The first feature to take to the track was the 16 lap Stock Cars, with Mike Hughes and Dan Gordon drawing the front row. Just as the green flag waved the caution light would come on, as John Hemsted spun in turn two and collected Travis Bunnell, Phil McClure, Riley Newton, and Kevin Koontz to bring out the yellow. On the restart Hughes jumped out front to lead lap 1 over Greg Gill, who started 5th, and Donavon Nunnikhoven. The action up front was slowed for the second time on lap 2, when Brad Egbert spun in turn 2 to bring out the caution. Hughes again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Gill and Gordon close behind. Just as Hughes started to pull away from the battle behind him, the third caution of the race appeared on lap 7. This time Darin DeZwarte would spin in turn 2 to bring out the yellow.
Once again Hughes moved back out front on the restart, as Nunnikhoven and Gordon over took Gill for the second and third spots. Hughes then started to pull away from the field, leaving Nunnikhoven, Gordon, Gill and Bunnell, who recovered from the crash on the start, to battle two and three wide for the runner up spot. But disaster would strike Nunnikhoven and Bunnell on lap 14, when Nunnikhoven spun in turn 2 and collected Bunnell to bring out the caution. On the restart Hughes moved back out front, but Gill would look under him going into turn 1 for the lead. Only to have Hughes use the momentum off the topside of turn 2 to keep the top spot. Hughes then held on over the final lap to pick up the win. Gill was 2nd, Gordon was 3rd, Tyler Pickett, who made the pull down from Boxholm, started 8th and finished 4th, with Egbert, who started 11th, recovering from his spin on lap 2 to come back up to finish 5th.
Up next was the 12 lap Sport Compacts feature, with Larry Hopkins and Kyle Boyd leading the field to the drop of the green flag. But it was third place starter Barry Taft who grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Hopkins and Trent Orwig. The lead that Taft had built up was erased on lap 6, when debris in turn 4 brought out the first yellow of the race. On the restart Taft jumped back out front, with Darin Smith, who started 8th, over taking Orwig for the runner up spot. Smith would try to stay in Taft's tire tracks, when the second and final caution of the race slowed the action on lap 10. Kirk Hopkins would spin in turn 2 from contact from Boyd, to bring out the yellow. Taft again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Smith and Orwig close behind. Taft then held on over the final lap to claim the win. Smith was 2nd, Orwig was 3rd, Brandon Housley, who drove Matt Moore's #2M, passed 7 cars from his 11th place starting spot to finish 4th, with Chuck Fullenkamp rounding out the top 5.
Casey Lancaster and Andrew Burk drew the front row for the 15 lap SportMod feature. But disaster would strike them on the drop of the green flag, when Lancaster spun in turn 2 and tagged Brandon Dale. Dale then nosed it into the wall and was t-boned by Burk to bring out the caution. Both Lancaster and Burk were able to restart, as Dale was towed to the pits. But with Lancaster and Burk having to go to the rear, this would move Scott Brau and Carter VanDenBerg to the front row for the restart. VanDenBerg would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Curtis Van Der Wal, who started 8th, and Colton Livezey, who started 6th. Van Der Wal, who used the bottom of the track, slipped under VanDenBerg, who was up top, coming off turn 2 to take the top spot away on lap 2. Without another caution to slow the action the only thing to slow down Van Der Wal was lapped traffic, as he entered into that on lap 8. Despite having a broke left front upper a arm there was no catching Van Der Wal, who cruised to an easy win. VanDenBerg settled for 2nd, Livezey was 3rd, Jason McDaniel started 9th and finished 4th, with Brayton Carter coming from 10th to come home in 5th.
Up next was the 14 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Christian Huffman and Aaron Martin drawing the front row for the event. But just as the green flag was waved the caution light would come on, as Huffman spun in turn 2 and collected Kelsie Spilman to bring out the yellow. For the restart Danny Thrasher would move to the pole, and he would take advantage of that by grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Martin and Scott Shull, who started 11th. The second and final caution of the race appeared after the completion of lap 1, as PJ Veenstra spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Under caution Shull was docked 4 spots for jumping the start, which moved him back to 7th for the restart. On the restart Mike Hughes, who started 6th, used the momentum off the top of turn 2 to take the top spot away from Thrasher and Nick Ulin. While Hughes started to pull away, the battle for second heated up between Thrasher, Ulin, and Martin. Without a late race caution there was no catching Hughes, who went on to claim his second win of the night. Ulin won the battle for 2nd, Martin was 3rd, Thrasher was 4th, with Shull rounding out the top 5.
