KNOP AND TOWNE WITH FIRST FEATURE WINS AS PODRAZA TAKES TWO IN A ROW AT SHELBY COUNTY SPEEDWAY
by Vickie Errett

HARLAN, IA (August 12, 2006) - With just three nights of regular season races to go, Keith Knop and Dale Towne squeezed in their first season wins. Tim Podraza also came out on top this week to make it two wins in a row, and the Dwarf Cars added some extra entertainment to Shelby County Speedway Saturday night racing action.

Chad Dills took a quick lead in the IMCA modified feature, but coming out of turn two, Chase Mewhirter chose the high route, and Brad Madsen the low groove, around Dills. Mewhirter secured the lead over Madsen before the caution came out for Dills and James Showers. Mewhirter held onto the lead one more lap before turning it over to Madsen, last week’s winner. Jeff Stephens, Jeff Anderson, and Dale Ransom also got by Mewhirter. Madsen fought for his top position over the next five laps until Stephens finally got him on the high side. Anderson waited to make his move and also got by Madsen down the back stretch with eight laps to go. With five laps left, the front runners hit lapped traffic, but all drivers held steady and took the final front stretch with Stephens, Anderson, Osbahr, and Madsen holding the top four positions.

Initial leader, Tim Podraza, started on the pole of the ProAm feature and gained control of the fast-paced race. Jim Kruse and Matt Smith battled behind Podraza for second. Kruse won the spot and Denny Berghahn Jr. took third with Smith left in fourth. Veteran driver, Galen Grabill, and point leader, Matt McAtee, were not far behind, and as Grabill worked around Smith on the outside, McAtee got by on the low side. Grabill also got around Berghahn Sr. before the caution came out. The restart benefited McAtee as he got under Berghahn Sr. down the back stretch to move into fourth and took Grabill and Kruse with five laps to go in the race. Next was a fight between Podraza and McAtee but a caution had to be taken that halted the action. On the restart, McAtee slowed as he lost power and coasted to a stop. One last restart found Kruse and Grabill side-by-side. Galen ran high and Kruse low, but Kruse was not low enough because Charles Grabill found a way to get underneath and grab third from Kruse. Podraza was safe to the checkers, with Galen second, Charles third, and Kruse fourth.

Bill Reetz took the fired-up Stock Car drivers into the first corner of their feature with Rick Christensen, Dave Plowman, and Josh Filmer close behind. The next lap found Keith Knop seizing the third spot, and with twelve laps to go, taking Christensen on the inside to sneak into second behind Reetz. Trent Partridge moved forward to try out the fourth spot, and one lap later he was in third. During the last few laps, Knop reeled in Reetz and found himself side-by-side with the leader at eight laps to go. Reetz fought him off for six more laps, but Knop received the checkers with Reetz, Partridge, and Chris Ullrich behind.

Michael Murphy went into a commanding lead at the start of the Hobby Stock feature, but the flagman called a false start and Murphy had to try it all over again. Murphy and Kenny Hansen took the high line at the next start as Dale Towne chose to run low. By turn four it was Hansen, Towne, Murphy, and Donovan Smith leading the battle. Smith threatened on the outside of Murphy and passed him down the back stretch with nine laps left. Towne took Hansen in front of the crowd on the next lap, and Smith soon also made his way around Hansen. A caution came out with eight laps remaining. Towne, Smith, Hansen, and Tyler Griffen, now fourth over Murphy, took the start. Smith repeatedly tried to steal Towne’s first position, but the leader was too strong, and Smith ended up not finishing the race along with a host of other unfortunate hobbies which left a finish of Towne, Griffen, Jason Fusselman, and Murphy.

Daniel Meffered took charge of the lead of the Hornet feature going into the first corner. Tight, close racing caused a lot of bumping and rubbing through the first few laps, and Andrew Hicks found himself trying to grab hold of second on the outside of Scott Watts, followed by Corey Madden and Bayley Nicholl on lap two. Nicholl passed Madden, and with two laps to go, she also took Watts who ended up having to leave the race on the white flag lap. Meffered, having held the lead the whole race, was now threatened by Hicks going into the last lap. Coming out of turn two, Hicks battled to the lead and collected his fourth win at Shelby County Speedway.

In the Dwarf division, we saw Scott Naggaty of Council Bluffs jump to the early lead ahead of Rob Papstein and Chuck Fowler, and it was a lead he would never give up. Fowler spun on the first lap and had to go to the back, but he maneuvered his way all the way back to fifth place by the checkered flag. Naggaty, Papstein, Chick Demoss, and Jeff Fuhs rounded out the top four.

