This is a couple days late, but I didn't have enough time to get on the computer Saturday night or Sunday. So for that I apologize.
Saturday's action at Hays saw hot laps start at 1pm. Racing action would resume with the remaining heat races from Friday night. By my count, 15 races were carried over to Saturday.
The format used was passing points, as stated in my night one recap. Drivers were able to use their highest passing point total to position themselves and determine what race they would be involved in next. Officials opted to use D, C, and B-mains to determine the remaining field of cars. The top seven in modifieds and top 5 in the stock cars, hobby stocks, and sportmods from each "session" of heat races were locked in to the front rows of the feature. Friday night's qualifiers made up the inside row and Saturday's the outside row.
Unfortunately from a fan's perspective, the Saturday show drug out like none other. Racing action got underway at 3pm with the 15 heats from Friday night to be run first. Those heats did not get finished until 6pm. At that point the alphabet would be run in the modifieds and stock cars with both classes running the D, C, and B-mains while the sportmods and hobby stocks also ran B-mains.
I failed to take notes on paper as the wind was overbearing, blowing directly towards the crowd. The temperatures were quite cold as well, as I had every layer of clothing I took with me for the trip. I did opt to hurry and type car numbers on my cell phone, so I can give a few results from the features.
BJ Dauer led every lap in the IMCA hobby stock main event. Tyler Frye sat on the pole of the IMCA sportmod finale and would run away from the field to capture the win. IMCA sportmod national champion Jesse Sobbing would finish second, but was several car lengths back at the finish after starting 10th.
Seven Iowa IMCA stock car drivers made the feature on Saturday, which paid $3,000 to win. Tim Bengard came home 3rd, Randy Brands (driving Aaron Haggerty's #62 ride) was 5th, Mike Nichols 6th, Abe Huls (from Carthage, IL) 7th, and Mike Jergens was 8th. Travis Shipman also made the show, but am uncertain where he finished as he went to the pits and rejoined the tail of the field.
The IMCA modified feature saw Jordan Grabouski sit on the pole and lead the first part of the race. That lead would shrink and he would eventually be overtaken by David Murray, who started 13th. Murray would immediately open a big advantage and take home the win followed by Wisconsin drive Benji LaCrosse, Iowan Chris Abelson, Jordan Grabouski, Ricky Alvarado, Iowan Jeremy Mills, Jason Schoenberger, and Iowan Jay Noteboom.
The modified feature finished at 11:30pm, with the three Kansas State Race of Champions Shootout races left to be run. I opted not to stay for those, as I had already been at the track for 10 1/2 hours.
I realize the theme of this website is to be positive, but there really wasn't much that was positive on Saturday. Officials opted to do track prep after the first 3 hobby heat races run Saturday, which seemed to take 45 minutes to work back in. There was at least one other intermission taken in which I only saw one truck driving around the top side of the track. Perhaps that time was used so officials could calculate the passing points and determine which alphabet race drivers would be placed in. If that is the case, then I suggest either having more people to help out so that time is not needed, or do away with that type of format of qualifying.
There is no reason a person should sit at a race track for 10 1/2, especially at least 8 or so before seeing a feature. Not to mention the cold temperatures and the persistent wind. Fans opted to leave early throughout the night, many leaving before some of the features had even started.
Back to the positive thinking... the facility is still one of the better ones I've been to this year. Great grandstands with a good PA system. The food was reasonably priced and for the most part, the racing was good. Unfortunately, this avid race fan will likely not make the 8-hour trip down again due to the time issue.
For full results, be sure to check out the track website at www.rpmspeedway.net.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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