8/24/2024
Arlington Raceway
Big Dave's Mini Donuts Night
A fast racetrack provided some great racing action Saturday night. The Jack Pines Resort IMCA Hobby once again saw a battle between Father Dan Probst and son Cory Probst the final 4 laps of the race. Ben Davis was the early leader and by the 3rd lap after a restart due to a yellow flag in which George Motto spun around, Cory was able to take the lead from Davis and the next 8 laps Dan worked on him racing side by side several laps until Davis had troubles and fell back giving 2nd place to Probst. Dad Dan was not able to overcome Cory and settled for 2nd ahead of Jordan Robinson.
It looked as if Emily McConnell was going to win the Jerry’s Home Quality Auto Cross feature as she led the most laps but there was a cluster of cars stopped on the track and she got caught up in the mess. She was able to get out of it but by then her brother Justin got around her, she tried unsuccessfully to regain the top spot from him but in the end he crossed the checkered flag first to win. Behind them Jake Trebesch and Hannah Buskey were trading spots throughout the race with Jake leading the 8th lap but as the white flag was displayed, Justin McConnell got on the outside of him and passed for the lead with Emily following him.
There were three different leaders in the B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Car feature. Shaun Bruns led the first 13 laps with Josh Larsen on his tail. Bruns and Tim Pessek then were dueling lap by lap with Bruns falling back later in the race, Pessek then took over the lead as Dave Moriarty had moved up a couple of spots to challenge Pessek. A yellow flag came out for a spinning car in turn #2 on the 17th lap. On the restart, Moriarty took the lead and remained the leader to win his first feature of the year. Pessek took 2nd but was docked two spots in post race tech. That gave 2nd place to Matt Looft and 3rd to Dan Eckblad.
The Coors Light IMCA Sport Compact saw a new car in victory lane with Zach Vande Kieft having a solid lead over Justin Dose to win the race. Alan Lahr held on for 3rd place. Marc Grey rolled his car in his head race as he was on the top side of the track going out of the 3rd turn and got too high and flipped his car. He was ok but out of contention for the night.
The eXmark Outlaw feature saw five yellow flags throughout the race. The first was on the original start with George Motto’s car failing him and again on the 2nd lap. Craig Groebner was the early leader from his pole position start. Rod Manthey who had started 5th was soon contending for the lead and by the 4th lap he had the lead. He was able to hold on dispite three more yellow flags and restarts to win the race. Mark Oestreich took 2nd and rookie driver Kris Flewelling took 3rd.
The Rice Companies IMCA RaceSaver Sprint car feature also saw a new car in victory lane. Neil Stevens made a comeback after blowing up an engine earlier in the season. He led the race from start to finish with a commanding distance between him and Bill Johnson. Kyla Anderson was slicing and dicing the entire race passing cars, she ended up 3rd behind Johnson.
The Arlington State Bank IMCA Northern Sport Modified feature saw Joey Reimers with an 1/8 of a track lead ahead of Matt Looft but with only 3 laps left a yellow came out when Matthew Schoenke spun in turn #4. Looft was able to get around Reimers coming out of turn #2 to take the lead and go onto win. Reimers held on for 2nd ahead of Jeff Carter.
The first lap of the Ottomotive Tire & Repair IMCA Modified feature was led by Paul Burger. Chad Porter was 2nd and a yellow came out for the spinning car of Wayne Govig. On the restart, Porter took over the lead and led the entire rest of the distance to win the race. Clint Hatlestad who had started 7th moved up to 2nd place but wasn’t able to catch Porter and took 2nd ahead of Trent Loverude.