The final feature to take to the track was the 16 lap Modifieds, with Bruce Hanford and Dugan Thye leading the field to the green. Hanford took advantage of his starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Colt Mather and Kyle Brown. Just as Hanford started to put some distance between himself and the second place battle, the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 5. Brandon Banks got into the wall in turn 4 and slowed with rear end suspension damage to bring out the yellow. On the restart Hanford moved back out front, with Mather and Nick Roberts, who started 10th, close behind. Roberts, who was working the bottom of the track, slipped under Mather going into turn 1 on lap 6 to grab the runner up spot away and then went to work on Hanford for the top spot.
Hanford was using the top of the track, while Roberts stayed glued to the bottom. Roberts was able to get up beside Hanford going into the corners over laps 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. Only to have Hanford use the momentum off the top to keep the lead each lap. Coming off turn 4 to complete lap 12 Roberts was able to edge Hanford out at the line by half a car length to grab the lead. But Hanford again used the momentum off the top coming out of turn 4 to complete lap 13 to take the top spot back. Roberts then decided to jump to the top of the track to follow Hanford over the next couple laps, as the two approached the lapped car of Terry Doud coming to the white flag. Going into turn 3 Hanford chose to go to the bottom to try and clear the lapped car, while Roberts went to the top. But coming off turn 4 Hanford slid to the top and forced Roberts to do a cross under, as the two came off turn 4 side-by-side. They would drag race down the front stretch to the checkered flag, with both crossing the line even. The crowd all awaited the official word from the scoring tower to see who was declared the winner. After the two scorers, and a third party person, converged and with all three having the same thing it was announced that Hanford had pick up the win by inches. Roberts finished a close 2nd, Mather was 3rd, Kyle Brown was 4th, with Thye coming home in 5th.
Notes from Eldon: 23 SportMods, 18 Modifieds, 16 Sport Compacts, 14 Hobby Stocks, and 13 Stock Cars made up the 84 cars signed in on the night......Riley Newton, who started 10th in the Stock Car feature, recovered from the crash on the start to come back up to finish 6th....Darin DeZwarte finished 7th after spinning on lap 7 to bring out a caution....Kevin Koontz started 13th and finished 8th......Bill Whalen Jr. passed 7 cars from his 15th place starting spot in the Sport Compact feature to finish 8th....Kirk Hopkins recovered from his spin on lap 10 to come back up to finish 9th....Nicholas Van Hemert started 16th and finished 12th......Jake McBirnie made the pull down from Boone and started the SportMod feature in 11th. He would pass 5 cars to finish in 6th....Erik Laudenschlager was the longest from home, as he traveled from Minot, North Dakota. He would finish 7th after starting in 13th....Austen Becerra started 12th and finished 8th....Tony Johnson came from 17th to finish in 9th....Charlie Weber, who went to the pits to change a tire during the crash on the start, came back from the rear to finish 10th....Casey Lancaster also recovered from the crash on the start to come back up to finish 12th....Dakota Simmons finished 13th after starting in 20th....Andrew Burk also recovered from the crash on the start to come home in 15th....Aaron Bridgeman started 22nd and finished 17th....Jim Alexander had troubles in his heat race that forced him to scratch from the feature......Jared Stephens came from 13th in the Hobby Stock feature to come home in 8th....Sierra Wilsey had troubles in the heat race that forced her to scratch from the feature......Scott Dickey started the Modified feature in 11th and finished 7th....Jason Hall passed 8 cars from his 18th place starting spot to come home in 10th....Kelly Buckallew finished 11th after starting in 14th....Justin Medler made the long pull down from Minot, North Dakota to compete in the Modifieds. He had troubles late in the feature that forced him to pull off with a 15th place finish....Chadwick Giberson had troubles in the heat that forced him to scratch from the feature.
I would like to thank all the Eldon Raceway crew for making me feel welcomed on their final night of racing during the 2016 season. The track crew worked hard to give the racers a great track that produced two and three wide racing for the fans to enjoy!!!
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