HARLAN, Ia (July 14). A full house of racing fans turned out for a sponsored Amaizing Energy night of races to watch 84 drivers take their chances on crossing the finish line first. Bike races were held during intermission with four lucky children winning a brand new bike just for participating in the race. After watching another night of thrilling racing, the fans didn’t have far to walk to catch some excitement of their own from the rides at the Shelby County Fair.

The sport compacts started off the evening of events. With 11 laps to go, Vince Trometer (#37, Sioux City) got loose coming out of turn 4, fishtailing back and forth right in the middle of the field. Trometer was able to regain control of his car and the tight pack of cars managed to avoid hitting him. Racing stayed green. With 8 laps to go, the 22x car of Colby McIntosh had a good cushion on his lead over the rest of the field but racing was still tight from the second through seventh place cars which included Taylor Griffen (#87, Portsmouth), the points leader Terry Romick (#5R, Exira), Corey Madden (#2, Avoca), and Dylan Petersen (#44, Harlan). With 5 laps to go, Madden who started in 12th place, had made it up to 2nd place. McIntosh still had a pretty good lead, and only a caution would allow the rest of the field to catch up. The race remained green to the end with McIntosh taking the checker and his first win of the season, with Madden in the runner-up position, followed by Romick, Tom Summerfield (#67, Dunlap) and Petersen.

Twenty hobby stocks took to the racetrack next, with 3 to 4-wide racing occurring on the first lap. The #121 car of Robert Tippery became loose in turn 4, hitting the lower track tires and passing under the starting cone in turn 4 before recovering without further incident. With 11 laps to go and 4-wide racing on the backstretch, Doug Smith (#12, Lake City) and Chris Shanno (#29S, Council Bluffs) who had been moving up through the pack, smashed together ending both of their nights. A few others involved had minor damage taken care of by pit stops. The red flag was thrown to remove the drivers safely and clean up the accident. Smith and Shanno were ok. The restart order had the #76 of Noah Ludwig (Logan) first followed by the Hansen boys of Jared (#14x, Audubon), Kurt (#75, Walnut) and Ken (#17, Audubon). Tippery was in 5th place. The restart let the field separate from each other allowing 2 to 3 wide racing on the track. With 8 laps to go, Dale Towne (#15, Avoca) moved up to the third spot after starting in 11th. Points leader Devin Smith (#81, Lake City) had the lead at this point after starting 12th. With 5 laps to go, Towne and Kurt Hansen did side-by-side racing for 2nd and Ken and Jared Hansen did side-by-side racing for 3rd and 4th. Devin Smith zoomed around the track so that with 3 laps to go, he caught up to lap traffic. Towne was in 2nd. Caution came out with 2 laps to go placing Towne to start right behind Smith. Tippery and Jared Hansen pulled into the pits on this caution. With green-white-checker to go, would Towne be able to surpass Smith? Towne and Smith were battling on restart, but Smith had the slight advantage and managed to make a small cushion to maintain the lead. Kurt Hansen drove down Towne and was battling for 2nd place. Devin Smith took the checker, while Kurt Hansen pulled it out at the checker to take 2nd place over Towne, and Ken Hansen took fourth. Jason Fusselman (#55, Shelby) took the 5th position after starting the race in 15th place. The 2x of Chuck Madden was fined $250 and suspended for 3 weeks due to an altercation at the track.

The sport mods followed the hobby feature. The question on everyone’s mind: who would topple Chad Dills’ winning streak? During the heat race, the 4K car of Mick King looked promising that he could be the one, but King did not start the feature race. The 54R car of Rod Bronson (Hooper) had the poll position for the race and valiantly held off Dills (#11, Shelby) charge for a couple of laps. With 8 laps remaining, Dills was able to get around Bronson to take the lead. At this point, Joe Mefferd (#3, Dunlap) was in 3rd place driving hard to catch Bronson who was still trying to regain the lead from Dills. But once Dills hit open air, it didn’t take long for him to gain a cushion from the rest of the pack. With 3 laps to go, Bronson and Mefferd were battling it out for 2nd place in the backstretch, when the caution came out. The caution came out for the #27 car of Jason Kohl (MoValley) for jumping the start of the race. It appears the rule is for any class, if you jump the start and are in the top 4 with 3 laps to go, a caution will come out to move you back one position. The restart order for the race was Dills, Bronson, Mefferd, Kohl, and Anthony Attanasio (1T, Shelby), who was involved in a rollover accident last week. Dills took the green flag with a roar and got ahead by 2 cars length. One lap was complete, when the OH car of Scott Plantz (Omaha) spun in turn 2 to bring out the caution. With green-white-checker to go, Dills, Bronson and Mefferd each had a fighting chance to take the checker, but Dills was able to hold them off and kept his winning streak alive. Mefferd came in 2nd, Bronson came in 3rd, followed by Kohl and Attanasio.

