Sunday, July 27, 2014

Veloz Scores His First Win of the Season at 34 Raceway

West Burlington, IA (Saturday, July 26, 2014) - It's starting to be a trend on Saturday's, as mother nature tired once again to spoil the weekly racing action at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, IA. But after over night showers and cloudy conditions all day long, the sun finally shined just before hot laps to provide for another exciting night of racing.

The first feature to take to the track on the night was the 20 lap IMCA Modifieds, and when Chadwick Giberson decided to go to the rear on the start that would move Larry McConnell and Dustan Fenton to the front row. But it was fifth place starter Milo Veloz Jr. who grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Fenton and Dennis LaVeine. Veloz then started to pull away from the battle behind him, when the first caution of the event appeared on lap 7. Lonnie Heap, who made his 2014 debut, spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Veloz Jr. jumped back out front, with Fenton working to hold back Bill Roberts Jr., who started 7th, for the runner up spot. Veloz Jr. once again started to pull away from the field, when the second caution came out on lap 13. This time Troy Greiner spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Veloz Jr. once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Roberts Jr. over taking Fenton for the second spot. But another caution one lap later, lap 14, would slow the action down. Darrow Lillie would spin in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Veloz Jr. moved back out front, with Roberts Jr. working to hold back Mitch Morris, who started 8th, in the battle for second. One lap later, lap 15, produced another caution, as McConnell spun in turn 2 and collects Greiner to bring out the yellow. On the restart Fenton, who was running 5th, got sideways in turn 2 and collects LaVeine, who was running 7th, to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Veloz Jr. jump back out front, with Roberts Jr. and Morris battling for second. Two laps later, lap 17, Giberson would spin in turn 2 to bring out the caution and slow the action up front. On the restart Jonathan Olmscheid, who made the pull down from Wilmar, Minnesota, stopped in turn 2 with a broken left front. At the same time Roberts Jr., who was running 2nd and pulled into the pits just before the caution came out with a left rear flat tire, spun off turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Veloz Jr. moved back out front, with Morris and Jeff Waterman, who started 13th, battled side-by-side for the second spot. Veloz Jr. would go on to lead the final 3 laps to pick up his first win of the season at the track. Waterman would edge out 2nd at the line, Morris was 3rd, Tyler Glass passes 11 cars from his 15th place starting spot to come home in 4th, with Dean McGee coming from 14th to round out the top 5.

Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Travis Hartman and Randy Wachter leading the field to the green flag. Just as the green flag was waved the yellow light would come on, as John Brockway spun in turn 1 from contact from Jake Wenig to bring out the yellow. On the restart Shane Watts, who started 8th, quickly moved to the front to grab the lead on lap 1 over Wachter and Tom Bowling Jr., who started 10th. Watts then held the top spot until lap 3, when Wenig, who recovered from his involvement in the spin on the start, used the top of the track to grab the lead away. With Wenig using the top of the track, Watts would try the middle in turns one and two and the bottom in turns 3 and 4 to get around Wenig. The two would run laps 6, 7, 8 and 9 side-by-side, with Wenig leading each lap at the line, as John Oliver Jr., who started 9th, moved in on lap 9 to make it a three car battle up front. The battle up front was slowed for the second and final time on lap 12, when debris in turn one brought out the yellow. On the restart Wenig jumped back out front, with Watts and Oliver Jr. close behind. Once again Watts went back to trying the bottom to get around Wenig for the lead. Watts was able to slip under Wenig coming of turn 4 to grab the lead on lap 16 by inches. The two would come across the line on lap 17 dead even, with Watts grabbing a half a car length lead on lap 18. Going into turn 1 on the final lap Wenig would try to drive under Watts and made contact, which caused the two to spin into the infield. Bowling Jr. would inherit the lead and came around to pick up his third win of the season at the track. Dane Fenton came from 5th to finish in 2nd, Chad Krogmeier was 3rd, John Oliver Jr., who was running third on the final lap, had to get on the brakes to avoid Watts and Wenig spinning and slipped back to finish in 4th, with Ray Raker recovering from his spin to avoid a car on the drop of the green flag to come back up to finish in 5th.

