Dubuque, IA (Tuesday, July 24, 2018) - The Sprint Invaders made their final stop at a county fair in 2018 on Tuesday, July 24th at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque, Iowa. Joining the Sprint Cars on what they called open wheel Tuesday, was the IMCA Modifieds and IMCA SportMods.
With 14 Sprint Cars signed in for the nights action, it was determined that two sets of heat races would be ran to help determine the feature line up. The first two heat races would be lined up by the pill number they drew when they first signed in for the night. After those heat races were ran, the second set of heats would be inverted by their passing points from the first set of heats. There was only one catch, in order to keep your starting spot in the second heat you must have finished your first heat race. Otherwise you would have to go to the rear of the second heat.
Once both rounds of heat races were completed, then the passing points that driver's earned in each round were added together. This would help determine which 6 driver's would make-up the Shake-Up Dash, with the rest of the field lined up by passing points. Since the heat race winners were guaranteed a starting spot in the Shake-Up Dash, and there was no repeat heat race winners in both rounds of heat races. The four heat race winners and the two highest in combined passing points would draw for their starting spot in that dash. Dominic Scelzi would draw the pole and then led all 6 laps to pick up the win. He then drew a 4, which put him starting 4th in the A-Feature.
The first feature to take to the track was the 20 lap IMCA Modifieds, with Tyler Madigan and Matt Gansen drawing the front row for the event. Gansen used his starting spot to his advantage by jumping out into the lead on lap 1 over Jed Freiburger and Madigan. Gansen, Madigan, Austin Moyer, Freiburger and Darin Duffy raced two wide three rows deep for the top spot. Meanwhile Jeff Larson, who started 12th, was working the top of the track to join the battle. Disaster would strike Duffy, who was running 6th, on lap 5, as he got on the binders hard to avoid Larson who dove under him going into turn 1 and then spun to bring out the yellow. On the restart Moyer, Gansen, and Madigan raced three wide off turn 4 for the lead, with Madigan edging out front at the line. As Madigan worked to hold off the pack, Larson's run to the front continued. On lap 10 he would use the top of the track to work himself into second. Then one lap later, lap 11, David McClain would spin in turn 4 to bring out the caution.
On the restart Larson would spin in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on, and then had to go to the rear. The following restart saw Madigan jump back out front, with Moyer and Mark Schulte, who started 9th, following close behind. The caution would appear on lap 13 to slow the action, as Scott Riechers spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Gansen, who was running 5th, spun in turn 1 and collected Jason Schueller to bring the yellow light back on. Both cars were battling within the top seven, but suffered to much damage to continue. The following restart saw Madigan hold the top spot by inches over Moyer, as the two raced off turn four side-by-side. Moyer, who was on the bottom, grabbed the lead by inches on lap 15. But one lap later, lap 16, disaster would strike him, as he spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. With the leader spinning, this would put Freiburger and Madigan side-by-side on the front row for the restart. On that restart Madigan edged out Freiburger to grab the lead and then held him off over the final lap to pick up the win. Freiburger was a close 2nd, Schulte was 3rd, Bryce Garnhart started 14th and finished 4th, while Larson recovered from his spin on lap 11 to come back up to finish 5th.
Jake Murphy and Jerry Miles drew the front row for the 15 lap IMCA SportMod feature. Just as the green flag was waved the caution light came back on, as Scott Busch slowed down the front stretch with mechanical troubles to bring out the yellow. On the restart Tim Casper spun in turn 1 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw third place starter Jason Roth grab the lead on lap 1 over Murphy and Miles. Debris in turn 4 on lap 4 would bring out another yellow. Then more debris in turn 1 on the restart would bring the yellow light back on. On the next restart Roth jumped back out front, with Gage Neal, who started 6th, and Tyler Soppe, who started 9th, glued to his back bumper. Neal, who was running the top of the track, used the momentum off the top of turn 4 to edge out Roth at the line to lead lap 6. But as they came around to complete lap 7, Neal would spin in turn 4 to bring out the yellow.
Soppe and Roth would start on the front row side-by-side for the restart, with Roth using the top of the track to edge out Soppe at the line for the lead. Just as the lap was scored complete, Richard Nelson spun in turn 4 to bring out the caution. Roth moved back out front on the restart, with Miles and Soppe close behind. Roth then started to pull away from the battle for the runner up spot behind, when the final caution of the race appeared on lap 11. Casper would spin in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Once again Roth jumped out front on the restart, with Miles and Soppe continuing their battle for second. While Miles and Soppe battled for second, Roth would go on to claim the win. Soppe won the battle for 2nd, Miles was 3rd, Troy Bauer passed 14 cars from his 18th place starting spot to come home in 4th, with Murphy finishing 5th.
The final feature to take to the track on the night was the 30 lap Sprint Invaders, with Bill Balog and Jarrod Schneiderman leading the field to green. Balog took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Sammy Walsh and Schneiderman. Then just after the lap was scored complete Jon Agan and Rob Weuve got together in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Balog jumped back out front, with Walsh and Schneiderman following. Balog then started to pull away from the field, when the second caution of the race appeared on lap 11. Walsh, who was running 2nd, spun in turn 4 to avoid a lapped car to bring out the yellow. Once again Balog grabbed the lead on the restart, with Dominic Scelzi and Tanner Gebhardt, who started 7th, close behind. Scelzi, who was running the bottom, would edge out Balog at the line to take over the top spot on lap 13.
On lap 15 the third caution of the race appeared, as Cody Wehrle did a 360 in turn 4 and Justin Buchholz spun to bring out the yellow. Scelzi moved back out front on the restart, with Balog and Gebhardt following. Just as it looked like Scelzi would pull away to pick up the win, the final caution of the race came out on lap 24 to bring the field back to his back bumper. Walsh would spin in turn 4 to bring out his second yellow to end his night. On the restart Scelzi moved back out front, with Balog and Gebhardt close behind. While Scelzi worked the bottom of the track, Balog worked the top of the track to try and wrestle the lead away. But Scelzi would hold him off over the final laps to score his second Sprint Invaders fair race win in a row at Dubuque, as he was the winner in 2017. Balog was 2nd, Gebhardt was 3rd, Ryan Jamison started 10th and finished 4th to earn the hard charger award, with Jamie Ball coming home in 5th.
Notes from Dubuque: Darin Duffy recovered from his spin on lap 5 of the Modified feature to come back up to finish 6th....Ryan DeShaw was running 4th, when he got into the wall in turn 4 on the last lap and fell back to 7th at the finish....Derek Thompson started 17th and finished 8th....Mike Weidemann finished 9th after starting in 13th....David McClain, who started 15th, recovered from his spin on lap 11 to come back up to finish 11th....Scott Riechers who spun on lap 13 came back up to finish 13th....Sean Rupp started 19th and finished 15th....John Campbell and Rod McDonald had troubles in their heat races that forced them to scratch from the feature......Gage Neal recovered from his spin on lap 6 of the SportMod feature to come back up to finish 7th....Austin Heacock finished 8th after starting in 15th....Justin Becker came from 16th to finish 9th....Rusty DeShaw started 14th and finished 10th......Cody Wehrle recovered from his lap 15 spin in the Sprint Invaders feature to come back up to finish 6th....Daniel Bergquist finished 9th after starting in 14th....Harold Pohren started 13th and finished 10th.
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