The action started early for the stock cars in the first heat of two heat races. After only one lap, the starting field had dwindled to just 2 cars: Keith Knop (10x, Shelby) and Bill Reetz (26, Carroll). The race was a complete restart, but with only two cars, it had more of the making of a King of the Hill. With the 2 cars, the laps were changed from 8 to 6. Whatever misfortunes befell the cars on this heat race, most were able to make repairs and be there for the feature race. Only three cars didn’t start the feature. With #96 of Jason Rold on poll, the race started with 3-wde racing on the first lap coming out of turn 4. With 12 laps to go, Knop made some smooth passes to take over the 2nd spot from starting 10th . At this point, the #7 car of Clay Christian (Avoca) had the lead and the 37x of Rick Christensen (Audubon) and Knop were battling for 2nd and 3rd with 10 laps to go. Knop and Christian kept switching between first and second place while the #85 car of Dustin Smith was slowly moving up through the field to be in the 3rd position with 6 laps to go. Smith through drafting was able to push Knop into first over Christian, with 5 laps to go. Smith and Christian got into each other, but both managed to save it and keep moving forward. With 4 laps to go, Knop was barely holding the lead, and Christian and Smith were battling directly behind him in the front stretch. Christian pushed Smith into the wall causing him to cut a tire. Smith ended up coasting over the banks of 3 and 4 no longer able to control his car well. Caution came out. Smith goes to the pits to get his right rear tire changed. The restart order for this caution is Knop in first, followed by Christian, Donavon Smith, Ryan Webb (ZR1, Dow City), and Christensen. With 3 laps to go, the z06 of Jessy Webb (Denison) stopped on the front stretch bringing out caution on the speedway. Devin Smith is still in the pits, unable to make the green restart and is now 1 lap down. On the restart, Donavon Smith took over 2nd from Christian and was pushing Knop through the turns for the white flag lap. Ryan Webb and Christian got into each other in turns 1 and 2 and literally join cars in turns 3 and 4 as they approached the checker flag. Brian Blessington (#92B, Breda) was able to get around them to finish third. Christian came in 5th, 76 of Trent Partridge (Elk Horn) took 4th , and Knop was able to hold onto the lead to take the checker followed by Donavon Smith.

The field of late models was several short when the feature race began because of mechanical problems during the heat races. The #2V of Vic Lovejoy (Harlan) lead off the feature event with #33 of Don Beckstrom (Carroll) hot on his bumper. Barry Sorensen (45, Avoca) and Phil Miller (17M, MoValley) were battling for 3rd and 4th. The #9 car of Mark Plowman (Blair) spun in turns 1 and 2 bringing out the caution and a complete restart to the race. Again, Lovejoy and Beckstrom were battling on the restart. Sorensen took the high side and passed for first place with 18 laps to go. Jeff Segebart (#5S, Westside) and Fred Miller (#9F, Avoca) passed on each side of Phil Miller; Segebart on the bottom groove and Fred Miller on the high groove. With 17 laps to go, Segebart spun in turns 3 and 4. Phil Miller hit the track tires on the bottom of the track to avoid a collision. Caution out. On the restart, Sorensen pulled away on the high groove and made himself a nice cushion. Phil Miller makes a good pass underneath Dave Jorgensen (#1, Omaha) and Lovejoy to take over the 5th position. Jeremy Grady (#43), the Deery Summer Series Points Leader, was working his way through the pack and moved up to 2nd place with 14 laps to go. With 13 laps left, caution came out. Grady was able to take the lead over Sorensen on the restart, but red flag came out. Mark Plowman went over the bank in turn 3 and was able to get out of the car ok even with his car on fire. Grady slingshots pass Sorensen on the restart on the bottom side to take the lead back. Sorensen was holding strong on the high side to keep up with Grady. Fred Miller, Beckstrom, Phil Miller, and Jorgensen were battling for 3rd to 6th positions. Once in clear air, Grady made himself a nice cushion for the lead with 10 laps to go. Sorensen’s car appeared to be going away, as Freddie Miller was catching Sorensen for 2nd place. Sorensen held him off and Freddie Miller and Jorgensen were racing for 3rd and 4th place with 5 laps to go. The remainder of the field was all spaced out and racing single file. Grady finished 1st, followed by Sorensen, Fred Miller, Jorgensen, Beckstrom and Phil Miller.

Travis Mewhirter (#73, Atlantic) had the poll to start the feature race for the modifieds. Tim Plowman (17P, Woodbine) and Dave Hulsebus (1, Tennant) were charging to take the lead away. With 18 laps to go, caution on the speedway. Restart order had Plowman as the leader, followed by Hulsebus, Mike Albertsen (3, Audubon) and Mewhirter. Craig Reetz (1R, Dunlap) moved up from his starting position of 10th to the 5th spot with 16 laps to go. With 13 laps to go, the #8 car of David Smith (Lake City) coasted around turn 2 and headed into the pits. Plowman still had the lead with a small cushion with 12 laps to go, but Reetz took over the 2nd place position and was charging towards Plowman. The 92 car of Jeff Stephens (Arion) passed Chad Preul (2K, Denison and sponsored by Amaizing Energy) to take over the 5th place position, up from 8th, with 10 laps to go. Reetz continued to chase down Plowman and Preul and Stephens kept changing positions. Albertsen continued to hold down the 3rd position with a cushion ahead and behind of him. With 5 laps to go, Reetz took a slight advantage in the corner to take over 1st place from Plowman. Plowman took it back out of turn 2 and Reetz took it back out of turn 4. As long as Plowman or Reetz did not bobble, this could continue going back and forth until the end. With 4 laps to go, caution came out on the speedway. Reetz restarted in 1st, followed by Plowman, Albertsen, Stephens, and Hulsebus. Reetz stayed on the high groove for the restart and got a small cushion. Albertsen took advantage of the restart and took second position from Plowman. Stephens and Plowman were battling for 3rd and 4th with 2 laps to go. White flag lap, Reetz had a cushion lead and took the checker. In second came Albertsen followed by Stephens, and Plowman. Hulsebus just barely squeaked by Pruel to get 4th.

Pinewood Derby Races are on tap for intermission July 21. Please check our website for registration forms and rules.