Davenport, IA (Friday, April 18, 2014) - Mother nature once again provided some great weather to take in the Corn Belt Clash / MARS Dirtcar Series co-sanctioned event at the Davenport Speedway in Davenport, Iowa on Friday night. In action on the night was the Open Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, and DTR Street Stocks, with Jason Feger (Late Models), Jason Bahrs (IMCA Modifieds), and Donnie Louck (DTR Street Stocks) ending there nights in victory lane.
The first feature to take to the track on the night was the 15 lap DTR Street Stocks, with Steve Jackson and Cary Brown drawing the front row. But just before the green flag was set to be waved over the field, sixth place starter Jeremy Gustaf slowed to a stop in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Jackson would edge out Louck at the line to grab the lead on lap 1. But Louck worked the bottom of the speedway to slip past Jackson on lap 2 to over take him for the top spot. Louck, who was working the bottom, then worked to try to hold back Jackson, who was working the top, over the next 7 laps. Jackson got a run coming out of turn four on lap 10, but slapped the wall and dropped the driveshaft down the front stretch to bring out the caution. Louck once again moved out front for the restart, with Brown now working the top side to try and get the lead. Brown was able to get up beside Louck in turn 2 on lap 12, but Louck was able to hold him off down the backstretch to keep the lead. Louck then held off Brown over the final 3 laps to claim the win. Brown settled for 2nd, Chad Coyne was 3rd, Cord Williams came from 8th to finish in 4th, with Jackson credited with 5th.
Dan Hahn and Brandon Durbin led the field to green in the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Durbin taking advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. Durbin then started to pull away from the field, while Jason Bahrs, who started 8th, and Bob Dominacki, who started 9th, were trying to work there way towards the front. Bahrs cleared Kenny Kostenbader for the second spot on lap 9, but was a full straightaway behind Durbin for the top spot. But it only took Bahrs 4 laps to run down Durbin, as on lap 13 he was on Durbin's back bumper. While Durbin and Bahrs went at it for the lead, Kostenbader, Kelly Meyer, Dominacki, and Eric Barnes had a four car battle going for the third spot. Coming to the wave of the green flag, signifying 2 laps to go, Bahrs jumped to the top side of Durbin coming out of turn 4 to cross the line side-by-side. Bahrs used the preferred line, the high side, to clear Durbin coming out of turn two and then held him off over the final lap to pick up the win. Durbin was 2nd, Dominacki won the battle for 3rd, Kostenbader was 4th, with Meyer coming home in 5th.
After four Late Model heats, two B Mains and a dash the twenty-four car field was set to take to the 1/2 mile for there 40 lap feature. Jimmy Mars and Jesse Stovall led the field to the drop of the green flag, thanks to there one and two place finish in the dash. Mars jumped out front on lap 1 over Brian Birkhofer, Stovall and Jason Feger. With Mars working the top of the track and Birkhofer the bottom, this allowed Feger to use the top side to clear Birkhofer for the second spot on lap 6 and then went to work on Mars for the lead. Feger's switched up his groove on lap 7, as he ducked down low in turn 3 to slip past Mars coming out of turn 4 on lap 8 to take over the top spot. Three laps latter, lap 11, Feger entered some heavy lapped traffic, which allowed Mars, Birkhofer and Stovall to close to his back bumper on lap 13. Just as the action up front was starting to heat up, Stovall, who was battling for 5th, slowed to a stop down the backstretch with his radiator packed with dirt and causing the motor to get hot to bring out the first caution of the race.
On the restart Feger jumped back out front, with Birkhofer, Mars and Chad Simpson, who started 10th, close behind. Feger used the top side of the track to rocket out to a lead, before entering lapped traffic on lap 30. This would allow Birkhofer to close in on him for the lead. But the second and final caution of the event would appear on lap 32, as Birkhofer tried to go three wide thru the middle of Justin Asplin and Denny Eckrich, who were lapped cars. Birkhofer's right rear would clip the left front of Eckrich's car, which caused Eckrich to get into the turn 4 wall to bring out the caution. Feger once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Birkhofer glued to his back bumper. Birkhofer stayed in Feger's tracks over the next 5 laps, but was unable to make the pass. As Feger held him off to claim the win and the $3,500 top prize to go with it. Birkhofer settled for 2nd, Mars was 3rd, Ryan Gustin would cross the line in 4th but was disqualified for being light at the scales, which moved Chad Simpson up to 4th, and Jason Utter coming from 9th to round out the top 5.