Dakota Simmons and David Cloke made up the front row for the 15 lap IMCA SportMod feature, with Simmons grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Scott VanBuskirk and Adam Shelman. Simmons then held the lead until the first caution of the event appeared on lap 6 to slow the action. Shelman, who was running 3rd, spun in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Simmons jumped back out front, with Bobby Anders, who started 9th, over taking VanBuskirk for the second spot. Simmons, who was using the bottom of the track, then worked to hold back Anders, who was running up top. But Anders would use the momentum off the top to grab the lead away from Simmons on lap 8. The action was slowed for the second time on lap 12, as Ethan Allen spun in turn 2 to bring out the caution. On the restart Creston Williams, who started 11th and had worked his way to 7th, spun in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Anders move back out front, with Simmons and Brett Timmerman, who started 5th, battling for second. Anders would go on to lead the final 3 laps to claim his fourth win of the season at the track. Simmons held on for 2nd, Timmerman was 3rd, Sean Wyett came from 8th to finish in 4th, with VanBuskirk coming home in 5th.

Up next was the 12 lap 4 Cylinder feature, with Shawn Baker and Brian Mehaffy on the front row. Baker would take advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Larry Miller and Austen Becerra, who started 8th. Miller would jump to the top of the track to grab the top spot away from Baker on lap 2, with Becerra following behind him. Becerra then tried to work under Miller over the next 3 laps, when the first and only caution came out on lap 5. Daytona Fenton came to a stop in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Miller jumped back out front, with Becerra glued to his back bumper. Miller then had to work to hold off Becerra, who was looking under him off the corners. Becerra was able to slid under Miller coming off turn 2 on lap 9 to come around to lead lap 10. Becerra then held on over the final two laps to pick up his sixth win of the season at the track and 26th overall. Miller settled for 2nd, Dustin Ravelin was 3rd, Rachael Reger was 4th, with Baker holding on for 5th.

Jimmy Halcomb and Devon Rouse led the field to the green in the 12 lap Mod Lite feature, with Halcomb grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Daniel Keltner and Rouse. But Halcomb's lead would only last for 1 lap, as Keltner used the top of the track to grab the lead away on lap 2. With Keltner out front, the battle for second on back was a good one. As Halcomb, Rouse, Justin Buchholz and Chase Flatt had a side-by-side battle going on for second on back. Keltner pulled away over the final 10 laps of a caution free race to pick up the win. Rouse won the battle for 2nd, Flatt was 3rd, Halcomb was 4th, with Buchholz coming home in 5th.

The final feature to take to the track was the 20 lap 305 Sprints, with Kyle Peterson and Andy Krieger on the front row. Krieger would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Peterson and Jacob Glasgow. While Krieger set the pace out front, Donnie Steward, who started 8th, was working his way to the front. Steward would over take Peterson for second on lap 7 and then went to work on chasing down Krieger, who had built up a straight away lead. Just as Krieger started to enter lapped traffic on lap 10, Steward was able to close in on his back bumper. One lap later, lap 11, Steward would slip under Krieger to grab the top spot away. Steward then pulled away over the final 9 laps, of a caution free race, to claim his second win of the season at the track. Krieger settled for a career best 2nd, Jayson Ditsworth came from 9th to finish in 3rd, Dustin Clark passed 7 cars from his 11th place starting spot to come home in 4th, with John Schulz rounding out the top 5.

Notes from 34: Dugan Thye started the Modified feature in 12th and passed 6 cars to come home in 6th....Lonnie Heap, who started 16th and spun on lap 7, recovered to come back up to finish in 8th....Darrow Lillie recovered from his spin on lap 14 to come back up to finish in 9th....Chadwick Giberson, who went to the rear on the start, also recovered from his spin on lap 17 to come back up to finish in 10th......John Brockway recovered from his spin on the start of the Stock Car feature to come back up to finish in 6th....Shane Watts was scored in 8th and Jake Wenig was 9th, after battling for the lead on the final lap and spinning into the infield......Adam Shelman recovered from his spin on lap 6 in the SportMod feature to come back up to finish in 6th....Creston Williams also recovered from his lap 12 spin to come back up to finish in 8th....Joey Gower had troubles after the heat that forced him to scratch from the feature......Chuck Fullenkamp started the 4 Cylinder feature in 9th and finished in 6th....Kimberly Abbott came from 11th to finish in 7th....Wayne Noble passed 6 cars from his 17th place starting spot to come home in 11th....Richard Bank came from 16th to finish in 12th......Ryan Jamison started the 305 Sprint feature in 12th and came home in 6th....Nick Guernsey started 15th and finished 12th....Chase Wanner came from 18th to finish in 14th....Justin Newberry, who was the points leader going into the night, broke something in the rear end in the heat race that forced him to scratch from the feature.

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