By
Sharon Miller
HARLAN, IA (June 16). The hot temperatures and stagnate air
didn’t stop a full-house of racing fans and 84 cars from showing
up Saturday night at Shelby County Speedway. Intermission
included a small tribute to dad in honor of Father’s Day with a
tug-of-war contest between dads and kids. Kids rule once again!
Roger Sorensen did a great job with track preparation giving the
drivers tacky conditions to work with on this night.
The
sport compacts started off the evening for feature racing.
Excitement occurred early in the 2nd lap when 3 cars pushed into
each other on the high bank of turns 3 and 4, causing two of
them to go over the side. All cars returned to the track and the
race had a complete restart After the restart, the #2 of Corey
Madden from Avoca made smooth moves up the middle of the pack to
take the lead and give himself a little cushion going into the
checker. Madden was followed by Taylor Griffen (#87) of
Portsmouth and the points leader Terry Romick (#5R) of Exira.
Hobbies were up next, and the intensity they show each week
racing so far continued into tonight. Right out of the chutes,
the cars went 4-wide racing through turns 1 and 2. The #75 car
of Kurt Hansen from Walnut pulled ahead for 1st, but Ken Hansen
from Audubon was close on his tracks. With 10 laps left to go,
the 2x of Chuck Madden from Avoca pulled into 3rd. The top five
cars of Kurt Hansen, Madden, Ken Hansen, Doug Smith, and Dale
Towne were all battling for the lead position. With 6 laps to
go, #27 of Jim Johnson spun in turn 3 and brought out the
caution. Madden took advantage of the caution, and on the
restart, pulled into first place. Kurt Hansen was hung out to
dry and went from 2nd to 5th place with 3 laps remaining in the
race. Troy Mabbitt (#2, Council Bluffs) stopped in turn 3 with
white smoke billowing out of his hood, brining out another
caution. With a green, white, checker restart, it was anyone’s
race to win between the #2x, 15, 12, 17, and 75 cars. Madden,
Towne, and Smith were able to pull away upon the restart, but
Towne’s car was the strongest and he took the lead and the
checker flag, repeating his win from last week.
The
sport mods took to the track. Last week, The #11 of Chad Dills
from Shelby had a commanding lead – would he be as strong this
week? Joseph Mefferd (#3) of Dunlap led the first lap, but Dills
was moving up through the pack quickly and by lap 2, was leading
the field. Dennis Cook had flames coming out the right front
wheel well of #56 car with three laps to go. He turned his car
off and went into the pits, so no caution was thrown. Mefferd,
who was in 2nd place when the white was thrown, checked-up in
turn 2 and slowed way down pulling into the pits along the
backstretch. Dills took the checker and the OH car of Scott
Plantz from Omaha took 2nd.
The
stock car “too tough too tame” class rolled out next. The racing
started intense with 4-wide racing through turn 1 and 2 between
Tanner Partridge (#29, Walnut), Keith Knop (#10, Shelby), Josh
Filmer (#38, Lake City), and Dustin Smith (#85, Lake City). With
11 laps left to go, Knop took the lead, but it was short-lived.
The next lap, a caution was thrown when the #13 car of Louie
Ring from Shelby spun in turn 3. Upon restart, Knop and the #8
car of David Smith were battling for first, but Dustin Smith and
last week’s winner Brian Blessington (#92B, Breda) were waiting
in the wings. David Smith, who happened to be a late entry on
this night, took the lead and made a cushion for himself to take
the checker. Dustin Smith, Knop, Blessington, and Filmer had to
settle for 2nd to 5th, respectively.
Late
model racing started off fast and furious as Kyle Wahlery (#14),
Randy Faux (#11F, Earlham), Jeff Segebart (#5S, Westside), and
Freddy Miller (#9F, Avoca) were battling for the lead out of the
chute. Faux spun in turns 3 and 4 when he was leading with 17
laps to go in the race bringing out the caution flag. Phil
Miller (#17M, Missouri Valley) pulled into the pits with a left
rear flat tire but made it back out on the track in time for the
restart. It was Wahlery, Segebart, and F. Miller still battling,
but #1 car of Dave Jorgensen (Omaha) was moving up towards the
front of the pack to try his hand for the lead. The 4-way battle
was on again, with Fast Freddy Miller taking the lead. Jorgensen
tried to catch F. Miller, but it was his night to shine, and
after a long dry spell from the winner’s circle, Fast Freddy
Miller took the checker to the delight and excitement of all the
fans. F. Miller stood on his car in victory lane, pumped his
arms in the air to show his excitement. He did not do like Carl
Edwards though and backflip off his car, much to the crowd’s
disappointment.
With
the crowd still on a high from Fast Freddie’s win in the late
mods, the modifieds came on the track. The action started on the
first lap when a caution came out for cars spinning in turns 3
and 4. #1 of Dave Hulsebus (Tennant) had the lead on the restart
followed by 2R of Dale Ransom (Denison), 78 of Jeff Anderson
(Atlantic), #3 of Mike Albertsen (Audubon), and #73 of Travis
Mewhirter (Atlantic). But last week’s winner, the ethanol-fueled
car of Chad Preul (#2K, Denison) was moving up through the field
and with 16 laps to go, worked his way to 5th place. Hulsebus
had a small cushion with his lead, but the field was very tight
for 3rd to 7th place with 12 laps to go. Caution came out with 6
laps to go with #8 car of Larry Goertz spinning out in turn 2.
The restart order was now Hulsebus, Anderson, Preul, Reetz, and
Blessington. Upon the restart, Hulsebus made a slight mistake in
turns 3 and 4 going high on the track out of his line allowing
Anderson some space to go in front of him. Hulsebus quickly
recovered and rear-ended Anderson when he returned to his line.
Anderson went too high in turns 3 and 4, much like Hulsebus did
a few laps earlier, and this time Craig Reetz (#1R, Dunlap) was
there to take the lead away. Reetz gained a little cushion,
leaving Hulsebus and Anderson to compete for 2nd and 3rd place.
When the checker was thrown, Reetz won the race followed by
Anderson, Hulsebus, and Preul.
In
addition to the excitement of the feature races, the modified
heat race brought a gasp from the crowd. The #4M car of Doug
Wilson from Council Bluffs rolled over multiple times in turn 2
and landed on the guardrail. Wilson was able to walk away from
his car without injury. The car looked like it has seen better
days and will need lots of work to be race-ready for the
upcoming weekend. To respond to the incident was the Shelby
County Speedway Safety Crew, comprised of Mark Paulsen of
Elkhorn, Tim Peterson of Kimballton, Scott Rasmussen of
Kimballton, and Roger Parker of Elkhorn. Each week these guys
stand at the ready throughout the entire race to respond to any
incident that would occur. On this particular stagnate night,
with temperatures in the 90s, these guys stood the entire race
dressed in long underwear and fire suits. The drivers at least
are able to take their safety gear off in between races. I
wanted to use this opportunity to mention their dedication and
our appreciation in print.
Racing
takes place every Saturday, with gates opening at 5 pm, hot laps
at 6:30 pm, racing at 7:00 pm. Coming up for June 23 is
Autograph Night at the races! Kids, young and old, will be
invited to get autographs from their favorite drivers.
