SMITH BROTHERS DOMINATE OPENING NIGHT AT BVR
Jeremiah Davis
(05/08/09)
Rain threatened to put a damper on the opening night of racing at Buena Vista Raceway in Alta on Wednesday night. No amount of looming clouds was going keep these races from running, and apart from a few sprinkles just after hot laps, there would be no rain.
BVR returned all the same car classeds as last year, with the IMCA Modifieds once again highlighting the evening.
Right from the green flag Sioux City native Chris Ableson took off to the lead and promptly put a straightaways distance between he and second place driver Jeremy Mills, who hails from Garner, IA.
Ableson, who was making his first start in A-Mods at BVR, was simply a rocket flying through the night, and it seemed no one could or would be able to catch him.
Behind Ableson, Mills had to contend with Adam Larson of Ames for second place. Mills and Larson swapped the second position seemingly every other lap, both trying jockey for position while keeping Ableson in sight.
A caution flag at halfway erased Ablesons huge lead and put the determined duo of Mills and Larson right at his bumper.
The next 5 laps saw two more cautions, one involving the 3rd place driver Larson, who eventually had to retire from the race.
That left Mills as the lone driver to challenge Ableson for the win. Over the final 7 laps Mills tried multiple racing grooves, diving inside and outside, but to no avail. Ableson was able to stretch out the lead once again over the final 5 laps.
Ableson crossed the line first, collecting his first career IMCA A-Mod victory after years of success in the Sport Mod division. Mills came home a strong second while Mike Hansen of Alton avoided the three cautions in the middle of the race to come home third.
The Stock Car class didnt disappoint on this night either. The field fanned out early, racing 3 wide through the first two rows after taking the green flag.
Dustin Smith started 6th of 13 cars, but was only in 6th place for as long as it took him to get to turn 1. The Lake City native made quick work of the top five and had the lead by lap 3.
Smith promptly built himself a nice lead while the rest of the field raced two and three wide behind him. Amongst them was his brother David, who had started just behind Dustin, as well as Chris Ullrich of Kiron, Jeff Joldersma of McClelland, and Brian Blessington of Breda.
David and Joldersma raced hard for second over several laps, while Ullrich and Blessington battled for fourth. Dustins lead would be erased at halfway, as Blessington got spun in turn 4 while racing amongst a group of cars.
After restarting, David and Joldersma raced side by side for second, while Dustin resumed leading the race. A caution with four to go bunched up the field once again, erasing yet another decent sized lead for Dustin Smith.
David finally got clear of Joldersma on the restart, who soon fell into the clutches of Chris Ullrich, who then passed Joldersma for third.
Dustin and David raced hard in the closing laps for the win, with younger brother Dustin holding off big bro, winning the first race of the season. David settled for second while Chris Ullrich finished a comfortable third.
The Sport Mod class saw a new face amongst its ranks, with Doug Smith moving from the Hobby Stock class to the Sport Mods.
Smith wasted no time breaking in the new car, pulling away to a huge lead right from the start. Tony Pogeler of Cherokee and Brett Meyer of Lytton raced behind Smith for the second spot.
While Smith continued to build on his lead, Luke Wanninger of Jefferson joined the fray, pulling alongside Meyer for third for several laps before fading at the end.
This race was never in doubt, with Smith leading flag to flag, picking up his first win at BVR in a Sport Mod. Pogeler held on for second, while Meyer held Wanninger off for third.
The largest race of the evening was the Hobby Stock race, with a local driver racing for the win.
Justin Nehring of Storm Lake took an early lead, but couldnt get away from the pack before Devin Smith made his presence known.
Nehring and Smith raced hard for a few laps before Smith eventually powered his way past Nehring and into the lead. Craig Brotherton of Wall Lake also came to join the fight, racing Nehring for second after Smith had taken the lead.
The action was thick mid pack throughout the race, with multiple groups of three wide racing over the course of the 12 lap race.
With three to go, Brotherton encountered some type of mechanical error, and was forced to pull into the pits, leaving Shannon Anderson of Atlantic to race Nehring for second.
In the end it was Smith becoming the third brother of the night to see victory lane, with Nehring finishing a strong second and Anderson coming home third.
The Sport Compact race saw just two drivers in contention for the win. Josh Egesdal of Newell and Cory Flanigan of Storm Lake raced side by side the whole race, battling hard for the win.
After dodging lapped traffic, the two cars came to the finish line side by side. Egesdal just barely edged out Flanigan, picking up the win.
