Someone please slap me! I must be in dreamland. It is just after 4 pm on Saturday afternoon, March 21st and I am sitting in the grandstands at the Park Jefferson International Speedway near Jefferson South Dakota. They are ready to drop the first green flag on day two of the Battle at the Park and it is 94 degrees, the wind is blowing like a hurricane, the sun in blazing down and I am sweating like a pig! This can't be real!
But in fact, it was. Who in their right mind would expect that these kinds of weather conditions would be prevailing at any track across much of the country on this day? And while my body and mind are not prepared to properly handle this kind of warmth so early in the season, I refuse to complain. I suspect when I look back at this event later, I will marvel the fact that I was able to sit for a full racing program in mid March in South Dakota and never even consider putting a coat on. This was truly one for the record books.
Day two of the Battle at the Park brought out a great crowd of fans to partake in the early season program and a much larger field of drivers was also on hand for Saturday. The combination of Saturday being a little easier for some to get to the track plus extra money and great weather saw forty two drivers added to the sign in sheet for Saturday and well over one hundred and sixty different teams participate in the two night show. It was a very good turn out for this first time event and a good start to the racing season here in the Siouxland area.
A full program in all five classes that raced on Friday night would again be held with extra money on the line for all classes and a few extra feature laps for all classes too. It was an eventful day(early start) and night of racing with some surprises, some excellent drives, some hard feelings and a disqualification all thrown in to stir the pot. The running order was changed up for night two with the Sport Compacts racing first instead of last and the Hobby Stocks being booted to the tail of the running order.
Heat races started off the afternoon with the draw/redraw format used once again. The fields were large enough that B Features were required for both the Sport Mods/B Mods and Hobby Stocks. All other classes started all cars still running after the heats.
Nineteen Sport Compacts started off the feature parade of events with Justice Limoges taking the lead for only one lap before he was passed by Justin Best for the lead. Those two continued to race hard for the top spot, remaining tightly battling as Travis Roush, Drake Bohlmeyer and Tyler Thompson moved into the top five runners by the halfway point.
One lap past the halfway signal, Limoges made a repass to take over the lead and just one more lap later, the first yellow of the race came out when Best slowed with mechanical issues. Bohlmeyer had gradually worked his way forward and he moved into second as the race was restarted.
Leader Limoges got all crossed up on the front chute when racing resumed and while he bailed out his car, several other drivers tangled, the race was slowed again and this time it was Bohlmeyer that was scored as the leader.
With only two laps left, Levi Volkert became the big challenger as after finally cracking the top five on lap thirteen, he continued to charge forward and was up to the rear bumper of Bohlmeyer for the final sprint to the finish. He gave it a shot but Bohlmeyer maintained the inside line and drove on for the win. Roush hung on for third with Jackson Black and Brooke Osler completing the top five.
The Sport Mod/B Mod field was the largest of all the classes and it took a good run just to make the twenty four car starting field. Geoff Olson started on the pole and led the opening four laps. Jonathan Jensen was trying hard to keep up with Olson in the early going but the driver on the move was Chris Abelsen.
After getting DQ'd last night from his second place finish, he was back in a Rusty Montague back up car again on Saturday and looking to do some damage. He started seventh but was making the low line work and by lap five, he slipped under Olson to take over the lead. From that point on, the race was for second as Abelsen pulled away from the pack.
Jensen continued to hold second but Tim Bergerson was having a strong run. He started seventeenth on the grid but by the halfway point was up to third. He was making the low side also work for him and with only two yellows to aid him, he was passing a lot of cars.
The last eighteen laps of this race ran green to checkers and Abelsen was comfortably in front. Late in the contest, Bergerson made the pass for second and that proved to be a very important gain. Because long after the fact and with few fans on the grounds even aware of the situation, Abelsen scored a perfect weekend as for the second straight night, he was again disqualified, this time losing the win.
Bergerson, the Minnesota driver, went home with twelve hundred dollars for his efforts and the official finish saw Jensen second, followed by Hunter Poston who started twelfth, Jake Smith and Brayden Shepherd.
