5/26/2019
Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway
Hurst Larson, and Mather Continue to Win at Dubuque
Article credit to Brian Neal of PositivelyRacing.com
Dubuque, IA (Sunday, May 26, 2019) - Since I had Monday off for the Memorial Day holiday, I decided to make the 2.5 hour trip up to the Dubuque County Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque, Iowa to take in their weekly Sunday night program. The only other chance I get to get up to Dubuque is when the Sprint Invaders visit during the fair.
The long drive paid off, as for the second night in a row for me, 110+ cars signed in for competition. To be exact, there were 116 total. After 17 qualifying events, to help set the feature line ups it was time to go feature racing.
Up first was the 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Kyle Merkes and Cole Mather leading the field to green. Merkes used his starting spot to his advantage to jump out front on lap 1 over Mather and Donnie Louck. The action up front was slowed on lap 3, when Zoe Zrostlik, who was running 3rd, spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Merkes jumped back out front, with Mather and Chris Luloff close behind. While Merkes worked the bottom of the speedway, Mather would work the middle groove to try and get the lead away from Merkes. The groove would pay off for Mather, as he got the top spot away from Merkes on lap 5. Two laps later, lap 7, Chase Zaruba spun in turn 2 to bring out the caution. Mather once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Merkes and Luloff battling for second. With the battle for second going on, Mather would pull away to score his second win in a row at the track. Merkes won the battle for 2nd, Zrostlik recovered from his spin on lap 3 to grab the 3rd spot from Luloff coming off turn 4 on the last lap, with Louck coming home in 5th.
The first of two 20 lap IMCA SportMod features took to the track next, with Rusty DeShaw and Austin Heacock drawing the front row. DeShaw took advantage of his draw to grab the lead on lap 1 over Jerry Miles and and Heacock. Then just after the lap was scored complete, Gage Neal would spin in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart DeShaw jumped back out front, with Miles and Heacock close behind. The action was slowed on lap 5, when Darren Clendenen Jr., Elijah Koenig and Jesse Goedert collide in turn 1 to bring out the caution. DeShaw once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Miles and Heacock following. Miles tried to work under DeShaw over the next 4 laps, but DeShaw was able to hold him off each lap. That was until comig off turn 2 to complete lap 10, Miles was able to clear DeShaw for the top spot. But when Goedert spun in turn 1 before the lap was scored complete, this would give the lead back to DeShaw for the restart. On the restart DeShaw shot back out front, with Tyler Soppe, who started 12th and was using the bottom of the track in turn 1 & 2 and the top of the track in turns 3 &4, to take over the runner up spot from Miles. The battle up front was slowed on lap 11, as Jacob Arp spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow.
On the restart KC Ansel spun in turn 1 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Koenig and Arp spin in turn 4 to bring the caution back out. This would bring the caution limit to this race, so from here on out when the caution appears a lap would be added to the number of laps scored complete. DeShaw jumped back out front on the next restart, with Soppe and Miles following close behind. Another lapped scored complete produced another caution, as Arp, Goedert, and Koenig collided in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. While under caution Miles, who was running 3rd, pulled into the infield to get his left rear flat tire changed. On the restart DeShaw moved back out front, with Soppe and now Heacock challenging him for the lead. Soppe tried to work under DeShaw for the next two laps, when a caution on lap 17 slowed the action. This time debris in turn 3 would bring out the yellow. On the restart DeShaw drifted high coming off turn 4, which allowed Soppe to shoot under him to take over the top spot. Disaster would strike DeShaw on the white flag lap, as he spun in turn 2 and collected Jacob Ellithorpe and Mitch Manternach to bring out the caution. On the green-white-checkered overtime restart Soppe jumped back out front, with Austin Schrage over taking Heacock for second. Schrage would try to use the momentum off turn 4 on the last lap to steal the win away from Soppe. But Soppe would hold on to pick up his second win in a row at the track and second of the weekend, as he claimed the win Saturday night in Maquoketa, Iowa. Schrage settled for 2nd, Heacock was 3rd, Andrew Burk started 15th and took home a 4th place finish, with Justin Becker coming from 23rd to round out the top 5.
Jacob Welter and John Campbell led the field to green in the 12 lap 4-Cylinders feature. But it was third place starter Nick Proehl who jumped out front to lead lap 1 over Campbell and Welter. Without a caution to slow the action down, Proehl would cruise to an easy win. Campbell was 2nd, Welter was 3rd, Tyler Shady crossed the line in a cloud of smoke to finish 4th, with Jeff Henderson finishing in 5th.
