Sunday, June 22, 2014

Creston Williams Scores His First Career SportMod Feature Win at 34 Raceway

West Burlington, IA (Saturday, June 21, 2014) - After taking a weekend off for some quad and bike races, 34 Raceway in West Burlington, IA returned to there weekly racing program on Saturday night. At the end of the nights events two drivers earned there first wins of the season at the track, while the other four became repeat winners.

The first feature to take to the track was the 20 lap IMCA Stock Cars, with Mark Bowman and Randy Wachter making up the front row for the event. Just as the green flag was waved the caution light would come on, as John Brockway climbed the wall down the backstretch and collects Jim Lynch to bring out the yellow. On the restart John Oliver Jr. climb the backstretch wall and collects Jake Wenig and Travis Hartman to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Chad Krogmeier and Hartman spin to a stop in turn 2 to bring the caution back out. The fourth attempt of a start had Bowman jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Wachter and Dane Fenton. Bowman then held the lead until lap 3, when Tom Bowling Jr., who started 9th, slipped under him to take over the top spot. The final caution of the race appeared on lap 4, when Wachter, who was running 3rd, got into the wall in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Bowling Jr. jumped back out front, with Lynch close behind after coming from the back from the lap 1 crash. Bowling Jr. would pull away over the final laps to claim his second win of the season at the track. Wenig recovered from his involvement in one of the wrecks on lap 1 to come back up to finish in 2nd, Krogmeier recovered from his spin on lap 1 to come back to finish in 3rd, Fenton was 4th, with Bowman coming home in 5th.

Up next was the 10 lap Mod Lite feature, with Gary Snyder and Devon Rouse leading the field to the green flag. Snyder would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. Daniel Keltner slipped past Snyder on lap 4 and then held on to pick up the win. Justin Buchholz got the front end fixed on his car after a crash in the heat race to finish 2nd, Rouse was 3rd, Snyder was 4th, with Colin Ball finishing 5th after missing the heat race after crashing in hot laps.

Creston Williams and Tom Lathrop led the field to green in the 15 lap IMCA SportMod feature, with Williams grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Joey Gower and Dustin Crear. While Williams worked to hold off the challenges from Gower, Sean Wyett, who started 5th, Kyle Hill, who started 6th, Brett Timmerman, who started 8th, and Tony Dunker, who started 7th, were battling there way towards the front. Butt Timmerman's run to the front ended on lap 12 when he spun from his 5th place running spot in turn 4 and collects Dunker, who was running 6th, to bring out the first yellow. On the restart Williams moved back out front, with Wyett and Bobby Anders, who started 9th, glued to his back bumper. Just as the field completed lap 14, the white flag lap, the caution would appear for Dunker who stopped in turn 4. This would set up a one lap dash to the finish. Williams grabbed the lead on the restart and held off Anders to claim his first career SportMod feature at the track. Anders settled for 2nd, Wyett was 3rd, Adam Shelman started 11th and finished in 4th, with Gower rounding out the top 5.

The 12 lap 4 Cylinder feature was next to take to the track, with Ron Kibbe and Daytona Fenton making up the front row. Kibbe took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Larry Miller and Austen Becerra, who started 7th. While Kibbe paced the field, Miller worked to hold back Becerra for the runner up spot. But Becerra was able to work under Miller on lap 5 to grab the second spot and then went to work on chasing down Kibbe for the lead. Becerra used the bottom of the track to slip under Kibbe for the lead on lap 8 and then pulled away over the final 4 laps to pick up his 5th win at the track and 19th overall on the season. Kibbe settled for 2nd, Wayne Noble came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Cody Washburne was 4th, with Miller holding on for 5th.

Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Larry McConnell and Dugan Thye leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Thye would take advantage of his front row starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Dennis LeVeine and McConnell. After the completion of lap 1 the yellow would come out, as Bill Roberts Jr., who was running 6th, spun off turn 1 to bring out the caution. On the restart Mitch Morris, who started 9th and was running 5th, used the bottom of the track to take over the lead on lap 2. The action up front was slowed for the second time on lap 3, when Dustan Fenton spun in turn 4 to bring out the caution. Morris moved back out front on the restart, with LaVeine working to hold back Thye and Tyler Glass, who started 13th. Brandon Rothzen, who started 14th and had worked his way up to 7th, spun in turn 4 on lap 9 to bring out the caution and slow the action down. On the restart Morris jumped back out front, with LaVeine and Jeff Waterman coming from 5th to 3rd. But just as another lap was put on the scoreboard, Dean McGee spun down the front stretch to bring the yellow light back on. Morris again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Waterman now glued to his back bumper. Just as Waterman worked under Morris in turn 4 to grab the lead on lap 13, the caution would come out for Chadwick Giberson's spin in turn 1 to bring out the yellow and giving Morris the lead back. Once again Morris moved out front on the restart, with Waterman close behind. Waterman worked under Morris coming of turn 2 to grab the top spot away on lap 15 and then held on over the final 5 laps to pick up his 3rd win of the season at the track. Morris was 2nd, Roberts Jr. recovered from his spin on lap 1 to come back up to finish in 3rd, LaVeine was 4th, with Thye coming home in 5th.

The final feature to take to the track on the night was the 20 lap 305 Sprints, with Jacob Glasgow and Shawn Whiting on the front row for the event. Whiting would jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Glasgow and Kyle Peterson. Just as the lap was scored complete Nick Guernsey rolled in turn 4 to bring out the red. He climbed from his car okay. On the restart Whiting moved back out front, with Justin Newberry, who started 8th, taking over the runner up spot. While Whiting held off Newberry, Donnie Steward, who started 12th, Jayson Ditsworth, who started 11th, and John Schulz, who started 10th, were working there way towards the front. By lap 7 Whiting started to enter into lapped traffic, which allowed Newberry and Steward to close in on him. Coming out of turn 4 to the checkered Whiting chose the top of the track to get around the lapped cars, while Newberry went to the bottom. Newberry's moved proved to be the winning move, as he edged Whiting out at the line by inches to claim his first win of the season at the track. Whiting settled for 2nd, Dillan Roth came from 6th to finish in 3rd, Schulz was 4th, with Cody Wehrle rounding out the top 5.

Notes from 34: Joe Gerdes started the Stock Car feature in 12th and finished 6th....Ray Raker lost an engine on 8 while running 2nd to end his night in 7th....Jim Lynch pulled off with troubles on lap 7 while running 2nd to end his night in 8th......Jimmy Halcomb was involved in a three car crash in the Mod Lite heat that forced him to scratch from the feature......Patrick Phillips made his his first start in the SportMods at 34 Raceway and started 10th in the feature. He passed 4 cars to finish in 6th....Brett Timmerman recovered from his spin on lap 12 to come back up to finish in 8th......The 4 Cylinder went 12 laps CAUTION FREE!!!....Brandon Reu started 10th and finished in 7th....Josh Barnes came from 12th to finish in 9th....Bryerson Tharp passed 6 cars from his 16th place starting spot to come home in 10th....Kevin Mortimer had troubles in the heat that forced him to scratch from the feature....Ray Norton had troubles in hot laps that forced him to scratch for the night......Darrow Lillie started the Modified feature in 12th and finished 7th....Brandon Rothzen, who was running 6th, went into turn 3 on the final lap on the high side of the track to try and get around Glass, who was running 5th. But Rothzen would get into the wall and spun into Glass, with both cars coming to a stop in the turn 4 wall. Glass was credited with 9th and Rothzen with 10th.......Andy Houston finished 9th in the 305 Sprint feature after starting in 13th....Andy Krieger came from 16th to finish in 12th....Jayson Ditsworth, who was running 3rd, pulled off the track on lap 18 with troubles to end his night in 16th....Donnie Steward was running 2nd when he blew an oil line on lap 14 to end his night in 17th.

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