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Late Models/Fast Shafts/Extra Dough @ I-37 Speedway, 9-17-22

IMCA Modified winner Steve Whiteaker jr
Late Model winner GW Egbert
Limited Modified winner Benjamin Mikulencak
Factory Stock winner Johnny Torres
Sport Compact winner Ryker Hernandez
Adult Predator Go-Kart winner Justin Hoffstadt
Senior division Go-Kart winner Tripp Whitmire
Junior division Go-Kart winner Colt Stafford
Youth division Go-Kart winner Astryd Gordon

By JM Hallas
Pleasanton, Tx.,(Sept, 17th, 2022) Summertime Blues

After losing a couple races to weather earlier this summer, I-37 Speedway finally got to hold a race for the points chasers as the points season winds down at the ¼ mile, semi-banked, oval just south of San Antonio.

Speaking of points;
The IMCA Modifieds Ryan Doyon leads the track points by a huge amount (53) over Gilbert Amezquita, Robert Liese jr., Jared Maupin and Marlin Samford who fill out the top five spots.

The Late Models have Brandon Brzozowski holding a five point margin over Kody Hardage, 25 over Mark Taylor, 28 up on Andrew Hesler and 41 ahead of Ray Doyon III.

In the Limited Modifieds, defending track champ Sterling Tausch carries a big lead on the field, Trent Beaver(92), Allen Alexander(132), Cody Beddoe(167) and James Cole(172).

Jared Maupin continues to secure the lead in Factory Stocks by 31 over Paul Reyes. Kasey Krauss(52), Daniel Lopez(85) and a former Street Stock champ, Mike Lyon(92).

There's a real race in Sport Compacts with former track champ Jamie Garner carrying a one point lead over Ryker Hernandez with Justin Sitterle, Levi Hernandez and Shaun Tracy rounding out the top five.

Tonight's Modified purse was increased courtesy of Sundowner Performance Diesel with $1,000 going to the winner, and an early entry into the 2023 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. All in Designs chipped in to the Factory Stock purse with them running for $700 to win.

Another “W” for Whiteaker
It was a scary start to the 17-car, 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. As the green waved Rob Sanderson got up into the wall, climbed it and barrel-rolled to the top of turn 1. Sanderson was alright after being checked out by the safety crew.

The complete restart saw Dustin Butcher jump into the lead trailed by Rick Green, Tanner Whitmire, Raymond McSpadden and Steve Whiteaker. Caution was out quickly on lap 2 when Robert Liese got loose in turn 3, clipped Greg Dinsmore and collected Darrell Boyd. Butcher got away on the restart with Whiteaker taking fourth from McSpadden.

McSpadden gave up another spot to Cameron Starry while Whitmire got past Green for second. Green gave up another spot to Whiteaker a lap later. McSpadden would loop it off turn 4 on lap 6 for a caution, under yellow Green lost a front wheel or hub forcing him to pull off.

Whiteaker picked up another spot back to green after a short battle with Whitmire for second. Whiteaker then began to pressure his cousin, Butcher, for the lead. At the crossed flags Butcher was holding him off with Whitmire, Starry and Ryan Doyon in the top five. McSpadden would have his second spin off turn 4, ending his night.

On the restart Logan Dinsmore clipped an infield tire and collected Cody Duke on the front stretch. Finally back to green, Whiteaker blitzed the top and drove around Butcher for the lead on lap 11. Whiteaker then pulled away while Whitmire and Starry swapped third.

As the white flag waved Whiteaker had built a comfortable advantage over Butcher cruising to the checkers in the D&SS Construction, 3-D Landscaping, Billy Bobs Truck Repair, Supreme Vinyl Works, Windshield Repair of Texas, G&M Oilfield Service, Cottrell Racing, Maxima Racing Oil, Sames Ford, WW Bodies, raceXR.com, Karls Performance Chevrolet crate powered, CDR Chassis by 89 Motorsports.

