Frankel, Buffington become first time winners at 34 Raceway
By Dana Royer/34 Raceway

BURLINGTON, IA (Aug 11) - High heat and humidity didn¹t keep the racers away from 34 Raceway last Saturday, August 11 with 100 cars competing on Aarons Sales and Lease Night. It was announced earlier that the races would start 1 hour later due to the heat. With the action getting underway at 8:00 the races were finished by 11:00. When the nights races were completed, two more drivers would ad their names to the first time list with Jason Frankel (late models), Quincy, Il. and Alex Buffington (hobby stocks), Wapello, getting their first ever wins at the 3/8 mile.

Coming up this Saturday, August 18 is ³Back to School Night² $5.00 adult grandstand Admission, $3.00 student admission; $1 can beer specials and many more attractions. Plus point leaders will race bikes at intermission. Bikes will then be given away, plus racing in all five classes (IMCA Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and 305 Sprints)

Seventeen late models took to the track for the J & J Steel/ Ideal Ready Mix IMCA Late Model Feature with Jason Frankel and Keith Pratt on the front row. Frankel took the lead from Pratt on lap two and never looked back. Frankel gained a 4 1/2 second lead over the field working through lap traffic from lap nine through lap 25 in the flag to flag feature. Pratt held a strong second while Boone McLaughlin finished third and Tom Bowling finishing fourth. Bowling¹s fourth place finish edged him closer to point leader Lonnie Bailey who finished fifth. Bailey leads Bowling 520 to 509 with two point races remaining.

Dennis LaVeine, Burlington, took the checkered flag in the IMCA Modified feature for the second time this year. LaVeine took the lead in the seventeen car field on lap three from Elmer Arnold. His lead was cut after a yellow came out on lap eight but it didn¹t take long to pull away again from the field. Bill Roberts, running second, was just unable to catch LaVeine having to settle for second as Dennis took the checkered flag in the twenty lap feature by several car lengths. With three weeks of points racing remaining for the modifieds, Rich Smith, Davenport, holds the biggest point martin with 549 followed by Bill Roberts with 524.

New London¹s Jeff Mueller went two for two winning the last two IMCA Stock Car features at 34 Raceway. Twenty cars set the field with Corey Strothman and Nick Fenton on the front row. Mueller moved quickly from his third row start to get the lead on lap two and pulled away from the field. Mueller went on to win his fourth feature this year at 34 Raceway. Todd Holsteen continues to hold the point lead in the IMCA Stock Cars with 506 over Jason Cook with 486. A non finish by John Oliver, Jr. dropped him down to third with 474.

In his first year of weekly racing at 34 Raceway in his first year of IMCA Stock Racing, Wapello¹s Alex Buffington won his first Hobby Stock feature. The eighteen year old Buffington, who made the move from 4 cylinders to hobby stocks this year, took the checkered flag in the twenty four car field. Buffington took the lead from Ray Raker on lap three of the fifteen lap race. With three laps to go, point leader, Luke McLaughlin took over second from Dean Kratzer. McLaughlin then pulled up along side of Buffington with two laps to go but was unable to get by him as Buffington went on to take the checkered flag. Being tied with Tanner Thomann in the points race going into the evenings racing action, McLaughlin¹s second place finish and Thomann¹s ninth place finish gave McLaughlin a narrow seven point lead with three point races remaining.

The Dwarf Mod Lites made their first ever appearance at 34 Raceway with the 305 sprints having the night off. Eighteen cars made the trek to the 3/8 mile track with Justin Buchholz of Pleasant Hill, Illinois getting the win. Buchholz had to hold off Greg Rossell of Knoxville, Illinois through two green, white, checkered finishes due to yellow flags on laps fourteen and fifteen.

Two weeks of points racing remain for the IMCA late Models and 305 sprints with season championship night to be held August 24. The IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars and hobby stocks will get an extra week with their season championship night set for Sept. 1
 

DWARF MOD LITE - A Feature

Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 4 69B Justin Buchholz Pleasant Hill, Il 0
2 3 77 Greg Rossell Knoxville , Il 0
3 1 43 Paul Hallett - 0
4 2 9 Erik Close Coal Valley, Il 0
5 6 007 David Norton Moline , Il 0
6 10 8M Chuck Mayerhofer Dixon , Ia 0
7 12 10 Scott Spink Davenport , Ia 0
8 16 91 Rob Guss Moline , Il 0
9 8 7J James Chesmore Wapello , Ia 0
10 14 88 Jeremy Mowry Moline , Il 0
11 17 08 Andy Gerstenberger Galesburg , Il 0
12 7 21 Craig Schrader Story City, Ia 0
13 5 1 Jeff Norton Davenport , Ia 0
14 13 4 Shon Sanders East Moline, Il 0
15 11 12 Michael Dominquez Nichols , Ia 0
16 18 77X Eugene Rossell Galesburg , Il 0
17 9 11 Troy Philpott Muscatine , Ia 0
18 15 72 Doug Wall Galesburg , Il 0
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Imca Late Models - A Feature

Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 2 0F Jason Frankel Quincy , Il 40
2 1 33 Keith Pratt Mendon , Il 39
3 7 14 Boone Mclaughlin Mediapolis , Ia 38
4 9 14B Tom Bowling Danville , Ia 37
5 10 25 Lonnie Bailey Quincy , Il 36
6 6 20 Gary Russell Biggsville , Il 35
7 8 15 Matt Strassheim Burlington , Ia 34
8 13 07 Matt Ryan Davenport , Ia 33
9 16 3 Ron Elbe Augusta , Il 32
10 14 93 Jay Johnson West Burlington, Ia 31
11 12 84 Sam Halstead New London, Ia 30
12 3 99 Johnny Johnson Burlington , Ia 29
13 11 71 Adam Helmick Fort Madison, Ia 28
14 4 69 Tom Goble Burlington , Ia 27
15 15 52 Matt Bailey Quincy , Il 26
16 17 79 Robby Warner Quincy , Il 25
17 5 38 Colby Springsteen Morning Sun, Ia 24



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Hobby Stocks - A Feature

Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 5 30 Alex Buffington Wapello , Ia 40
2 10 60 Luke Mclaughlin Mediapolis , Ia 39
3 8 4K Dean Kratzer Montrose , Ia 38
4 12 C21 Dan Wenig West Burlington, Ia 37
5 4 75 Cale Samberg Burlington , Ia 36
6 3 57D Blaine Dopler Wapello , Ia 35
7 7 80 Jason Gerdes Lomax , Il 34
8 1 20 Keith Reed Fowler , Il 33
9 13 15 Tanner Thomann West Burlington, Ia 32
10 24 8W Randy Wachter Burlington , Ia 31
11 2 07 Ray Raker Danville , Ia 30
12 19 92J Sky Griffith Wapello , Ia 29
13 21 21 Chuck Underwood Burlington , Ia 28
14 22 7K Allen Johnston Burlington , Ia 27
15 15 11G Ed Sammons Rome , Ia 26
16 14 4P Russell Passmore Burlington , Ia 25
17 9 4 Jake Wenig Burlington , Ia 24
18 6 57 Brodie Dopler Wapello , Ia 23
19 23 48 Chuck Fullenkamp Ft Madison, Ia 22
20 11 03 Rob Wilsey Keokuk , Ia 21
21 20 13 Todd Lange Stronghurst , Il 20
22 17 20T Brian Tipps Wapello , Ia 19
23 18 44 Brett Timmerman Wapello , Ia 18
24 25 81 Jamie Smith Monmouth , Il 17
25 16 12 Chad Krogmeier Burlington , Ia 16
26 26 8 Brian Holmes Wapello , Ia 0
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Imca Modifieds - A Feature


Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 3 71 Dennis Laveine Burlington , Ia 40
2 9 5R Bill Roberts, Jr Burlington , Ia 39
3 11 8 Rich Smith Davenport , Ia 38
4 14 11D Darin Thye Burlington , Ia 37
5 10 H7 Dean Mc Gee Galesburg , Il 36
6 2 10A Elmer Arnold Sperry , Ia 35
7 1 55 David Goble Burlington , Ia 34
8 12 45 Mitch Higdon Fort Madison, Ia 33
9 5 15 Phillip Cossel Montrose , Ia 32
10 6 4G Kevin Goben Sherrard , Il 31
11 13 23S Adam Swanson Burlington , Ia 30
12 4 7S Brandon Savage Keokuk , Ia 29
13 8 95 Bill Parks Colchester , Il 28
14 16 7M Mike Weikert, Jr Muscatine , Ia 27
15 7 58 Andy Krieger West Burlington, Ia 26
16 17 53 Dave Anderson Burlington , Ia 25
17 15 12S Sean Wyett Danville , Ia 24
18 18 1 Mike Hill New London, Ia 23
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Imca Stock Cars - A Feature

Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 6 77M Jeff Mueller New London, Ia 40
2 8 22J Greg Johnson Burlington , Ia 39
3 11 27J Jason Cook Mt Pleasant, Ia 38
4 12 T2 Todd Holsteen Burlington , Ia 37
5 3 56 Shane Watts Burlington , Ia 36
6 4 9B John Brockway Morning Sun, Ia 35
7 15 42 Kirk Kinsley Wapello , Ia 34
8 7 7Z Derek Coleman New London, Ia 33
9 17 54 Chris Webb Biggsville , Il 32
10 19 75 Aaron Summy Muscatine , Ia 31
11 14 68 Cole Simmons Morning Sun, Ia 30
12 5 0 Tim Breuer Burlington , Ia 29
13 1 4 Corey Strothman New London, Ia 28
14 21 21M Patrick Mincer Columbus Junction, Ia 27
15 20 18 Shawn Whiting West Burlington, Ia 26
16 13 7D Derek Goble Burlington , Ia 25
17 16 33 Brandon Rothzen Media , Il 24
18 10 11D Darin Thye (sc) Burlington , Ia 23
19 2 17N Nick Fenton Mt Pleasant, Ia 22
20 9 08 Rod Staats Columbus Jct, Ia 21
21 18 05 John Oliver, Jr Danville , Ia 20