With a dismal weather forecast for Sunday and battling wet conditions, the Benton County Speedway Bullring in Vinton had already cancelled the finale for the annual IMCA Frostbuster series in central Iowa. Thus, the Saturday night show at the historic Boone Speedway would be the third and final leg of the, what turned out to be a three night series this year. And the cradle of IMCA racing did not disappoint as one hundred and eighty seven drivers signed in to race for the early start show on Saturday and that was in just four classes of competition.
Racing action would see a couple of drivers continue their early season hot streaks as both Brayton Carter and Ethan Braaksma would again find victory lane, dominating the open wheel classes. Other winners in hard fought events would include "Hot" Rod Williams in the Stock Cars and with a last lap pass, Mike Smith in the Hobby Stocks.
For the third straight night it was a tremendous field of drivers in all four classes and just like the previous two nights, the program would be run of in a spectacularly efficient manner, starting right at the advertised time and barreling through the program quickly and that was a good thing as it , while not as cold as the previous two nights, was extraordinarily windy which made it very uncomfortable with the only blessing being that the wind at least kind of came from the back into the main grandstands.
The weather folks had predicted t-storms by between 9 pm and 10 pm and sure enough, the last two feature races were run off with lightning bolts flashing in the western skies.
With such a large field of drivers on hand, the number of qualifying events just to make the mains was staggering with there actually being thirty preliminary events completed in order to establish the starting fields for the four main events. For a place such as Boone that routinely draws huge fields of cars for their weekly shows and the fans are used to seeing this kind of precision, it perhaps is not such a big deal. However, for me, coming from an area where the car counts are not quite so spectacular and the track operators perhaps guilty of moving just a bit slower, it is so satisfying to watch such precision track operation. And most of the tracks in my area just don't have the equipment to freshen the tracks at the lightning speed they do here. Amazing to me on Saturday was the fact that twenty two heat races were a part of the program but in those twenty two events, the yellow flag was forced to be used only five times! That is remarkable. Especially considering how hard everyone just drive just to qualify for a main event.
Track prep came after the heats and then again after the eight B Features but with them able to do so in such a quick fashion, the breaks are not long and justly needed by some.
The Sport Mod feature would be first up and with a favorable redraw, Brayton Carter would start on the outside pole and would eventually lead from start to finish. However, the win was not quite as easy as that may sound as he received a stiff challenge from Taylor Kuehl who he was not able to shake throughout the race.
As Carter took the lead with Kuehl following him closely, an excellent battle for third would find Alec Fett, Cole Suckow and Dustin Lynch racing hard for position. Carter was eventually able to put a few lengths on Kuehl as the race continued to run under the green. However, with just four laps to go, debris was spotted and the yellow waved which of course bunched the field.
Carter would again take the lead but Kuehl and Fett would battle for position with Taylor winning out again. Carter was starting to slip a bit in turn four and Kuehl was making things interesting as she poked a nose to the low side of the track. Just as the leaders took the white flag, a big tangle occurred that triggering the yellow once more and set a two lap sprint to the line.
Carter would maintain his line against the challenge of Kuehl and while she was able to challenge low off turn four, Carter would drive home for the win by a car length with Suckow moving up to third. Geoff Olson would make a late rush for fourth ahead of Fett.
Rod Richards would start from the pole for the Stock Car feature and twenty five laps later, he would arrive in victory lane. But again, it was much tougher than it might sound as he had drivers nipping on his rear bumper throughout the race and at the end, had to fight off a severe challenge from Devin Smith to hold on for the win.
The Stock Cars migrated to the low groove for their race as they fought hammer and tongs to drive inside each other off the corners. Richards was frequently up on three wheels as he set for the chutes with cars looking to get under him. Mike Goldsberry was particularly insistent as he moved up from seventh to race into the second spot by the half point of the race. The exception was Smith, who started thirteenth and decided to try the higher line which he made work as he charged to the front. By the halfway point of the race, he was up to third and still moving forward.
He got past Goldsberry for second and then set his sights on leader Richards. Lap after lap he would race off the cushion in turn two but just not be able to clear Richards and then fall back in line behind him on the other end of the track.
This race would go nonstop for twenty laps before debris was again spotted and the yellow would wave. One lap later another yellow slowed the action and then it was a four lap sprint. The final thrust to the finish would see Smith forsake the cushion and instead try to slip under Richards coming off the corners. The field would get scrambled with Troy Jerovetz, running in the top five. would slow in the midst of heavy traffic with cars going in all directions but the green remaining out.
Smith would nearly get inside Richards in turn two on the final lap but Devin couldn't quite get the run he needed while Rod remained rock solid in the low groove and he would cross the finish line with Smith tailing him closely. The wild scramble in the last laps would see Buck Schafroth, Josh Daniels and Ty Hill complete the top five.
The Modified feature would be an interesting contest that would see drivers working various lines on the track to find success. Jerry Flippo would start on the pole and lead the first nine laps with Todd Shute and Braaksma chasing him closely. Braaksma would fine the high side to his liking as he closed on the leader but then Shute decided he better get up top too and that temporarily slowed Braaksma's charge.
So many debris yellows today and another on lap seven would bunch the field. The restart would see a huge wad of cars on the front chute with Jed Freiburger pushed over on to his roof. No injuries resulted but several cars were eliminated from the race.
Shute would opt for the top side of the track and Braaksma would make the move of the race down the front chute when he would clear Shute for second and then drive to the top where he would pass Flippo on lap ten for the lead. Once in front, Braaksma was gone as he opened up some distance over the pack and withstood one more debris yellow before he was able to drive on for the win.
Dylan Thornton would make a strong drive from twelfth to take over the second spot from Shute as Thornton was probably the only other driver to work the cushion with as much success as Ethan. Trevor Fitz would finish fourth and Izac Mallicoat would round out the top five.
The biggest field of drivers were in the Hobby Stocks and they would produce the closest finish of the night. Twenty four of them would go for twenty laps and this race would be stopped only once for the yellow flag. Logan Andrews would start on the pole and lead the opening lap before he was overtaken one lap later by Eric Knutson who would then lead the vast majority of the race.
Knutson would have John Watson all over him as again, the Hobby Stocks would primarily race the low groove and be digging on each other in the corners. The main exception was Mike Smith who took to the cushion as he moved up from the fourth row. He would be up to third by the halfway point of the race with Bradly Graham and Seth Janssen close behind.
A spin on lap fourteen would be the only slowdown of the event and Smith, setting on the outside, would drive past Watson for second once racing continued. Smith would power high through turns one and two and try to gain momentum and then drop low behind Knutson on the West end of the track. And slowly but surely, it started t work as he gained inches and then feet on the leader.
When the white flag flew, he was side by side with Knutson and then was able to overpower him down the back chute and clear him for the lead. Knutson made a move low in turn three but Smith had him blocked and Mike would then drive on for the close and exciting win. Knutson would have to settle for second with Watson, Janssen and Sean Butler following.
With the lightning flashing to the West, the final checkered waved just at 9 pm on what was a good racing program. For the third straight night there was top notch racing as some very interesting short track and racing at its finest.
Want to see lots of race cars? Then you need to attend the Frostbusters events. In just three nights of racing for the events this year, two hundred and seventy three different teams competed over the three nights. That, my friends, is a lot of race cars. I want to thank the management and workers at all three tracks who put in long hours under less than ideal conditions to provide good racing surfaces and well run programs. It was a very good weekend of racing for yours truly and I enjoyed it .
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