The 9:1 Limited Late Model feature took to the track next, with Jeff Parks and Mike Mills drawing the front row for the event. Mills took advantage of his draw to grab the lead on lap 1 over DJ Sweet and Parks. While Mills set a fast pace out front, Jason Robbins, who started 5th, over took Sweet for the runner up spot on lap 3. On lap 8 Sweet was able to grab the runner up spot back from Robbins, and then tried to chase down Mills for the lead. But without a caution there was no catching Mills, who won by a straight-away. Sweet was 2nd, Robbins was 3rd, Rich Picha was 4th, with Parks holding on for 5th.
Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Austin Blume and Jarett Franzen leading the field to the drop of the green flag. But just as the green flag was waved the yellow light would come on, as Sean Rupp spun in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the following original restart Bryce Garnhart, who started 4th, spun in turn 1 and collected Jason Schueller to bring the yellow light back on. Another original restart produced another caution, as Nick Marolf, Travis Denning, Troy Bauer, and Dustin Wilwert collided in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the fourth original restart Franzen jumped out front, with Matt Short and Austin Moyer following. While Franzen worked the bottom of the track, all eyes were on Jeff Larson, who started 8th. Larson used the bottom of the track in turns 1 & 2 and then went to the high side in turns 3 &4 to work his way towards the front. The momentum off the top of turn 4 paid off for Larson on lap 10, as he over took Franzen for the lead. From there on out there was no catching Larson, as he cruised to his second win in a row at the track and second on the weekend, as he pick up the win on Saturday night in Maquoketa, Iowa. Moyer was 2nd, Tyler Madigan started 7th and finished 3rd, Franzen was 4th, with Mark Schulte coming home in 5th.
Only 4 IMCA Hobby Stocks signed in for the night, with Brandon White and Daniel Wauters on the front row for the 10 lap feature. Wauters took advantage of his starting spot to moved out front on lap 1 over White and Dakota Simonsen. The action up front was slowed on lap 5, as Justin Morhardt spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Wauters jumped back out front, with Simonsen and White close behind. Simonsen would stay in Wauters tire tracks over the final laps, but wasn't able to mount a challenge. As Wauters held on for his first win of the season at the track. Simonsen was 2nd, White was 3rd, with Morhardt completing the top 4.
The second 20 lap IMCA SportMod feature was up next, and the field was inverted by the amount of cars who finished the first feature on the lead lap. That would turn out to be 12, which put Cam Reimers and Matt Bennett on the front row. Reimers used his front row starting spot to his advantage to grab the lead on lap 1 over KC Ansel and Kevin Goben. While Reimers worked the bottom of the track and was starting to pull away from the field, all eyes were on Austin Heacock and Tyler Soppe. Heacock, who started 10th, was working the middle to top grooves to work his way to the front. It only took Heacock 7 laps to get into the runner spot. Meanwhile Soppe had motor troubles after the checkered flag in the first feature, and used his back up car to run the second feature. He would give up his 12th place starting spot and had to start 24th for switching cars. By the halfway mark, lap 10, Soppe had climbed his way into 8th. Both driver's benefited from the only caution of the race on lap 11, as Reimers had build up a full straight-away lead over the rest of the field. Jacob Ellithorpe would spin in turn 4 to bring out the yellow, and also brought the field back to Reimers' back bumper. On the restart Heacock used the middle of the track coming off turn 4 to grab the top spot away from Reimers. One lap later, lap 13, Soppe moved into 4th. Reimers would stay close to Heacock over the final laps, but wasn't able to mount a challenge. As Heacock held on for the win, and broke Soppe's winning streak. Reimers settled for 2nd, Soppe was 3rd, Ansel was 4th, with Austin Schrage coming from 11th to finish in 5th.
The IMCA Late Models were scheduled to have this night off, as the Deery Brothers Summer Series had an event scheduled at the Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Illinois. But after rains overnight and early Sunday morning that event was canceled. This prompted Nick McCrady to add them to Sunday nights show, with NO track points being awarded. The move would pay off, as twenty-three cars signed in on the night. Jeremiah Hurst and 15 year old Logan Duffy drew the front row for the 25 lap feature. Just as the green flag waved the caution light came on, as Eric Pollard, who started 6th, spun in turn 1 and collected Lake Knutti to bring out the yellow. On the original restart Hurst jumped out front on lap 1 over Duffy and Matt Ryan. Then after lap 1 was scored complete, Pollard spun in turn 4 to bring out the caution. Mike Guldenpfenning, who was running 4th, spun in turn 3 on the restart to bring the yellow light back on. On the following restart Hurst moved back out front, with Ryan and Terry Neal, who started 7th, over taking Duffy for second and third. The man on the move early on was Justin Kay, he started 9th and was using the middle of the track in turns 1 & 2 and the topside in turns 3 & 4 to work his way towards the front. On lap 4 Kay found himself in the third running spot. Two laps later, lap 6, Tegan Evans spun down the middle of the front stretch to bring out the caution.