“The track was great tonight!” replied Whiteaker. “We have been working hard on the CDR race car and it’s only going to get faster. Being able to battle with Dustin in the heat and feature race definitely made it a fun night of racing.”

“I was trying to be patient at the start. Coming from seventh I saw a car that drew ahead of me that struggles holding a straight line and I barely got by him without damage. Then I just tried to find a consistent line. Once Dustin moved down to take my line away I just aired it out up top.”

“Boone(Super Nationals) was fun, lots of cars. I feel we were competitive and look forward to going back next year!”

Price Chevrolet IMCA Modifieds
89c Steve Whiteaker jr., 90 Dustin Butcher, 101 Tanner Whitmire, 741 Cameron Starry, 5 Ryan Doyon, 129 Jamie Campbell, 22z Darrell Boyd, 26d Cody Duke, 56 Gilbert Amezquita, 2 Arien Gassman, 8jr Logan Dinsmore, 48r Raymond McSpadden, 77 Robert Liese, 82 Rick Green, 8g Greg Dinsmore, 28 Marlin Samford, 141 Rob Sanderson

IMCA Modified heats
Heat 1; 5 Ryan Doyon, 101 Tanner Whitmire, 8jr Logan Dinsmore, 29 Jamie Campbell, 26d Cody Duke, 28 Marlin Samford

Heat 2; 90 Dustin Butcher, 89c Steve Whiteaker jr., 741 Cameron Starry, 22z Darrell Boyd, 141 Rob Sanderson, 56 Gilbert Amezquita

Heat 3; 82 Rick Green, 48r Raymond McSpadden, 77 Robert Liese jr., 2a Arien Gassman, 8g Greg Dinsmore

Egbert Gives Himself Early Birthday Present
Fourteen cars took the green for the 20-lap Late Model feature with Kody Hardage first to turn 1. In the pack, Barry Quade went around off turn 2 with Ron Sprayue taking a trip into the tullies to avoid contact. K. Hardage again got the early lead trailed by Ray Doyon, GW Egbert, Robby Minten and Brandon Brzozowski.

Doyon would get by K. Hardage for the lead on lap 2. Mark Taylor would spin and collect Quade for a quick yellow that saw Ryan McDonald tag the front stretch wall on the restart. Back to green, Egbert got second from K. Hardage who then gave up more spots to Brzozowski and Minten.

Egbert ran down Doyon and put a slide job on him in turn 1 for the lead on lap 7. Doyon would try to cross him over, but slipped in turn 2 giving up a spot to Brzozowski. At halfway it was Egbert. Brzozowski, Doyon, K. Hardage and Minten in the top five. Doyon worked his way past Brzozowski to regain second before Sprayue looped it for a lap 12 yellow.

Egbert got clear on the restart as Brzozowski and K. Hardage got the jump on Doyon for second and third. K. Hardage slipped up in turns 3-4 giving third back to Doyon. Behind the lead quartet, Eddy Hardage and Andrew Hesler were side by side for fifth.

Egbert held a three car length advantage over the side by side battle for second between Brzozowski and Doyon. Egbert(Salado), whose birthday is Sunday, held that gap to take the win in the E&E Collision, Day Motorsports, Supreme Vinyl Works, Speed Secrets, BigTex Autoplex, High Roller Chassis.

Interestingly enough in the first outing for a new car.

“I want to thank Kody(Hardage) and Brandon(Brzozowski) for inviting me to come down,” said Egbert. “I've always liked coming down here to run this track, shame it's so far. I try to get here a couple times during the year. This trip is a lot better that my one in 2019.”

“This is the first race on this car. We've done a lot of work on it to get it ready and it paid off. No new car blues, gremlins or bugs.”

“It was just Cade and I that made the trip. It was a lot of work with two cars, but it worked out good. I don't remember this track ever being top dominant before, but tonight it was. I could get around up there in the Late Model very good. When I did the slide on Ray(Doyon) I thought he'd be able to get back by.”

“The Limited Modified just didn't like the top, but we were able to get a third.”

