HARLAN, IA (August 4). A heat index of 100 degrees and the threat of storms in the area did not hold back the fans from coming into the stands or the cars from coming here to race. A record car count of 100 cars, under track management by the SCRA, provided another great night of entertainment for all ages. Blossom the Clown worked her magic transforming the faces of kids into works of art in the stands area while they eagerly awaited the candy toss at intermission sponsored by Pizza Ranch. Pizza Ranch also provided an extra $50 in purse to each winning driver, and an additional $50 to a sport modified driver who could break Chad Dills’ hot streak.

Starting off the evening was the mad hornet class of the sport compacts. After only one lap completed, the caution came out and the restart order had the M&M car of Tim Cass from Mapleton (33TC) as the leader. Cass was followed by Tom Summerfield in his #67 Saturn car from Dunlap, #55 of Bryan Smith from Carter Lake, #77N of Neal Reynolds, and the #87 car of Taylor Griffen from Portsmouth. With one lap completed on the restart, another caution appeared on the track, although it wasn’t really apparent as to why the caution was thrown. The cars restarted in the above order and made it through the rest of the race caution-free. Summerfield, the feature winner from the last weekly event, had the lead and was racing by a lap car; #15 of Nick Adams. In the final lap coming out of turn #4, Adams got loose and spun getting near Summerfield. Summerfield bobbled to avoid collision, but regained control of his car to take the checker for the evening.

The “Wild Thing” hobby class rolled onto the track with 22 cars. This class puts on a highly competitive race each week, and this week was no exception. With 3 to 4 wide racing on lap 1 through all turns, the announcers even said something had to give. But this week, all cars managed to make it through the first lap without incident. With 8 laps to go in the race, the 4-pack in the front was #78 of Shannon Anderson (Atlantic), #55 of Jason Fusselman (Shelby), #15 of Dale Towne (Avoca) and the #60 of Tanner Powers (Exira). All of these cars were racing bumper-to-bumper or side-by-side and could take the lead at any moment. On the next lap, a caution was thrown for the #1 car of Blake Miller who found himself in the guardrail in the middle of turns 1 and 2. He was able to back away and restart the race. Towne and Anderson were battling back and forth for the lead after the restart. Towne had the slight advantage in turns 1 and 2 and Anderson had the slight advantage in turns 3 and 4. With 5 laps to go, the #98 of Derrick Rode (Audubon) and #76 of Noah Ludwig (Logan) got into each other in turn 4. Rode continued on in the race, but Ludwig had to pit. Both cars were able to do this without a caution being thrown. With 4 laps to go, the #1 car of Miller spun in the middle of turns 3 and 4 as the pack was coming around. All cars managed to split high and low around him to avoid an accident. The caution came out. The restart order is Anderson, Towne, and Powers followed by the Smith boys who have worked their way towards the front of the pack. On the restart, the #3 car of Mike Hansen (Exira) pulled into the pits with 3 laps to go. Once the green flag was thrown, Towne, Doug Smith, Anderson and Powers battled for the lead with side-by-side racing. Towne took over the lead with 2 laps to go, but Doug Smith wasn’t letting go easily. Coming into the checker, the two cars literally joined together side-by-side on the front stretch and it was Doug Smith who crossed the finish line first by just a hair, literally a hair, over Towne. Not only did Smith get the trophy, but he also got a flat rear tire for his efforts. What an exciting finish!

Pizza Ranch had set the bounty of $50 for anyone who can tame Chad Dills’ hot streak. With that thought in mind, the sport modifieds took to the track. On the first lap, the #3 car of Joseph Mefferd (Dunlap) got a little too high and sideswiped the guardrail on the backstretch. Mefferd was able to continue with no apparent damage. Coming out of turn 4, the #03K car of Kenneth Layton (Modale) shot from high to low causing the crowd to gasp, but the cars managed to avoid contact. Layton was able to continue. With 11 laps to go, an accident between turns 1 and 2 involving Chad Dills (11K, Shelby), Anthony Attanasio (1T, Shelby), Rod Bronson (54R, Hooper) and Mike Bailey (98, Schaller) brought out the red flag. Dills was able to drive away and headed for the pits. Attanasio was able to drive away and headed for the rear of the pack. When Bronson went to restart his car near the pit entrance on the backstretch, flames ignited. The safety crew immediately responded and Bronson was ok. It appeared Bronson had a broken fuel line from the accident and didn’t know until he started his car. When the caution came out, Dills’ crew worked on his car, but he called it a night and headed into the pits. The restart order had the #27 of Jason Kohl (MoValley) in the lead, followed by Mick King (4K, Odebolt), Mefferd, Jeff Bronssen (00X, Lemars) and Layton. With 9 laps to go, King pulled ahead to take the lead, followed by Bronssen and then Kohl. Mefferd and Kohl were battling side-by-side for 3rd and 4th place position. With 6 laps to go, the caution came out. The OH car of Scott Plantz who seemed plagued with mechanical problems pulled into the pits twice to get checked out and headed back on the track. He wasn’t able to keep up with the remaining racers the entire race. Layton also pulled into the pits to get checked out and then headed back on the track. With 5 laps to go, smoke started coming out the back of the #56 car of Dennis Cook (Schaller). With each lap, the smoke got worse and with 3 laps to go, flames were seen underneath his hood. The caution came out, Cook pulled into the pits and the fire crew raced after him to put out the fire. Cook was ok. With green, white, checker to go, the restart order had King in the lead followed by Bronssen, Mefferd, and Kohl. King took the checker just slightly over Bronssen to end an eventful race for the sport modifieds.