The Stock Car feature saw the track start to lane up on the inside and pole starter Travis Barker took full advantage of this fact, leading all twenty two laps for the win. After a first lap spin, the rest of the race was run off with just a single yellow and the running order did not change much for the whole contest.
Barker was guarding the inside line with Mike Albertsen right behind him, waiting for a mistake. Several times Albertsen was able to get a nose inside Barker off the corners but Travis had enough speed to fight off "Wahoo" down the chutes. Albertsen continued to pressure right up to the finish but Barker was making no mistakes and he drove on for the win.
Albertsen played it clean, took what he could and settled for second. Late in the race, Dan Mackenthun moved up to third and Curt Lund got as much out of the track as he could, moving up to fourth after starting in the sixth row with Kaden Reynolds completing the top five.
The Modifieds got a reworked track but it still raced much like it had earlier with the inside line still the way to go for most. Tyler Inman drew the pole and the Altoona Iowa driver then led all twenty two laps to score the victory and take twelve hundred and fifty bucks back to central Iowa. He was under the gun the whole race with much of the pressure applied by last night's winner Jesse Dennis. Dennis continually tried to get under Inman but he held sway through three yellows that slowed the pace.
Matt Bonine had the crowd fired up as he chose to try and ride the cushion to the front after starting in the fourth row. He almost made it happen until he got just a bit high and almost went off the end and after that, the top dried out and than lane was no longer viable.
Late in the contest, Izac Mallicoat, who had patiently worked his way to the front, found himself second for the final restart and he gave it his best effort, but Inman made no mistakes and gave no opportunities as he drove on for the win. Dennis settled for third with Brian Mahlstedt and Jason Schneiders following.
I believe Inman to be a rookie driver in the Modified class and if so, he is off to a great start after having also had solid runs last weekend in Beatrice.
The Hobby Stock feature completed the racing show and this was a wild one with multiple yellows, much slamming and banging, black flags waving and upset competitors after the race.
Kalyb Brunssen got a wrap on his car overnight to change it's looks and he the led the opening lap of the twenty lap finale for the Hobby Stocks. However, he could only hold off Zach Ankrum for a single lap before Zach snuck past him for the lead. Eric Knutson was on the charge with what appeared to be a new car he was debuting until he spun and triggered the second of what would be five yellows.
Ankrum continued to lead but on the move was last night's hard luck competitor Cody Malacek as he moved into second ahead of Brunssen. On lap seven, Malacek drove past Ankrum to take over the lead while at the same time, a driver to watch was Nick Ronnebaum who had started way back in row six. He was up to fifth by the halfway point of the race and still moving forward. He had found a second line around the track that allowed him to pass cars on the tall side of the track and after a lap twelve yellow, he made a bold move on the outside and drove past Malacek to take over the lead.
But wait a second, the yellow flew and the pass was disallowed. And things went far downhill on the restart as Ronnebaum, who selected the outside line, was moved up to the wall by overaggressive driving on the green by Brunssen that triggered a multicar wreck and slowed the action once again. Brunssen was shown the black flag and he and Ronnebaum exited the track banging into each other.
The last six laps saw Malacek turn smooth laps and not give any openings as the fourteen year old drove on for the win. Joel Magee, who was pretty quiet all day, patiently worked his way forward after starting thirteenth and he found himself in the runner up slot at the finish, nosing out Ankrum. Wyatt Johnson and Knutson, who had worked his way back up using all the yellows to his advantage, completed the top five.
All racing was completed just before 9 pm. They continually apologized for the track conditions and needed track prep but they didn't need to apologize for anything as far as I was concerned. They were dealing with extraordinary weather conditions that any track, any time of year might struggle with. And considering it was the season opener, I thought the track to be smooth and as racy as was possible for a track that is well known to be a very icy surface to race on.
There were some issues with drivers not realigning themselves well and taking too long under yellow. It will be up to Race Director Trent Chinn to reign some of these "cowboys" in a bit and they might need to use the black flag a bit more to cut down on the rough driving. There have been some issues with instances of over aggressive driving here over the years and I did note a Police Car, with lights on flying into the pit area as I was leaving. What the circumstances were, I can not say.
Thanks to Chinn and all the other staff members working the opening weekend and also to take owner Wayne Becker.
No comments:
Post a Comment