Tuesday, June 29, 2010

USAC Sprints and Midgets Make First Ever Trip to 34 Raceway

Burlington, IA (Saturday, June 26, 2010) - 34 Raceway hosted the USAC Sprints and Midgets for the first time in the 37 year history, with some great racing for the fans to enjoy.

The first feature to take to the track was the 30 lap USAC Midgets, with Danny Stratton and Zach Daum leading the field to the green flag. Stratton, Daum and fourth place starter Levi Jones would go three wide through three and four on lap 1, but it was Stratton who was credited with leading the lap. But Jones would get by on the next lap to take over the top spot. The three drivers would put on a show for the lead, with Bryan Clausen, who started 6th, moving in on lap 4 to make it a four car battle for the top spot. But Clausen would almost loop his car in turns one and two on lap 5, as he caught the hole in the turn to cause him to drift high. He would make a nice recovery, but fell back several car lengths from the lead. Jones mean time started to stretch his lead out front. As Jones was pulling away, Clausen had regrouped and make his way into second on lap 15 and started his chase on Jones. Clausen would catch Jones on lap 20, as Jones' car seemed to be slowing every lap. Going into turn two Jones' left rear tire went down and he came to a stop on the backstretch. Clausen inherited the lead on the restart and then pulled away over the final 9 laps to pick up the win. Daum would hold on to finish in 2nd, Brad Kuhn came from 9th to finish in 3rd, Tracy Hines charged from 12th to finish in 4th, with Henry Clarke rounding out the top 5.

Bo Hunter and David Schrier made up the front row for the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Schrier, Sky Griffith and Abe Huls, who started 8th, would go three wide for the lead, with Schrier leading lap 1. Huls would slip under Schrier on lap 3 to take over the top spot and then started to pull away from the field. But the only caution of the event came out on lap 10, as John Brockway and Brett Timmerman got together, with Timmerman slowing with a flat tire. On the restart Huls moved back out into the lead, with Jeff Mueller, who started 9th, grabbing the second spot. Mueller would close in on Huls back bumper on lap 16, but something broke on the left front suspension the next lap. Huls would pull away over the final 3 laps to claim his second win in a row at 34 Raceway. Mueller nursed his car to a 2nd place finish, Kirk Kinsley was moved to 3rd, Chris Webb came from 11th to be giving 4th, with Greg Johnson coming from 14th to get the fifth place finish.

The final feature of the night was the 30 lap USAC Sprints, with Ricky Williams and Dave Darland on the front row. The red would come out on lap 1, as Casey Riggs would roll in turns one and two. At the same time Tracy Hines would get upside down on the backstretch. Both drivers climbed out ok. Riggs crew went to work on his car and made repairs before the restart, he would join the back of the field. On the restart Darland would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. While Darland continued to lead, Levi Jones, who started 5th, started to close in on Darland. Darland and Jones would battle side-by-side for the top spot through lapped traffic on laps 15-20. With Jones finally grabbing the lead on lap 21. Jones then cruised over the final 9 laps to pick up the win. Chris Windom charged from 9th to get 2nd, Shane Hmiel was able to get by Damion Gardner for 3rd on the final lap, with Terry Babb coming from 10th to round out the top 5.

Notes from 34: 20 Sprints, 18 Midgets and 16 Stock Cars showed up for action on the night......Dave Darland slowed on the final lap of the Midget feature while running 3rd and was credited with 8th....Levi Jones was credited with 10 after leading until the lap 20 flat tire ended his run up front....Kyle Robbins would start Bryan Clausen's back-up car on the tail of the field, but only made 1 lap and pulled in to get 17th....Kurt Mayhew had troubles all night long and was forced to scratch from the feature......John Oliver Jr. started the Stock Car feature in 13th and passed 7 cars to finish in 6th....Shane Watts came from 15th to finish in 7th....Brockway recovered from the lap 10 tangle to finish in 8th....Rookie Stock Car driver Derek St. Clair came from 16th to finish in 9th....Sky Griffith, another rookie Stock Car driver, crossed the finish line in 3rd. But was found to have no mufflers and was disqualified from the event......Justin Grant came from 11th to finish in 6th in the Sprint feature....Henry Clarke passed 6 cars to finish in 6th....Bryan Clausen came from 14th to finish in 9th....Dave Darland, who was battling for the lead early on, had mechanical troubles late and fell back to finish in 10th....Casey Riggs who brought out the red on the start would come back to finish 14th....Local driver Ryan Jamison started 19th and finished 15th....Blake Nimee (only 16 years old) rolled his Sprint during the third heat race to end his night.

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