With storms looming in the background and a flash of lightening every so often, the stock car feature rolled onto the track. The Z06 car of Jesy Webb (Denison) had the early lead at the start of the race, but 19B of Tim Bengard (Exira) took it over with 13 laps to go. The race for first place was very tight and competitive between Bengard, Webb, Keith Knop (10X, Shelby), and Josh Filmer (38, Lake City). Knop passed on the inside to take the lead with 9 laps to go. The #35 car of Donavon Smith (Lake City) moved up through the field and with 7 laps to go, took over the 2nd position. With 5 laps to go, the caution is thrown on the speedway. Knop is the leader with Donavon Smith second, followed by Bengard, Dustin Smith (85, Lake City) and Brian Blessington (92B, Breda). On the restart, Donavon Smith was riding the bumper of Knop, pushing him through the corners. Donavon Smith had the slight advantage through turns 3 and 4 to take the lead, while Knop had the slight advantage through turns 1 and 2 to take the lead back. With 4 laps to go, the 29 car of Tanner Partridge (Walnut) stalled in turn 4, bringing out the caution. Partridge was able to restart his car and pulled in the pits. The restart had Knop as leader followed by Donavon Smith, Dustin Smith, Bengard, and Webb. The Smith boys worked together with Dustin drafting Donavon to push Donavon ahead of Knop for the lead. However after that effort, Dustin and Donavon make some contact allowing Knop to pull back into first place on the white flag lap. Coming through turns 3 and 4 heading for the checker, Dustin, Donavon and Knop are 3-wide racing side-by-side in an all out dash for the finish. Dustin pulled out the win, very closely followed by Knop and Donavon. What another incredible finish!

The late models came up next that included a couple of new entries into the field. Kyle Wahlert (#14, Des Moines) pulled out to an early lead and looked to have a very strong car. But, the track conditions were changing and started to get dry and dusty. The #30 car of Todd Cooney (Des Moines) who started in the back has now made his way to the front and was charging after Wahlert. Barry Sorensen (#45, Avoca) showcased a brand new car and color scheme tonight, and was on the move himself through the pack. With 13 laps to go, Cooney took over the lead and once in open air, took no time to put a hefty cushion between himself and Walhert. Walhert was also on his own oasis for 2nd place, but it looked like his car was going away somewhat since the remainder of the field was finally gaining on him. With 9 laps to go, Cooney caught up to the rear of the pack and started passing cars for a second time during this feature race. The 99 car of Darrel DeFrance was a car on the move and with 8 laps to go, passed Wahlert for the 2nd position. With 7 laps to go, Sorensen was able to pass into the 4th position. With 3 laps to go, Cooney had command of the track. He was a full half-track ahead of the 2nd place car of DeFrance. With 2 laps to go, Sorensen caught up to Wahlert and battled for 3rd position. On the white flag lap, Sorensen made the pass to finish 3rd in his new car. Cooney won by a landslide, followed by DeFrance, Sorensen, Wahlert, and Vic Lovejoy (2V, Harlan). The 11F car of Randy Faux (Earlham), went too high on the front stretch in his race for the checker and hit the wall throwing sparks. Those sparks continued down the front stretch until he hit the guardrail in turn 1 and high-centered his car across it. While crews worked to remove Faux’s car from the track, Cooney collected his trophy in victory lane.

The main feature of the night, the modified race, pulled out onto the track. The 2R of Dale Ransom (Denison) and the 17P of Tim Plowman (Woodbine) headed off to fight for the early lead, but Chad Preul in the 2K car (Dension) was hot on their heels. With 16 laps to go, the #73 of Travis Mewhirter (Atlantic) bobbled on the bottom of turn 3, but was able to regain control and kept going. The 1R car of Craig Reetz (Dunlap) was moving up through the pack and took over the 5th position with 14 laps to go. Plowman was still in the lead at this point, with Preul in second position. Dave Hulsebus (1, Tennant) battled to take over the 3rd position and was able to do so with 11 laps to go. Jeff Stephens (92, Arion) had his hands full doing some serious blocking to keep Reetz from passing him for the 4th position for several laps. With 8 laps to go, Plowman was able to get some breathing room between him and Preul to have a decent cushion for the lead. With 6 laps to go, Reetz was able to get by Stephens and was quickly moving up to the 3rd position. Stephens still went after Reetz to try to get his spot back. With 4 laps to go, Plowman reached lap traffic, allowing Preul a chance to close in on the cushion. With 2 laps to go, Reetz took third place but ran out of number of laps to advance further. Plowman took the checker in first place, followed by Preul, Reetz, Hulsebus, and Stephens.