VICTORY LANE AT 3 SHOWS IN A ROW FOR WAHLERT
Shannon Lowe
(08/27/09)
The west half of the dirt track at Shelby County Speedway showed a mean streak in the Shelby County Speedway Sport Compact feature, as contact between Daniel Mefferd and Dustin Poldberg sent Poldberg rolling out of turn three, and a few laps later Caine Mahlberg lost control in the same corner and ended his race there also. Racing finished clean however as the Crazy Man Racing team out of Council Bluffs landed two cars in the top five with James Smith in first, Taylor Griffin in second, Bryan Smith in third and two new cars with Cory Cunard and Ben Rolfe finishing out the top five.
With 24 cars starting in the WAM Performance parts hobby stocks the first lap crowding had a domino effect as drivers fought for the right to lead the pack. Contact with cars sandwiched in the middle of the pack had Kenny Hansen struggling to maintain control and he ricocheted into the competition with Randy Andersen picking up collateral damage. One lap later, Randy Anderson stopped high in turn four due to a flat tire as a result of the contact and was disqualified for his hit and run on Hansen on his way past the 17 car to the pits. Meanwhile, Shannon Anderson worked his way out in front of the competition and out ran the field taking the checkered flag with Devin Smith behind him in second, with Corey Madden, Kenny Hansen and Kurt Hansen completing the leaders board.
Luck and skill finally came together in the same night for Tanner Powers in the KNOD Sport Mods with Powers finding good grip on the track and maneuvered around the competition to take the lead in the final laps and the trip to OReilly Victory Lane for the first time at Shelby County Speedway. The race was not without its mishaps however as Jonathan Plowman lost control on a slick spot and spun out in front of the pack collecting David Hulsebus who was running second at the time, and Jared Hansen who was third. The contact ended the race for both Plowman and Hulsebus and set the remainder of the race up for a Sport Mod Points leader rundown with Jesse Sobbing chasing Powers to the checkered flag followed by Dan McKeighan, Jason Fusselman and Robert Tippery.
The Pizza Ranch Stock Cars found trouble early in the race with race cars rubbing and pounding their way to the front and Avocas Bill Osbahr took the worst of the damage after stopping on the front stretch, he was able to continue from the back of the pack after a trip to pit road. On the restart the leaders looked like a six pack of sardines with Keith Knop, Brian Blessington, Clay Christian, Chad Dills, Dustin Smith and Dave Plowman, racing three and four wide with room to spare on a two lane track. Christian had some trouble with his number 7 hot rod and fell out of the race as Knop, Smith and Blessington began to gain ground on the rest. Knop took yet another checkered flag, with Blessington in second, Smith in third, Tim Bengard in fourth and Bill Osbahr all the way back up to fifth.
The return of last years high point champion to Shelby County Speedway had fans excited about the Budweiser Late Model feature race, with Corey Zeitner making an appearance for the first time this season. Trouble with the 26jr during the feature kept Zeitner out of the front of the race as Josh Most and Kyle Wahlert work to the front of the pack before Wahlert ran away with the race for the third week in a row, followed by Most in second, Don Smith, Jr, Barry Sorensen and Gary Hopp. Zeitner returned to the track with the Late Model King of the Hill later in the evening and had better luck as he was crowned King of the Hill.
The Pitts Chiropractic Modifieds took the track with one of the smallest competitive fields this season as only fourteen cars made the call. Competition was tough however as a race restart had Scott Carlson snapping up the lead followed by Nick Deal and both chased by Jeff Anderson. Anderson slid back into the pack after taking a high ride around turn 3 and 4 strips him of the edge he had earned and put him back into sixth. Jeff Jones worked his way up to challenge Deal and Carlson and took the lead to earn the trip to OReilly Victory Lane with Deal in second, Brandon Monson in third, Scott Carlson and Jeff Anderson in fourth and fifth.
Dont miss the racing excitement at the Shelby County Speedway as competition heats up in the next several weeks before the Tiny Lund Special to be held on September 17th through the 19th. Racing this Saturday night will feature Fan with a Can as fans find discounts available when they bring canned goods to help support the local food pantry. Hot laps start at 6:30 and racing begins at 7pm at the Shelby County Speedway this Saturday Night!
