Sunday night, April 30th, it would be night number two for the new promotional team of the Alves' as they would bring in the first special event of the season as the IMCA RaceSaver 305 Sprints would join the regular five division program of IMCA racing at the Interstate Speedway in Jefferson South Dakota.
With most race programs falling to the inclement weather conditions on Sunday as well as most of the rest of the weekend, Interstate was one of the few shows to be completed anywhere on Sunday. And quite frankly, it was a brutal day to be outside racing as while the temperatures struggled to get to fifty, the wind was the big story as it was blowing at 30 mph steady and gusting over 40 mph and as luck would have it, the wind was blowing directly in the spectator grandstand with the pit cat walk no better off.
However, eighty seven drivers signed in to race in the five divisions with another thirteen Sprints to produce a triple digit entry list. And a decent sized group of plenty tough spectators were bundled up against the breezes but were on hand also. There were no wind breaks available and everyone had to grit their teeth and endure. Trust me, there were no "buttercups" in attendance on this night.
Speaking of "Buttercups", J Van was over for the second straight week serving as a consultant to the new promoters as he made the three hour drive from central Iowa. He too had stories to tell about the awful weather this weekend and how the front passing through turned his Friday night show at Marshalltown into a survival of the fittest against the same Northwesterly wind we would battle on Sunday.
Track improvements continue as weather and time allows with some painting done this week and the infield scoreboard now shows the time so hopefully it won't be too long before it is showing the lap count and leaders too. The Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts continue to show the highest car counts with four and three heats needed for each while double heats would set the grid for the other four main events.
As you might imagine, with the wind it was tough getting moisture into the track surface and it quickly slicked up. There was also some dust but not as mad as one might imagine but the racing surface quickly started to take rubber and that was a significant part of the feature racing. They tried to put some water on as they could between races but it was largely ineffective due to the extreme conditions they were dealing with and on this night it was simply grin and bear it as there was not a whole lot they could do.
Interstate is dealing with a situation that many track do and while it might be maddening, they aren't alone in this problem. The heat races roll through very smoothly and it looks like it's going to be a quick night and then the feature races hit the track and all heck breaks loose and what had a promise of being a quick night at the track turns into a 10 pm finish, far too late for a Sunday night, to say nothing of a Wintery Sunday night in the end of April.
With only one B Feature in the Hobby Stocks, the Sport Mods would take to the track first for their main event. For the second straight week, it would be the Willy Kirk show in this class as he took the lead on lap four from Geoff Olson and after that ran away from the field for the win. The last thirteen laps would go nonstop with only two yellows for the race and Kirk would finish easily in front of Olson and Tommy Tanner.
Two things the Sport Compacts seldom have, a non stop main event and a run away winner, both happened simultaneously on Sunday. It was Tyler Thompson who did the deed as he started on the outside pole, got the jump on Taylor Brown and then pulled away gradually as the race continued.
He extended his lead to nearly a full straightaway at the end as Levi Volkert tried to vain to catch him with Danny Vanderveen using his "rent a ride" to take third.
By Sprint feature tire the track was seriously rubbered up and the wide tired Sprints would only add to the issue. In fact, tire wear caused by the rubbered condition proved to be the deciding factor in this race. Veteran driver Dusty Ballenger would take the early lead but it was only temporary as by lap three, Trevor Serbus blew past Ballenger when Dusty pushed up the track. Once in front, Serbus powered away from the field but by midrace he was starting to smoke his right rear tire as he came off the corners. He could have "cooled it" as he had a substantial lead but he continued to roar, smoke billowing off that right rear until finally, with just three laps to go, it would blow spectacularly on the front chute and Serbus would be done.
Nebraska driver Josh Riggins, who had been running a steady pace in second, then stepped in as the leader and would drive on for the win with Ballenger second and Trevor Smith third.
Without question, Jaxon Saathoff would make the racing move on the night during the Modified feature. He would be in second and trailing leader Ricky Stephan for a number of laps after Stephan got past early leader Sean Barragan on lap three.
Saathoff appeared faster but veteran racer Stephan knew how to block the track and while Saathoff could get a nose under "Ricky the Racer", he could never complete the pass.
Then, with only four laps to go, Saathoff pulled off a shocking move as he drove to the outside of Stephan in turn four, somehow found the bite to accelerate and drove past Ricky to take over the lead. It was a most surprising move but once he got in front, he pulled rapidly away from Stephan and would drive on for the win in his first ever appearance at Interstate. . Jim Thies would finish third.
Minnesota visitor Tim Gonska would lead the opening lap of the Stock Car feature before veteran Greg Taylor would drive under him and take over the top spot. Taylor would then hold on through three yellow flags and fight off the field to get the win. Several times various drivers would get a nose under him but each time he would keep them behind him.
Late in the race, Travis Barker, who had gone to the back early after a wreck that saw the entire right side of his car bashed in, would provide the stiffest challenge but Taylor would hold off his strong last lap challenge to get the win with a consistent run by Hans Houfek giving him third.
The Hobby Stock drivers got a stern lecture Sunday after the craziness of last week's main event and they seemed to take it to heart, at least to some measure. The race was still yellow flag plagued with five and the event was shortened by three laps due to the time limit but at least some of the blatant rough driving of last week was eliminated.
John Cain would take the early lead and while he was under the gun for most of the race, he would hold on through the multiple yellows for the win. In fact, the yellow became his best friend when he slipped up the track and Tyler Smith passed him for the point, but the yellow waved and saved Cain who got the top spot back.
Cain rode a higher line than most of the drivers on the track which gave the bottom side an appeal to his challengers but he was able to maintain his momentum and fight off Smith to take the win. David Miller came from twentieth to complete the top three as only half the starting field was around at the finish with spins and wrecks moving a lot of the starters to the infield early.
Interstate will continue next week with a five class program sanctioned by IMCA,
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