Tipton, IA (Friday, October 5, 2019) - For the second night in a row the small grounds at the Cedar County Fairgrounds in Tipton, Iowa was packed full of race cars, their pit crews, fans, campers, and track crew. As the Darkside Promotions Team of Ryan Duhme and Timmy Current presented the second night of the "Fall Bash", with 250 cars signed in for action.
Once hot laps began at 6 PM, the 45 race event night went non stop, with the exception of any cautions or red flags that would slow the action. The twenty-nine heat races and ten B-Mains, that were ran to help set up the six twenty-four starting field features, were clicked off in just over six and a half hours. As the final checkered flag waved at 12:42 AM.
Just after all qualifying events were completed, the 20 lap Street Stock feature came to the track first. Austin Riggs and Jesse Owen drew the front row, with Riggs grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Owen and Cary Brown. After lap 1 was scored complete, Chad Coyne would spin in turn 2 to bring out the caution. On the restart Nick Hixson, who started 6th, used the momentum off the top of turn 4 to grab the lead away from Riggs. Nixson then started to pull away from the action behind him, when the second caution of the race appeared on lap 7. This time David Short, who made the long pull over from Winamac, Indiana, slowed to a stop down the middle of the backstretch to bring out the yellow. Hixson once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Jeff Struck Jr., who started 8th, and Owen over taking Riggs for second and third. One more lap scored complete produced another caution, as Riggs, who was running 4th, slipped over the track in turns 1 and 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Bobby Keller from Lake Station, Indiana spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Hixson move back out front, with Struck Jr. and Owen following. Struck Jr. tried to stay in Hixson's tire tracks over the next several laps. But he would slip over the track in turns 1 and 2 and fell back to fourth with a handful of laps left. This allowed Hixson to pull away for the win. Joe Bonney, who started 10th, finished 2nd, Owen was 3rd, Struck Jr. was 4th, with Crown Point, Indiana's Kyle Anderson coming from 9th to finish 5th.
Up next was the 10 lap 4-Stock feature, with John Hempstead and Jake Benischek drawing the front row for the event. Just as the green flag waved the red light would come on, as Austin Reuman took a nasty roll in turn 2 to bring out the red. Austin would climb from his car okay. On the original restart Benischek took advantage of his draw to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Brandon Reu and Nick Proehl, who started 6th. While Benischek paced the field out front, Reu and Proehl battled side by side for the runner up spot. That was until lap 4, when Reu pulled into the infield with troubles. Proehl now went to work Benischek for the top spot. Coming to the white flag Proehl closed to Benischek's back bumper and was ready to make a last lap attempt to grab the win. But when Jacob Welter spun in turn 4 after the white flag was scored complete, this brought the race to an end with a yellow checkered. Benischek claimed the win, Proehl was 2nd, Dustin Forbes was 3rd, Eric Stogdell finished 4th after starting in 9th, with Cyle Kawkins coming from 8th to round out the top 5.
A mixed field of twenty-four Mod Lites and Micro Mods came to the track next for there 15 lap feature, with Chad Dugan and Randy Bryan leading the field to the green. Dugan used his draw to his advantage by jumping out into the lead on lap 1 over Cole McNeal and Jeremy Schaufenbuel, who started 7th. Just after lap 1 was scored complete the yellow would come out, as Dave Nelson spun in turn 1 to bring out the caution. On the restart Dugan moved back out front, with McNeal and Schaufenbuel close behind. The fast pace that Dugan was setting was slowed on lap 4, when Schaufenbuel, who was running 3rd, spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Dugan grabbed the lead on the restart, with McNeal and Don Erger now following him. Without another caution to slow the action, Dugan would pull away for an easy win. McNeal was 2nd, RJ Gonzales came from 10th to finish in 3rd, John Griffin of Caledonia, Minnesota finished 4th after starting in 8th, with Bryan holding on for 5th.