Notes from Davenport: 36 Late Models from Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin signed in on the night. Those 36 cars drew a pill to determine there starting spot in one of the four heat races. Then the top 16 in passing points from those four heat races were locked into the A Main. The remainder were put into two B Mains, in which the top 2 from each moved into the A Main. Then two provisionals from both the Corn Belt Clash and MARS Dirtcar Series were added to the back of the field to set the 24 car feature....Heat one started off with Todd Frank spinning in turn 4 and collecting Chris Simpson to bring out the yellow before a lap was scored. On the restart Brad Looney moved out front and then held off Brian Birkhofer by inches at the line to pick up the win. Dave Eckrich was 3rd, Matt Furman was 4th, with Richie Bell 5th....Heat two saw Ryan Gustin rocket out into the lead from his pole position and then cruised to an easy win. Tony Jackson Jr. was 2nd, Ray Guss Jr. came from 5th to 3rd, Justin Kay was 4th, with Terry Phillips coming from 7th to 5th. Will Vaught came from 7th and was running 4th when he pulled out on lap 5 with smoke trailing from his machine...Heat three turned out to be a good one, as Jason Utter powered into turn three on the bottom of the first lap and went from 3rd to first to lead lap 1. But Jesse Stovall worked the top of the track to over take Utter for the lead on lap 6 and then held on to claim the win. Utter was 2nd, AJ Diemal came from 8th to 3rd, Chad Simpson started 9th and finished 4th, with Lance Matthees coming home in 5th....Heat four had a tough time getting in there 8 laps. Jimmy Mars jumped out front on lap 1 over Denny Eckrich and Jason Feger, who started 6th. But as lap 1 was scored complete, Skip Frey slowed to a stop in turn 3 with troubles to bring out the first yellow. On the restart Jason Rauen got into the back of Jeff Roth coming off turn 4, which caused Roth to spin going into the turn 1 wall to bring back the yellow light. Mars moved back out front on the following restart, with Feger and Eckrich close behind. The final caution of the event came out on lap 4, as Rauen spun his machine in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Mars grabbed the lead on the restart and then held on for the win. Feger was 2nd, Eckrich was 3rd, which was a surprise after his fire under the hood in hot laps, Rauen recovered from his spin to finish in 4th, with Jay Johnson coming from 8th to round out the top 5....B Main number one had Justin Kay hold off Chris Simpson to claim the win....While Terry Phillips cruised to the win in B Main two. Will Vaught came from 6th to slip under Lance Matthees going into turn 3 on the last lap to claim the final transfer spot into the A Main....Mars used his pole starting spot to win the dash over Stovall, Birkhofer, Feger, Diemel and Looney....Will Vaught started the A Main in 20th and passed 14 cars to bring home a 6th place finish....Jesse Stovall recovered from his radiator being packed with dirt and causing the motor to get hot on lap 18 while battling for 5th, to come from 18th on the restart to 7th....Justin Asplin took a MARS Dirtcar Series provisional and started 23rd. He would pass 13 cars to come home in 10th...Mike Fryer earned a Corn Belt Clash provisional and started 22nd. He would pass 9 cars to take home a 13th place finish......The 20 lap IMCA Modified feature went caution free!....Scott Powell came from 14th in the feature to finish 9th....TJ Patz started 13th and finished 10th....Brad Dubil and Tim Arp had troubles in there heat races that forced them to scratch from the feature......Ron Turner started the Street Stock feature in 9th and took home a 6th place finish....Rick Schriner was suppose to start the feature in 4th, but elected to go to the tail. He made 2 laps and pulled off with troubles to end his night in 7th....Jeremy Gustaf, Rob Henry and Steve Cox all had mechanical troubles on the first lap of the feature and made early exits.
Tonight the Corn Belt Clash and MARS Dirtcar Series is joined by the American Late Model Series (ALMS) at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa to honor Brent Slocum in the "Slocum 50". For the first time in the 6 years history of this event it will be ran with Open Late Model rules. Tonight's 50 lap feature winner will take home top prize of $10,555. If you thought Friday nights field was filled with tough competition, then you don't want to miss tonight. As Shannon Babb, Bobby Pierce, who won Friday night at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, IL, Dennis Erb Jr., Kevin Weaver, Brian Shirley, Ryan Unzicker, Brandon Sheppard, Denny Woodworth, Mark Burgtorf, and many more join the action. Grandstands open at 5:00 pm, with hot laps at 5:30 pm, and time trials at 6:15 pm. Hope to see you there!
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