Mid-Season Championship Night, 200-Lap Enduro Race Recap
It took drying the track twice for us to get Mid-Season Championship night underway! The crowd stuck around. We were able to get most of the events completed but had to move the late model feature to next Friday, July 14th.
The Sunline Hornets were up to bat first with Don Stephens and Chad Vozenilek starting on the front row. Stephens was tight going into the corner multiple times, pushing Vozenilek up the track. With 17 laps to go, Stephens allowed Corey Crispin to slip to the inside and take the lead. Ian Pate would later move into the 2nd spot and the top-three raced closely but stayed in the same position. Crispin would go on to win for the 4th time this season.
Up next came the Performance Foods Sportsman class. A wild start saw Todd Ness immediately shoot to the inside of Greg Hentrich to inherit the lead. With 14 to go, Jacob Tiegen and Hentrich made contact, spinning Hentrich to bring out the yellow. This would move Hanson to second, where he would end up side-by-side at the line just behind Ness. Ness picked up his fourth win of the year.
Jason Sherman led the opening laps of the Anderson Automotive Hobby Stock race. Derek Parrott flew up to second right away. Parrott worked the outside and eventually cleared Sherman on the outside. As the laps wound down, Reggie Mitchell made his way to the runner-up spot then had a shot when the red flag came out, due to Mike Harris stopped on the track from a small fire. He would get out safely. On the restart, Mitchell had a good run but wasn’t able to out-duel Parrott for the victory.
In the Legends.Direct Legends, points leader Kacey Korsmo started on the pole. After an early caution involving Kevin Korsmo and Nick Slabaugh prompted another restart, Austin Slabaugh slipped to the inside to take the lead and brought Michael Weber with him. For the remainder of the race, Weber remained on the bumper and attempted to root Slabaugh from the bottom groove to no avail. Slabaugh earned his second win of the year with a pushed-in bumper bar. He had some thoughts about the bumping after:
“I felt (Weber) back there,” Slabaugh said. “A little bit of bumping is fine, but my bumper is pushed all the way in, so it was a little bit more than a tap - but it’s part of racing.”
It was a Miller vs. Miller front row showdown to start the AIRS Vintage Series feature. It was Bart Miller who set sail and walked away from the rest of the field as the rest battled intensely behind him. Miller would defeat Mallet Meyer and Jeff Durst, after not even touching the car from the last race on dirt.
“I almost didn’t even come because of the rain,” Miller said. “This car sat on the trailer since Maquoketa Speedway, and I only put air in the tires and came here.”
Last of the night was the Cassill Motors Sport Mods. The lead changed multiple times in surprising fashions. Chad Siems led the beginning and looked like he might get it done until the car shut off with 11 to go, allowing Tallan Chandler to assume the lead. Siems would get it re-fired and continue on to a 7th-place finish. Chandler led until a series of cautions right at the end allowed Patrick Flannagan to set up a crossover in turn two and take the lead to capture the win.
On Sunday, July 9th, the Interstate Power Systems Enduro presented by Marion Tire Co. and Mt Vernon Tire Co took place. Dallas Chandler started in 26th but worked his way into the top ten by lap 17 and then paced himself to the front. When he took the lead on lap 94, he didn’t look back and ended the race with a two-lap advantage over Tom Blum in second. Andrew Balsanek, Steve Vandersee, and Matt Jones rounded out the top-five finishers. The next enduro race takes place on Sunday, September 10th. More information will be available at www.hawkeyedowns.org/enduro and on our Hawkeye Downs Facebook page.
Make your plans to join us for a huge night of racing on Friday, July 14th with DS Disposal and C.O.P.S Night at Hawkeye Downs!
The Legends will have a $1,000-to-win event for their “Racing for a Cause” series, plus TWO late model features and our other weekly classes as well.
Gates open at 6pm, racing begins at 7pm. Tickets are available at the gate. Our July 14th races will be sponsored by DS Disposal. We are thrilled to host our friends from C.O.P.S. at the track on July 14th. Learn more about Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) online at www.concernsofpolicesurvivors.org.
Hawkeye Downs Speedway is proud to be a part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
