Burlington, IA (Saturday, April 28, 2012) - After heavy rain showers moved thru the area over night many thought there was little to no hope that 34 Raceway would get there 2012 season points opener in. But with alot of hard work done by the staff at the track all doubters were wrong, as the night was completed despite some cool temps and a brisk wind.
The night started off with the regular 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Jason Cook and Alex Buffington drawing the front row for the event. Cook edged out Buffington by inches at the line to grab the lead on lap 1. Buffington's early run up front would come to a halt on lap 4, when he came to a stop in turn 4 with mechanical troubles to bring out the first caution of the event. On the restart Cook jumped back out front, with John Oliver Jr. and Brett Timmerman following him in 2nd and 3rd. Cook continued to hold the lead over Oliver Jr., when the second caution of the event came out on lap 7. This time Chris Webb came to a stop in the entrance to pit road. On the restart Blaine Dopler went for a spin in turn four to bring the yellow light back on. Once again Cook grabbed the top spot on the following restart, with Oliver Jr. and Timmerman battling for 2nd. Cook would go on to lead all 20 laps to pick up the win. Oliver Jr. settled for 2nd, Timmerman was 3rd, Matt Greiner was 4th, with Abe Huls coming from 11th to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Mitch Morris and Kevin Goben leading the field to the drop of the green flag. But before that could happen Jeff Waterman, who was suppose to start 4th, came to to a stop down the backstretch. He was pushed to the pits with no power to end his night before the green was even dropped. Morris would take advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Goben and Josh Foster. While Morris continued to lead the field, Goben had to work to hold back Foster and Scott Hogan for the battle for 2nd. Foster was able to over take Goben for 2nd on lap 8, while Hogan move into 3rd 2 laps later, to set there sits on Morris for the lead. Foster would close the gap between himself and Morris on lap 14, as Morris entered lapped traffic. Morris would go high going into turn 1 on lap 15, while Foster went to the bottom. Foster would come out of turn 2 with the lead, as Morris got hung up behind lapped traffic. Foster then went on to lead the final 4 laps to pick up the win. Morris held on for 2nd, Hogan was 3rd, Milo Veloz came from 8th to finish in 4th, with Goben hanging on for 5th.
Eric Rowley and Loyd Duffie made up the front row for the 15 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Rowley jumping out front on lap 1. Rowley would hold the lead until the red flag came out on lap 2 to stop the action. Josh Tripp, who was running 3rd after lap 1 and almost spun in turn 4 and fell back to 10th, came off of turn 2 and then got upside down and rolled 2 or 3 times to bring the red light on. He would climb from his car ok, but done for the night. On the restart Jake Wenig jumped to the outside of Rowley to take over the top spot, with Dan Wenig following in second. Jake then led the final 13 laps to claim the win. Dan Wenig would settle for 2nd, Dane Fenton came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Matt Gavin was 4th, with Victor Hastings coming from 9th to round out the top 5.
The 25 lap IMCA Late Model was the next event to take to the track, with Tom Bowling Jr. and Mark Burgtorf drawing the front row. Burgtorf took advantage of his front row start to move out into the lead on lap 1 over Colby Springsteen and Matt Bailey. Burgtorf started to put some distance on Springsteen until lap 5, when Tommy Elston and Clint Kirkham got tied up in turn 4 to bring out the first caution. On the restart Bowling Jr. got sideways in turn 4 and collected Bailey, who was running 4th, Todd Malmstrom, Tim Simpson and Kirkham to bring the yellow light back on. Burgtorf again jumped out front on the restart, with Springsteen and Lonnie Bailey following in 2nd and 3rd. Burgtorf and Springsteen had a great battle for the lead going when disaster almost struck Springsteen on lap 14. Just as Springsteen went under Simpson to put a lap on him, Simpson would spin down off of turn 4 to almost clip Springsteen and brought out the caution. On the restart Burgtorf again grabbed the lead with Springsteen close behind. Burgtorf, who was up top, and Springsteen, who was on the bottom, ran laps 17-20 side-by-side with Burgtorf egding out Springsteen at the line each time. The side-by-side battle up front came to a stop on lap 20, when Malmstrom, who was running 8th, spun in turn 2 to bring out the final caution of the event. Once again Burgtorf jumped out front on the restart and then held it for the final 5 laps to pick up the win. Springsteen settled for 2nd, Tom Darbyshire came from 7th to finish in 3rd, Matt Strassheim started 8th and came home in 4th, with Lonnie Bailey coming home in 5th.
