Burlington, IA (Friday, Sept. 17, 2010) - The 19th Annual Pepsi USA Late Models Nationals featuring the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models finale got underway Friday night at 34 Raceway in Burlington, IA. In action on the night was the IMCA Late Models, 305 Sprints and IMCA Stock Cars.
The night started off with 51 IMCA Late Models getting 2 laps around the speedway for times to help set the 5 heat race line-ups. At the end of qualifying Denny Woodworth would come out on top with the fastest time, followed by Tyler Bruening, Leroy Brenner, Justin Reed and Joey Gower. The top 20 drivers in times were then inverted for the five 12 lap heat races, with the rest lined up by times after the first two rows.
Late Model heat 1 had Jason Perry and Jason Frankel, the defending champion, on the front row. Frankel would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Perry and Josh Most, who started 6th. While Frankel and Perry pulled away from the field, Most and Denny Woodworth put on a battle for the 3rd and final transfer spot. Woodworth would slip under Most going into turn 1 on lap 8, but would slid up to high into turn 2 to allow Most to get back under him coming off of turn 2. Frankel would lead all 12 laps to claim the win and the pole for the 100 lap finale. Perry came home in 3rd, with Most holding off Woodworth for the final transfer spot. Notes from heat 1: Frankel was driving the number 72 machine driven by Billy Genebacher during the 2010 season....Mark Burgtorf was suppose to start outside row 3, but didn't make the call. As the field took the green to start the heat, Burgtorf's machine made the slow drive to staging to line-up for another heat. But he would learn that he was to late for his heat and now would have to come from the back of a B-Main. Seems there was some confusion about where he was posted on the board by a pit member.
Darren Miller and Nate Beuseling led the field to the drop of the green in heat race number 2, with Beuseling jumping out front on lap 1 over Miller and Tyler Bruening. Beuseling started to pull away from Miller over the next few laps, with Bruening working to hold off Sam Halstead for the battle for the third spot. Miller would close the gab between him and Beuseling on lap 10 and then went to work on him for the top spot. But Bueseling would hold on to pick up the win and earn the outside front row for the 100 lap finale. Miller settled for 2nd, followed by Bruening in 3rd. Notes from heat 2: Miller drove a #32D machine owned by Diercks....Kevin Sather made his Late Model debut at 34 Raceway in his #3 machine and then timed in 7th fastest overall. He would finish 5th in the heat to have a good start in one of the B-Mains....Keith Pratt drove the #11 machine driven by Darin Weisinger during the 2010 season to a 8th place finish....Mike Zemo Jr. started 7th and was running there when he went over turns 1 & 2 on lap 3. He would pull into the pits to avoid a caution and going to the rear.
Heat 3 was up next, with Ron Elbe and Lonnie Bailey on the front row for the 12 lap event. Bailey moved out front on the start, with Elbe and Terry Neal, who started 5th, following in 2nd and 3rd. While Bailey pulled away from the rest of the field and Elbe comfortable running in 2nd, the battle for 3rd heated up between Neal and Jay Johnson. Johnson would slip under Neal in turn 2, when Neal got to high and jumped the cushion to get the final transfer spot on lap 6. Bailey would lead all 12 laps to claim the easy win, Elbe held on for 2nd, with Johnson holding off a last lap challenge from Neal to earn the final transfer spot. Notes from heat 3: Leroy Brenner started 4th, as the 3rd fastest in time trials, but had troubles on the drop of the green. He would take his machine to the pits off of turn 2 to end his night....Stephen Kammerer drove the #99 machine driven by Doug Curless during the 2010 season to a 7th place finish.
Tom Goble and Boone McLaughlin made up the front row for the 12 lap heat 4, with McLaughlin grabbing the lead on the drop of the green. McLaughlin, who was running the top of the track, and Goble, who was glued to the bottom, ran the next 9 laps side-by-side, while Justin Reed, Ray Guss Jr. and Colby Springsteen waged a three car battle for the final transfer spot. Goble tried for the next 9 laps to get under McLaughlin for the lead, when disaster struck him coming off of turn four on lap 10. He would slow on the front stretch with steam coming from the front and made the pull into the infield to end his night. That put Reed into second and Guss Jr. in 3rd. The field was slowed on lap 11 when Mike Garland spun to a stop in turn 2 while running 5th. On the restart McLaughlin pulled away to claim the win, Reed held off Guss Jr. for 3rd. Notes from heat 4: Rob Toland came from 8th and finished a close 5th....Jason Cook slowed to a stop in turn one on the parade lap, as it appeared he lost some fluids out of the #3d machine.
