Tipton, IA (Saturday, September 11, 2010) - What looked like a gloomy day to start out, turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and evening for racing in the midwest. I made the trip northwest to the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa for the 2nd Annual Dlouhy / DeVore Memorial race, featuring Modifieds for $2,000 to win, Late Models racing for $1,500 to win and 4 Cylinders going for $400 to win. For me it has been 5 or more years since I have been to Tipton to take in some racing action, and I must say I didn't leave there disappointed!
With 29 Late Models, 31 4 Cylinders and 50 Modifieds signed in to do battle, 17 events would have to be ran to determine what cars would take the green in each of the classes feature events. After 3 Late Model heats, 3 4cylinder heats and 5 Modified heats the top 16 cars in passing points were locked into the features, the remainder of the fields would have to make it in through the B-Mains. One Late Model B-Main, 2 4 Cylinder B-Mains and 3 Modified B's would set the field for each divisions features. Then the top 6 in passing points in each class ran a 6 lap dash to determine the first 3 rows of there features. Now that the features were set it was time for them to take to the track.
First up was the 15 lap 4 Cylinder feature, with James Roose and Joe Zroslik leading the field to the drop of the green flag. But Jarod McMichael, Brannon Bechen, Rob Axon and Tyler Whalen would collide in turn one to bring out the first caution. On the restart Zroslik took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. The field was slowed on lap 2, as Jeremy Campbell spun to a stop in turn 3 to bring the yellow light on. Zroslik again moved out front on the restart, with Steve Miedke holding on to 2nd. Bryce Garnhart slowed to a stop in turn 2 on lap 5 to bring the caution out, he was running 4th at the time. On the restart Lane Vohringer, who was runing 5th, Chris Holmlund, was running 6th, and Mike Morrow, who was in 7th, tangled going down the backstretch to bring the yellow light back on. On the restart Miedke, who was running 4th, got into the back of Steve Dwyer, who was running 2nd, causing him to get sideways and bottling the field up to bring out the yellow. Miedke was sent to the back for the restart for rough driving. Zroslik again moved out into the lead on the restart, with Dwyer and Jacob Ellithorpe trying to hold off a charging Campbell, who came from the rear after his lap 2 spin. Campbell would work his way into 2nd on lap 9 and then set his sights on Zroslik for the top spot. Coming of of turn four for the white flag, Campbell slipped under Zroslik for the lead. The two then came up on some lap traffic going into turn 3. Zroslik would choose the top of the speedway, while Campbell stayed low. The two would come off of turn four side-by-side with Zroslik edging out Campbell at the line by inches for the win and the $400 payday. Campbell was then penalized to the last car on the track, 13th, for actions in the tech area after the race. That would move Ellithorpe up to 2nd after starting 9th, Dwyer came from 12th to take home 3rd, McMichael after starting 13th, recovered from his lap 1 crash to come back to finish in 4th, with Kile Vohringer coming from 11th to round out the top 5.
Terry Neal and Ray Guss Jr. led the field to the green in the 30 lap Late Model feature, but it was third place starter Nate Beuseling who grabbed the top spot on lap 1. While Beuseling started pulling away from the rest of the field, Andy Eckrich, Ray Guss Jr. and Terry Neal battled for the 2nd spot. The one and only caution of the event would come out on lap 8, as Ryan Duhm spun to a stop in turn 2. On the restart Beuseling moved back out front, leaving Guss Jr. and Eckrich to battle for the second spot. Beuseling once again starting pulling away from the field, when he entered lapped traffic on lap 24. But that didn't slow him down as he led all 30 laps to claim the win and the $1,500 check. Eckrich and Guss Jr. would run the last 6 laps side-by-side through lapped traffic, with Eckrich edging out a second place finish, Guss Jr. settled for 3rd, Brian Harris came from 9th to finish in 4th, with Doug Nigh charging from 13th to come home in 5th.
