Burlington, IA (Saturday, September 22, 2012) - After a few weeks off racing action returned to 34 Raceway in Burlington, IA, as the Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA) 410 Sprint Cars invaded the track. Also on the card was the Season Championships for the IMCA SportMods and Mod Lites, along with a draw/redraw event for the 4 Cylinders.
The first feature up on the night was the 12 lap 4 Cylinders, with Brandon Reu and Billy Stanford drawing the front row. But it was fourth place starter Austen Becerra who jumped out into the lead on lap 1 over Brandon Lambert, who started 6th, and Stanford. Becerra would pull away from the field to lead all 12 laps in a caution free event! Stanford was able to get past Lambert late to claim 2nd, Lambert settled for 3rd, Dustin Ravelin was 4th, with new comer to 34 Raceway Alex Hayes coming from 9th to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods Season Championship feature, with the race being lined up by current points. Tony Dunker and Michael Joe Bliven would lead the field to the drop of the green, with Dunker edging out Bliven to lead lap 1. Dunker then tried to hold back Bliven until a lapped car got sideways in front of the leader on lap 11, which caused the top 5 to get tangled. Bliven, who was running 4th, and Levi Smith, who was running 5th, would pull into the infield with damaged cars to end there nights. Dunker meantime was able to recover from the tangle to keep the lead, but now had John Oliver Jr., who started 6th, close behind in 2nd. But Dunker was able to hold on over the final 4 laps to pick up the win and the 2012 Track Championship, his third of the season as he won titles at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, IA and the Quincy Raceways in Quincy, IL. Oliver Jr. settled for 2nd, Creston Williams finised third after starting in 5th, Sean Wyett came from 9th to finish in 4th, with Phillip Cossel taking home 5th after starting in 11th.
Mike Morrill and Evan Epperson started the 15 lap Mod Lite feature on the front row, as a result of being first and second in points. Morrill would take advantage of his front row start to jump into the lead on lap 1 over Epperson and Joel Huggins. Morrill worked to hold back Epperson until the first caution of the event came out on lap 4. Dan Keltner, who started 12th and had worked his way up to 5th, spun in turn 2 after contact from Chase Flatt, who started 10th and was running 6th. On the restart Morrill moved back out front over Epperson and Huggins, but another caution on lap 7 would slow the action up front. This time rookie Mod Lite driver Devon Rouse spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow light. Morrill once again grabbed the lead on the restart and then held off Epperson over the final 8 laps to claim the win and the 2012 Track Championship. Epperson settled for 2nd, Greg Rossell came from 7th to finish in 3rd, Keltner recovered from his lap 4 spin to come back up to 4th, with Huggins rounding out the top 5.
The final feature of the night was the 30 lap MOWA feature, with Critter Malone and Terry McCarl on the front row. Just as the green flag waved the red flag came out, as Matt Harms, who started 8th, rolled several times in turn 1. He would climb from his heavily damaged car uninjured. On the following restart Malone jumped out into the lead over McCarl. McCarl would slid under Malone coming off turn 2 on lap 10 to take over the lead, just as Malone slowed going down the back stretch with mechanical troubles to bring out the yellow. On the restart McCarl moved back out front, with Robbie Standridge and Danny Smith following in 2nd and 3rd. While McCarl started to pull away from the battle behind him, another caution on lap 14 would slow him down. This time Jordan Goldesberry, who was battling for the third spot, got sideways in turn 3 and backed it into the wall to bring out the yellow. McCarl once again jumped out front on the restart over Standridge and Smith, only to be slowed for the final time on lap 16. Provisional starter Caleb Wankel would take a easy roll in turn 3 to bring out the red. On the restart McCarl moved back out front, with Smith over taking Standridge for 2nd. McCarl looked to be pulling away for the win until he entered lapped traffic on lap 25, which allowed Smith to close. McCarl would take the high line around 1 and 2 to get by the lapped cars, which gave the bottom to Smith. Smith would emerge out of turn 2 with the lead on lap 27 and then held on over the final 3 laps to claim the win. McCarl held on for 2nd, Jerrod Hull came from 9th to finish a close 3rd, Standridge settled for 4th, with Tony Bruce Jr. charging from 19th to finish in 5th.
Notes from 34: 23 410 Sprints and 3 360 Sprints made up the 26 signed in on the night......Derek St. Clair started the SportMod feature in 10th and passed 4 cars to finish in 6th....Mike Shelton came from 14th to finish in 10th....Bobby Six made his debut in the SportMod class behind the wheel of the #10 car in which Jim Gillenwater drove all season long. He would finish the feature in 16th......Collin Ball started 8th in the Mod Lite feature and finished 6th....Devon Rouse, who is only 14, moved out of the go karts to the Mod Lites. He would make his first appearence of the season at 34 Raceway and started 13th in the feature. Devon would spin in turn 4 on lap 7 to bring out the caution, but would recover to finish 10th at the checkered....Justin Buchholz had mechanical troubles after the heat to force him to scratch from the feature, in which he was suppose to start 6th in......Joey Moughan, who won the MOWA feature on Friday night in Jacksonville, IL, started 10th and moved up to finish 6th....Ian Madsen drove the 7k from 17th to 7th at the finish....AJ Bruns came from 15th to finish in 9th....Jarrod Schneiderman came from 18th to finish in 11th....Jim Moughan started 16th and finished in 12th....Ben Wagoner took a series provisional and started 21st, but passed 7 cars to finish in 14th....John Schulz drove the #73 360 Sprint owned by Kenny Bragg to a 15th place finish....Donnie Steward was another 360 that made the feature, but would settle for 16th....Bobby Mincer was the other 360 to make it into the feature. He would pull off early to end his night in 21st.
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