Season Championships @ Buena Vista Raceway

It's hard to believe that its season championship night once again. Temperatures are getting cooler at night, which means the end of the season is rapidly approaching. The Buena Vista Raceway hosted their season championship night Wednesday night after being postponed a week ago.

Most IMCA tracks allow the points leaders to start at the front of the field. That is not the case in Alta as they held heat races to determine the invert spots. Josh Egesdal would lead every lap on his way to taking the IMCA sport compact victory.

Next up would be the fifteen lap IMCA hobby stock feature. Merle Bass would take control for the first three laps until his car pushed up in turn four, opening the door for Justin Nehring to grab the top spot away. Deeper in the field Devin Smith passed John Briggs on the inside with five laps to go to take over fourth place. Bass would eventually lose two more spots as Daniel and Devin Smith both made their way by. In the end it would be Justin Nehring taking home his first win of the season in Alta. He was followed across the line by Daniel Smith, Devin Smith, Merle Bass, and Craig Brotherton.

1. 20N Justin Nehring
2. 88 Daniel Smith
3. 81 Devin Smith
4. 8 Merle Bass
5. 45B Craig Brotherton
6. 87 John Briggs
7. 66 Matt Mahoney
8. 33 Ryan Roder
9. 32 Kyle Robinson
10. 21c Pat Cross
11. BooK Dylan Book
12. 33M Mathias Lux
13. 66L Lynn Wichers
14. 97 Mark Hill
15. 95 Aaron Caskey

Twelve laps would be the distance for the IMCA sportmods. Pole-sitter Jay Brannan would lead the field on lap one as Brett Meyer quickly powered his machine from last (9th) to second by the completion of the second lap. Eric Puhrmann would get by Brannan to lead the second lap, but Meyer ducked low to take over the catbird seat on lap three. Meyer's luck would turn sour with four laps remaining as smoke emerged from his car. Puhrmann would regain the top spot as Meyer's car came to a stop in turn four as a result of a broken rearend. Chris Grothe would take command of the race after passing Puhrmann before the yellow came out with two laps to go. Tim Wilcox restarted on Grothe's rear bumper and made the winning pass on the high side as they crossed the line for the white flag. Chris Grothe came home second, Eric Puhrmann third, Zach Norgaard fourth, and Jay Brannan fifth.

1. 7w Tim Wilcox
2. 90 Chris Grothe
3. 59 Eric Puhrmann
4. 14z Zach Norgaard
5. 04J Jay Brannan
6. 117 Nick De Leeuw
7. 9 Tony Pogeler
8. 1M Brett Meyer (track champ)
9. 12 Doug Smith

Only nine IMCA stock cars were in attendance tonight, but that wouldn't stop them from putting on a show for the fans. They were three-wide in turn three on the first lap before Josh Suhr would assume command on lap one. After starting eighth, Dustin Smith charged to third after two laps had been completed. Brian Blessington closed in and challenged Suhr for the lead on lap five, but somehow Smith was able to get by both cars to grab the lead for himself. David Smith worked under Suhr to climb to third on lap eight, but his night would be cut short as he slowed down the front stretch. Blessington closed in on Dustin Smith's lead with three to go, but was unable to make the pass as Dustin Smith won by less then a car length. Brian Blessington was second, Donovan Smith third, Josh Suhr fourth, and Stefan Sybesma rounded out the top five.

1. 85 Dustin Smith (track champ)
2. 92B Brian Blessington
3. 35 Donavon Smith
4. 16 Josh Suhr
5. 5B Stefan Sybesma
6. 56 Tom Sierck
7. 60 Ben Sanderson
8. 8 David Smith
9. 66z Elijah Zevenbergen
DNS
10. 01U Chris Ullrich

Ten IMCA modifieds were set to do battle for twenty laps to conclude the evening. Mark Gaskill used his outside front row start to take command early on. He and Mike Albertson made slight contact in turn two which opened the door for Justin Sackett to slip by under and dart to the lead. Jay Noteboom unveiled his new black and white car and quickly turned heads as he hammered the loud pedal from eighth to third in just three laps. Noteboom would would get to second, but was unable to reel in Sackett for the lead. Justin Sackett would take home the win followed by Jay Noteboom, Clayton Christensen, Stacey Mills, and Jeremy Mills.

1. 17 Justin Sackett
2. 7N Jay Noteboom
3. 1cc Clayton Christensen
4. 10E Stacey Mills
5. 10 Jeremy Mills (track champ)
6. z3 Mike Albertson
7. 23 Jim Thies
8. 61 Brian Schmitt
9. 52 Mark Gaskill
10. 32 Dave Mulder
DNS
11. 22BW Brad Williams

Congratulations to track champions Shannon Anderson (hobby stocks), Brett Meyer (sportmods), Dustin Smith (stock cars), Jeremy Mills (modifieds), and Cory Flanigan (sport compacts) at the Buena Vista Raceway. Although the regular season is complete, racing will resume next Thursday as the stars of the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) makes their second appearance of the year. That race will be the third of six consecutive nights in the Hunt for the USMTS national champion.

There was also talk that the track will have another race sometime in October, perhaps a two-day show. So be sure to check out the track website at www.buenvavistaraceway.net for possible details and the dates.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!