Nogalitos Gear Late Models
717 GW Egbert, 104 Brandon Brzozowski, 9 Ray Doyon, 12 Kody Hardage, 1x Andrew Hesler III, 78 Eddy Hardage, 53x Matt Fox, 42 Ron Sprayue, 77 Mark Taylor, 19 Barry Quade, 3d Robby Minten, 08 Landon Sowder, 57 Jason Kelly, 5 Ryan McDonald

Late Model heats
Heat 1; 12 Kody Hardage, 717 GW Egbert, 104 Brandon Brzozowski, 53x Matt Fox, 1x Andrew Hesler III, 57 Jason Kelly, 5 Ryan McDonald---dns

Heat 2; 9 Ray Doyon, 19 Barry Quade, 3d Robby Minten, 42 Ron Sprayue, 78 Eddy Hardage, 77 Mark Taylor, 08 Landon Sowder

Mikulencak Motors to Limited Modified Money
On the second start, Brian Harbison was first into turn 1, but it was three wide for the point in turn 3 between Harbison, Ben Mikulencak and Daniel Preston followed by Cody Beddoe and GW Egbert. Harbison was able to lead lap 1, but gave up the spot to Mikulencak on lap 2. Harbison and Preston then ran wheel to wheel for second while Trent Beaver worked past Egbert for fifth.

That second place fight ended on lap 5 when Preston went over the turn 1 berm for a yellow. On the restart, Beaver tried to split Harbison and Beddoe for second. Harbison and Beaver made contact with Beddoe finding a hole to get by both. Harbison then lost spots to GW Egbert and Heath Stewart.

At halfway it was Mikulencak, Beddoe, Beaver, Egbert and Stewart in the top five. A debris caution slowed the pace on lap 11 that saw Beddoe, Beaver and Egbert three wide on the restart, as Mikulencak got away. After a short caution for a spin by Sterling Tausch, Beaver ended up on the turn 2 berm while running second.

Egbert tried a slide job on Beddoe for second on the restart, but Beddoe fought back off the top to get the spot back. As they raced for second, Mikulencak motored ahead, using the top, and nearly kissing the turn 4 wall. Coming to the checkers it was Mikulencak(Corpus Christi) in the Ace Transmission, Dubs Garage, Armstrong Lumber, Darpro Construction, CC Weighing Company, James Trailer Supply, Ace Automotive Machine shop, Empire Chassis.

“I'm really glag to be back in Victory Lane,” exclaimed Mikulencak. “The last time I was here I finished second to Trent Beaver. He had a little more speed than us that day.”

“We don't make a lot changes between the south Texas tracks. When we do find something that works, the changes are minimal. Once we find the groove with the car it works pretty good everywhere. Maybe minor adjustments, wheel spacers, air pressure, just small stuff.”

“I went out and scouted the track during intermission. I saw some of the track I was pretty excited about trying in the feature. I jumped up to the top and never looked back. We got out to a nice lead, had a couple cautions that slowed us down, but kept riding the top”

“It's always in the back of my mind where some of the fast guys are. It's hard to tell how much is between us. I will look left sometimes mid-corner to see if anyone has a run underneath. Luckily, tonight, all I saw was open track.”

“Marcus and Lawrence are a huge help. I always bounce some ideas off them. Marcus is a little more extreme than Lawrence. They're both legends in their own right, multiple feature winners. After Marcus winning the $5,000 to win show up north it just shows the level of competition of the cars down here.”

