Racers hustle to beat Mother Nature at Benton County Speedway

VINTON, Iowa (June 3) - With threatening weather in all directions, the officials and racers at Benton County Speedway worked frantically to get the show in. By the end of the evening seven drivers found themselves in victory lane by beating their peers and Mother Nature.

The sport compact feature started the “hustle” by running flag to flag with Jena Barthelmes coming out victorious. Following her across the line were Doug Laughridge and Mike Mitchell. Rounding out the field were Jeremy Hein, Neil Nabholz, Joe Goodenbaur, and Gary Peiffer.

The hobby stock feature continued the rapid pace as they ran their 15-lap feature with only one caution. In the end, Curt Hilmer was able to hold onto the lead he grabbed on lap seven. Justin Lichty jumped out to a quick lead and seemed to be the driver to beat. However, on lap six he gave up the lead to Chris Luloff, and then found himself involved in an accident with Nathan Ballard and Jeremiah Wilson. Luloff’s lead proved to be short-lived as he pulled into the pits on the following lap. From that point on, Hilmer was in front and never looked back. Following Hilmer across the line were Steve Kesl, making his way up from the 12th position, Josh Irvine, Justin Standard and Brad Forbes. Rounding out the top ten were Al Sweerin, Robert Quail, Greg Sweerin, Rodney Grother, and Nathan Sweerin.

Next on the track was the sportmod feature. With the previous two features in this class shortened by time limits, it was time for them to go the distance, and to do it quickly. The drivers did not fail. From the opening green, Rod McDonald was doing everything he could to pick up his second career feature win. For the first 14 laps he was successful, but coming off turn four of the final lap, Kurt Hogan was able to make the pass on the inside to put himself in the winner’s circle. Hogan, who started 12th, steadily worked his way to the front and never gave up until the checkered flag flew. McDonald was able to hold on to the second position, Shane Ebaugh had a solid run to third, and Kyle Olson finished fourth. Drivers who finished fifth through 10th were Danny Dvorak, Tony Olson, Kyle Bentley, Bob Ebaugh, Doug Smith and James Kuhn.

When the IMCA stock car feature rolled onto the track the crowd knew these drivers were more than capable of keeping up with the rapid pace of the evening. Last Sunday’s feature was run in four minutes and featured three-wide racing. This week’s feature was more of the same. At the end of four minutes Damon Murty was the driver seeing the checkers first. Following Murty across the line were Justin Temeyer, Brian Irvine, Norman Chesmore and Scooter Dulin. The drivers who rounded out the top 10 were all close enough to see the side-by-side racing up front. Those drivers were Brett Mather, Paul Shepherd, Ron Tharp, Curtis Roster and Jason DeShaw.

When the crowd saw a front row made up of Patrick Flannagan and Shawn Fisher setting the pace for the modified feature, they knew a fast pace would be forthcoming. They did not disappoint. Shawn Fisher came across the finish line leading the first lap and all of the laps that followed. The crowd had to wonder if Fisher’s tough luck was going to continue as his car began overheating halfway through the race. His luck and motor did hold up. Flannagan and Brandon Savage waged a furious battle for second place, and in the end Flannagan was second with Savage third. J.D. Auringer raced his way from a dead last starting position to finish fourth. Newcomer Jay Schmidt made an outstanding first impression by posting a fifth place finish. The rest of the top 10 were Brian Krall, Don Erger, Scott Hogan, Ty Glass and Rob Olson. The feature was red flagged for a vicious roll over by Jeff Sampson. Sampson was able to walk away from his badly damaged race car.

With the night just about over and a few sprinkles falling, the cruiser class began their feature. At the end of 10 laps the team of Stegall and Lewis were the first ones seeing the checkered flag. Chasing the winning tandem for all 10 laps were Keiser and Schumacher. Finishing third were Finger and Peiffer.

So, after two hours and 15 minutes the show was complete and the fans had been treated to some fantastic racing. Thanks to the hustle of the track officials, the pit crews and drivers, a full night of racing won a victory over Mother Nature!