Junghans Collects $5,000 at Davenport

 After losing their Rebel 5K season opener to weather, the DRT Trak Racing group opened their multi track, multi sanction 2019 season Friday night at the Davenport Speedway. Racing was set for the reworked historic 1/2 mile featuring the MLRA late models competing for thirty laps and a $5,000 top prize. Twenty six high powered late models checked in to do battle, with A and B modifieds and street stocks in support on a cool, windy evening.
 Car counts were perhaps a bit less than hoped for, but although it is a fan favorite, many modern day racers are not fond of the 1/2 mile experience. In addition, the passing points format is employed by the MLRA at the majority of its shows and while again it is popular with fans, many of the " high dollar " teams simply avoid these shows, preferring the " fastest time trial qualifier starts up front " method.
 At any rate, there were plenty of high quality competitors in the pit area. Three ten lap heats set the feature field, while the B main to fill out the remainder of the twenty four car starting grid was scrapped after Spencer Diercks saw his night end in hot laps and Justin Kay was an early exit in his heat. Will Vaught ran away from the field in heat one, Jordon Yaggy edged Bobby Pierce in heat two, and Chase Junghans dominated the final qualifier.
  Street stocks opened the main event action, with Jeff Strunk Jr. c powering from third to first midway through the ten lapper, then cruising to the win.
  The late models rolled off next, with Junghans ( pronounced Younghans ), and Vaught leading the field to green. Vaught stumbled a bit on the start, with row two starters Hudson Oneal and Yaggy chasing Junghans across the line as lap one was scored. Fifth starting Pierce also slipped past Vaught, who recovered in fifth. On the third trip around the oval, Yaggy cleared Oneal for the runner up spot., and two more circuits saw Pierce also move past Hudson for third at the flag stand. As the race stayed green, the leaders caught the back of the field on lap twelve, and things began to get interesting. Yaggy began to reel in the leader even as Pierce was applying pressure to his #77 machine. With that pair running side by side, the first yellow flag waved at the halfway mark with Jeremy Grady coming to a stop in turn three. It was not a good ending for the veteran from Story City, Iowa, as his car left the track with a wrecker hooked to each end of his sharp looking orange #43. The Delaware restart had Junghans out front, with Pierce on the inside and Yaggy to his right in row two. But as the green flag flew, Pierce failed to come up to speed, slowing in turn one with one and possibly two flat tires, bringing out the second and final caution. As the field reset for a pair of courtesy laps, Pierce somewhat surprisingly - and with a roar from the large crowd -  rejoined the race at the tail of what was now a twenty one car field. With the benefit of a clear track, Junghans opened a lead, while Oneal beat Yaggy into turn one. After lurking just outside the top five, seventh starting Chad Simpson and eleventh starting brother Chris used the restart to advance to fourth and fifth, respectively. As the laps clicked off, all eyes were now on Pierce, who showed the benefit of fresh tires on the slicked off track, gaining five positions on the start, then picking off cars at a steady rate into the top ten, setting up an entertaining battle with Brian Shirley. Meanwhile, Junghans again caught the back of the pack in the closing laps, but navigated his #18 smoothly through the traffic, leading all thirty laps to collect the win. The victory built on what has been a strong start to the season for the Kansas driver who has been competing with the World of Outlaw late model series. Oneal, nicknamed the " New Deal " in a nod to father Don, ran a steady race to come home second, while Yaggy made his season debut in third. Chad Simpson, back running his own team after his long time car owners, the Brinkmans retired, started his campaign as the defending series champion in fourth, while Chris Simpson completed the top five. Vaught led the second five, with Pierce outdueling Shirley for seventh. Jesse Stovall ran ninth, while Kyle Bronson rebounded from a heat race DNF, started in row twelve and came home in tenth.
  The sport mods were up next, but a red flag situation on lap nine of the twelve lap event sent us heading for the car, even as the A mods sat in staging.
  Thanks to Bob Wagener and Carrie Rouse for their hospitality, we hope to cover several of their races in 2019, including stops at one of our favorite venues, the West Liberty Raceway.  DRT Trak will be at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa tonight for a show featuring the Deery Brothers IMCA late models.
 Meanwhile, we will be rejoining the MLRA cars and stars at the eleventh annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, as they vie for a $10,555 top prize.  IMCA stock cars and 305 sprints will also be on the card.
  Thanks for reading!