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Minnesota Farmfest Night

There was plenty of hot action on the track for the Minnesota Farmfest Night at the Arlington Raceway
Saturday night. A red flag came out on the first lap of the Jack Pines Resort IMCA Hobby race when the field bunched together in turn #1 and the 75H of Carter Holmquist rolled his car landing on his roof. He was ok but out of the race. There was a 3 way battle for the lead throughout the race with first Taylor Manderfield leading until Chad Volk took over the race. He was holding off the cars of Cory Probst and Blake Luinenburg who had both started side by side in the 5th row. Volk felt the pressure behind him and on lap 7 Probst got around him to take over the lead. Luinenburg followed the next lap as well. Another yellow came out when Manderfield hit an infield tire in turn #2 putting him to the back. When the race restarted Probst held onto the lead and took the win ahead of Luinenburg and Volk settled for 3rd.

Two yellow flags occurred on the first lap of the Coors Light IMCA Sport Compact feature when the 88t of Marc Grey spun and then again the following restart when Justin Dose jumped the start. Dale Gatton took the early lead but Gary Schumacher was able to get around him to take over the lead and let the entire distance until the end when Alan Lahr got under him in turn #4 and took the checkered flag first. Shumacher took 2nd and Gatton took 3rd.

After taking a couple of weeks off to rebuild, Karl Hewitt Jr started on the pole and led the entire race to win. Dan Eckblad and Garett Uecker were swapping spots behind him but in the end Eckblad overcame Uecker to take 2nd and he settled for 3rd ahead of Mark Oestreich.

Hunter Hanson had a commanding lead in the Rice Companies IMCA RaceSaver sprints car feature as he took off like a shooting bullet at the start of the race. Going into turn #2 on the 13th lap, he quickly exited the track and jumped out of his car as a fuel line had come loose and he felt his legs get very hot as a small fire started. Track crews extinguished it right away and his fire safety equipment worked great as he did not get burnt or hurt but was done racing for the night. That set Brett Allen up to restart in first place with Trevor Serbus behind him at the start. Allen pulled away and there was a mad dash to the end of the race with Matt Johnson getting by Serbus to take 2nd but he didn’t have enough time to catch Allen and settled for 2nd ahead of Serbus.

The Arlington State Bank IMCA Northern Sport Modified feature was a heartbreaker for Ben Reirson as he led every lap except the one that counted in the flag to flag race. The top 5 cars were exchanging spots throughout enabling Reirson to gain distance as Jeff Lloyd, John Rebstock and Eric Larson were all racing side by side. On the 10th lap, Matt Looft once again powered into turn #2 and passed them and then had his sights on Reirson. It took him four laps but as the checkered game out, he was first at the line to win the race. Reierson was able to hold onto 2nd ahead of Eric Larson.

Looft was victorious in the B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Car feature as well but not without working hard to win it. AJ Zimmerman was the early leader and led the first 4 laps but then Looft who had started 11th was contending for the lead. Ryan Bjerkeset was also in the mix as they were racing side by side for several laps. On lap 17, a yellow came out when the three cars of Dan Eckblad, Ken Tietz and AJ Zimmerman got together exiting turn #4 and causing mahem on the front stretch. All three cars were done for the night. With three laps left in the race, the field was bunched up once again but Looft was able to hold onto the lead and win ahead of Dan Mackenthun and Curt Lund who had started 21st charged his way to 3rd place ahead of Bjerkeset.

Trent Loverude is on hot streak in the Ottomotive Tire & Repair IMCA Modified class as he won his 4th consecutive feature in a row making it six for the season. Paul Burger took the lead but by lap 3 Loverude passed 7 cars to take over the lead. He was challenged by Clint Hatlestad throughout the distance but was victorious once again. Hatlestad took 2nd and Rick Nelson had a solid third place.

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