Sunday, June 21, 2015

Kay Continues Winning Streak at the Davenport Speedway

Davenport, IA (Friday, June 19, 2015) - A Friday night and beautiful weather, put those two together and it meant it was race night. My adventure took me north to the Davenport Speedway in Davenport, IA. It was another weekly night of racing, their fifth night in ten attempts this year.

The first feature to take to the track was the 12 lap 4 Stocks, with Josh Riley and Zach Dahl drawing the front row for the event. Riley took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Zach Dahl and Scott Powell. Zach Dahl would look under Riley for the lead over the next 8 laps, until he tried the middle to get around Riley. That move would cost his a few spots, as Powell and Brandon Dahl, who started 6th, slipped under him for second and third. Powell then tried to get under Riley over the final 4 laps, but Riley was able to hold him off in a caution free race to pick up his first win of the season at the track. Powell settled for 2nd, Brandon Dahl was 3rd, Zach Dahl was 4th, with Luke Benischek coming from 9th to finish in 5th.

Up next was the 15 lap Street Stock feature, with Phil Anderson and Cary Brown leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Anderson jumped out into the lead on lap 1 over Brown and Josh Neal. Anderson then had to work to hold off Brown over the next 4 laps, when the first caution of the race slowed the action down. Chance Huston spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Randy Lamar spun in turn 3 and collected Jacob Whittington and Huston to bring the caution light back on. Debris down the front stretch on the next restart would bring out another caution. A third attempt of a restart saw Anderson grab the lead, with Brown and Neal glued to his back bumper. While Anderson paced the field out front, Brown and Neal raced side-by-side for the runner up spot on laps 10, 11 and 12, with Brown gaining the spot on lap 13. Coming to the white flag Brown was able to get under Anderson going into turn 1 and then cleared him off turn 2 to take over the top spot. Brown then held off Anderson coming out of turn 4 to claim his first win of the season at the track. Anderson settled for 2nd, Neal was 3rd, Nick Claussen was 4th, with Keith Blum coming home 5th after starting in 9th.

Austin Moyer and Mike McGarry drew the front row for the 15 lap IMCA SportMod feature, with Moyer grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Tony Olson, who started 5th, and McGarry. The action up front was slowed for the first time on lap 3, when Randy Farrell spun in turn 1 and collected Rance Powell to bring out the caution. On the restart Moyer jumped back out front, with Olson and Jarrett Franzen, who started 8th, close behind. Moyer would start to pull away from the field, when the second and final caution brought the field back to his back bumper on lap 11. This time McGarry spun off turn 1 to bring out the yellow. Once again Moyer grabbed the lead on the restart, with Olson and Franzen battling for second. Moyer would go on to lead the final 4 laps to pick up his first win of the season at the track. Olson was 2nd, Franzen was 3rd, Bryce Garnhart started 7th and finished 4th, with Tyler Soppe passing 8 cars from his 13th place starting spot to round out the top 5.

Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Mitch Morris and Rick Hixson leading the field to the green flag. Morris would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Chris Zogg and Milo Veloz Jr., who started 5th. While Morris worked the bottom of the track, Veloz Jr. worked the middle, which paid off with the pass for the lead on lap 7. One lap later, lap 8, the first caution appeared to slow the action. Todd Dykema spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Kevin Blum spun in turn 2 and collected Chris Lawrence to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Veloz Jr. jump back out front, with Zogg over taking Morris for the runner up spot. Veloz Jr. would pull away over the final 12 laps to claim his first win of the season at the track. Zogg was 2nd, Tony VonDresky finished 3rd after starting in 10th, Morris was 4th, with Craig Crawford passing 12 cars from his 17th 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 Todd Malmstrom and Brian Harris drawing the front row for the event. Harris used his front row starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Justin Kay and Malmstrom. Just after lap 1 was scored complete the first caution appeared, as Chuck Hanna got into Sam Halstead, who spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Harris moved back out front, with Kay and Ray Guss Jr. close behind. Kay would work the middle of the track to grab the top spot away from Harris on lap 3. Ryan Claeys would spin in turn 2 on the completion of lap 3 to bring out the caution. Kay would jump back out front on the restart, with Harris and Guss Jr. following. Another lap in the books produce another caution, as Mike Zemo Jr., who was running 4th, spun in turn 4 from contact from Matt Ryan, who was running 5th after starting in 11th, to bring out the yellow. Once again Kay grabbed the lead on the restart, with Harris and Andy Nezworski, who started 16th, close behind. While Kay set a fast pace out front, Harris and Nezworski battled for the runner up spot. Nezworski would slip past Harris on lap 9 to take over the second spot, but was a full straight-away behind Kay for the top spot. Kay would enter lapped traffic on lap 15, which allowed Nezworski to close in. When Claeys spun in turn 2 on lap 21, for his second solo caution to end his night, this would put Nezworski on Kay's back bumper for the restart. Kay grabbed the lead on the restart and then held on over the final 4 laps to pick up his third win in a row at the track. Nezworski settled for 2nd, Hanna recovered from his involvement in the lap 1 caution to come back up to finish in 3rd, Harris was 4th, with Nate Beuseling coming home 5th.

Notes from Davenport: 35 Modifieds, 30 SportMods, 19 Street Stocks, 18 Late Models, and 11 4 Stocks made up the 113 cars signed in on the night......Greg Benischek started 10th in the 4 Stock feature and finished 6th....Brandon Setser finished 7th after starting in 11th......Perry Gellerstedt started the Street Stock feature in 11th and finished 6th....Shawn Flagel finished 7th after starting in 12th....Donnie Louck passed 10 cars from is 18th place starting spot to come home in 8th....Randy Lamar recovered from his spin on lap 4 to come back up to finish in 9th....Jesse Owen started 16th and finished 11th....Cord Williams gets my add-a-boy of the night award, as he spun in 4 on lap 7 and did a complete 360 to keep going. He was running 8th at the time and fell back to 13th, only to recover to finish in 12th......Dalton Simonson finished 7th in the SportMod feature after starting in 15th....Dustin Crear finished 8th after starting in 12th....Henry Carson started 17th and finished 11th....Jacob Beal passed 8 cars from his 20th place starting spot to come home in 12th....Erik Arensdorf came from 19th to finish in 13th....Andre LaPorte, Gage Neal, Dave Engelkens, Jade Davis, Gary Rentfro, Kyle Eller, Dawson Edwards, Emily Gade, Doug Burkhead, and Brian Wendel were among the drivers who didn't qualify for the SportMod feature......Bruce Hanford started the Modified feature in 12th and finished 6th....George Spence III passed 8 cars from his 15th place starting spot to come home in 7th....Jake Bowman passed 13 cars from his 21st place starting spot to come home in 8th....Justin Veloz passed 13 cars from his 23rd place starting spot to come home in 10th....Todd Dykema recovered from his spin on lap 8 to come back up to finish in 12th....Brian Bushong passed 11 cars from his 24th place starting spot to come home in 13th....Dakota Hayden started 19th and finished 14th....Doug Crampton finished 16th after starting in 22nd....Tom Pestka, Hunter Wilson, Jarrod Struss, Paul Howard, TJ Patz, Kyle Montgomery, Blake Woodruff, Dave Hammond, Rob Dominacki, Bruce Fosdyck, and Rich Smith were among the drivers who didn't qualify for the Modified feature......Matt Ryan, who started 11th in the Late Model feature, recovered from his involvement in the lap 4 caution to come back up to finish in 7th....Marty Scheckel started 14th and finished 11th....Sam Halstead recovered from his spin on lap 1 to come back up to finish in 12th....Rick Wages started 17th and finished 13th.

I would like to thank Bob Wagoner, Carrie Rouse and all the gang at the Davenport Speedway in Davenport, IA for the great hospitality!

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