Saturday, May 16, 2015

Ryan, VonDresky, and Olson Go Back-to-Back at Davenport

Davenport, IA (Friday, May 16, 2015) - After heavy rains moved out of the south and canceled the events at the track I work at every Friday night, I decided to climb in the car and make the trip north to the Davenport Speedway in Davenport, IA. So far in 2015 mother nature seems to be the winner on the weekends, as this was only the second points night of the year at the track. At the end of the night there would be 3 repeat winners and 2 first time winners of the season standing in victory lane.

The first feature to take to the track was the 15 lap Street Stocks, with Kevin Dickey and Keith Blum leading the field to the green flag. Blum would take advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Dickey and Randy Lamar. The first caution of the event would appear on lap 2, when Erick Turner spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Blum jumped back out front over Dickey and Perry Gellerstedt, who started 7th. But just after the completion of lap 3, Lamar who was running 4th slowed in turn 3 to bring out the caution. Once again Blum grabbed the lead on the restart, while Gellerstedt over took Dickey for the runner up spot. Around the midway part of the race Gellerstedt would look under Blum off turn 2 for the lead, with Blum holding him off each lap. But going into turn 3 on the final lap Gellerstedt tried to use the high side to get around Blum for the win. The two would come off turn 4 side-by-side, with Blum edging out Gellerstedt by half a car length to pick up his first win of the season at the track. Gellerstedt settled for 2nd, Dickey held on for 3rd, Cord Williams was 4th, with Rob Henry passing 6 cars from his 11th place starting spot to come home in 5th.

Up next was the 15 lap IMCA SportMod feature, with Jake Morris and David Norton making up the front row for the event. Morris used his front row staring spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Dalton Simonson and Dustin Crear. Crear's run up front came to an end on lap 3, when he spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. While running under caution something in the left rear of Morris' car broke, which sent him to the pits for repairs. On the restart Mike McGarry spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Simonson grab the lead over Joe Grant and Tony Olson, who quickly moved up from his 11th place starting spot. Two laps later, lap 5, Brandon Jewell stopped down the front stretch to bring out the caution. On the restart Kyle Eller stopped in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Morris get into the wall off turn 4 to bring the caution back out. A third attempt of a restart saw Olson jump to the top of the track to grab the lead over Simonson and Bryce Garnhart, who started 10th. Just as Olson started to pull away from the field, the final caution appeared on lap 10 to bring the field back to his back bumper. This time Jade Davis spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow, at the same time McGarry wowed the crowd with his two wheel action in turn 4. Olson grabbed the lead on the restart, with Garnhart and Henry Carson close behind. There was no stopping Olson on this night, as he pulled away over the final 5 laps to claim his second win in a row at the track. Garnhart was 2nd, Simonson was 3rd, Phil Anderson was 4th, with Carson rounding out the top 5.

Josh Riley and Brandon Setser led the field to the green in the 12 lap 4 Stock feature, with Riley grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Luke Benischek and Setser. While Riley set the pace out front, Zach Dahl, who started 6th, was working his way towards the front. Dahl would look under Riley on lap 10, only to have Riley hold him off. But coming to the white flag Dahl final slipped under Riley and then held on over the final lap to pick up his first win of the season at the track. Riley settled for 2nd, Luke Benischek was 3rd, Jake Benischek was 4th, with Setser coming home in 5th.

Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Hunter Wilson and Kyle Montgomery making up the front row. Chris Lawrence, who started 5th, quickly moved to the front to lead lap 1 over Bruce Fosdyck Sr. and Wilson. Lawrence then started to put some distance between himself and the battle behind him, when the first caution appeared on lap 4. Debris in turn 4 would bring out the yellow. On the restart Doug Crampton, who started 7th, went to the top side to take the top spot away from Lawrence. But going down the backstretch on lap 5 Crampton lost a drive shaft and came to a stop in turn 3 to bring out the caution. Debris down the front stretch on the restart would bring the caution light back on. The following restart saw Lawrence jump back out front, but now had Tony VonDresky, who started 17th, glued to his back bumper. VonDresky would try the top of the track on laps 7 - 9, only to have Lawrence hold him off each lap. That was until lap 10, when VonDresky made the pass to take over the top spot. From there VonDresky would pull away to claim his second win in a row at the track. Lawrence settled for 2nd, Bruce Hanford passed 11 cars from his 14th place starting spot to come home in 3rd, Kelly Meyer started 10th and finished 4th, with Greg Durbin passing 17 cars from his 22nd place starting spot to round out the top 5.