Hurst jumped back out front on the restart, with Ryan and Kay battling side-by-side for the runner up spot. Then just after the lap was scored complete, David McClain would spin in turn 2 to bring out a caution. On the restart Hurst once again grabbed the lead, with Ryan and Kay continuing their battle for second. Kay would use the momentum off top of turn 4 on lap 10 to finally grab the runner up spot from Ryan, and then went to work on Hurst for the lead. The action up front was slowed on lap 14, when Darren Mish spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Pollard, Ryan Hill, McClain, and Todd Van Tassel collided in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. The final restart saw Hurst move back out front, with Kay and Ryan following. While Hurst hugged the bottom of the track, Kay would use the bottom in turns 1 & 2 and the topside in turns 3 & 4 to mount a challenge on Hurst. But Kay would drift high in turn 4 on lap 20, which allowed Hurst to pull away for his second win in a row at the track. Kay settled for 2nd, Ryan was 3rd, Andy Nezworski started 10th and finished 4th, with BJ Jackson rounding out the top 5.
Notes from Dubuque: 38 SportMods, 28 Modifieds, 23 Late Models, 9 Stock Cars, 8 9:1 Limited Late Models, 6 4-Cylinders, and 4 Hobby Stocks made up the 116 cars sing in for competition.......Matt Hudspeth started the Stock Car feature in 9th and would finish 6th......Kyle Hoffman won B Main #1 of the SportMods, and then started the feature in 13th. He would come home 6th....Brandon Setser finished 8th after stating in 15th....Kevin Goben came from 21st to finish in 9th....KC Ansel, who started 20th, recovered from his spin on lap 11 to come back up to finish in 10th....Cam Reimers came from 17th to finish in 12th, the final car on the lead lap....Matt Stagman finished 16th after starting in 24th......Ryan Picha and Kyle Harwick had troubles in the heat that forced them to scratch from the 9:1 Limited Late Model feature......Jed Freiburger started the Modified feature in 13th and would come home in 6th....Chris Zogg finished 7th after starting in 11th....Bryce Garnhart recovered from his spin on the start to come back up to finish 8th....Travis Denning, who started 14th, recovered from being involved in a crash on one of the original restarts to come back up to finish 10th....Steve Johnson started 18th and finished 12th....Sean Rupp, who started 19th, recovered from his spin on the start to come back up to finish in 13th......Gage Neal started the second SportMod feature in 22nd. He would pass 16 cars to come home in 6th....Jerry Miles started 15th and finished 9th....Jason Roth passed 13 cars from his 23rd place starting spot to come home in 10th....Wes Digman finished 12th after starting in 18th....TJ Fortmann was added to the back of the field, when four cars were a scratch from damages in the first feature. He would come home in 15th, after starting in 25th....Rusty DeShaw, Jacob Arp, Elijah Koenig and Jesse Goedert had too much damages from the first feature and were forced to scratch from the second feature......Luke Merfeld started the Late Model feature in 17th and would pass 11 cars to come home in 6th....Todd Malmstrom started 14th and finished 9th....Darren Mish, who started 22nd, recovered from his spin on lap 14 to come back up to finish in 11th....Jason Rauen had troubles in his heat race and was a scratch from the feature.
Hot laps were delayed about 30 minutes, as the track was watered heavily to keep the dust down from the strong stiff wind and the bright sunlight. This would mean the heat races didn't start until 6:30 PM. They would run 17 qualifying events in about 3 hours. With no break in the action, the features rolled to the track around 9:20 PM. The eight feature events would be ran through in about 2 hours, as the final checkered flag waved at 11:20 PM. Despite a few hick-ups along the way, I was happy to see how quickly the 8 feature events ran.
I would like to THANK Nick McCrady and the staff at the Dubuque County Fairgrounds Speedway for the hospitality. I would especially like to say THANK YOU to Late Model driver Don Pataska and his crew. They were pitted down in the infield in turn 2, where I went to snap some photos during hot laps. They were kind enough to offer to put my camera bag and sweatshirt in their truck to keep them from getting dirty. They also told me if I would like to stand on top of their trailer or in the back of their truck to shoot some photos, I was more then happy to do so. But it didn't end there, as they offered me to help myself to anything in their cooler. It is nice to have such great people treat a total stranger like myself who was 2.5 hours from home!
Article Credit: Brian Neal
Submitted By: Derek Collum