The 20 lap Stock Car feature had troubles getting there race completed, as it was plagued with 8 cautions throughout the event. Dallon Murty and Chad Krogmeier drew the front row for the event, with Murty grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Krogmeier and John Oliver Jr. The action was slowed for the first time of the race on lap 4, as Jay Schmidt spun in turn 1 and collected Reece Norton, Kyle Merkes, Chris Luloff and Austin Kemper to bring out the yellow. On the restart Dallon Murty jumped back out front, with John Oliver Jr. and Damon Murty, who started 10th, following. Then just after the lap was scored complete another caution appeared, as Norton stopped down the backstretch to bring out the yellow. Dallon Murty once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Oliver Jr. and Damon Murty still following. While the top three worked the top of the track, Jeff Mueller, who started 11th, was working his way towards the front using the bottom. On lap 8 Mueller would slip under Dallon Murty to take over the top spot. Six laps, lap 14, later disaster would strike Dallon Murty, as he lost a left rear tire in turn 4 and at the same time Luloff would spin in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. Mueller grabbed the lead on the restart, with Elijah Zevenbergen, who started 14th, over taking Oliver Jr. for the runner up spot.
Another lap scored complete produced another yellow, as Todd Reitzler and Tom Cannon got together in turn 4 and spun to bring out the yellow. On the restart a tire was clipped onto the track in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Mueller move back out front, with Oliver Jr. getting the runner up spot back from Zevenbergen. Just after the lap was scored complete another yellow came out, as Merkes spun in turn 1 to bring the yellow out. Mueller again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Tony Von Dresky, who started 15th in Donnie Louck's #31 machine, and Schmidt, who recovered from his spin on lap 4, now glued to his back bumper. Von Dresky would try to get under Mueller, while Schmidt tried the outside coming to the white flag to get the top spot from Mueller. But when Reitzler barreled rolled of the track in turns 1 and 2 to bring out the red, it would bring out the yellow checkered flag. Reitzler would climb from his car okay. As Mueller was awarded the win, Von Dresky was 2nd, Schmidt was 3rd, David Brandies drove Harold O'Brien's #83 from a 21st place starting spot to 4th, with Zevenbergen holding on for 5th.
Jared Jones and Doug Burkhead led the field to green in the 20 lap SportMod feature. But when Jones spun in turn 1 before the lap could be scored complete to bring out the yellow, this would move Burkhead and Jake McBirnie to the front row for the restart. On the restart Jerry Miles, Johnathon Logue and TJ Fortman got together in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. A third attempt of a start resulted in another yellow, as Jones spun in turn 4 to bring out his second solo yellow to end his night. Once a lap was scored complete, McBirnie would be scored as the leader over Burkhead and Ryan Maitland. The fast pace McBirnie was setting allowed him to start to pull away from the battles going on behind him. On lap 14, just as McBirnie started to enter lapped traffic, the final caution of the event came out, as Gage Neal spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. McBirnie would jump back out front on the restart, with Maitland, Kyle Olson, who started 7th, and Brayton Carter, who started 10th, raced three wide for the runner up spot. While the battle for the runner up spot continued, this would allow McBirnie to pull away for the win. Olson won the battle for 2nd, Carter was 3rd, Maitland was 4th, with Jarett Franzen coming from 9th to finish 5th.
The 30 lap Modified feature was the last race to take to the track for the night, with Brad Dierks and Pahrump, Nevada's Kollin Hibdon drawing the front row. Dierks used his starting spot to his advantage, as he grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Hibdon and Joel Rust. The action was slowed for the first time of the race on lap 3, as Richie Gustin spun in turn 2 and collected Jeff Aikey to bring out the yellow. On the restart Dierks jumped back out front, with Rust over taking Hibdon for the runner up spot. Another lap, lap 5, scored complete produced the final caution of the night, as Eric Barnes slowed to a stop in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Dierks once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Rust and Kyle Brown, who started 6th, close behind. Rust would look under Dierks going into the corners over the next 8 laps, but Dierks would use the momentum coming off the top to keep the lead on the straight-away's. The lead duo would enter lapped traffic on lap 16, and would begin to pull away from the battle going on behind them. While Dierks and Rust battled for the lead, Cayden Carter, who started 14th, climbed into the third spot on lap 19. On lap 23 Rust got the mistake he was waiting for, as Dierks slid off the track in turns 1 and 2. Which allowed Rust to shoot by him for the lead. Rust then pulled away over the final laps to score another win. Dierks was 2nd, Brown was 3rd, Hibdon was 4th, with Troy Cordes coming home in 5th.
