JAY DIVIS MEMORIAL/YANKTON AUTOMOTIVE NIGHT AT PARK JEFFERSON 7-12-08
LeRoy Beck
(07/12/08)
Mike Scharn picked up where his brother left off in the Stock Car division at Park Jefferson Speedway. Yankton Automotive Machine presented the Jay Divis Memorial on a beautiful Saturday night at Park Jefferson Speedway. When the final checkered flag fell, Joining Matt Scharn in victory lane were Dane Martindale, Rusty Montagne, Harvey VandeWeerd, Jay Noteboom, Mark Neal, and Terry Johnson.
Chris Ableson has been seemingly snake bitten since making the jump to the Arnold Motor Supply IMCA Modifieds. Blown motors, handling issues, it has been a seemingly never ending cavalcade of problems. On this Saturday Night Ableson dominated the feature event. That is until Jay Noteboom was able to sneak by when Ableson bobbled in turn two after twelve laps. By the time lap thirteen was in the books, Noteboom had the lead and would never look back. Ableson was able to hold off a hard charging Dirk Kirk, Reese Coffee and Jimmy Cole.
Mike Scharn has been dominant in the Stock Car division at Park Jefferson Speedway, but on this Saturday night it was a different Scharn, Matt, in victory lane. Matt Scharn would take full advantage of his front row starting spot, and would run away from the field. Numerous cautions would keep the field bunched tight. However, the car on the move was Matts brother Mike. Mike Scharn had to pit with a flat left rear tire early in the feature, but would take advantage of the cautions to finish second ahead of Mark Wenzlaff, Curt Van Beek, and Tony Ritterbush.
Kirk Beatty has been the model of consistency in the MOPAR Sport Mod division. Constantly being inside the top five has left Beatty at the top of the points. On the other side of that equation has been Harvey VandeWeerd. VandeWeerd has struggled most of the season while struggling to put together decent finishes. Ty Merrill would jump to a big lead at the drop of the green running the top side of the speedway. VandeWeerd began chipping away on the bottom, and eventually getting past Merrill late in the race. Beatty would also get by on a late restart, relegating Merrill to third with Chris Weatherton and Geoff Olson in tow.
The most exciting feature of the evening definitely belonged to the Yankton Automotive Machine Hobby Stocks. Paul Menard started up front and appeared to have the feature well in hand, until Rusty Montagne and Josh Ruschmann began their charge. Over the last five laps, all three cars were almost inseparable as Menard held off all challenges. Going into turn three Menard tried to protect the bottom coming to the checkered. Montagne would rocket by on the high side and pick up the win edging out Menard and Ruschmann at the line, followed by John Cain and Paul Wenzlaff.
John Felix is another driver that has had numerous troubles all season long. Felix began the night with a heat win and looked to capitalize on the momentum in the Ver Hoef Automotive Bmodifieds. Felix would lead all but one lap in the feature. Unfortunately the lap he did not lead was the last one as a flat left rear tire coming to the checkered would relegate him to a fifth place finish. Mark Neal was in the right spot to take advantage and pick up the feature win with Rich Headid, Todd Saunders, and Rich Hesse ahead of Felix.
Two drivers looked to make it back to back feature wins in the Steves Roofing Hornet division. Both drivers would succeed in style. Terry Johnson, after picking up his first feature win a week ago, would back it up with number two in short order. Dane Martindale would continue his dominance over the Novice Hornet division picking up his fifth feature win on the season.
The next event on the racing schedule is the Rivercade Special featuring the ASCS Sprint Cars on Thursday night. Then on Saturday Sign Masters presents the racing action at Park Jefferson Speedway. For more information on upcoming events, and latest results, go to http://www.parkjeffersonspeedway.com
