QUAKER STEAK & LUBE NIGHT AT SHELBY COUNTY SPEEDWAY 6-28-08
Shannon Lowe
(06/28/08)
With thunderstorms sprouting on the radar map, races at the Shelby County Speedway were hanging in the balance for a while Saturday evening. Fans who arrived early were moved to the covered grandstand as cars were loaded onto their trailers and taken out of the infield. A short cloudburst complete with winds and thunder in the distance dampened the seats, the track and the infield but not the spirits of the fans or drivers. Volunteer drivers brought in their 4x4s, a few dump trucks and even a Chevy Cavalier to help pack the track the result was a scary fast track.
With thunder in the distance during intermission, fans braved cooling temperatures but it was all business on the track when the features got underway and the thunder on the track from the 109 cars present was well worth the wait.
In the sport compacts, eighteen cars took the track for the feature with top speeds reaching 77 mph. The winner Devin Smith in the 88 car took home first in his heat before bringing home the trophy in the feature. Second place went to the 5r with Terry Romick behind the wheel and third to Shannon Mahlberg in the 24 car. Fourth Place went to the new number 67 car driven by Tom Summerfield and Bryan Smith (55) took home fifth.
In the hobby stock class, 23 cars made up the field. Trouble with the 7 up car of Rich Biodrowski beginning during the parade lap had him black flagged before the start. He was still on the track and the pack passed him with plenty of near misses before he got safely off the track. Tanner Powers (60) charged to an early lead and kept out front until the checkered fell. The race for second was heated with Kenny Hansen making a move to take the second spot from Charlie Bird (16x) and just about taking them both out of the race. Hansen lost a door panel and Bird lost a tire and his spot in the top five. Devin Smith ended up in the second spot, Andy Boeckman (62b) in third, Kenny Hansen finished fourth and the 2x with Chuck Madden behind the wheel finished fifth.
The sport mod class brought the excitement again with constant battles for the top five spots. The 3M of Ed McConnell caught fire during yellow flag laps taking him out of the race. The finish was the most exciting finish all night long, with the front runners crossing the finish line, Dylan Petersen hit the wall coming out of turn four, but was able to hold onto it and finish the race in 7th. When the checkered flag fell, the 4k of Mick King had the top spot with Luke Wanninger (20) in second with Buddy Ray Jones in the third place spot. Jason Fusselman (55) finished in fourth with Jared Hansen (23) right behind him in fifth.
In the stock car class the 19b of Tim Bengard brought home the trophy with Dustin Smith in the 81 following him under the checkered flag for second. Brian Blessington (92b) fought hard for third and won it over Chris Ullrich in the O1u. Keith Knop finished 5th making it his 3rd straight top five finish.
The late models were flying around the track at over 100mph with Ron Tex, Jr in the 8x as their fearless leader. He started on the outside of row 1 and moved to lead right after the green flag and strengthened his lead with each lap. The race for second was a battle between the 5s of Jeff Segebart and the 9f of Fast Freddie Miller. A caution thrown with 4 laps to go kept him from lapping even the second place car. On the restart, Freddie Miller made a bid for first got loose in the corner and it cost him second. Top five finishers were Ron Tex, Jr (8x), Jeff Segebart (5s), Freddie Miller (9f), Barry Sorensen (45) and Kyle Wahlert (14).
The modified class proved to be all business on the track with five cars making a serious bid for first place. Sixteen year old Nick Deal had the lead at the mid-point of the race with Mike Albertsen pushing him from behind. After a five car shuffle Chad Preul (2k) took the trophy with Mike Albertsen (3) in second and John Davis in the 02 in third, Nick Carlson (1c) in fourth and Nick Deal (55d) bringing home fifth.
This Saturday night Shelby County Speedway will have more family friendly fun for everyone with the Quaker Steak and Lube night at the races. We will see you under the checkered flag!
