Sponsler By a Nose Over Gustin

April 27, 2013

There was some great racing action on Saturday night at the Boone Speedway on a night that finally felt like Spring had arrived.  The Modified feature was determined at the finish line and first time winners were entered  in the record books in the SportMod and Stock Car classes. In the Hobby and Mod Lite classes, there were repeat winners from last week.

The Mod Lite feature went flag to flag.  Joel Keenan passed early race leader Eric Hendrickson by lap six. It was soon to be last week’s winner making a bid for the top spot however, when Bryan Zehm got to second and put the pressure on the leader. Zehm was able to grab the lead with a couple of laps remaining, and would motor home to a repeat win.  Keenan held on to second place ahead of Tim Hennigar, who followed the winner up through the pack from both starting back in row six.  Travis Stensland finished fourth ahead of Eric Hendrickson in fifth.

The IMCA Northern SportMods ran their usual 18-lap feature.  Des Moines driver, Brandon Williams took command of this one from the drop of the green flag.  However, a red flag would fly at lap two when Bradlee Clark put his ride upside down in corner two.  Thankfully, Clark was not hurt.  When racing resumed, Williams continued his lead even through two more cautions.  It wasn’t until late in the race, that Tim Rupp, Cherokee, Iowa, made a strong challenge at the leader, but would fall short, and have to settle for second place over winner Williams.  Third place went to rookie Jonathan Logue, Cory Rose was fourth and Eric Elliiott, fifth.

The IMCA Modifieds put on a show for the fans in their 20-lap main event.  Beau Kaplan led the opening laps, but Cale Sponsler was soon

Cale Sponsler took the win by a nose in the IMCA Modifieds at Boone Speedway on Saturday, April 20, 2013.

on the hunt, running in second.  The two battled for the lead until lap eleven when Sponsler made the pass into first, and put distance between himself and Kaplan.  But now, Kaplan had company as sixth row starters, Jimmy Gustin and Todd Shute were battling it out for position.  Both Gustin and Shute were able to make the pass on Kaplan as they took over second and third respectively.  With just a couple of laps to go, Gustin was quickly making up ground and running down the leader, but a last ditch effort just came up short at the checkers, with Sponsler taking the win by a nose.  Todd Shute was third, Beau Kaplan took fourth and Randy Havlik was fifth.

The IMCA Stock Cars ran 18-laps for their feature event.  Lonnie Hodges and Craig Carlson led the troupes up front early, while the rest of the field was going three, four and even sometimes five wide behind them.  A red flag at lap six halted the action, when Wayne Gifford rolled in turn two, and part of his car landed on that of Eric Brown.  There were no injuries to either driver.  As racing got back under way, it was still Hodges and Carlson upfront and they were looking to go the distance in that order.  However, at lap fifteen, Carlson would loose the handle on his machine, dropping him back in the field and allowing several drivers to gain positions.  Bob Daniels, who had been in third until Carlson’s bobble now put the heat on leader Hodges, made the pass to the lead with a lap to go,  and sealed the win.  Hodges held on to second, the winner’s son, Josh Daniels finished third and Trent Murphy and Jay Schmidt made big late race strides to finish fourth and fifth.

Closing out the night’s racing was the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature.  Richard Yaw, II led the race through lap nine, but was being tormented by last week’s winner, Shannon Anderson and Eric Stanton.  Anderson nabbed the lead on lap ten, and pulled away to a comfortable final two laps and repeating his win from last week.  Stanton was also able to slip by Yaw, as they went second and third.  Fourth was Tyler Pickett and fifth went to Matt McDonald.

Next Saturday, May 4, the Speedway will return to it’s regular race times.  Grandstands open at 6, hot laps 6:45, and racing at 7:30.

Complete results are available HERE.

Click HERE for photos from Saturday, April 20, 2013.