It was truly a refreshing night of racing Wednesday night as week number nine rolled around at the Buena Vista Raceway
by: By Denny Grabenbauer

BUENA VISTA, Ia. (June 07, 2006) - It was truly a refreshing night of racing Wednesday night as week number nine rolled around at the Buena Vista Raceway with Pepsi / Car Tunes week number nine. As the season marches on toward the mid-season mark, next Wednesday night, it would become apparent that the point leads are still up for grabs.

With no forecast of rain in the area, the sky looked like it could very easily prove the weatherman wrong once again. “We put a lot of water on the track, then the sky looked like maybe we should have not, but I guess you just have to go with your instinct, and hopefully that will be the right thing to do,” commented promoter Lee Meyer. “As it turned out, everything was just fine. We tried not to have as dry of track as we have had last week, then the way it looked it was going to be to wet, but it turned out to be, I think, one of our best tracks of the year.”

With a full field of race teams in the pit area and a large crowd in the grandstands the heat races would run off without a hitch. After the heat races the much awaited “Pepsi Make A Deal” game was offered to the fans in the stands as the Pepsi truck would sit on the front straight a way with its delivery bays loaded with prizes, just waiting for the fans to choose which door they wanted. After everyone collected there prizes, it now was time for the feature events to make there way to the speedway.

Justin Nehring would lead from the drop of the green flag in the Rasmussen Ford BVR Bomber division for the first three circuits of the event until Eric Puhrman would take his turn at the top position. Puhrman, who has posted feature wins twice this season, appeared to have things going his way for his third win of the year until the final lap of the race. The hard charging Devin Smith, who had won the past three weeks, was making his way toward the front. The two would race bumper to bumper until Smith would drive under Puhrman in turn three. With the two side by side they would touch, ever so slightly, giving the advantage to Smith and his sixth win of the season. Point leader Adam Hicks would finish third followed by Nick Smith.

Dominance of Donovan Smith would continue in the Storm Lake Truck & Trailer I.M.C.A. Hobby Stock division as Smith would start deep into the field and would take the lead on lap three to go on to score his seventh feature win in the first nine weeks of the season. Mark Hill would lead the opening laps before experiencing trouble sending him to a sixteenth place finish. Trent Murphy, birthday boy Cody Lucas and Doug Smith would all follow Donovan across the finish line.

Once again another new face would find his way to victory lane in the Storm Lake Artic Cat 360 B-Mod division, as Chris Grothe would become the fifth different driver to score a feature win on the season. Grothe not only would score the victory, but he would lead from start to finish in the green to checkered twelve-lap event. With point leader Dan Hanselman making his way to the front and Harvey VanDeWeerd right on the tail of Grothe, waiting for the slightest mistake to happen, but on this night the mistake would not happen as Grothe would have everything all together to take the victory and his first career feature win. Behind Grothe at the finish was VanDeWeerd, Hanselman and rookie driver Travis Schueller.

Brian Blessington would rebound from last weeks last place finish to score his fourth feature win in the Scooters Bar & Grill I.M.C.A. Stock Car class. Blessington would take the lead from Randy Lawrey on lap eight and then would hold off point leader David Smith right to the checkered flag. Lawrey would post his third top four finish of the season by finishing third followed by Dale Woodard.

Five yellow flags would slow the Fitzpatrick Auto Center I.M.C.A. Modified feature, as Brad Williams would debut his new look by taking it all the way to victory lane. This twenty lap event would prove to be a battle for point leader Jay Noteboom, as Noteboom would be involved in the two spin rule, and his night would end early. Ricky Stephan who entered the night, just eight point out of the lead would finish fifth and at the end of the night would now be sitting atop of the point standings. Behind Williams would be Jeff Anderson, Jeff Stephens and Brian Schmitt who would have his best run of the season. Williams would win his second feature of the season.

