A GREAT SUMMER NIGHT FOR RACING AT PARK JEFFERSON
LeRoy Beck
(05/31/09)
A beautiful night for racing and a beautifully prepared track made for a great night for racing as Taco Johns presented the NASCAR Whelen All American Series at Park Jefferson Speedway. Over seventy cars packed the pits as the feature wins went to Jay Noteboom, Dan VanBruggen, Jason Ward, Jay Davis, and Rusty Montagne.
Anytime some arrives at the racetrack, the hope is for a safe race and some great action. The VerHoef Automotive NASCAR Modifieds definitely provided the action part of that equation. Bo Lundquist would move to the point at the drop of the green flag and would lead the first set of laps. As Lundquist lead the pack, the drivers on the move were Jay Noteboom and Chris Abelson. Lundquist would begin to have handling problems as soon as Noteboom would get past for the lead just after the halfway point. A caution with four laps to go would bunch the pack back up. At the drop of the green, Abelson, running second, would drive hard into turn one and slide in front of Noteboom to take the lead. Abelsons lead would be short lived as he would get too high in turn two with two laps remaining and Noteboom would get past and finish at the front of the field. After the top two, Reese Coffee, Dirk Kirk, and Jason Briese would finish out the top five.
As the B&B Salvage Stock Car feature rolled onto the speedway, Jason Ward was looking for his second consecutive and third win of the season. After his heat race win, most had Ward as the man to beat, and Ward would not disappoint as he would take the lead on lap one and never look back as an intense battle waged for the second spot. Curt VanBeek and Ryan Harris would race nose to tail nearly every lap with VanBeek holding off Harris for second ahead of Mark Wenzlaff and Glenn Wynia.
Todd Saunders has been on the verge of picking up a win in the Motor Parts Central 360mod feature events. This night appeared to be the night Saunders would accomplish that goal. Starting from the front of the field, Saunders would stretch his lead, sometimes as much as a full straightaway. Saunders would begin to have problems though as he encountered lapped traffic. Dan VanBruggen would get past Saunders in lapped just prior to a caution. On the restart, Saunders would try and get the jump on VanBruggen, but would draw the caution for jumping the start. VanBruggen would hold off a challenge from Harvey VandeWeerd to get the win. VandeWeerd, Rich Headid, Saunders, and Jon Felix would all follow VanBruggen.
Mike Loutsch made a grandstand full of fans during the Yankton Automotive Machine Hobby Stock feature. At the drop of the initial green flag, Loutsch would get loose, and out of the racing groove before making heavy contact with the outside wall sending Loutsch rolling down the front stretch. Loutschs machine would land on all four wheels and roll back toward the infield. After a look over his car, Loutsch would fire his machine and drive away to a thunderous roar from the grandstand. After that kind of excitement, the fans in the grandstand were primed for a great race, and the drivers were more than happy to oblige. Rusty Montagne and John Cain would continue their great rivalry at the front of the field. Montagne would take the lead with three to go entering turn one. Cain would take to the inside and push up the speedway, outside the speedway, and all the way to the catch fence outside of the backstretch. All with Montagne to his outside. Both drivers would stay in the gas and Montagne would hold the point the remainder of the race ahead of Cain, Bill Woehler, Justin Regnerus, and Paul Menard.
Kyle Davis would pick up his first win of the season in the Steves Roofing Hornet division. Davis would take the lead from Terry Berg Jr. late in the race and hold off an impressive charge from Marlis Boggs to get the win by a fender. Jeff Goodier, Luke Jackson, and Berg would follow the top two to the line.
Next Saturday Night, Chestermans Coca Cola presents the 2009 NASCAR Whelen All American Series at Park Jefferson Speedway. For more information on Park Jefferson Speedway visit http://www.parkjeffersonspeedway.com or visit the NASCAR Home Tracks page at http://localracing.nascar.com/tracks
