Columbus Junction, IA (Thursday, July 26, 2012) - Thursday night took me over to the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction, a track I haven't been to for a few years now, for the Corn Belt Clash Series event during the Louisa County Fair. This years event would mark the fourth year in a row that the Corn Belt Clash has made a stop at the Louisa County Fair, and at the end of the night the same driver who has won the first three stood in victory lane to make it four in a row.
The first feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Travis Finke and Jeremy Tompkins leading the field to the green. Finke would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Lane Kauffman and Rod Staats. While Finke worked to hold off Kauffman, Nathan Wood, who started 9th, was working his way to the front. Wood would slip under Finke on lap 7 to take over the top spot and then held it until the first caution of the event came out on lap 9. Jim Redmann slid of the track in turns 1 and 2 to bring out the first yellow. On the restart Wood jumped back out front, with Finke working to hold back Sky Griffith, who started 7th. The action was slowed up front on lap 10, as the nose cover off Brandon Jay's car was ripped off and laying in turn 1. Wood once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Griffith getting past Finke in the battle for second. Wood now had to work to hold back Griffith, until the final caution of the event came out on lap 13 to set up a green-white-checkered finish. Blaine Doppler, who was running 4th, Alex Buffington who came from 17th to 5th, and Kauffman, who was running 6th, collided in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Wood moved back out front, with Griffith close behind in second. Wood, who was running the bottom, and Griffith, who was up top, came off turn four for the checkered with Griffith edging out Wood for the win. Wood settled for second, Jason Cook, who was driving the #57 usually driven by Brodie Dopler, came from 14th to finish in 3rd, Kirk Kinsley was 4th, with Blaine Dopler coming back from the crash on lap 13 to finish in 5th.
Up next was the 10 lap Mod Lite feature, with Blake Woodruff and Rob Guss making up the front row for the event. Guss jumped out front on the drop of the green over Troy Phillpott and Johnathan Huston. But Guss would only lead the first 2 laps, as Phillpott slipped under him to take over the top spot on lap 3. Phillpott then held off Guss over the final 7 laps to pick up the win. Guss settled for 2nd, Huston was 3rd, Collin Ball was 4th, with Woodruff holding on for 5th.
Billy Stanford and Cory Sheetz made up the front row of the 10 lap IMCA Sport Compact feature, when pole sitter Erick Hood was a scratch 1from the event. Stanford would jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Sheetz and Bill Whalen Jr. But Sheetz would slip under Stanford on lap 2 to grab the lead, while Whalen Jr. followed him into second. Whalen Jr. then used the same lower groove on lap 4 to slip under Sheetz to take over the top spot. Whalen Jr. looked to be heading to the win, when he slowed down the front stretch coming to the white flag. Which allowed Tyler Whalen, who started 7th, to go by for the win. Sheetz came home in 2nd, Stanford was 3rd, Eric Stogdell came from 9th to finish in 4th, with Josh Starr rounding out the top 5.
The final feature of the night was the 35 lap Corn Belt Clash Late Models, with Chris and Chad Simpson on the front row. Chris would get the jump on his brother Chad to grab the lead on lap 1 and then held it until lap 4. When disaster would strike him in the form of motor troubles, as he excited the speedway on the front stretch to hand the lead over to Chad Simpson. The action up front was slowed for the first time on lap 5, as Dave Eckrich, who was running 6th, slowed in turn 3 with a left rear flat. On the restart Tim Isenberg got a little sideways and got into Jason Utter, who started 10th and was up to 5th. Utter would get into the front stretch wall and came to a stop in turn 1 with right front damage to bring out another yellow. Once again Simpson jumped out into the lead on the restart, with Isenberg and Pete Parker battling for 2nd. Just as Simpson was starting to pull away from the field, the caution would come out on lap 15. This time Aaron Ricketts slowed to a stop in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart John VanDenBerg, who started 17th and was running 13th, slowed to a stop with troubles in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. Another yellow on the following restart for debris on the front stretch slowed the battle. While another yellow appeared on the speedway on the next restart, as Matt Furman, who started 16th and was running 8th, came to a stop in turn 2.