The final feature of the night was the 35 lap Modifieds, with John Bull and Jeff Larson making up the front row. Larson would take advantage of his front row start to edge Bull at the line to lead lap 1. While Larson set the pace the battle for second was hot and heavy, as Milo Veloz, Bull and Bob Dominacki were battling two and three wide. The first caution of the race would come out on lap 9, as Thad Wilson, who was running 6th, slowed in turn 4 with rear end troubles. On the restart Larson would jump back out into the lead, but now had Mark Schulte, who started 12th, and Kevin Pittman, who made the pull down from Waterloo, IA started 8th, close behind him in second and third. The battle for the top spot would heat up on lap 12, as Pittman, on the bottom, Schulte, in the middle, and Larson, up top, went three wide coming off of turn four. Pittman would grab the top spot away from Larson and Schulte on lap 13 and then started to pull away. On lap 25 Pittman entered lap traffic, but that didn't slow him down as he had build up a straight away lead over the battle for second. But the final caution of the event would slow Pittman, as Scott Fridley spun to a stop in turn 4. Pittman again jumped out into the lead on the restart, with Schulte working to hold off Bruce Hanford and Ryan Dolan, who started 11th and was up to 4th, for 2nd. Pittman would pull away over the final 8 laps to pick up the win and the $2,000 top prize. Schulte won the battle for 2nd, Dolan settled for 3rd, Hanford was 4th, with Noah Coppess coming from 10th to round out the top 5.
Notes from Tipton: After several years of not making the trip up to Tipton to take in a night of racing and after last nights show, I am sorry to say it has been to long. The action started on time and was run through without very little delay. The racing surface was awesome, as it provided two and three wide racing all night long. I must make sure I put them on the schedule for a return trip in 2011!......After Steve Miedke was sent to the back on lap 5 for rough driving, he was able to make his way back to the front to finish 6th in the 4 Cylinder feature....Rob Axon, who started 19th, was involved in the crash on the start and went to the back. He then passed 12 cars to bring home a 7th place finish....Chad Tucker came from 16th to finish in 8th....Brannon Bechen, who started 17th, was another driver involved in the lap 1 crash and sent to the back. He would come back through the field to finish in 9th....Jeffrey Vislisel came from 15th and passed 5 cars to finsh in 10th....Bill Whalen started 18th and finished in 11th....Tyler Whalen got into the feature after Tyler Kelly scratched and then passed 5 cars from his 20th place start to finish in 15th......Rob Toland started the Late Model feature in 11th and passed 4 cars to finish in 7th....Terry Neal was running 4th, when he got to high in turn one on the lap 9 restart and fell back to 9th where he finished. Mike Garland charged from his 18th place starting spot to take home a 10th place finish....Tom Goble had troubles in hot laps and scratched from the nights events....Dale Stolte had motor troubles in his 78 machine. But then jumped into the M2 car for the night and put it in the show. He would finish 13th after starting 10th......Steve Stewart was the man on the move at then end of the Modified feature, as he started 17th and passed 11 cars to finish in 6th....Brad Dierks passed 8 cars from his 15th starting spot to finish in 7th....Dan Albright started 20th and finished in 12th....Mike Darnell made the pull down from West Union and got the last spot in the third B-Main to start 22nd in the feature. He would pass 9 cars to take home 13th....Johnny Spaw started 21st and came home 15th....Scott Fridley appeared to have won the third Modified heat, but when the B-Mains came out he was last in the third B. Nothing was mentioned by the announcer to why he might got disquailifed from the win. In the B he started 12th and made it up to 5th, but they only took the top 2. So he would get into the feature with a track provisional and started 23rd. He then passed 7 cars to finish in 16th....Kevin Blackburn made the long pull up from Fulton, MO and drew the outside front row for the second heat race. He would spin in turn 2 on the start to bring out the caution, but with the one solo caution in effect he was sent to the pits. Kevin then started the third B-Main in 11th and managed to work his way to 4th, but missed making the feature by 2 spots.
No comments:
Post a Comment