The final heat race had Tom Bowling Jr. and Andy Eckrich on the front row, with Eckrich grabbing the lead on the drop of the green. While Eckrich started to pull away and Joey Gower comfortable in second, the battle for third would heat up. Kevin Blum was in the final transfer spot, with Bowling Jr. and Jack Sullivan wanting it. Sullivan would come from the bottom of the speedway to slid up in front of Bowling Jr. in turn 4 on lap 5. But he didn't quite clear Bowling's machine and made some contact, which slid Bowling Jr. back to 7th. Eckrich would pick up an easy win in heat 5, Gower held on for 2nd, with Blum coming home in 3rd. Notes from heat 5: Jay Chenoweth came from 8th and tried to get around Blum for the final transfer spot over the final 3 laps, but had to settle for 4th....Sullivan came home in 5th, driving the #15 machine owned by Lynn Richards....Jeff Aikey had motor troubles after hot laps and scratched his number #77 machine for the night. But Hershel Roberts would allow him to put a #77 on his second machine and use it for the night. He would come home in 6th at the checkered....Carey Umberger had troubles after hot laps and scratched from the rest of the nights activities.
Up next was the 20 lap 305 Sprint feature, with Patrick Moore and Carson McCarl drawing the front row. On the drop of the green, McCarl would go into turn one and two to hot and got sideways. He would collect the car of Jayson Ditsworth, who started 4th, to bring out the caution and ending both drivers nights. For the restart Moore and Harold Pohren would make up the front row for the start, but it was 6th place man Brandyn Martin who jumped to the top of the track to grab the lead on lap 1. Another caution would appear on the speedway on the completion of lap 1, as Pohren spun in turn 2 and collected the machines of Moore and Jarrod Schneiderman. Pohren was able to tag the back of the field, while Moore had front end damage and Schneiderman had heavy wing damage to end both of there nights. On the restart Josh Higday, who was driving the 23J machine driven by Jim Hetrick during the 2010 season, jumped the start and brought the yellow light back on. He was sent to the back of the field, after coming from 7th to 2nd in one lap. Once again Higday would jump the restart from the back of the field to bring out the yellow. He was warned not to start until the orange cone in turn 4 or he would be blacked flag for jumping one more restart.
Martin grabbed the lead on the restart, with Justin Parrish, who started 9th, now following him in second. Parrish was working the bottom of the speedway and would slip under Martin on lap 3 to grab the top spot away. Parrish then started to pull away, when another caution came out on lap 7, when Bazil Hicks spun in turn 2. During the caution period, Bobby Mincer, who started 23rd after missing his heat with troubles, had worked his way to 3rd. But he would come to a stop on the front stretch when the engine compartment started to catch on fire. He would climb from the machine with his leg on fire, after rolling on the ground and help from Dennis Krieger the fire was put out on his leg. Mincer was ok, but his great run to the front was done. On the restart Parrish again jumped out front, with Martin working to hold off Kevin Hetrick, who started 12th. The final caution of the event came out on lap 11, as a tire was clipped in turn 2 and thrown out onto the racing surface. Parrish would pull away over the final 9 laps to pick up the win and the $1,000 top prize. Matt Stephenson came from 11 and finished in 2nd, Hetrick was 3rd. Chad Huston made the pull up from Jamesport, MO and started the feature in 8th. He would pass 4 cars to come home in 4th, with Matt Krieger coming from 18th to round out the top 5.
Jeff Mueller and John Oliver Jr. drew the front row for the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Luke McLaughlin, who started 6th, spun down the backstretch to bring out the caution before a lap was scored. On the restart Mueller edged out Oliver Jr. at the line to lead lap 1. With Mueller out front, Oliver Jr. worked to hold off Derek St. Clair and Nathan Wood for second. The second caution of the event would come out on lap 4 when Andrew Griffin spun in turn 4 and collected the cars of Joe Gerdes and Greg Johnson. Mueller again grabbed the lead on the restart, as Wood who was 4th, went three wide going into turn three and came out of turn four with 2nd. Devon Timmerman would spin in turn 3 on lap 7 to bring caution to the speedway once again. On the restart Mueller again jumped out into the lead, with Wood now pressuring him for the lead. The yellow light would come back on, when McLaughlin spun in turn 2 to avoid hitting a slowing Travis Finke on lap 9. On the restart McLaughlin again spun his machine in turn 3, this time he elected to take it to the pits to end his night. Mueller again moved out front on the restart, with Wood again working on him for the top spot. Wood would try to get under Mueller on the final lap, but Mueller held him off at the line to pick up the win. Wood settled for 2nd, Jim Redmann came from 7th to finish in 3rd, St. Clair came home in 4th, with Kirk Kinlsey coming from 10th to round out the top five.
