For those of you that follow my blog, you know that I have criss-crossed the state earlier this week as I have been to Oskaloosa, Sioux Center, and Donnellson in consecutive days. Saturday night I kept that trend going as I made my way northwest to the Algona Raceway for the first time this season. Algona is a very competitive 3/8 mile track, and tonight would be no different.
Joe Devries dominated the junior hornet feature from the start as he cruised to the easy win. Tim Doocy took control of the pro hornet feature on lap two and never looked back on his way to the checkers. And Peg Lewis and Heather Pesicka took home top honors in the cruiser feature. Not many tracks run the cruisers anymore, so it was kinda cool seeing them run again.
A full field of hobby stocks took to the track next, but things would not get underway in a good way as a pileup occurred before some cars got to the flagstand to take the green. After cleanup was completed, Kurt Fothergill paced the field while Drew Barglof kept the pressure on right behind. Behind them, Chad Gentz was the man on the move as he originally started eleventh but found himself up to third within the first three laps. He would improve upon that a short time later as he took the second spot away from Barglof and set his sights on the race lead. The top four cars were soon battling it out until Nick Meyer's machine spun on the inside of turn one to bring out the caution, allowing both fans and drivers to catch their breath.
When action resumed, Gentz tried to power his machine to the top side of Fothergill for the lead, but Fothergill's car was too strong on the low groove. After another caution Gentz again tried the same move on the outside, but Fothergill hit his marks every lap to maintain the lead. On the final circuit Gentz tried the low groove to get by, but it wasn't enough as Kurt Fothergill reached the checkers first. Chad Gentz was second, Drew Barglof third, and Cory Weishaar was fourth. Kyle Ricke came home fifth.
Twenty-eight 360 modifieds checked into the back gate tonight, but only twenty-four of them were allowed to start the feature. Jake Simpson was shot out of a cannon as he raced to the lead from his seventh starting spot. Doug Cook settled in right behind Simpson as the two swapped the top spot a couple times in the early stages of the race. Matt Hoeft was making headway as he powered his way through the field up to third after starting ninth. Hoeft would soon make it three-wide for the lead momentarily, but Hoeft backed off a bit in the corner to prevent contact with the other two front runners. A caution came out with five laps to go, and that was all Simpson needed to remain in control the rest of the race. Doug Cook settled for second, Matt Hoeft edged out a strong run by Dan Hanselman at the line for third and fourth, respectively, while Brandon Toftee rounded out the top five. Toftee is a regular competitor at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, but that track fell victim to wet conditions earlier in the afternoon.
Pole sitter Calvin Lange got the jump on the field to lead the first lap of the IMCA stock car feature, but his front row mate Aaron Haggerty wasn't going to let him get too far out front. Haggerty continued his pursuit until lap three when Lange's car pushed up the track in turn two that opened the door for Haggerty to slip by on the low groove. Travis Shipman would later get by Lange as well and would apply pressure to the new leader until the caution flag waved on lap five.
The restart would not be too kind to Calvin Lange as his car would once again push up the track, allowing both Dave Wickman and Kevin Opheim to motor by. Shipman would hound Haggerty up front until a little miscue in turn two resulted in Shipman's car making contact with Haggerty's left rear corner. Haggerty would suffer from a flat tire to bring out the caution, but Shipman was able to continue and take over the race lead. Chad Palmer tucked in behind Shipman on the restart, but Palmer would lose the position as Opheim got under him coming out of turn four coming to the checkers. Travis Shipman took home the win, Opheim second, Palmer third, Wickman fourth, and Cory Oftedahl rounded out the top five. Points leader David Smith appeared to struggle all night with speed as he finished seventh.
Stacey Mills used the pole position to his advantage as he grabbed the lead early in the IMCA modified feature. Rob Hughes made his way to second and remained in Mills' tire tracks until the caution waved on lap five. Clayton Christensen tried the top line of the track as most cars were using the bottom. Things didn't work out well for him as Randy Brands got by him on the low side. Brands would continue his march to the front as he got inside of Hughes for second a few laps later. Hughes would lose a couple more spots as Christensen and Ryan Watnem got by. Brands appeared to cut into the lead in the closing laps, but the gap was too big as Stacy Mills grabbed the checkers first. Randy Brands was second, Clayton Christensen third, Eric Dailey jumped up to grab fourth, and Ryan Ruter completed the top five.
Normally this would conclude the night's racing in Algona, but tonight mechanic's races were held. A few of the cars even appeared to be going faster then what the regular driver was going earlier in the night.
Promoter Joe Ringsdorf kept the show moving along at a quick pace. A 360 modified bmain was scheduled to take place, but beings a few drivers didn't answer the call, the cars that did make their way to the track filled up the allotted cars to transfer to the feature. No laps were run and they were lined up accordingly. The only "downtime" was during driver interviews.
I had a fun time in Algona. Got to see racers that I don't normally get to see race on a track that I don't get to very often. I'm hopeful to make a return sometime before the end of the season.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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