“I have to thank my dad, first and foremost and the Hardcastles with Dubs Garage”

State Farm Insurance Limited Modifieds
13m Ben Mikulencak, 77 Cody Beddoe, 717 GW Egbert, 1t Nathan Titzman, h14 Heath Stewart, 15 Chase Laven, 13b Bryce Reed, 95 Sterling Tausch, 00k Oliver Billingsley, 43 Caden Petty, bd2 Daniel Preston, 14 Trent Beaver, 11x Brian Harbison, bd1 Gilbert Perez III---dns

Limited Modified heats
Heat 1; 11x Brian Harbison, 717 GW Egbert, 14 Trent Beaver, 13b Bryce Reed, 1t Nathan Titzman, 15 Chase Laven, bd1 Gilbert Perez III, 00k Oliver Billingsley---dns

Heat 2; bd2 Daniel Preston, 13 Ben Mikulencak, 77 Cody Beddoe, h14 Heath Stewart, 95s Sterling Tausch, 43 Caden Petty

Torres Tallies in Factory Stock Fight
With extra money on the line you'd figure the 20-lap Factory Stock feature to be a real slug fest. Quite the contrary. Though the race didn't lack for action, the only yellow was for an infield tire kicked on the track.

Twenty-two of the thirty cars started the $700 to win feature with Shannon Maurer and Jared Maupin staying door to door until Maurer got the advantage to lead lap 1 chased by Maupin, Johnny Torres, Paul Reyes and Brian Harbison. Behind them, Dylan Kowalik, John Aramendia and Cameron Dinsmore were three wide for sixth.

Torres and Maupin went side by side on lap 2 with Torres getting the spot and along side Maurer for the lead. Torres got the advantage on lap 3. Maupin then got second from Maurer while Dakota Hurley, Johnny Westfall and Aramendia were three wide for seventh. Lap 4 saw the infamous infield tractor tire bring out the lone yellow.

The top two got away back under green while third, fifth and seventh saw door to door racing. As Torres began to inch away, Dinsmore began using the high side getting by Maurer for sixth. At halfway Torres was still inching away from Maupin, Da. Hurley, Harbison and Westfall.

The top two came up on traffic, but Torres held his edge while Dinsmore was picking off spots still using the high side moving up to fourth. Torres(San Antonio), in his Scott Ball Racing, Sundowner Performance Diesel, Allens 24/7 Towing, 8T1 Construction, 1st Class Towing, F-Bomb Diesel, Tator Plumbing, Swenson Racing Shocks, raceontexas, Mission Race Engines, Enslin Chassis, had about eight car lengths on Maupin as the checkers waved.

“I've driven a couple other peoples car,” commented Torres. “I've had a lot of issues with my car. I thought the car was good all year, but just couldn't finish a race. Hopefully it's tuned up for big show season.”

“I really thought it was going to be top groove so I went to the top right away and it didn't work. I ran the bottom and it felt good. Shannon Maurer tight and I took advantage of that. I got a bit worried in lapped traffic, they were staked up two deep.”

“I felt like Jared(Maupin) was going to be there at the end the last two laps. I think Megan(Dodson) actually broke. It looked like she was headed towards the infield. It was just decision I had to make.”

“I'm planning on going to all the big south Texas races unless something else interferes. I plan on going to the 2-day races somewhere the next six weeks.”

All in Design Factory Stocks
66 Johnny Torres, 91 Jared Maupin, 40 Dakota Hurley, 8c Cameron Dinsmore, 02 Shannon Maurer, 53k Kasey Krauss, 9 Johnny Westfall, 11x Brian Harbison, 20 Mike Lyon, 24 Paul Reyes III, 8s TJ Sullivan, 777 Chase Sanchez, 4d Dustin Hurley, 58u John, Aramendia, 25r Nathan Rachui, 13j Jett Johnson, 29k Dylan Kowalik, 15L Daniel Lopez, 00 Zach Freeman, 133 Megan Dodson, 29 Jose Lopez jr., 34h Steven Peterson

Factory Stock B-main (top 6 to A-main)
777 Chase Sanchez, 8s TJ Sullivan, 13j Jett Johnson, 29 Jose Lopez, 15L Daniel Lopez, 34h Steven Peterson, 92r Robert Keylich, 39 Makayla Trimble, 58 Anthony Gordon, 44k Katherine Keylich, 44 Damon Bean, 95 Brianna Witzsche, 25f Robert Fox---dns, 3d Johnny Brown---dns

