A beautiful Saturday afternoon was the backdrop for the final event of the 2011 season at the Hamilton County Speedway as they held their annual Fall Challenge. 182 race teams packed the infield and outside of turns one and two. Perhaps the staff at HCS was unprepared for the amount of teams that showed up as a lot of time was spent directing traffic once a session of hot laps had concluded. Cars wanting to enter the track from outside turn one, cars wanting to leave the track to go back to their trailer outside turn one, and cars turning to the infield made it quite congested on the back stretch.
Once the heat races had concluded, I was a bit surprised the staff didn't take time to water the top side as drivers made it obvious they were going to run down along the bottom of the track. But the B-mains were run directly after the heats and then the water truck came out around the very top of the speedway.
The first feature of the night would be the hornets. Fourteen cars were scheduled to start the race, but a few of them were unable to make the call. Dustin Haggard took control early on before the caution flag waved on lap two. Following the restart Daniel Ayers was able to sneak inside of Haggard for the lead while Haggard would lose the second position a short time later to track champion Adam Strunk. Strunk would chase down Ayers and pull even with him at the line when the white flag was displayed. Both drivers drove into turn one and contact was made, forcing Ayers to push up the track. Strunk would cruise to the victory from there as Ayers settled for second. Dustin Haggard finished third, Megan Lappegard was fourth, and Paul Atchison finished fifth.
The IMCA late models made their way to the track for the second feature of the night. Scott Badker and Ryan Griffith paced the field to the green with Griffith getting the early nod out front. Badker would hold down the second position ahead of Todd Cooney for much of the race, but Griffith was walking away from the entire field as he began to put slower cars a lap down. Cooney would get by Badker with about five laps to go, but Griffith would take home the dominating victory on this night. Cooney finished second, Badker third, Jason Hahne was fourth, and Dean Wagner III rounded out the top five. It was nice to see Vic Lovejoy, Jeff French, Corey Zeitner, Lavern Carey, Paul Glendenning, and Kelly Pestka make their first trip to the speedway this year.
Up next would be the IMCA hobby stock feature. Thirty-two cars were dwindled down to twenty-four starters, with IMCA Supernationals champion Cody Nielsen leading the field to the green flag. Second row starter Andy Boeckman had problems in turn one and went for a spin, but was able to get his machine refired as to not bring out the caution flag. That allowed his fellow row two starting mate Devin Smith to slip into second and later made the pass on Nielsen for the lead on lap five using the middle lane. Josh Niemand, who apparently bought Nick Meyer's car, was running fifth before he passed Des Moines driver George Hood for fourth. The race would go green to checkers and Devin Smith picked up yet another win on his incredible 2011 campaign. Cody Nielsen was second, John Watson was third, Josh Niemand finished fourth, and George Hood rounded out the top five.
Thirty-nine stock cars checked in for action on Saturday with the starting field narrowed down to twenty-four. Dan Trimble and Ryan Leeman paced the field to the green flag, but the field was three and four-wide in the corners on the first lap. Trimble would emerge with the lead, but a caution flag would follow. Steve Meyer and Leeman lined up behind Trimble when the green flag came back out, but Mike VanGenderen found some momentum on the top side in turns one and two and made the pass on both of them. Once he got by down the back stretch VanGenderen changed lanes as the bottom lane was the preferred groove in turns three and four. VanGenderen would make the pass on Trimble using the same line at the halfway point while Meyer faded back several spots. Leeman's night would change for the worse as he stopped in turn three to bring out the caution on lap eight. With VanGenderen out front, Steve Jackson used the low line to take away the top spot. A series of caution flags plagued the finish of the race with several positions changing hands, but the outcome was still the same as Steve Jackson took the win. Lance Deal finished second after starting seventeenth, Mike VanGenderen was third, Kevin Opheim was fourth after starting nineteenth, and Ken Tietz was fifth after starting twentieth. This was the best feature of the night hands down in my opinion!
A stellar 49 IMCA sportmods made their way to the speedway, but again only twenty-four were able to start the feature. Track champion Joel Rust and perennial contender Cayden Carter redrew the front row, and it would be Carter grabbing the early lead. Bryon Weyer found his way to second with Alex Zwanziger in third as Rust faded to fourth in the early going. Ryan Ruter, piloting the #53 car normally driven by Travis Woodbeck, found the top side to his liking in turns one and two and made the pass on Rust for fourth. With Carter and Weyer distancing themselves out front, Ruter got by Zwanziger and began to reel in the top two. Ruter looked to the outside of Zwanziger for second, but his car spun to a stop to bring out the only caution of the race with five laps remaining. From that point on Carter pulled away and picked up the apparent victory. However, he was later disqualified in post-race inspection and the win was awarded to Bryon Weyer. Alex Zwanziger finished second Joel Rust third, Jason Mallicoat was fourth, and Greg Sidles completed the top five.
The final event of the night would be the IMCA modifieds. A nice field of thirty-two cars checked in for action. Chris Abelson got the early nod on pole sitter Levi Nielson to jump out front, but a quick caution on the second circuit slowed the action. Bill Crimmins used the restart to his advantage as he worked under both Nielson and JD Auringer to move into the third position behind Keith Schmitz. Mark Elliott and Jay Noteboom began working the next lane up off the bottom and moving forward. Elliott made passes on both Auringer and Crimmins to slide into the third position while Abelson motored away from the field. Elliott got by Schmitz while Noteboom soon followed as well. Elliott reeled in Abelson and was in his rear bumper with five laps remaining before taking the lead away with a pass on the inside. A caution came out a lap later, allowing both Abelson and Noteboom a chance to cool their tires and make a run at Elliott. It was not to be as Mark Elliott took home the final checkered flag of the night. Noteboom would finish second, Abelson slipped to third, Keith Schmitz finished fourth, and JD Auringer rounded out the top five.
While a lot of negative vibes are being expressed on the Internet, and I'll admit I came away disappointed, I will point out that I was impressed with the car count. A lot of drivers showed up for what could be the final time in 2011 to enjoy a picture-perfect October day. Unfortunately for the Hamilton County Speedway, the negatives far outweighed the positives on Saturday. I won't go into detail on them as they have been documented on the Internet message boards, but hopefully the HCS staff learned a few things and will improve upon them for next year.
I would like to mention that I attended every weekly event along with the Fall Challenge. I thought the season was a success and for the most part the racing was good. Saturday's race may have left a sour taste in many driver's mouths, but hopefully they'll give HCS another opportunity at some point next season.
I'd like to thank the Hamilton County fair board for giving me great hospitality throughout the season! It was very much appreciated.
For official results, check out the Hamilton County Speedway website or click on Speednetdirect as well.
The final racing weekend in Iowa, as far as I know, will be this upcoming weekend. The annual Fall Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa will be running Friday and Saturday, and then on Saturday alone the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson holds its annual Shiverfest race. Ironically, both events will be the final event for the respective promoters, Todd and Janet Staley at Oskaloosa, and Terry and Jenni Hoenig at Donnellson. So I urge you to get out and support these events next weekend!
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