Sunday, July 5, 2015

Banks Repeats at the Southern Iowa Speedway

Oskaloosa, IA (Wednesday, July 1, 2015) - Wednesday night kicked off night 1 of the 20th Annual Great American Stock Car Shootout at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, IA. This night would feature a unique qualifying format for the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks, while the IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Compacts ran a regular weekly program.

All the drivers in the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks drew a number when they checked in for competition to determine how to line straight up for the first set of heat races. Those same numbers would be inverted to determine where they would start for the second set of heat races. For each finishing position in both sets of heat races the drivers would earn points. Points from both sets of heat races would then be added up to determine who the top 8 point gainers would be to. Those top 8 drivers where then locked into the dash for Thursday night, night 2. The finish of those dashes would then determine the first 4 rows of the big money features on Thursday night.

The night started off with heat 1 in the IMCA SportMods, with Brett Lowry and Colton Livezay drawing the front row. Livezay jumped out front on the start and held on to pick up the win. Lowry was 2nd, Kyle Hill started 5th and finished 3rd, Cory Van Zante finished 4th after starting in 8th, Brandon Dale was 5th, Aaron Osweiler was 6th, LeRoey Groenendyk was 7th, Greg Strohman was 8th, with Trent Brink rounding out the field in 9th.

Jason McDaniel and Curtis Van Der Wal led the field to green in the second IMCA SportMod heat race, with Van Der Wal grabbing the lead on lap 1. Van Der Wal would lead all lasp to pick up the win. McDaniel was 2nd, Logan Anderson was 3rd, Brayton Carter was 4th, Scott VanBuskirk was 5th, Charlie Weber was 6th, Danny Brau was 7th, with Scott Brau coming home in 8th.

Up next was the first of two IMCA Hobby Stock heat races, with Nick Ulin and Travis Bunnell making up the front row. Ulin would grab the lead on the start and then held on to pick up the win. Craig Brown started 6th and finished 2nd, Jamie Songer finished 3rd after starting in 5th, Bobby Greene came from 8th to finish in 4th, Bill Bonnett finished 5th, Kevin Fee was 6th, August Bach drove Gina Gruebel's #224 to a 7th place finish, Mike Kincaid was 8th, Bunnell was 9th, with Daniel Dyer losing a right rear in turn 1 on the start to end up 10th.

IMCA Hobby Stock heat race number 2 had Ron Downing Jr. and Dustin Griffiths on the front row. Griffiths used his front row start to grab the lead on the start and then cruised to an easy win. Dale Porter was 2nd, Danny Thrasher passed 6 cars from his 9th place starting spot to finish in 3rd, Adam Bonnett was 4th, Aaron Martin was 5th, Brandon Potts was 6th, Steve Allen was 7th, Clayton Webster was 8th, Christian Huffman was 9th, with Downing Jr. finishing 10th.

Caleb Crenshaw, who made the pull up from Fort Worth, Texas, and Nathan Wood led the field to green in the first IMCA Stock Car heat race. Wood grabbed the lead on lap 1 and then held it until lap4, when Derrick Agee over took him for the top spot. While Agee started to pull away, this would leave Wood, Mike Hughes, who started 6th, Shane Paris, who started 5th, and Jason See, who started 8th, battling side-by-side for the runner up spot. Agee would go on to pick up the win. Wood held on for 2nd, Hughes was 3rd, Paris was 4th, See was 5th, Crenshaw was 6th, Jerry Pilcher came from 12th to finish in 7th, Les Blakley was 8th, Ashton Johnson was 9th, Michael Bilyeu was 10th, Brock Welch was 11th, with Ryan Fullenkamp coming home in 12th.

The second IMCA Stock Car heat race had Johnny Spaw and Casey Greubel leading the field to the green flag, with Spaw jumping out front on lap 1. While Spaw set the pace out front, Damon Murty, who started 9th, was working his way towards the front. Late in the race Murty would slip under Spaw to take over the top spot and then went on to claim the win. Spaw crossed the line in 2nd, but was disqualified for not going to tech. Which moved Daniel Hilsabeck up to 2nd, Greubel was 3rd, Cody Agee started 10th and finished 4th, Daniel Gordon was 5th, Robert Markle was 6th, Donnie Pearson started 12th and finished 7th, Austin Evens was 8th, Todd Phillips was 9th, Terry Clayton was 10th, Jay Schmidt was 11th, with Spaw credited with 12th.

