WILLETT, MCCALLA AMONG FRIDAY NIGHT WINNERS AT HAWKEYE DOWNS
By Brad Grupe

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA  (June 8) - Chad Willett of Alburnett became the latest visitor to Coca-Cola Victory Lane from the Miller Time Modified Division Friday night picking up his second win of the 2007 campaign.

Willett held off defending champion Tim Plummer over the last several laps as Plummer tried both high and low moves but ran out of laps trying to wrestle away the lead. Willett took the checkers by the slimmest of margins, finishing a scant .211 seconds ahead of Plummer. Willett, who started 6th, took the lead on lap 10 while Plummer started 10th and moved through the pack to mount a serious challenge for the win with five laps to go.

Arlo Becker finished third while Rodney Rocarek finished fourth and Larry Clausen fifth.

In other half-mile action on Altorfer CAT Night at ASA-Sanctioned Hawkeye Downs Speedway, Dave McCalla squeezed out the win in the Budweiser Sportsmen division. The Budweiser Sportsmen run as part of the Papa Johns Cup/ I-Wireless
Championships.

McCalla started in fifth , secured the point on the tenth circuit and then appeared to have the race well in hand as a trio of cars battled for the second slot. With five laps remaining, McCalla suddenly found a mirror full of Mel Schappert, Bob Ahrendsen, and Brian Franks as the handling on the leader’s car appeared to be going away.

McCalla had just enough left to take his third win of the season with Schappert finishing .327 seconds off the pace. Bob Ahrendsen, Brian Franks, and Andy Duggan also finished in the top five of the 25-lap feature.

In the Barron Motor Supply IMCA Stock Car feature, Iowa City’s Kurt Bohnsack racked up his second trip to the podium this season after starting outside row two. Bohnsack took command of the 20-lap feature within the first five laps and spend the rest of the race widening his lead.Greg Hentrich finished second while Brad Daugherty, Doug Otto, and Randy Filling were next to collect the checkers from Flagman John Huff.

Tim Dains of Marion took top honors in the other Barron Motor Supply sponsored division, the IMCA Hobby Stocks. The action came fast and furious in the early going with a different leader every lap for the first handful of laps around the quarter-mile.

Tim Dains secured the lead from Dennis Klinsky with thirteen of the scheduled twenty laps recorded and then survived three caution flags in the last trio of laps as the end of the race started resembling a demo derby rather than a race.

When the smoke, dust, and debris was cleared Dains was the winner with Klinsky second, Deb Mefford third, Scott Benesh fourth, and Gary Pfantz fifth. The win was the first of the season for Dains.

Brian Beaty of Palo snared his third win of the 2007 campaign in the Sunline Hornets feature on Friday night. Beaty started outside the front row, quickly took the lead, survived a lap three restart, and never surrendered control during the fifteen lap feature. Shawn Myers, another driver at the top of the points chart finished second and Jason Fawcett finished third. Brad Chandler
was fourth and Jim Williams fifth.

Tony Olson made his second trip of the season to Victory Lane after besting a somewhat short field of IMCA Sportmods which ran a 15 lap feature on the quarter-mile. Olson started outside the front row and cruised to the easy win over Ryan Luedtke, Arnie Reif, and Brian Kauffman.

Two divisions of Go-Karts were also on hand Friday night with Corey Kemp of Garrison again taking the winners trophy in the senior division and Tanner Allen picking up the hardware in the Junior division. The Go-Karts normally run a full program on Sundays but have been running exhibition races as part of the regular Friday racing program this season.

Racing returns next Friday night, June 15 with seven divisions in action on the same night for the 100.7/The Fox Free Race. Performance Concepts Late Models, Budweiser Sportsmen, Miller Time Modifieds, Barron Motor Supply IMCA Stock Cars, Barron Motor Supply IMCA Hobby Stocks, Sunline Hornets, and IMCA Sportmods will all be on hand.



JUNE 8 FEATURE RESULTS
BUDWEISER SPORTSMEN
Feature (25 laps)—1. Dave McCalla, Cedar Rapids, IA; 2. Mel Schappert, Cedar Rapids, IA; 3. Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids, IA; 4. Brian Franks, Central City, IA; 5. Andy Duggan, Marion, IA; 6. Tom Burke, Nevada, IA; 7. Jon Leonard, Vinton, IA; 8. Jeff Franks, Rowley, IA; 9. Martin Ballard, Marengo,IA; 10. Kevin Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA; 11. Michael Weber, Ryan, IA

MILLER TIME MODIFIEDS
Feature (25 laps)—1. Chad Willet, Alburnett, IA; 2. Tim Plummer, Norway, IA; 3. Arlo Becker, Norway, IA; 4. Rodney Rocarek, Mt. Vernon, IA; 5. Larry Clausen, Cedar Rapids, IA; 6. Shawn Stinger, Palo, IA; 7. Scott Grady, Cedar Rapids, IA; 8. Craig Bender, Cedar Rapids, IA; 9. Scott Strauss, Cedar Rapids, IA; 10. Joey Gase, Cedar Rapids, IA; 11. Cory Houdek, Marion, IA; 12. Darrell Long, Cedar Rapids, IA; 13. Steve Lindell, Marion, IA

BARRON MOTOR SUPPLY IMCA STOCK CARS
Feature (20 laps)—1. Kurt Bohnsack, Iowa City, IA; 2. Greg Hentrich, Hiawatha, IA; 3. Brad Daugherty, Palo, IA; 4. Doug Otto, Cedar Falls, IA; 5. Randy Filling, Toddville, IA; 6. Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids, IA; 7. Logan Hale, Cedar Rapids, IA; 8. Craig Stepanek, Vinton, IA; 9. Dennis Hundley, Center Point, IA; 10. Chad Siems, Marion, IA; 11. Mark Bolton, Cedar Rapids, IA

BARRON MOTOR SUPPLY IMCA HOBBY STOCKS
Feature (20 laps)—1. Tim Dains, Marion, IA; 2. Dennis Klinsky, Ely, IA; 3. Deb Mefford, Cedar Rapids, IA; 4. Scott Benesh, Newhall, IA; 5. Gray Pfantz, State Center, IA; 6. Kris Jones, Cedar Rapids, IA; 7. Bill McVey, Cedar Rapids, IA; 8. Roland Bohnsack, Clutier, IA; 9. Rodney Grother, Cedar Rapids, IA; 10. Kandi Floyd, Cedar Rapids, IA; 11. Matt Lacoursiere, Cedar Rapids, IA; 12. Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids, IA; 13. Duayne Herb, Cedar Rapids, IA; 14. Malena Betzer, Cedar Rapids, IA; 15. Steve Wilhelm, Cedar Rapids, IA

SUNLINE HORNETS
Feature (15 laps)—1. Brian Beaty, Palo, IA; 2. Shawn Myers, Cedar Rapids, IA; 3. Jason Fawcett, Cedar Rapids, IA; 4. Brad Chandler, Vinton, IA; 5. Jim Williams, Cedar Rapids, IA; 6. John Schroer, Marion, IA; 7. Brice Bailey; 8. Jon Livingston, Marion, IA; 9. Jonny Williams, Cedar Rapids, IA; 10. Brian Bries, Norway, IA

IMCA SPORTMODS
Feature (15 laps)—1. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids, IA; 2. Ryan Luedtke, Norway, IA; 3. Arnie Reif, Hiawatha, IA; 4. Brian Kauffman, Cedar Rapids, IA


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Brad Grupe