The final feature to take to the track was the 25 lap IMCA Late Models, with Joe Zrostlik and Jay Chenoweth drawing the front row. Zrostlik would take advantage of his draw to grab the lead on lap 1 over Mike Zemo Jr. and Chenoweth. The action up front was slowed for the first time on lap 4, as debris down the backstretch brought out the yellow. On the restart Zrostlik moved back out front over Brunson Behning, who started 5th, and Sam Halstead, who started 7th. By lap 8 Todd Malmstrom, who started 13th, and Matt Ryan, who started 10th, moved up to challenge Zrostlik and Behning for the top spot. Ryan would use the bottom and top of the track to clear the top 3 cars to take over the top spot on lap 14. Ryan then pulled away over the final 11 laps to cruise to his second win in a row at the track. Behning was 2nd, Malmstrom was 3rd, Zrostlik held on for 4th, with Halstead coming home in 5th.

Notes from Davenport: 36 Modifieds, 23 SportMods, 21 Late Models, 20 Street Stocks and 12 4 Stocks made up the 112 cars signed in on the night......Donnie Louck started the Street Stock feature in 8th and finished 6th....Dwayne Smith Jr. came from 12th to finish in 7th....Nick Claussen started 13th and finished 8th....Erick Turner recovered from the caution on lap 2 to come back up to finish 11th....Tom Riggs started 15th and finished 13th....Rick Schriner started 19th and finished 14th....Jeremy Gustaf had troubles in his heat race that forced him to scratch from the feature......Randy Farrell passed 10 cars from his 17th place starting spot in the SportMod feature to come home in 7th....Andre LaPorte passed 12 cars from his 20th place starting spot to come home in 8th....Kyle Eller, who started 22nd, recovered from his caution on lap 5 to come back up to finish 11th....Gary Rentfro started 15th and finished 12th....Jade Davis, who started 19th, recovered from his spin in turn 4 on lap 10 to come back up to finish 13th....Rance Powell started 16th and finished 14th....Emily Gade had troubles after her heat race that forced her to scratch from the feature....Jared Miller had troubles in hot laps that forced him to scratch from both the heat and feature......Cody Neltner started the 4 Stock feature in 9th and finished 7th....Richard Dearborn started 11th and finished 8th......Brian Bushong passed 16 cars from his 23rd place starting spot in the Modified feature to come up to finish 7th....Ray Cox Jr. started 13th and finished 8th....Dave Hammond thought his night was over after finishing 7th in B Main number 2. But when a car scratched from the feature Hammond was awarded the 24th place starting spot. He then passed 15 cars to come home in 9th....Dakota Hayden started 21st and passed 11 cars to finish in 10th....Terry Rentfro started 20th and finished 13th....Milo Veloz Jr., who started 18th and was running 6th, pulled off on lap 7 with troubles to end his night in 16th....Jake Bowman, who started 9th and was running 4th, broke something on the right front on lap 5 to end his night in 19th....Bob Dominacki was suppose to start 12th, but troubles after the heat forced him to scratch from the feature....Scott Powell, Dusty Kraklio, Brian Webb, Casey Schram, Shelby Walsh, George Spence III, Crag Crawford, Paul Howard, Rich Smith, and Tim Arp were the drivers who didn't make it out of the B Mains......Andy Nezworski had to pit under the lap 4 caution in the Late Model feature for a flat tire. He would restart 16th and then climbed his way back up to finish 6th....Rick Wages started 11th and finished 8th....Stephan Kammerer, who was running 7th, broke a wheel on the final lap to be credited with 9th....Eric Sanders started 12th and finished 10th....Marty Scheckel started 15th and finished 11th....Both Ray Guss Jr. and Ryan Claeys had troubles in hot laps that forced them to scratch from the heat and feature.

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