Heat 3 was led to green by Steve Clair and Doug Sylvester. But just as the green flag waved the caution light would come on, as Clair spun in front of the field in turn 2 and collected Brad Pinkerton to bring out the yellow. On the restart Todd Reitzler, Cayden Carter, who started 6th, Zack VanderBeek, who started 5th, and David Brandies, who started 9th, raced side-by-side for the top spot. Carter would emerge with the lead late in the race to pick up the win. VanderBeek was 2nd, Brandies was 3rd, Reitzler was 4th, Joe Zadina started 11th and finished 5th, Bob Lynch was 6th, Sylvester was 7th, Ron Christopher, who made the pull up from Forney, Texas, was 8th, Dewayne Herb was 9th, Pinkerton was 10th, with Clair 11th.

After the first round of heat races for the IMCA SportMods, IMCA Hobby Stocks, and IMCA Stock Cars the 12 lap IMCA Sport Compact feature would take to the track. John Whalen and Trent Orwig would led the field to the green, but it was 4th place starter Josh Barnes who grabbed the lead on lap 1. Barnes then started to pull away from the field, when the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 5. Orwig lost an engine down the front stretch and dumped oil onto the track to bring out the yellow. On the restart Barnes moved back out front and then cruised to an easy win in his first ever visit to the track. Shane Evans started 5th and finished 2nd, John Whalen was 3rd, Bill Whalen Jr was 4th, with Girdley rounding out the top 5.

Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Brandon Banks and Scott Dickey on the front row. Banks would use his front row starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1. While Banks set the pace out front, Cayden Carter, who started 5th, was working his way into second late in the race. But without a caution there was no catching Banks, as he won his second feature in a row at the track since debuting his new Jake Murray Race Car. Carter settled for 2nd, Andrew Schroeder was 3rd, Tyler Groenendyk was 4th, with Colt Mather coming home in 5th after starting in 7th.

Following the IMCA Modified feature was the round two heat races in the IMCA SportMods, IMCA Hobby Stocks, and IMCA Stock Cars. This time the drivers would be inverted, with the highest number drawn at the beginning of the night starting on the pole. The first IMCA SportMod heat had Scott VanBuskirk and Cory Van Zante leading them to green. But it was fifth place starter Logan Anderson who quickly grabbed the lead on the start. He would then pull away to pick up the win. Jason McDaniel came from 7th to finish in 2nd, Van Zante was 3rd, Brandon Dale started 6th and finished 4th, Aaron Osweiler was 5th, Colton Livezay was 6th, VanBuskirk was 7th, with Brayton Carter credited with 8th. Carter's car would stall in turn before the green flag was waved and was pushed back to the pits.

Greg Strohman and Danny Brau led the field to green in the second IMCA SportMod heat. Curtis Van Der Wal, who started 8th, quickly moved to the front and then pulled away to pick up the win. Charlie Weber was 2nd, Brett Lowry started 9th and finished 3rd, Kyle Hill was 4th, LeRoy Groenendyk was 5th, Trent Brink was 6th, Strohman was 7th, Scott Brau was 8th, with Danny Brau 9th.

The first IMCA Hobby Stock heat race of round two was up next, with Christian Huffman and August Bach making up the front row. At the drop of the green Brandon Potts and Bill Bonnett raced side-by-side for the top spot. Meanwhile, Dustin Griffiths, who started 9th, worked his way up midway through the race to make it a three car battle for the lead. Late in the race Griffiths was able to slip past Potts and Bonnett to grab the top spot, and then held on to claim the win. Potts was 2nd, Bonnett was 3rd, Nick Ulin started 10th and finished 4th, Jamie Songer was 5th, Dale Porter was 6th, Huffman was 7th, Aaron Martin was 8th, Bach was 9th, with Mike Kincaid rounding out the top 10.