Once back to green Simpson worked to hold back Isenberg, who was working to keep Parker at bay in 3rd. But the action up front was slowed once again on lap 18, as Colby Springsteen, who started 25th and was running 18th, slid off turn 2 to bring the yellow light on. Simpson once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Isenberg and Parker still battling for second. Just as Simpson was pulling away from the field, another caution would come out on lap 22. This time Spencer Diercks, who was running 6th, spun in turn 4 and collected Mike Fryer to bring out the yellow. Once again Simpson moved out front on the restart, with Isenberg close behind in second. Simpson then started to pull away from the field, and just like before another caution would bring the field back to his bumper on lap 31. Tom Goble would come to a stop down the back stretch to bring out the yellow, and setting up a four lap dash to the finish. On the restart Simpson jumped back out front and then held on over the final laps to claim his fourth win in a row at CJ Speedway's annual Corn Belt Clash visit. Isenberg settled for 2nd, Parker was 3rd, Kurt Kile was 4th, with Dennis Erb Jr. coming from 9th to take home 5th.
Notes from CJ: 27 Late Models, 17 Stock Cars, 16 Sport Compacts and 9 Mod Lites made up the 69 cars signed in on the night......Brian Holmes started the Stock Car feature in 13th and passed 7 cars to take home a 6th place finish....Alex Buffington came from 17th and was up to 5th, when he was involved in the lap 13 crash. He would end the night in 8th....Jim Redmann got upside down in the second heat race, but was able to fix the car and start the feature in 16th. He would slip off the track in turns 1 and 2, the same place he rolled in the heat, to bring out the first caution on lap 9. He would finish his night in 11th....Bill Faler crossed the finish line in 5th, but was later disqualified in tech, moving the finish order up 1 spot......Evan Epperson, who was suppose to start the Mod Lite feature in 5th, wasn't able to get his machine to fire forcing him to scratch from the feature....Anthony Guss had troubles in his heat race, which forced him to scratch from the feature......Darin Smith came from 8th to finish 6th in the Sport Compact feature....William Michel started 10th and took home 7th....Kimberly Abbott came from 12th to finish in 9th....Chuck Fullenkamp borrowed a car after motor troubles last week, and started the feature in 14th. He would pass 3 cars to finish in 11th....Troy Wonders came from 16th to finish in 12th....Kody Bass had troubles in the heat and would scratch from the feature....Erick Hood was suppose to take the green flag from the pole position, but was forced to scratch after rolling under the flag stand in the heat....Brandon Setser was another one who scratched from the feature after toubles in the heat......Justin Mitchell started the Late Model feature in 12th and passed 6 cars to finish in 6th....Mark Burgtorf came from 13th to finish in 7th....Denny Eckrich was 8th after starting in 11th....Rick Wendling charged from 21st to take home a 9th place finish....Rob Moss came from 20th to finish in 10th....Jerry Lierly started 14th and took home 11th....Jon Rogers came from 18th to finish in 12th....Jim Rychtik started 25th and took home a 14th place finish. But Rychtik would loose the left rear under the lap 5 caution. The wrecker crew was able to lift the car up and put the tire back on, to allow Rychtik to finish out the feature....Tom Goble, who started 5th, and was running 6th until lap 6 when he slid high in turn 2 and fell to the back. He would recover to finish in 15th....Justin Kay came from 26th to finish in 16th....Jay Chenoweth had motor troubles in his heat and was a scratch from the feature.
I would like to thank Brian and Amanda Tipps, the Louisa County Fairboard and Diana Winkel for allowing me to come over and cover the event. But when I arrived at the speedway, Diana asked if I could run the computer since the lady who runs it weekly was sick. So I was put to work and enoyed the night working in the tower. Thanks again every one involved with the CJ Speedway!
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