VETTER EQUIPMENT NIGHT AT BVR 7-9-08
Jeremiah Davis
(07/09/08)
In previous weeks at Buena Vista Raceway in Alta, the track surface has gotten a bit dry at times. That was not the case Wednesday night at BVR.
Drivers called the track heavy , meaning it was extremely tacky, therefore pulling down the motors.
In fact, the track pulled on some so much, that it caused a higher rate of engine failures than normal.
The racing, though, didn't suffer.
The Modified drivers got off to a bit of a rocky start, taking three attempts at a start before making one stick.
When they got going, Mike Albertsen of Audubon jumped to the lead, and extended it quickly. Clay Christiansen of Spencer and Stacey Mills of Webb followed close behind.
After a quick caution that took out Brad Williams and Mark White, Albertsen took off on the restart, but they didnt stay green for long, as second place Stacey Mills lost a motor less than a lap after taking the green.
Mills car billowed smoke until he reached pit lane, when the car suddenly burst into flames. Huge flames poured from under the hood, but Mills was able to get out of the car quickly. A crew member standing nearby jumped from behind the wall with a fire extinguisher, and put out the blaze.
After those few tense moments, racing resumed with Albertsen still in the lead, but with Jim Thies giving chase.
The two raced hard for several laps, with Thies putting a tremendous amount of pressure on Albertsen for the lead.
With five laps to go and Thies knocking hard on the door for the lead, Albertsens motor let go, and he was forced to the pits.
This gave Thies the lead with just three laps remaining, and he never looked back. Thies crossed the line first, picking up his first win of the season and padding his points lead.
Nick Deal of Walnut raced from the back of the pack to finish second, with Clay Christiansen coming home third.
The Stock Car feature preceded the Modifieds, and saw one new face running up front.
Elijah Zevenbergen of Ocheyedan held the lead early with Matt Scharn of Sac City and Trent Murphy of Jefferson close behind.
After an early caution, Zevenbergen held the lead with Murphy challenging. Murphy had his own challengers to deal with, as Scharn and Dustin Smith of Lake City came to race for second.
Smith worked his way through traffic, bypassing Scharn and taking second from Murphy with five laps to go.
Smith ran down Zevenbergen quickly and took the lead only one lap later.
Once in the lead, Smith never looked back, and went on to pick up his seventh win on the season, also padding his points lead. Zevenbergen capped off his strong run with second, and Trent Murphy held off Scharn for third.
The Sport Mod feature also saw a few new faces running up front early, but it wasnt to last.
Corey Bosma of Early held the early lead, trying his best to hold off several challengers, including Denny Berghahn of Omaha.
Berghahn took over the lead from Bosma after a few laps of racing, and Bosma quickly faded. Berghahn was followed closely by Brett Meyer of Lytton, Harvey Vandeweerd of Granville and Geoff Olson of Sioux City.
Meyer chased down Berghahn over the next several laps, and just as Meyer was going to pass him for the lead, Berghahns motor let go, forcing him to retire from the race.
With four to go, Meyer took off, never looking back. He picked up the win and gained some much needed points on point leader Luke Wanninger. Geoff Olson held on for second, while Harvey Vandeweerd came home third.
The Hobby Stock feature saw action on and off the track.
The race started with Drew Barglof of Sioux Rapids taking the early lead, holding off several hard charging drivers.
An early caution collected several cars, including Craig Brotherton of Wall Lake and Justin Nehring of Storm Lake.
Brotherton sustained heavy damage to his radiator, but he and his crew worked skillfully and got a new one put in under caution, while only losing two laps.
On the restart, Doug Smith of Lake City, his brother Devin, and Jim Johnson of Spirit Lake all moved past Barglof, but just as Doug took the lead, his motor let go, forcing him out of the race.
This handed the lead to Devin, but before they could get too much racing done, Barglofs motor let go on the restart after the caution for Doug.
When they finally returned to racing, Devin took off to the lead, and had no challengers. His lead was erased, however, when yet another car lost a motor in turn two, this time Lynn Wichers of Boyden fell victim to engine woes.
On the final restart, Devin said goodbye to the rest of the field, cruising on to the win. A hard charging Matt Mahoney of Pierson raced to second, passing Johnson on the final lap for second. Johnson held on for third.
The Sport Compact feature saw its biggest car count of the season, but ended up being a three horse race.
Dan Rhiley of Bennington, NE took the early lead, followed closely by Daniel Smith of Lake City and Shawn Turner of Sioux City.
The three cars ran away from the res t of the field, with Smith and Rhiley racing for the lead.
Rhiley was able to hold off Smith and pick up the win. Daniel came home second, with Turner finishing third.
Next week will be the BV County Fair special, featuring the Kyle Suter Memorial race on Thursday night instead of Wednesday.