Heat two of the IMCA Hobby Stocks was led to the green flag by Danny Thrasher and Kevin Fee, with Thrasher grabbing the lead on lap 1. Thrasher then pulled away to pick up the win. Travis Bunnell pass 8 cars from his 10 place starting spot to come home in 2nd, Adam Bonnett was 3rd, Craig Brown was 4th, Bobby Greene was 5th, Steve Allen was 6th, Fee was 7th, Clayton Webster was 8th, Ron Downing Jr. was 9th, with Daniel Dyer credited with 10th after scratching from troubles earlier in the first round of heat races.

Up next was the first of three second round heat races for the IMCA Stock Cars, with Donnie Pearson and Brad Pinkerton leading the field to green. Pinkerton would grab the lead on lap 1. While Pinkerton paced the field out front, Mike Hughes, who started 7th, Daniel Hilsabeck, who started 8th, and Todd Reitzler, who started 9th, were all working their way towards the front. Hughes would slip under Pinkerton mid way through the race to grab the top spot, with Hilsabeck and Reitzler following. Despite some late challenges from Hilsabeck and Reitzler, Hughes was able to hold on to pick up the win. Hilsabeck settled for 2nd, Reitzler was 3rd, Pinkerton was 4th, Johnny Spaw came from 12th to finish in 5th, Todd Phillips came from 10th to finish in 6th, Doug Sylvester started 11th and finished 7th, Les Blakley was 8th, Ron Christopher was 9th, Pearson was 10th, Bob Lynch was 11th, with Ashton Johnson rounding out the finish in 12th.

Heat two of the IMCA Stock Cars had Jerry Pilcher and Jay Schmidt on the front row, with Schmidt grabbing the early lead. Damon Murty would slip under Schmidt on lap 4 to grab the lead away, while Cayden Carter, who started 6th, quickly moved up to follow Murty into second. Late in the race Carter would use the top of the track to slip past Murty to take over the top spot, and then held on to pick up the win. Murty was 2nd, Nathan Wood started 11th and finished 3rd, David Brandies was 4th, Derrick Agee came from 10th to finish in 5th, Zack VanderBeek was 6th, Pilcher was 7th, Schmidt was 8th, Robert Merkle was 9th, Caleb Crenshaw was 10th, Michael Bilyeu was 11th, with Terry Clayton 12th.

The third and final heat race of the night had Joe Zadina and Brock Welch on the front row. But it was third place starter Cody Agee who grabbed the lead on lap 1. Shane Paris, who started 8th, and moved into second late in the race didn't have enough time to chase down Agee for the lead. As Agee picked up the win. Paris was 2nd, Jason See was 3rd, Casey Greubel started 10th and finished 4th, Zadina was 5th, Daniel Gordon was 6th, Austin Evens was 7th, Dewayne Herb was 8th, Welch was 9th, Ryan Fullenkamp was suppose to started on the outside of the front row, but was a scratch and was credited with 10th, Steve Clair was also a scratch and was credited with 11th.

After both rounds of heat races were complete in the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks the points were tallied up to see who the top 8 would be locked into the dash on Thursday night.

Cayden Carter was the top points gainer in the IMCA Stock Cars. He was followed by Damon Murty, Mike Hughes, Daniel Hilsabeck, Cody Agee, Nathan Wood, Derrick Agee, and Shane Paris.

The IMCA SportMod top points gainer was Curtis Van Der Wal. He was followed by Logan Anderson, Jason McDaniel, Brett Lowry, Colton Livezay, Kyle Hill, Cory Van Zante, and Charle Weber.

Dustin Griffiths top the IMCA Hobby Stocks points. He was followed by Danny Thrasher, Nick Ulin, Craig Brown, Adam Bonnett, Dale Porter, Brandon Potts, and Jamie Songer.

Thursday nights events would feature last chance races in the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks. Then the dashes for the top 8 in points, to determine the first four rows of the features. Those features would have a $2,000 top prize on the line for the IMCA Stock Cars, with $1,000 up for grabs in the IMCA SportMods and IMCA Hobby Stocks.

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