After visiting tracks in Nebraska and South Dakota, I ventured back closer to home and took in a night of double features at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City on Saturday, May 16. I knew chances were good that the show would get a bit long, but had no idea that bad luck would return once again with the lighting situation. Not once, but twice the lights went out again at the racetrack. I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't go to this track as both nights it has happened I have been in attendance.
Five makeup features were the first item of business on the night. The IMCA hobby stocks were up first as seventeen cars took the green flag. Ryan Caquelin would be the early race leader, but Kevin Schmauss was closing in on his rear bumper. At the half-way point of the race Brandon Ratcliff and Justin Ades were in a dogfight for the third spot, but Ratcliff's car would fade in the closing laps. Schmauss took the lead away from Caquelin with only two laps to go by using the outside groove. Justin Ades tried to get by Caquelin for second, but Caquelin edged him out at the line. TJ Mortenson came home fourth and Ratcliff rounded out the top five.
Next up would be the stock cars. A solid field of eighteen cars were lead early by Dave Hubbard from his outside front row starting spot. Reid Keller had other ideas though when he powered his car to the bottom side of turn four and muscled his way past for the lead. Keller would sail to the checkers followed by Mark Elliott, Jason Wagoner, Jason Minnehan, and Scott Bloemke.
Greg Simmons raced to the early lead in the IMCA sportmod feature. However, his luck would run out as the pole sitter went up in smoke down the front straight away and coasted to a stop. This handed the lead over to Austin Kaplan with Matt Lettow right behind. Lettow would take over the top spot midway through the race and begin to pull away from the field until a caution flag bunched them up again with just two laps to go. A three-wide battle ensued between Lettow, Brett Meyer, and Bryon Weyer for the lead as they came to the double checkered finish. Meyer would squeeze out the close victory just ahead of Lettow while Weyer settled for third. Rounding out the top five would be Austin Kaplan and Brandon Toftee.
J.J. Wise led the IMCA modifieds to the green flag for their makeup feature. Mark Elliott started shotgun on the field (13th), but would find himself in fourth after completing the first lap. Adam Larson would challenge Wise as he made the pass for the lead on lap three. Wise's car appear to get worse as several cars made their way past his Skyrocket machine. Once again, a caution with just two laps to go bunched the field up for a green/white/checkered finish. Scott Olson tried to get a run on Larson on the bottom side coming out of turn four, but Larson carried the momentum off the corner to take home the hardware. Olson settled for second, Nate Caruth came home third, Mike Bennett was fourth, and J.J. Wise finished a disappointing fifth.
Sixteen IMCA late models were set to do battle for their makeup event that saw pole-sitter Kelly Tapper take the early lead. His luck would run out on the second lap though as his car spun and came to a rest in turn one. That handed the reigns over to Ryan Griffith with Darrel DeFrance making his way to the front behind him. Todd Cooney's car was getting faster as the laps clicked off as he found himself getting by DeFrance and setting his sights on Griffith. The top two cars battled side by side for a couple laps before Cooney took the advantage and began to pull away to take the checkers. Jeff Aikey got by Ryan Griffith after yet another green/white/checkered restart for second and third, respectively. DeFrance was fourth and Al Johnson rounded out the top five.
After an intermission for a little track prep, the scheduled night's events were set to kick off. Things were going smoothly until some lights went out in turn four during the first heat of modifieds. There was enough lighting to finish that heat race, but track officials went to work to fix the problem and had things in working order a brief time later.
Only three IMCA sport compacts were on hand tonight. Justin Wacha was the dominant car throughout the heat race and the early part of the feature, but his car bobbled in turn one midway through the race and Gary Peiffer would take advantage as he took home the win. Wacha was second and Daniels Ayers was third.
Nineteen IMCA hobby stocks were up next for their feature as Blake Miller set the pace early on. That did not last long however as TJ Mortenson took it away on lap two. He appeared to have the win in the bag until his car came to a rest on the backstretch. This handed the lead over to Justin Ades, would went on to take the win. Miller settled for second, Kevin Schmauss was third, Craig Graham fourth, and Andy Jones rounded out the top five.
Jeff Deal took the lead early on in the stock car feature, but he would receive heavy pressure from outside front row starter Adam Silvey. Silvey went low to get by Deal on lap six for the race lead while Jason Wagoner was working his way up to the third spot. Wagoner's car was working extremely well tonight as he took the lead on the top side with two laps to go. Deal was second, Todd Foster third, Mark Elliott fourth, and Silvey finished fifth.
Twenty-two IMCA Sportmods took to the track next as Rodger Caquelin took the lead early on. A caution on lap five put Tyler Gross on the back bumper of Caquelin. Three laps later Gross dove to the bottom of the speedway to sneak past Caquelin for the top spot. Caquelin didn't give up, though, as he battled back and regained the top spot a lap later. Matt Northrup joined the top two cars to make it a four-way battle for the lead coming down to the finish. They were three-wide at the finish with Lettow edging out Gross for the win. Caquelin settled for third, Northrup was fourth, and Austin Kaplan rounded out the top five. Caquelin, however, would later be DQed according to official results. During this race, the track suffered another delay as once again the lights went out in turn four. Hopefully this will not continue to plague the track the rest of the season.
Jon Snyder used his pole starting spot to grab the lead early in the IMCA modified finale. Snyder opened up a sizable margin and would take home the easy win. Mike Bennett was second, Adam Larson third, Scott Olson fourth, and Brad Moriarty finished fifth.
The final event of the night would be the twenty-car IMCA late model feature. Jill George shot to the lead from the pole and had a couple car lengths on the rest of the field. Kelly Tapper made his way to second and closed in on the top spot, but contact between the two cars resulted in Tapper's car spinning in turn one. On the ensuing restart, Riley Larson catapulted his way into the lead past George while deeper in the field Jeff Aikey was methodically making his way forward. Aikey found himself closing in on Larson when the caution came out on lap seven and would take over the lead after the restart. Aikey would take home the win with Larson finishing in a solid second position. Ryan Griffith came home third, Todd Cooney was fourth, and Travis Smock rounded out the top five.
A long night of racing concluded at 11:40. The racing action was pretty good with a couple close finishes for the win. Hopefully the lighting issue was resolved and not rear it's ugly head anytime soon.
-Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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