Factory Stock heats (top 4 to A-main)
Heat 1; 02 Shannon Maurer, 11x Brian Harbison, 20 Mike Lyon, 53k Kasey Krauss, 777 Chase Sanchez, 13j Jett Johnson, 3d Johnny Brown, 95 Brianna Witzsche

Heat 2; 91 Jared Maupin, 8c Cameron Dinsmore, 9 Johnny Westfall, 40 Dakota Hurley, 39 Makayla Trimble, 29 Jose Lopez jr., 44 Damon Bean, 34h Steven Peterson

Heat 3; 24 Paul Reyes III, 29k Dylan Kowalik, 133 Megan Dodson, 00 Zach Freeman, 8s TJ Sullivan, 92 Robert Keylich, 58 Anthony Gordon

Heat 4; 66 Johnny Torres, 58u John Aramendia, 4d Dustin Hurley, 25r Nathan Rachui, 15L Daniel Lopez, 44 Katherine Keylich, 25f Robert Fox

Ryker on a Roll
At the start of the 20-lap Sport Compact feature Ryker Hernandez got the jump with Rod Tait and Jamie Garner side by side for second, Brandon McCall and Levi Hernandez in pursuit. As they sorted out for second, McCall got by Tait for third and along side Garner, taking second a lap later.

McCall then was side by side for the lead with R. Hernandez getting the nose out front on lap 4. Garner moved in on R. Hernandez for second going door to door. The top three were nose to tail while Donald Lewis, coming from the back, took fifth from L. Hernandez. Tait caught the lead trio just before halfway.

McCall slipped in turns1-2 giving the lead up to R. Hernandez at halfway with Tait moving up to second, McCall, Garner and Lewis in the top five. The top three then pulled away from Garner who had a gap back to L. Hernandez and Lewis, who were swapping fifth.

The lead trio caught slower traffic with two laps to go. R. Hernandez was able to clear traffic easier and gave himself a little breathing room. In a race that went green to checkers, R. Hernandez(San Antonio) scored his third in a row driving the Irace Enterprises, Reflective Wrecker, TLC Graphics, Unifirst, 2005 Chevy Cavalier.

“Number four, three in a row,” said Hernandez. “I don't know what happened. Brandon(McCall) got a little quicker or something. (Running) that low side was something else tonight.”

“If I see someone go by me I try to follow their line and see if I'm faster where they're running. I got lucky and Brandon got loose and I was able to get back by him.”

“I was running the line that was quicker and able to pull ahead to a lead. It was just trial and error after they redid the track. We didn't make any changes for it.”

“My dad and grandpa help work on the car and I'm learning what I need to do to make it better. My dad has some experience with dirt and probably helps teach me the most while my grandpa was mostly an asphalt racer.”

Sport Compacts
55 Ryker Hernandez, 70 Rod Tait, 14 Brandon McCall, 21t Shaun Tracy, 33 Jamie Garner, 88 Justin Sitterle, 28 Levi Hernandez, 76y Donald Lewis, 3% Sam Walker, 12 Janel Duncan, 35 John Thomas---dns, 43 Jennifer Kidd---dns

Sport Compact heats
Heat 1; 55 Ryker Hernandez, 14 Brandon McCall, 21t Shaun Tracy, 28 Levi Hernandez, 3% Sam Walker, 43 Jennifer Kidd---dntg

Heat 2; 88 Justin Sitterle, 33 Jamie Garner, 70 Rod Tait, 35 John Thomas, 12 Janel Duncan, 76y Donald Lewis---dns

Go-Karts
Adult Predator; Justin Hoffstadt, Noah VanBlarcum, Charles Flanagan, Derek Gonzales, Kiehl VanBlarcum, Hudson Mikulencak, Brandon Welker, Josiah Ramsey

Senior Division; Tripp Whitmire

Junior Division; Colt Stafford, Ryder Welker, Beau Payton, Cecilii Johnson, Allison Borlace

Youth Division; Astyrd Gordon, Leighton Broussard, Barrett Patterson

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