Daniel Bergquist and Nick Guernsey led the field to the drop of the green in the 20 lap 305 Sprint feature, with Bergquist moving out front on lap 1. Bergquist started to put some distance between himself and the second place battle with Guernsey and Donnie Steward, when he entered lap traffic by lap 8. Steward then was able to reel in Bergquist and took advantage of a lapped car to jump to the outside of Bergquist on lap 11 to take over the top spot. Steward would then go on to lead the final 9 laps to claim the win. Jayson Ditsworth came from 5th to finish in 2nd, Bergquist settled for 3rd, Guernsey held on for 4th, with Shawn Whiting rounding out the top 5.
Up next was the 12 lap 4 Cylinder feature, with Casey Mehaffy and Michael Grossman drawing the front row. Grossman took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Nick Wilkerson. Grossman then held off Wilkerson until he started to enter lapped traffic by lap 8. Wilkerson would take advantage of Grossman getting trapped behind a lapped car on lap 8, to slip under him and grab the top spot. Wilkerson then led the final 4 laps to pick up the win. Bill Whalen Jr. came from 7th to finish in 2nd, Grossman was 3rd, Bradley Stevenson was 4th, with Jerrod Nichols who started 13th rounding out the top 5.
The final event on the night was the make-up IMCA Stock Car feature, which was rained out from April 21st. John Brockway and Jim Lynch led the field to the drop of the green flag, with Lynch moving out front on lap 1. Lynch, who was running the top, and Shane Watts, who was running the bottom, had a great battle up front going until lap 13. The first and only caution of the event came out for debris in turn 4. On the restart Lynch and Watts continued there great battle up front when the white flag came out. Watts would go into turn 1 on the bottom and then tried to drift up in front of Lynch. But Lynch would climb the backstretch wall to keep his momentum going into turn 3. Watts tried the same move coming off turn 4, as Lynch came across the finish line with his rear wheels off the ground to claim his first career Stock Car feature win. Jason Cook slipped under Watts at the line to finish in 2nd, Watts settled for 3rd, Matt Greiner came from 11th to finish in 4th, with John Oliver Jr. coming home in 5th.
Notes from 34: 19 Stock Cars, 19 4 Cylinders, 18 305 Sprints, 17 Late Models, 17 Modifieds and 15 Hobby Stocks made up the 105 cars signed in for the first night of points in 2012......Shane Watts came from 16th in the first Stock Car feature to finish in 7th....Cale Samberg started 15th and passed 6 cars to finish in 9th....Blaine Dopler started 17th and brought out the caution on lap 4 when he spun in turn 4. He would recover from that spin to climb back up to finish in 10th....Jeremy Pundt came from 19th and passed 8 cars to take home 11th....Derek St. Clair came from the rear after pitting on lap 4 with a flat to finish in 12th......The 20 lap Modified feature went CAUTION FREE!!!....Bill Roberts came from 12th to finish in 9th....Andy Krieger started 16th and passed 6 cars to finish in 10th....Defending track champion Brandon Rothzen had troubles in his heat which caused him to scratch from the feature, he was credited with 17th......Dugan Thye started the Hobby Stock feature in 14th and would come home in 10th......Tom Goble came from 14th in the Late Model feature to finish in 9th......The 20 lap 305 Sprint feature went CAUTION FREE!!!....Justin Newberry came from 13th to finish in 8th....Harold Pohren started 16th to finish in 11th....Tony Burk rolled his car in the heat to scratch from the feature....Brett Timmerman had motor troubles in his heat to scratch from the feature....Dave Getchell rolled in his heat to scratch from the feature......The 12 lap 4 Cylinder feature went CAUTION FREE!!!....Geoffrey Theobald came from 16th and passed 9 cars to finish in 7th....Dustin Ravelin passed 7 cars from his 19th place starting spot to come home in 12th......Alex Buffington started the make-up Stock Car feature in 17th and passed 11 cars to finish in 6th....Derek St. Clair came from 12th to finish in 7th....Blaine Dopler was running 4th when he went to the pits on the lap 13 yellow to end his night in 11th....Jeff Mueller, who was running 5th, pulled off the track on lap 8 with mechanical troubles and was credited with 13th....Abe Huls and Jake Wenig decided not to take the green flag in the make-up feature....Tanner Thomann, Gabe Harrison, Travis Hartman and Troy Greiner all didn't return to run the event.
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