The final event of the night was the 20 lap J&J Steel Iron Man Challenge, an event ran for any driver who had a perfect attendance for the 2010 Deery Brothers Summer Series. The field of 12 drivers were inverted by points, which put TJ Criss and Todd Malmstrom on the front row. Criss would grab the lead on the drop of the green flag over Malmstrom and Kevin Blum. Criss started to pull away from the battle for second, when the first caution came out on lap 12, when Blum, who was running 5th, spun in turn four. On the restart Criss again moved out front, with Mark Preston moving into second over Malmstrom. Criss again started to pull away from the field, when the final caution of the event came out on lap 16. Malmstrom, who was running 4th, would spin to a stop in turn 2. Once again Criss moved out into the lead on the restart, but now had Terry Neal, who started 9th, following him in 2nd. Criss was able to hold off Neal over the final 4 laps to pick up the win. Neal settled for 2nd, Preston was 3rd, Andy Eckrich came from 10th to coming home in 4th, with Ray Guss Jr. passing 7 cars from his 12th place starting spot to round out the top 5.
Notes from 34: 51 Late Models, 24 305 Sprints and 22 Stock Cars made up the 97 cars signed in for battle......Nick Guernsey started the Sprint feature in 20th and passed 14 cars to take home a 6th place finish....Harold Pohren recovered from his lap 1 spin to come back to finish in 7th....Alan Ambers came from 15th and passed 7 cars to finish in 8th....Justin Newberry came from the rear after changing a flat tire to finish in 9th....Jamie Needham started 14th and came home in 10th....Alexsha Alexander came from 16th to come home in 11th....Bazil Hicks recovered from his lap 7 spin to finish in 12th....Brandyn Martin was running 2nd, but pulled off on lap 15 with troubles to end his night in 13th....Josh Higday came from the rear after jumping the restart on lap 1 to come back up to 3rd. But he would pull off on lap 14 with troubles to end his night in 14th....Bobby Mincer was credited with 15th after his fire on the lap 7 caution. He started 23rd and was up to 3rd before his troubles....Tony Davis, who finished 2nd in points for 2010, had motor troubles to end his night in 20th....Carson McCarl, the 16 year old son of Sprint Car driver Terry McCarl, made his second start of the season in a 305 Sprint. He would draw the 6th starting spot for heat race 3 and made it up to finish 2nd. Carson then drew number 2 for the feature to start outside the front row. On the drop of the green he would go into one and two to hard and got sideways. Jayson Ditsworth had no where to go and collided with McCarl. McCarl ended up with front end damaged to end his night in 21st....Matt Rogerson drove the #40 machine owned by Andy Huston. But troubles after hot laps would scratch him for the night......Rod Staats started the Stock Car feature in 12th and passed 5 cars to come home in 7th....Abe Huls came from the rear, after changing a tire on the lap 4 caution. He would restart in 17th and passed 9 cars to take home an 8th place finish....Sky Griffith started 15th and passed 6 cars to come home in 9th....Devon Timmerman recovered from his lap 7 spin to come back to finish in 14th....Tim Breuer started 22nd and passed 7 cars to take home 15th......With 15 drivers making into the 100 lap finale, that leaves 11 spots still up for grabs. The top 3 cars from the B-Mains will make into the finale. The the fastest in time trials not in the show will get a spot, followed by a driver who passes the most cars through the heats and B-Mains combined. Then 2 Deery Brothers Summer Series points provisionals will be awarded, with the final spot going to the highest in points from 34 Raceway getting into the show....Drivers like Denny Woodworth, Rob Toland, Jeff Aikey, Darrel DeFrance, Mark Burgtorf, Gary Russell, Jack Sullivan are still yet to make it into the field....Mother nature moved in on Saturday morning and afternoon to cancel the finale until Sunday evening. If things are able to be run on Sunday, hot laps will start at 4:30, with racing starting at 5. The 2 Late Model B-Mains will be run, along with features in the Mod Lites and 4 Cylinders. Then the 100 lap Late Model finale, paying $10,000 to win will highlight the nights ending.
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