Notes from Tipton: 72 SportMods, 60 Modifieds, 33 4-Stocks, 31 Mod Lite/Micro Mods, 30 Stock Cars and 24 Street Stocks made up the 250 cars signed in for night 2 of the Fall Bash......Dwayne Smith Jr. started the Street Stock feature in 11th and would finish 6th....Mike Anderson came from 20th to finish in 7th....Randy LaMar finished 9th after starting in 18th....Chad Coyne recovered from his spin on lap 1 to come back up to finish 10th....Rick Schriner started 22nd and finished 11th....Bobby Keller recovered from his spin on lap 9 to come back up to finish 12th....Zachary Zuberbier, who traveled from Kingston, Illinois, had troubles in his heat that forced him to scratch from the feature......Shawn McDermott started the 4-Stock feature in 19th and then took home a 6th place finish....Tyler Shady started 11th and finished 7th....Josh Lane started 13th and finished 8th....Ashton Blain came from 17th to finish in 9th....Drew Wise finished 11th after starting in 21st....Lane Wise started 22nd and finished 12th....Thomas Adams and Ken Stogdell, who were the last two to qualify out of the B-Main, had troubles that forced them to scratch from the feature......Michael Minnier started the Mod Lite/Micro Mods feature in 11th and then brought home a 6th place finish....Russ Olson came from 12th to finish in 7th....Mike Zemo Jr. started 13th and finished 8th....Jon Padilla finished 10th after starting in 16th....Michael Dominquez came from 17th to finish 11th....Mike Morrow started 20th and finished 12th....Charlie Brown came from 18th to finish in 14th....Dave Nelson recovered from his spin on lap 1 to come back up to finish 15th....Rob Guss started 23rd and finished 18th....Austin Hayes came from 24th to finish 19th......Dan Mackenthun started the Stock Car feature in 12th and brought home a 7th place finish....Shane Richardson passed 14 cars from his 22nd place starting spot to finish 8th....Austin Kemper also passed 14 cars from his 23rd place starting spot to come home in 9th....Kyle Merkes, who started 17th, recovered from the wreck on lap 1 and his spin on lap 17 to come back up to finish 12th....Russell Dame Jr. finished 13th after starting in 24th....John Oliver Jr., who was running 2nd, pulled off under the lap 17 caution with troubles to end his night in 15th......Carter VanDenBerg started the SportMod feature in 13th and would bring home a 7th place finish....Austen Becerra came from 14th to finish 8th....Dylan VanWyk was running 5th when he slipped over the track in turns 1 and 2 on lap 18 and fell back to a 9th place finish....Dakota Hayden, who started 24th in Ryan Walker's #9w machine, would come home in 15th....Bob Silaggi started 23rd and finished 18th......Shane DeMey started the Modified feature in 16th and then passed 10 cars to come home in 6th....Tyler Soppe, who was driving the #2019 ....Mark Schulte finished 10th after starting in 15th....Tyler Madigan came from 17th to finish in 12th....David Brown started 22nd and came home in 13th....Chris Lawrence started 23rd and finished 14th....Brandon Durbin finished 15th after starting in 21st....Cayden Carter, who was battling for second on lap 23, pulled off with troubles on lap 24 to be credited with a 17th place finish.
I would like to say what a GREAT JOB Timmy Current and Ryan Duhme did at bringing 228 cars on Thursday night and another 250 cars on Friday to the small town of Tipton, Iowa for the 2019 Fall Bash. They also put together a GREAT crew to keep the program moving. With Thursday nights 42 race program being ran in about 6 hours, while Friday nights 45 race program was completed in just over 6.5 hours. The third and final night of the Fall Bash would fall to rains on Saturday night. But they are already planning for the 2020 Fall Bash.