Next Saturday will be Nishna Valley REC night with gates opening at 5:00 pm, hot laps at 6:30 pm, and racing immediately following.

Results for 08/12/06

I.M.C.A. Modifieds

A-Feature: 1. 92 Jeff Stephens, Arion; 2. 78 Jeff Anderson, Atlantic; 3. 12 Bill Osbahr, Avoca; 4. 54 Brad Madsen, Kimballton; 5. 19J Jeff Jones, C.B.; 6. 62 Greg Cox, Altoona; 7. 17P Tim Plowman, Woodbine; 8. 91B B.J. Bruck, Westphalia; 9. 1R Craig Reetz, Dunlap; 10. 2R Dale Ransom, Denison

1st Heat: Anderson, Osbahr, Dills, McKeighan

2nd Heat: Stephens, Reetz, Ransom, Jones

3rd Heat: Madsen, Plowman, Cox, Mewhirter

ProAms

A-Feature: 1. 3T Tim Podraza; 2. 4 Galen Grabill, Harlan; 3. 40 Charles Grabill, Harlan; 4. 7 Jim Kruse, Omaha; 5. 6X Denny Berghahn, Omaha; 6. 2 Mike Brown, Glenwood; 7. 96 Matt Smith; 8. 8 Nick Steier, Bennington, NE; 9. 81 Dwain Pelzer, Malvern; 10. 6 Denny Berghahn, Jr., Omaha

1st Heat: Kruse, Brown, Berghahn Sr., Sannders

2nd Heat: Podraza, Charles Grabill, Pelzer, Berghahn, Jr.

3rd Heat: McAtee, Galen Grabill, Feyen, Smith

I.M.C.A. Stock Cars

A-Feature: 1. 10X Keith Knop, Avoca; 2. 26 Bill Reetz, Carroll; 3. 76 Trent Partridge, Elk Horn; 4. 01U Chirs Ullrich, Kiron; 5. 8 David Smith, Lake City; 6. 96 Jason Rold, Hancock; 7. 92B Brian Blessington, Breda; 8. ZR1 Ryan Webb, Denison; 9. 19B Tim Bengard, Exira; 10. 7 Clay Christian, Avoca

1st Heat: Smith, Rold, Christensen, Webb

2nd Heat: Plowman, Christian, Knop, Blessington

3rd Heat: Reetz, Ullrich, Partridge, Filmer

I.M.C.A. Hobby Stocks

A-Feature: 1. 15 Dale Towne, Avoca; 2. 5G Tyler Griffen; 3. 55 Jason Fusselman, Shelby; 4. 25M Michael Murphy, Jefferson; 5. 25X Trent Murphy, Jefferson; 6. 2X Chuck Madden Jr., Avoca; 7. 3S Brian Snell, Coon Rapids; 8. 74N Jason Nielsen, Underwood; 9. 60 Tanner Powers, Exira; 10. 14K Kenny Hansen

1st Heat: Towne, Dustin Smith, Fusselman, Madden Jr.

2nd Heat: Petersen, Griffen, Donavon Smith, Hansen

3rd Heat: Trent Murphy, Snell, Michael Murphy, Tippery

Hornets

A-Feature: 1. 26 Andrew Hicks, Dunlap; 2. 68 Daniel Mefferd, Dunlap; 3. 00 Bayley Nicholl, Audubon; 4. 2 Corey Madden, Avoca; 5. 63x Matt Steffens, Atlantic; 6. 3 Joseph Mefferd, Dunlap; 7. 38SS Scott Watts, C.B.; 8. 35 Daniel Smith, Lake City; 9. 23 Mark Lamer, Carter Lake; 10. 84 Willy Muhr, Exira

Heat: Muhr, Madden, Nicholl, Mefferd

Dwarf Cars

A-Feature: 1.54 Scott Naggaty, Council Bluffs; 2. 28R Rob Papstein, Lincoln, NE; 3. 5X Chick Demoss, Lincoln, NE; 4. 03 Jeff Fuhs, LaVista, NE; 5. 28 Chuck Fowler, North Bend, NE; 6. 25 Alex Hayes, Achworth, IA; 7. 46 Jed Jensen, Council Bluffs; 8. 35 Diane Kampscheider, North Bend, NE; 9. 38 Deb Carter, Lincoln, NE; 10. 7 Ben Bohuslavsky, Cedar Creek, NE