Tipton, IA (Sunday, October 2, 2011) - The Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, IA played host to the 3rd Annual Dlouhy / DeVore Memorial Race on Sunday, October 2nd, and what a beautiful afternoon and evening to have a race. One Hundred forty-one race cars in six classes packed themselves into the pits in hopes of taking home the top prizes in each division.
After 17 heat races and 4 semi features, the main events were set. The first one to take to the track was the 15 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Randy Butterbrodt and Joe Grant drawing the front row. Butterbrodt would take advantage of his front row start by jumping out into the lead on lap 1. Butterbrodt then held the top spot until lap 4, when Joe Grant jumped to his outside to take over the lead. But Butterbrodt didn't give up, as he came back on the bottom to grab the lead back on lap 6. While Butterbrodt and Grant battled for the top spot, Matt Short, who started 4th, and Jeremy Campbell, who started 6th after showing up after the heat was run, were working there way into the battle. Short moved to the top of the track on lap 11 and took over the top spot from Butterbrodt. Short then held off a charging Campbell over the final 4 laps to claim the win. Butterbrodt settled for 3rd, Nate Yoerger was 4th, with Grant holding on for a top five.
Roy Pestka and Brant Hubler led the field to the drop of the green flag in the 15 lap B-Modified feature, with Pestka moving out front on lap 1. The first caution of the event would come out on the completion of lap 1, as Keith Keltner spun in turn 2. On the restart Pestka moved back out front, with Hubler still in second. The action was slowed one more time on lap 3, when Jason Hall and Ben Chapman collided in turn 3 to bring out the caution. Pestka again grabbed the lead on the restart, only to be slowed on lap 4. This time Brad Iverson came to a stop in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. Once again Pestka jumped out into the lead on the restart, with Hubler working to hold back Jarrett Franzen for second. Pestka started to pull away from the field, when the caution came back out on lap 7. Chris Case would spin his machine in turn 4 to bring the field back to Pestka's back bumper. On the restart Pestka again moved back out into the lead, with Hubler holding back Franzen. Pestka again pulled away from the field over the next 7 laps, when David Imming spun his machine in turn 2 on the white flag lap to bring out the yellow and checkers. Pestka would claim the win, Hubler held on for 2nd, Franzen was 3rd, Dakota Hayden came from 8th to finish in 4th, with Kevin Schroeder passing 9 cars from his 14th starting spot to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 15 lap 4 Cylinder feature, with Jeffrey Vislisel and Jordan Walker drawing the front row for the event. Walker took advantage of his front row draw to grab the lead on lap 1, only to be slowed on the completion of the lap for the first caution. Andy Wagner and Art Schott would spin in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Justin Kay grabbed the lead away from Walker, with Chuck Fullenkamp following him into second. Fullenkamp would slip under Kay on lap 3 to grab the top spot, only to have Kay come back on the top to lead lap 4. But Fullenkamp didn't give up as he slipped under Kay on lap 5 to take the top spot back. With Fullenkamp and Kay battling for the lead, Jacob Ellithorpe, who started 11th, was working his way into the battle. Ellithorpe jumped the outside of Fullenkamp and Kay to go three wide for the lead on lap 7, with Ellithorpe coming out on top. The three way battle up front was slowed for the final time on lap 8, when Jason Blocker spun in turn 3. On the restart Ellithorpe moved back out into the lead, with Fullenkamp and Kay going back to the battle for second. Ellithorpe would go on to lead the final 7 laps to pick up the win. Shane Evans came from 13th to edge Fullenkamp at the line to finish 2nd, Fullenkamp was 3rd, Gene Potter passed 12 cars from his 16th place starting spot to finish 4th, with Bryce Bailey charging from 19th to claim fifth.
