TONY OLSON PICKS UP WIN IN INAUGURAL IMCA SPORTMOD FEATURE AT HAWKEYE DOWNS

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (April 27) - The 82nd season of racing at Hawkeye Downs Speedway got underway Friday night with six divisions in action on the quarter and half-mile ovals.

The newest division in competition at Hawkeye Downs, the IMCA Sportmods, may not be large in numbers yet but the racing is intense already. Tony Olson of Cedar Rapids bagged his first feature win in the division in impressive style working the high side of the quarter-mile to perfection.

Olson secured the lead with 3 laps remaining and finished ahead of Arnie Reif and Jim Buhlman.

Another first time winner Friday night was Doug Otto of Cedar Falls who collected top honors in the Barron Motor Supply IMCA Stock Car feature. Otto started outside the front row, secured the lead on lap two, and then held off a late charge by Dennis Hundley for the win.

What’s notable about the win for Otto is that last fall he was involved in a racing accident in Mason City that left him with severe injuries.

Tim Plummer started his quest for a fourth straight championship in the Miller Time Modified division by nabbing a feature win Friday night. Plummer, by the luck of the opening night draw, started on the front row, survived a caution with eleven laps remaining and kept Arlo Becker out of reach for the remainder of the race.

Becker, who’s starting his 49th season of racing, finished second while Shawn Stinger crossed the stripe in third.

Back to the quarter-mile, Rodney Grother, who lives just a stones throw from the track, started the defense of his Barron Motor Supply IMCA Hobby Stock on the right foot as he held off Gary Pfantz and Tim Dains in that 20-lap feature
for that division.

Grother, running the outside groove, passed Tim Dains on lap 14 to secure the lead although he and others had a bit of a scare from lapped traffic with just a few laps remaining.

Deb Mefford, who had a sizable lead in the early going, was forced from the race with an overheating problem.

The Sunline Hornets picked right up where they left off last season and put on another entertaining race with Brian Beaty holding the checkers at the end of the race. Jeff Selfridge finished second and Shawn Myers was third.

Andy Duggan used a restart with 9 laps to go to his advantage making a bold move to the outside of Dave McCalla and into the lead to bring home a victory in the Budweiser Sportsmen feature. Duggan, who started fourth, then held off McCalla, who is the defending champion over the remaining laps to collect the win.

McCalla finished second while Martin Ballard crossed the line in third.

Weekly racing continues Friday night May 4th with All Season Equipment Night. The Performance Concepts Late Models are scheduled to make their first appearance of the season and will be joined the Miller Time Modifieds, Budweiser Sportsmen, Barron Motor Supply IMCA Stock Cars, Barron Motor Supply IMCA Hobby Stocks, Sunline Hornets, and IMCA Sportmods.






BARRON MOTOR SUPPLY IMCA STOCK CARS
FEATURE (20 laps) 1. Doug Otto, Cedar Falls, IA; 2. Dennis Hundley, Center Point, IA; 3. Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids, IA; 4. Kurt Bohnsack, Iowa City, IA; 5. Chad Siems, Marion, IA; 6. Randy Filling, Toddville, IA; 7. Logan Hale, Cedar Rapids, IA; 8. Greg Hentrich, Hiawatha, IA

BARRON MOTOR SUPPLY IMCA HOBBY STOCKS
FEATURE ( 20 laps) 1. Rodney Grother, Cedar Rapids, IA; 2. Gary Pfantz, State Center, IA; 3. Tim Dains, Marion, IA; 4. Kandi Floyd, Cedar Rapids, IA; 5. Dennis Klinsky, Ely, IA; 6. Dwayne Herb, Cedar Rapids, IA; 7. Roland Bohnsack, Clutier, IA; 8. Matt Lacoursiere, Cedar Rapids, IA; 9. Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids, IA; 10. Kris Jones, Cedar Rapids, IA; 11. Bill McVey; 12. Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids, IA; 13. Deb Mefford, Marion, IA; 14. Ron Dighton, Cedar Rapids, IA DNS- Steve Wilhelm, Cedar Rapids, IA

SUNLINE HORNETS
FEATURE ( 15 laps) 1. Brian Beaty, Palo, IA; 2. Jeff Selfridge, Marion, IA; 3. Shawn Myers, Cedar Rapids, IA; 4. Brian Bries, Norway, IA; 5. Derrick Beadle, Hiawatha, IA; 6. Brad Chandler, Cedar Rapids, IA; 7. Connie Binder, Clutier, IA; 8. Bill Whalen, Jr.; 9. Dana Pfab, Marion, IA: 10. Tyler Whalen

IMCA SPORTMODS
FEATURE (15 laps) 1. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids, IA; 2. Arnie Reif, Hiawatha, IA; 3. Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls, IA; 4. Ryan Luedtke, Norway, IA; 5. Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids, IA; DNS- Brian Kauffman, Cedar Rapids, IA

MILLER TIME MODIFIEDS
FEATURE (25 laps) 1. Tim Plummer, Norway, IA; 2. Arlo Becker, Norway, IA; 3. Shawn Stinger, Palo, IA; 4. Rodney Rocarek, Mt. Vernon, IA; 5. Jim Hanson, Cedar Rapids, IA; 6. Scott Strauss, Cedar Rapids, IA; 7. Craig Bender, Cedar Rapids, IA; 8. Cory Houdek, Marion, IA; 9. Joey Gase, Cedar Rapids, IA; 10. Darrell Long, Cedar Rapids, IA; 11. Chad Willet, Alburnett, IA; 12. Steve Lindell, Marion, IA

BUDWEISER SPORTSMEN
FEATURE (25 laps) 1. Andy Duggan, Marion; 2. Dave McCalla, Cedar Rapids, IA; 3. Martin Ballard, Marengo; 4. Brian Franks, Central City, IA; 5. Mel Schappert, Cedar Rapids, IA; 6. Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids, IA; 7. Michael
Weber, Ryan, IA; 8. Craig Stepanek, Vinton, IA; 9. Jon Leonard, Vinton, IA