Saturday night, the Hoker Trucking SLMR east series was finally able to complete a two race weekend. 34 Raceway near West Burlington, Iowa was the venue, and four IMCA classes were also in competition.
Twenty three late models led a field of seventy six entries on a beautiful Saturday night at the southeast Iowa speed plant. The action kicked off with hot laps and late model time trials completed by 7:05! "Chargin'" Charlie McKenna topped the leader board with a quick lap of 16.061 seconds. Again, the SLMR utilizes two lap qualifying and a six car invert for the heat races, with passing points accumulated in the heats determining the feature line up. Richie "G Money" Gustin came from outside row two to claim the first eight lapper, while veteran hot shoes Mark Burgtorf and Gary Webb plucked the other two heat wins from the outside pole position. All heat race action was complete in just under an hour.
Track workers then used what was about a twenty minute break to groom the racing surface as the sun finally disappeared in the western sky.
IMCA sport mods lined up for fifteen laps to kick off the feature action. Ron Kibbe took off from outside row one, with the first yellow flag coming with two laps in the books. By now, Barry Taft had climbed to second. Austen Becerra had needed a push to start the race, and during the caution he ducked to the pits for some attention. Row four starter Sean Wyett took the second spot on the Delaware style restart. Two more laps and he attempted a slide job on Kibbe for the lead, but he got crossed up in front of the pack and fell to sixth in the running order. Logan Anderson had started in the seventh position, and he charged to the front on lap five, quickly opening a sizable lead. Adam Birck lined up in row five, moving to second on the ninth lap, and two circuits later the caution flag waved for Wyett, bringing Anderson back to the field. With one more lap scored, the yellow flew one final time, but Anderson remained in control, taking the win. Birck, finished second, while A. J. Tournear came on strong late in third. Becerra and Kibbe completed the top five.
All but one of the seventeen IMCA sport compacts took the green flag for a dozen laps. Justin Stevenson paced the opening circuit and Larry Miller took over on lap two. Row four starter Jason Ash was on the move, grabbing the runner up spot by lap three, but two laps later he lost power, slowly falling back through the field. Tim Schnathorst then took up the chase, but Miller was first to the checkers. Schnathorst, Noah Kayser, Robert Sturms, and Dylan Bonk followed in the caution free event.
Late models racing for thirty laps and a $3,000 payday came next, and what a wild affair it turned out to be! Outside pole sitter Dave Eckrich led Gustin and McKenna early, while fourth starting Matt Ryan was shuffled back through the field. Gustin took the point on lap two as top contender Jeff Aikey headed to the trailer. Gustin built a commanding lead ahead of a caution flag ten laps in when Ryan went off the top of turn two. With the field now bunched, Todd Cooney powered to second on the restart. Gustin was committed to the inside line, while Cooney operated at the top of the high banked oval. At the halfway mark, Cooney also switched to the low line as row six starter Justin Kay caught fire pounding the cushion. Kay jumped to fourth at lap sixteen, third one lap later, and then to second with ten to go. Gustin was running on the inside tires in turns three and four then driving through the middle of turns one and two while Kay quickly closed the gap using his high line. With eight laps remaining, Luke Goedert brought out a yellow when he contacted a tire barrier in turn four, and on the Delaware restart Kay bobbled, loosing several spots and Cooney charged into second. Todd then used his momentum to slide job Gustin at each end of the track. Gustin held him off for a pair of circuits, but it was Cooney finally grabbing the lead with six left on the scoreboard. At the same time, Dave Eckrich emerged from the scramble in second as Gustin slid to the top of the track, fading to fifth. Recovering quickly, Kay cleared Eckrich for second with three laps to go and powered past Cooney for his first lead of the race. An out of breath Kay recounted his ordeal in victory lane, mentioning that he usually struggled at 34, this being his first late model win at the 3/8 mile track. Cooney had looked like a sure winner, but took runner up honors for the second night in a row. Dave Eckrich was third followed by brother Andy, the Friday night winner, in fourth, while Gustin finished in fifth. Webb started in eighth and completed a strong run in sixth ahead of McKenna, Jonathon Brauns, Jason Hahne, and Burgtorf.
IMCA stock cars fielded thirteen cars for twenty laps of action. Ray Raker led his row one mate Jake Powers around the bottom of the track as tenth starting David Brandies drove his way to third by lap two using the cushion. John Oliver Jr. was also moving towards the front as Brandies became trapped behind a lapped car with contact resulting as he made the pass in turn two., bringing out the yellow flag. As racing resumed, Abe Huls moved to the lead ahead of two more caution periods, the second of which saw Brandies slowed with a flat tire. Oliver Jr. was now in the runner up spot, and with everyone running the inside line, he tried unsuccessfully to put the nose of the #05 inside of Huls machine. At the finish, it was Huls with the win, besting Oliver Jr., a persistent Brandon Setser, Jeremy Pundt, and Chad Krogmeier.
As eleven cars lined up for the twenty lap IMCA modified finale, the track was black and slick. Dalton Simonsen left his late model at home, choosing to enter his modified, and he shot to the early lead. By the time the second caution came with seven laps to go, ninth starting Dennis Laveine had advanced to second and was putting pressure on the leader as everyone raced the inside groove. Mark Burgtorf, doing double duty in the Baker Racing #03B had been languishing well outside the top five, so on the restart he moved up to the middle line and began to pass cars at a steady clip, soon finding himself ready to challenge Laveine for second. But with just two more trips around the oval, Dennis also moved up the track, and now found himself beside the leader. In a too close to call finish, Laveine crossed the line out front by inches to take the win. Simonsen, who lead nineteen and 15/16 laps, settled for second. Burgtorf made it a pair of top tens in third, while Jason Pershy and Jeff Waterman also scored top fives.
Action wrapped up several minutes ahead of the 10:00 hour, completing an outstanding night of racing! Thanks as always to Jessi and Brad for their hospitality. 34 Raceway has several more special events coming up in the near future, including World of Outlaw sprint cars, MLRA late models and the rescheduled Lucas Oil late model series. Meanwhile next Saturday night will be Fan Appreciation night with $5.00 adult admission. Summer is finally here, if you haven't been to the races, now is the time!
No comments:
Post a Comment