The 15 lap Stock Car feature was the next event to take to the speedway, with Matt Picray and Terry Rittmer leading the field to the green. Rittmer took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. But he was slowed on the completion of lap 1, when Jamie Figg came to a stop in the middle of the backstretch to bring out the first caution. On the restart Rittmer moved back out front, with Joe Bonney and Tim Current, who started 6th, battling for second. The battle up front was slowed on lap 3 when Dwaine Hasson got into Donnie Louck while battle for sixth, which caused Louck to spin in turn 3 and collected the cars of Wayne Hora and Figg. Once again Rittmer grabbed the lead on the restart and then held it until lap 5, when Current over took him on the top side of the speedway. Current then started to pull away from the rest of the field, when another yellow came out on lap 12. This time Rob Henry, who started 20th and had worked his way to 7th, spun in turn 1 to bring out the caution. On the restart Hora, who came from the rear after a lap 3 crash and was running 9th, spun his machine in turn 4 and collected the machines of Dan Mohr and Josh Starr. Once again Current moved back out front on the restart, but now had Matt Greiner, who started 12th, battling him for the lead. Just as the front runners took the white flag, Figg would spin his machine in turn four to bring out the yellow and checkers. Current would hold on for the win, Greiner settled for 2nd, Mike Schmidtz started 10th and came home in 3rd, Bonney held on for 4th, with Jeremy Marquette passing 14 cars from his 19th place starting spot to finish in fifth.
Tommy Elston and Jake Meier led the field to the drop of the green flag in the 30 lap Late Model feature, but it was third place starter Ray Guss Jr. grabbing the lead on lap 1. The first caution of the event came out on lap 2, when Chad Patch and Mike Cothron spun in turn 1. On the restart Bryan Klein, Stephen Kammerer, Rick Dralle and Cothron collided in turn 1. Guss Jr. would jumped out front on the next restart, with Elston and Meier battling for second. But another caution on lap 4 would slow the action once again. This time Kammerer would spin in turn 2 to bring the yellow back out. Once again Guss Jr. grabbed the lead on the restart, with Elston in 2nd and Matt Ryan, who started 7th, grabbing third. Guss Jr. started to pull away from the field and looked to be heading for the win. But disaster would strike him on lap 22 when two lapped cars got together in front of him in turn 4. Guss Jr. would get on the binders to avoid them, but somebody got into the back of Guss Jr. who did a 360 and kept going. But the caution was waved and the flagmen made the call that Guss Jr. was involved, sending him to the back. Nate Beuseling and Doug Nigh, who were battling for 6th, were also piled up in the caution, ending both there nights. Elston would inherit the lead on the restart and then pulled away over the final 8 laps to pick up the $1,500 top prize. Ryan was 2nd, Meier settled for 3rd, Kevin Kile came from 15th to finish in 4th, with Gary Webb passing 12 cars from his 17th place starting spot to take home fifth.
The last feature of the night was the 35 lap Modifieds, with Brian Webb and Brandon Durbin leading the field to the green. Webb would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. The first caution of the event would come out on the completion of lap 1, when Justin Speers and Brad Tyler collided in turn 3. On the restart Webb moved back out front, with Brandon Durbin close behind in second. Durbin would slip under Webb on lap 3 to grab the top spot and then held it until lap 6. Steve Stewart was able to get under Durbin to grab the lead and then started to pull away from the field. But a caution on lap 16 for Wade Lee who spun in turn 4 would help bring the field back to his back bumper. Another caution would come out on lap 17, when Speers spun his machine in turn 1. Then on the restart 11 cars would pile up in turn four to bring out the red. Those involved were Brad Dierks, Bob Dominacki, Bruce Hanford, Nick Dains, Tyler, Ray Cox Jr., Lee, Ryan DeShaw, Johnny Spaw, Speers and Mike Shrope. Only the cars of Dominacki, Hanford, Cox Jr., Lee and Speers were able to continue. Stewart would jump back out front once the event went back green, with Ryan Dolan, who started 8th, and Mark Schulte, who started 10th, battling for second. Stewart was working to fight off Dolan on every lap, when the caution came out once again on lap 29. This time Chris Zogg would slow to a stop in turn 3 to bring the yellow on. On the restart Noah Coppess, who came from 19th and had worked his way to 5th, spun his machine in turn 2 to bring the yellow back on. Stewart again held off Dolan on the restart and then held him at bay over the final 6 laps to claim the $2,000 top prize. Dolan settled for 2nd, Schulte was 3rd, Kevin Kile was 4th, with John Bull coming home in 5th.