Next Wednesday night will be the Mid-Season Championships at the 3/8th mile raceway way, and once again this year, the Deery Brothers I.M.C.A. Late Model Summer Series will be making a stop over. “This by far is our biggest show of the season,” say’s Meyer. “Along with our Alta Race Day, we feel that we will have something for everyone. Our second annual Race Day Queen Contest will again bring a lot of attention to this special day. Any young lady that is interested in becoming the next Alta Raceway Queen, the entries forms and now available and can be picked up at the raceway or contact Christy Danielson at 712-213-1297 for more information. Judging will be on the afternoon of June 14th, and the winner will be announced that evening at the races.


Wednesday Race Results:

FITZPATRICK AUTO CENTER I.M.C.A. MODIFIED:

HEAT 1: Brian Schmitt-Wall Lake—Clay Christensen-Spencer—Jim Thies-Mapleton

HEAT 2: Jeff Stephens-Dow City—Bruce Bonnesen-Aurelia—Randy Brands- Boyden

HEAT 3: Jat Noteboom-Orange City—Mike Hansen-Alton—Jason Briese-Cleghorn

FEATURE: Brad Williams—Jeff Anderson—Jeff Stephens—Brian Schmidt—Ricky Stephan—Joel Ziegmann—Jim Thies—Clay Christensen—Derek Smith—Chase Newhirter—Loren Reuter—Randy Brands—Bruce Bonnesen—Mike Hansen—James Slawson—Jason Briese—Jay Noteboom—Ben McVinua—Mike Albertson



SCOOTERS BAR & GRILL I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR:

HEAT 1: Brian Blessington-Breda—Bid Mattson-Alta—Dale Woodard-Storm Lake

HEAT 2: David Smith-Lake City—Randy Lawrey-Marcus—Chris Ullich-Kiron

FEATURE: Brian Blessington—David Smith—Randy Lawrey—Dale Woodard—Bud Mattson—Brian Mattson—Mark Stanley—Randy Andreason—Chris Ullrich—Jason Mickelson—Mike Scharn—Tom Sierck



STORM LAKE TRUCK & TRAILER I.M.C.A HOBBY STOCK:

HEAT 1: Luke Wanninger-Jefferson—Trent Murphy-Jefferson—Troy Woelbur-Hull

HEAT 2: Dustin Smith-Lake City—Mark Hill-Cherokee—Cody Lucas-Cherokee

HEAT 3: Donovan Smith-Lake City—Doug Smith-Lake City—Matt Schmillen-Marcus

FEATURE: Donovan Smith—Trent Murphy—Cody Lucas—Doug Smith—Luke Wanninger—Tony Pogeler—Merle Bass—Josh Bieret—Troy Woelber—Paul Toms—Kyle Robinson—Kyle Timmerman—Galen Freese—Matt Mahoney—Matt Schmillen—Mark Hill—Dustin Smith—Michael Loutsch



RASMUSSENS FORD BVR BOMBERS:

HEAT 1: Tim Hansen-Newell—Devin Smith-Lake City—Nick Smith-Storm Lake

HEAT 2: Eric Puhrman-Newell—Adam Hicks-Lake City—Justin Nehring-Newell

FEATURE: Devin Smith—Eric Puhrman—Adam Hicks—Nick Smith—Gary Duitsman—Justin Nehring—Shawn Halder—Tim Hansen—Colby Winter—Thomas Haukap—Jess Bieret



STORM LAKE HONDA ARTIC CAT BVR 360 B-Mods:

HEAT 1:Chris Grothe-Schaller—Brandon Lucas-Cherokee—Mike Bailey-Schaller

HEAT 2: Doug Ockerman-Cherokee—Dan Hanselman-Algona—Travis Schueller-Primghar

FEATURE: Chris Grothe—Harvey VanDeWeerd—Dan Hanselman—Travis Schueller—Jake Simpson—Mike Bailey—Matt Sangwin—Brandon Lucas—Casey Friedrichsen—Brett Meyer—Doug Ockerman—Austin Lucas—Tony Ross—Nick DeLeeuw –Doug Barglof—Ronnie Fogelman