith maneuvered his car to the inside of Brian Blessington's car and slid up just enough to make Blessington tap the brakes as Smith took home the narrow victory. Blessington was second, VanGenderen third, and Jergens rounded out the finishing field.
What a wild finish to a decent night of racing! While the car count was considerably low, the drivers put on a good show for the fans. Hopefully the track crew can get the corner lights issue fixed before their next night of racing on Thursday, June 25th. Best of luck to the Calhoun County Speedway.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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