AG PARTNERS NIGHT AT BVR
Jeremiah Davis
(08/27/09)
When hot temperatures and fast racecars get together, the result can sometimes be hot tempers. On Wednesday night at Buena Vista Raceway in Alta, that was the case.
The IMCA Modifieds were once again the main event Wednesday night and they didnt disappoint.
Rod Schueuermann took the lead right from the green flag, and was followed quickly by Stacey Mills. Behind the front two, Randy Brands held third, with cars racing two and three wide behind him.
As Scheuermann and Mills distanced themselves from the pack, Justin Sackett emerged from the three wide racing midpack to challenge Brands for third. As Sackett stalked Brands, Mills pulled up to challenge Sheuermann for the lead.
Nearing the halfway point, Sackett took possession of the third spot over Brands, and immediately set his sights on the front two cars. Unfortunately for Sackett, his quest for the front wouldnt last too far past halfway, as with 8 laps remaining Sackett fell out of the race with mechanical problems.
With Sackett falling out, Brands moved back to third, but was being pressured by Brad Williams. As Williams and Brands raced for third, Scheuermann started to put some distance on Mills.
Williams worked on Brands for a few laps before moving past to the third spot. Williams wasted no time, once in third, catching up to Mills and Scheuermann. But, as they say, catching them is one thing, passing them is another.
Williams tried multiple lines to get around Mills and Scheuermann, but it was just not meant to be. Scheuermann ran a perfect race, holding off several charges from Mills. Scheuermann led flag to flag, taking the win over Mills in second and Williams in third.
The IMCA Stock Car race saw a Smith not in victory lane for the first time in several weeks.
Chris Ullrich moved to the lead early in the going, with a gaggle of cars racing three wide behind him. Stefan Sybesma and Donavon and David Smith raced behind him for second. The three cars stayed three wide for two or three laps while Ullrich built up his lead.
While those three raced for second, Brian Blessington made his move. The veteran driver slid past the trio of drivers over the course of two laps, and once clear of them, set out to catch Ullrich.
With five laps remaining, David Smith emerged from the battle to take sole possession of third. Ahead of him, Blessington caught Ullrich, and once he did, there wasnt much Ullrich could do to stop the 92B car.
With two laps to go Blessington moved past Ullrich and into the lead. Blessington wouldnt look back and went on to pick up his first win at BVR this season. Ullrich settles for second while David Smith finished a solid third, holding off a late charge from his brother Dustin.
The IMCA Sport Modified feature saw domination followed up by disappointment.
Tim Rupp showed early on that if someone was going to win the Sport Mod feature, they would have to go past him to do so. Rupp pulled away quickly right from the green flag.
Behind Rupp, Chris Grothe had to deal with a hard charging Brett Meyer. Meyer made quick work of Grothe, and set out to try and catch Rupp.
Unfortunately for Meyer, Rupps car was simply too strong. Meyer chopped away at the lead a bit, but there simply werent enough laps for him to catch up. Rupp crossed the line first to take the win on the track, while Meyer crossed second and Grothe third.
After the race, Tim Hanson made a claim on Rupps engine. By IMCA Rule, if an engine is claimed, the cars engine being claimed has to be surrendered, usually either for money or an even exchange of the other cars engine.
Rupp wasnt willing to give up the motor hed worked so hard on and refused the claim. The refusal came with a hefty price. Not only was he disqualified from the nights race at BVR, but he was also slapped with a $1000 fine and a 30-day suspension from all IMCA sanctioned events.
The DQ gave Brett Meyer the credit for the feature win, bumping Grothe to second and Zach Norgaard third.
The Hobby Stock feature was where tempers really got hot.
Right from the start things didnt go to well on the racetrack. Justin Nehring moved to the early lead after taking the green flag, but not before Ryan Roder ended up sideways in front of half the field in turn two right after taking the green.
Roder spun completely later that lap, victim of a flat tire. While under caution, Roder expressed his frustrations with Nehring whom he apparently thought caused Roder to get sideways on the start, cutting down his tire.
Roder pulled a move straight out of Days of Thunder. He got his tire changed, then immediately went out on the track and slammed into the back of Nehring. Roder was black flagged for his move, disqualifying him and making he and his crew even more upset.
Once the field finally got to racing, things didnt seem to calm down too much. Nehring held strong to the lead throughout most of the race.
Early in the going, Merle Bass stayed right with Nehring, even putting the bumper to him on a few occasions. Behind them, point leader Shannon Anderson emerged to challenge them both for their spots.
Basss great run would get spoiled a few laps later when he, John Briggs, and Devin Smith all got tangled up in turn two, bringing out the caution.
With six laps to go, Anderson moved past Bass to take second, and began working on Nehring. Devin Smith rebounded from his earlier mishap and joined the fight a lap later, which is when things got spiced up again. Anderson got past Nehring with 5 laps remaining, and was followed closely by Smith.
While trying to pull even with Nehring, Smith made contact with Nehring, causing him to spin off of turn 4. Nehrings spin brought out the caution, as well as the black flag for Smith, who was sent to the back for his move on Nehring.
As expected, Nehring, as well as his crew, were unhappy with the spin, as well as getting sent to the back, as a great finish was spoiled.
Up front Anderson held on in the closing laps after the restart. Anderson cruised home to the victory, with Matt Mahoney benefiting from the Nehring-Smith run-in to finish second and Craig Brotherton third.
The Sport Compact feature saw one driver simply dominate. Cain Mahlberg took the lead right from the green flag, and would never look back. Mahlbergs #24 car rocketed away from Kyle Hill and the rest of the field.
Mahlberg led flag to flag, taking the win. Hill finished a strong second while Mark Lindgren held off Josh Egesdal to take home third.
Next week is Fitzpatrick Auto Center Season Championship night, when the points battles are final and champions are crowned.
