Another great weather day turned into another good night at the I-35 Speedway in Mason City Sunday night. A few more cars were on hand this week, making things a little more interesting. The show was still run very efficiently, despite one red flag when Ryan Harris found himself tumbling down the frontstretch wall and into the catchfence. He would get out of the car under his own power and be okay.
The two hornet divisions were won by Tyler Trappe and Kelly Miller. Trappe noted in the post-race interview with announcer Jerry Vansickel that it was only his second night in the car. Sounds like he figured out things very quickly in his machine.
What turned out to be the "drama" portion of the show would be the IMCA hobby stocks. Mick Meyers took command of the race at the drop of the green while positions were up for grabs behind him. Scott Dobel found himself in second early on before opening night winner Chad Gentz and Heath Tulp scooted by under him. Tulp continued his momentum as he dove to the inside of Gentz to snare the second spot away. Gentz would lose his position to Cory Gansen at the midpoint of the race as Meyers continued to keep a comfortable lead up front. Mick Meyers would see the checkered flag first followed across the line by Heath Tulp, Cory Gansen, Chad Gentz, and Scott Dobel. However, Stac Schroeder attempted to claim Heath Tulp's engine. After some deliberation, Tulp denied the claim and drove away. So that bumped everybody up a spot from second on back.
Twenty-two IMCA sportmods would then hit the track next for their feature event. Pole-sitter Adam Ackerman wasted no time in assuming the lead, leaving the rest of the field to battle it out. Travis Greenfield held down the second position until he pushed up the track in turn four, allowing three competitors to advance a position. A caution flag bunched the field back up with only four laps down, but Ackerman was able to pull away once again. The top four remained unchanged the rest of the way as Adam Ackerman scored the win followed by Shane Swanson, Chad Louk, Geoff Olson, and Nate Chodur.
IMCA stock cars saw a field of eleven start the feature. Larry Portis used the outside front row starting spot to grab the lead early on. Coming to the completion of the first lap Canadian driver Ryan Harris went for a wild ride on the fronstretch. Harris' car went airborne and snagged part of the catchfence, but landed on all four wheels. He would exit his car under his own power and appeared to be okay. When racing resumed, a fierce battle for second ensued as Merlyn Hegland and Joe Willier slipped under Kevin Opheim as Opheim's car pushed up the corner. Portis would extend his lead as Opheim would later get back around Willier for third. But the night belonged to Larry Portis as he laid claim to the top prize. Hegland was second, Opheim third, Willier fourth, and Andrew Inman rounded out the top five.
The final event of the night would be the twenty-lap IMCA modified feature. Again the front row was the place to be as Curt Badker raced to the lead. Badker would open up a huge lead over Shane Monson as the lapped clicked off while three drivers duked it out for positions four, five, and six. Terrance Prochaska led that pack ahead of Jeremy Mills and Ryan Ruter for the time being, but Ruter got under Mills in turn one to take the spot away. Monson had a solid grip on second place until he lost the handle exiting turn two, allowing Rob Rose to make the pass. Ruter worked the inside lane on Prochaska later in the race to snare the fourth spot while Monson exited the track. There was no catching Curt Badker on this night, however, as he took home the win by nearly half a lap. Rob Rose was second, Ryan Ruter third, Terrance Prochaska fourth, and Jeremy Mills rounded out the top five.
Once again Joe Ringsdorf and his staff ran an efficient program. Races were completed by 8:45, a definite breath of fresh air for me considering my other races attended this weekend. For more information about the I-35 Speedway, check out their website at www.i-35speedway.com.
As mentioned, I did attend races on Friday and Saturday night. Due to the lengthy shows each night, I was unable to find time to write about them. Marshalltown had the unusual circumstances of a transformer blowing in the infield, thus no power or PA system for over an hour. Racing concluded there just before the midnight hour as did the action at 34 Raceway in Burlington on Saturday night. The IMCA Deery Brothers late model series got their season kicked off in grand style with the Slocum 50 in which Mark Burgtorf captured the $3,000 top prize with a late race pass on Nate Bueseling. For information regarding the Marshalltown races, check out Ryan Clark's blog on www.positivelyracing.com. For Burlington info you can check out Jeff Broeg's and Ryan Clark's writings.
Before I conclude, I must thank Blake Anderson for the couple of plus for PositivelyRacing Friday night in Marshalltown. Blake is an energetic personality on the mic and I look forward to listening to him each and every Friday night.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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