Autograph Night at
Shelby County Speedway
By: Kelli Miller
HARLAN, IA (June 23). Shelby County Speedway has another
successful event with mild temperatures, autograph night,
and a fast, smooth, and tacky track. During intermission,
the front stretch was packed with fans of all ages waiting
to get their favorite drivers’ autographs. The drivers
become instant celebrities signing sheets, pictures, arms,
and even one forehead.
The closing of Black Bird Bend looms over the racetrack and
is the talk of the night with the anticipation of new cars
competing at SCS. The car count did increase to over 90 cars
with the hopes that more will join next week.
Sport Compacts
The sport compact 12 lap feature starts with Petersen
(Harlan) on pole and taking the early lead in turn 1 closely
followed by Mefferd (Dunlap), but before one lap could be
complete, Mefferd spins between turns 3 and 4 causing Smith
(Carter Lake) and Hicks (Dunlap) to go over the high bank.
Mefferd and Hicks retire to the pits while Smith drives
around to join the complete restart. Again Petersen takes
the lead on the restart but after three laps Madden takes
over the lead for good and cruises to his second feature win
in a row. An honorable mention goes to Griffin (Portsmouth),
who started last on the restart and ends up in third.
Hobby Stocks
The Hobby Stock feature begins with Johnson (Onawa) on
pole with Petersen (Essex) outside of him. Petersen takes
the early lead followed closely by Kurt Hansen (Walnut)
while Johnson shuffles back. After two laps, Kurt Hansen
challenges Petersen for the lead and Anderson (Atlantic)
challenges Towne (Avoca) for fifth when caution waves for a
spin after turn 2. With 10 to go on the restart, again
Petersen takes the lead but is pursued closely by Kurt
Hansen and Madden (Avoca). Petersen, Hansen, and Madden go
three wide for lead coming out of turn 4 which bunches up
the rest of the field and squeezes Anderson up against the
wall and causes Mabbitt (Council Bluffs) to spin bringing
out caution number 2. With 9 laps to go, Hansen has the lead
with Petersen challenging, Towne close in third, Devin Smith
(Lake City) in fourth, and Doug Smith (Lake City) in fifth.
With 6 laps remaining, Towne with Devin Smith on his heels
both bypass Petersen. For the white flag lap, Devin Smith
brushes Towne between turns 1 and 2 to get side by side on
the backstretch but Towne fights him off and takes the
checkered flag for the third week in a row.
Sports Modifieds
There is a larger field of sports mods this week at SCS, but
the question the announcer poses is “Can someone knock off
Chad Dills?” The 10 lap feature has Cook (Council Bluffs) on
pole, Mefferd (Dunlap) outside row one, and Dills (Shelby)
starting outside row three. After one bad start, the restart
has Mefferd taking the early lead with Dills passing several
cars to take second place after one lap. With only 1 and a
half laps complete, Dills flies by Mefferd for the lead.
With 6 laps to go, Brannan (Odebolt) spins but gets going
before a caution is thrown. Dills has stretched his lead to
a straightway with 5 laps to the finish when caution waves
again. On the restart, Dills jumps to a big lead with
Mefferd and Cook competing for second and Bronson (New Car)
looming in fourth. Dills takes the checkered flag with a 3.4
second lead over second place Cook, third place Mefferd,
fourth place Bronson, and fifth place Attanasio (New Car).
Stock Cars
The stock car 15 lap feature has Rold (Avoca) on pole with
Tanner Partridge (Walnut) outside of him. Rold takes the
lead followed closely by Webb (Denison) with Tanner
Partridge in the bunched up pack behind the leaders. Trent
Partridge (Elk Horn) spins after turn 4 at the end of lap
one but continues. Right after lap one and the flag stand,
Blessington (Breda) and Ring (Shelby) get together with
Christian (Avoca) and Tanner Partridge also involved
bringing out caution number 1. Ring has to be towed in while
Blessington, Tanner Partridge, and Christian sit on pit road
vigorously trying to get back in the race. Tanner Partridge
and Christian make the restart that has cars bunched up and
out of line. Rold again takes the lead with Webb, Knop
(Shelby), and Donavan Smith (Lake City) competing for
second. On lap 2 once again caution waves and Blessington
returns to race. With 13 laps to go on the third restart,
Rold takes the lead followed by Webb challenged by Knop and
Donavon Smith. Yet again the caution flag waves for the
third time for Tanner Partidge and Blessington together on
the backstretch. Finally with the fourth restart and still
13 laps to go, Rold takes the lead followed by four hungry
cars, Knop, Webb, Donavon and Dustin Smith, striving for
second. With 10 laps to go, Dustin Smith goes by Knop for
second. Dustin Smith, with 8 laps to go, goes low and grabs
the lead from Rold. With 5 laps to go, Knop, with Donavon
Smith on his tail, go low and take second and third
shuffling Rold back to fourth. The final lap has Dustin
Smith taking the checkered flag, with Knop in second,
Donavon Smith in third, Rold in fourth, and Ullrich in
fifth.
Late Models
The Late Model 20 lap feature, which went green, white,
checkered, has Faux (Earlham) on pole with Segebart
(Westside) outside row one. Out of turn 2 on lap one, Faux
gets sideways forcing Beckstrom (Carroll) to go low which
allows him to take the lead. Freddie Miller (Avoca) flies by
Faux on lap 2 and takes over second while Sorensen (Harlan)
looms closely in fourth. Lap 3 Freddie Miller, with Sorensen
hot on his heels, both pass Beckstrom. With 17 laps to go,
Sorensen going high takes the lead from Freddie Miller who
works low. For thirteen laps Sorensen beginning to drift
lower maintains the lead until Freddie Miller working high
tightens the gap. With 4 laps to go Freddie Miller
challenges Sorensen for the lead and takes over first.
Sorensen fights back to take the lead with 2 laps to go. The
white flag lap has Sorensen with a slight lead low coming
out of turn 2 but Freddie Miller pulls out the .025 sec. win
at the flag stand and wins two weeks in a row.
Modifieds
The Modified 20 lap feature, which went caution free, has
Ransom (Denison) on pole with Bruck (Westphalia) on his
outside. Ransom takes the early lead with Hulsebus (Tennant)
and Anderson (Altantic) close behind while Bruck shuffles
back. With 17 laps to go, Albertsen (Audubon) takes over
fourth and challenges Anderson for third. Hulsebus takes the
lead with 13 laps to go, but Ransom takes the lead back on
the next lap. With 11 laps to go, Anderson brushes the wall
on the front stretch while fighting for second place with
Hulsebus. By lap 11 the top six drivers pull away from the
rest of the field and Anderson takes second place away from
Hulsebus. With 7 laps to go, Anderson pulls past Ransom to
take the lead and Albertson takes third place away from
Hulsebus. With 3 laps to go, lap traffic slows up the
leaders but Anderson maintains the lead with Albertson
passing Ransom to cruise into second place and Reetz
(Dunlap) in a close fourth. Anderson takes the checkered
flag with Albertson in second, Reetz in third, Hulsebus in
fourth, and Bonine in fifth.
Racing takes place every Saturday, with gates opening at 5
pm, hot laps at 6:30 pm, racing at 7:00 pm. Shelby County
Bank is sponsoring the races for June 30 with water balloon
fun at intermission! You can find all of the track
information on our website
http://www.shelbycountyfair.org/Speedway or at the
track phone number 712-269-5691. Hope to see you next week
for the races!!