Notes from Tipton: 38 Modifieds, 29 4 Cylinders, 26 Late Models, 22 B-Modifieds, 20 Stock Cars and 6 Hobby Stocks made up the 141 cars signed in on the day......Darrin Plett started the B-Modified feature in 13th and came up to take home 6th....Jason Hall recovered from his lap 3 crash to come back to finish in 8th....Dan Kessler passed 7 cars from his 16th place starting spot to come home in 9th....Ben Chapman also recovered from the lap 3 crash to come back up to 11th....Brian Wendel, who started his heat race in 6th, had quickly worked his way to the lead only to blow a motor with 2 laps to go to end his night....Bryce Bailey showed up at the track just as the 4 Cylinder heats were running, which caused him to start 13th in the semi. He would pass 9 cars to finish in 4th, which put him 19th in the feature. Once again he would pass 14 cars by the end of the race to take home a 5th place finish....Kyle Volinger came from 12th to finish in 8th....Lucas Short started 18th and finished in 13th....Art Schott started 23rd and was in the lap 1 crash, but was able to recover to finish in 15th......Jeremy Marquette would come from 7th in his heat race and crossed the line in 2nd. But was DQ in tech for adjustable trailing arms. That would put him in the 19th starting spot for the feature. Jeremy would pass 14 cars to take home a 5th place finish....Nathan Hall was driving the 00 car that Rob Henry drove all year. He would take the green in the feature in 9th and settled for a 6th place finish....Donnie Louck recovered from the lap 3 crash to come back to finish in 7th....Wayne Hora also recovered from his lap 3 and lap 12 crashes to take home an 11th place finish....Ron Henry drove a #73 machine on the night and started 5th in his heat and crossed the line in 4th. But he was also DQ in tech for trailing arms and had to start 20th in the feature. He had worked his way up to 7th when he spun on lap 12 to finish in 14th....Dwaine Hasson was in the #40 driven much of the year by Nathan Hall. He would take the green in the feature in 8th and was battling for 6th, when he was involved in a yellow on lap 3 to end his night in 15th....RJ Gonzales had troubles in his heat race to cause him to scratch from the feature......Jake Meier jumped behind the wheel of the #87 Late Model driven by Jon Merfeld. He would pick up the win in heat race 1 to earn a spot in the dash, where he started 3rd and finished 2nd. Jake then took the green on the outside of the front row for the feature and held on to take home a 3rd place finish....Travis Denning took the Late Model feature from his 21st place starting spot. He would pass 15 cars by the end of the 30 lap race to take home a nice 6th place finish....Joe Zrostlik was behind the wheel of the 21H machine in which Brian Harris drove for much of 2011. He would start 11th in the feature and came home in 10th....Chad Patch recovered from his lap 2 crash to come back up to 11th....Bart Miller came from 22nd to finish 13th in his first year behind a Late Model......Jason Schueller passed 14 cars from his 20th place starting spot in the Modified feature to claim a 6th place finish....Bruce Hanford recovered from the lap 17 pile up to come back to finish in 7th....Noah Coppess recovered from his lap 29 spin, while running 5th after starting 19th, to come back to take home 9th....Dan Chapman was running 4th after starting 11th, when he pulled into the pits on the lap 29 caution. He would return to come back to finish in 10th....Wade Lee recovered from his lap 16 spin and being involved in the lap 17 pile up to finish in 11th after starting 17th....Shaune Lewis came from 18th to finish in 12th....Justin Speers started 24th and was involved in the lap 3 crash, lap 17 spin and lap 17 pile up to come back to take home a 13th place finish....Chris Zogg drove his dads, Mike Zogg's #9z, car on the night and was running up front when he was involved in the lap 17 pile up and then came to a stop on lap 29 to end his run in 15th....Ray Cox Jr. started 26th and was involved in the lap 17 pile up to end his night in 16th.
