After the Season Opener for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour was postponed the week before because of cold conditions and rain and rescheduled for the following week. 33 IMCA Modifieds made the trek to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton.
David Brown and Mark Elliott started on the front row and it was Elliott grabbing the early lead in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds 40 lap feature. The first race caution came out on lap 12 for debris and on the restart, Elliott had to contend with Jason Wolla and Mike Van Genderen on his back bumper. Wolla took the lead away and he would make the 14 plus hour pull from Ray, North Dakota worth it as he would take the win ahead of defending series champion Mike Van Genderen, J.D. Auringer, Hunter Marriott and Joe Docekal.
Roger Cielsielski lead the first eight laps before Damon Murty took the lead away in the IMCA Stock Cars 18 lap feature. On lap ten, Murty and Cielsielski got together forcing the caution to come out. Norman Chesmore inherited the lead and appeared to be going on to take the win but Murty worked his way back through the field and out dueled Chesmore to the checkered. Scott Pippert finished third, Nathan Wood was fourth and Cielsielski was fifth.
Joey Schaefer led lap one in the IMCA Northern SportMods 16 lap feature before hometown favorite Danny Dvorak took the lead away on lap two. Schaefer took the lead on lap three but "Speedy Bray" Brayton Carter took the lead away on lap four. Carter continued to lead through a pair of cautions on lap six and seven but Colby Heishman worked his way through to take the lead away. Heishman led the remaining laps to take his first career win. Carter, Sam Wieben, Tony Olson and Clint Luellen finished second through fifth respectively.
In the IMCA Hobby Stocks 15 lap feature it was Matt Pohlman taking the lead. Pohlman would lead until Jeremiah Wilson took the lead away. Wilson continued to lead until lap 13 when the final race caution came out. Nathan Ballard and Benji Irvine restared on the back bumper of Wilson, and it was Irvine taking the lead away. Irvine beat Ballard to the checkered. Justin Wacha got by Wilson for third and Justin Lichty was fifth.
Don Erge led the opening lap in the BCS Micro Mods 12 lap feature. Jeff Davis took the lead away on lap two when Erger slipped up. Brody Willett grabbed the lead away on lap six and would lead the remaining laps to take the win over Davis, Brandon Maitland, Buster Pate and Cole McNeal.
For more information about races at the Benton County Speedway, check out http://www.jjamracing.net/
Hawkeye Dirt Tour Season Opener
Benton County Speedway
Vinton, Iowa
Modifieds – 1. 27W Jason Wolla, Ray, N.D.; 2. 57V Mike Van
Genderen, Newton; 3. 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 4. 62 Hunter Marriott,
Brookfield, Mo.; 5. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 6. 12 Mark Elliott, Webster City;
7. 92 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 8. 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa; 9. 10K Ronn
Lauritzen, Jesup; 10. 21K Kyle Brown, Kellogg; 11. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 12. F7
Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 13. 19R Mitch Morris, Long Grove; 14. 4 Ryan
Maitland, Denver; 15. 23JR Nick Roberts, Des Moines; 16. 57B Dennis Betzer,
Central City; 17. 3F Cole Ferguson, Dexter; 18. 5 Todd Shute, Des Moines; 19. 26J
Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 20. 71C Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 21. 26 Brian Irvine,
Oelwein; 22. 71W Jeff Waterman, Quincy, Ill.; 23. 20L Zach Less, Manchester;
24. 21 David Brown, Kellogg.
1st heat – 1. Waterman; 2. Van Genderen; 3. Rust; 4. Flannagan; 5. Betzer; 6. Less; 7. Hogan; 8. Roberts; 9. 24 Adam Johnson, Independence.
2nd heat – 1. Cordes; 2. Auringer; 3.
Maitland; 4. Lauritzen; 5. Docekal; 6. 4 Billy Vogel, Fargo, N.D.; 7.
02 Andrew Schroeder, Keswick; 8. 21X Brennen Chipp, Waterloo.
3rd heat – 1. Shute; 2. Elliott; 3. David
Brown; 4. Ferguson; 5. Droste; 6. 17R Derek Reimer, St. Anthony; 7. 80 Jerry
Dedrick, Vinton; 8. 32D Kyle Montgomery, Tipton.
4th heat – 1. Irvine; 2. Marriott; 3.
Wolla; 4. Morris; 5. Kyle Brown; 6. Carter; 7. 415 Josh Barta, Cedar Falls;
8. 5B Austin Bishop, Manchester.
1st “B” feature – 1. Lauritzen; 2.
Flannagan; 3. Docekal; 4. Betzer; 5. Less; 6. Schroeder; 7. Chipp; 8.
Hogan; 9. Roberts; 10. Vogel; 11. Johnson.
2nd “B” feature – 1. Kyle Brown; 2. Carter; 3. Droste; 4. Morris; 5. Ferguson; 6. Barta; 7. Montgomery; 8. Reimer; 9. Bishop; 10. Dedrick.
Stock Cars – 1. 99D Damon Murty,
Chelsea; 2. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 3. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 4.
52 Nathan Wood, Sigourney; 5. 37C Roger Ciesielski, Waterloo; 6. 74C Cole Mather,
Fairbank; 7. 67 Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 8. 8E Austin Evens, Independence;
9. 42 Lon Mercer, Urbana; 10. 19J Jay Schmidt, Tama; 11. 76 Mike Galli, Urbana;
12. 4JR Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo.
Hobby Stocks – 1. 79 Benji Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 29 Nathan
Ballard, Marengo; 3. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 4. T64 Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo;
5. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 6. 82 Billy Rhoades, Maynard; 7. 78 Matt Brown,
Dysart; 8. 357 Brett Vanous, Quasqueton; 9. 88 C.J. Dall, Marshalltown; 10.
48 Adam Petrzelka, Norway; 11. 23 Andrew Torkelson, Lisbon; 12. 98 Neal Miller,
Waterloo; 13. 717 Zach Swanson, Waterloo; 14. 4P Matt Pohlman, Keystone; 15. K12 Cody Swanson, Waterloo.
Northern SportMods – 1. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 2.
01 Brayton Carter, Oskaloosa; 3. 198 Sam Wieben, Dysart; 4. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar
Rapids; 5. 3L Clint Luellen, Minburn; 6. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 7. 22 Matt
Petrzelka, Norway; 8. 230 Joey Schaefer, Waterloo; 9. 57R Ryan King, Montour;
10. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 11. K3 Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 12. 3T Tyler Soppe,
Sherrill; 13. 21D Dan Drury, Eldora; 14. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 15. 3M Dave
McCalla, Cedar Rapids; 16. 15B Troy Burkhart, Urbana; 17. 96 Lucas Lundry,
Maynard; 18. 17 Dawn Krall, Evansdale; 19. 19B Nate Smith, Cedar Falls; 20. 35
Kyle Bentley, Independence; 21. 10 Lee Rouse, Atkins; 22. 6K Mike McNeal,
Vinton; 23. MR09 Kurt Hogan, Vinton; 24. 63 Matt McCahen, Waterloo.
BCS Micro Mods - 1. 00 Brody Willett, Alburnett; 2. 18 Jeff Davis, LaPorte City; 3. 2 Brandon Maitland, Waterloo; 4. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 5. 51 Cole McNeal, Dysart; 6. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 7. 111A AJ Witten, Hiawatha; 8. 71 Tristan Cordes, Dunkerton; 9. 1 Kaden Reynolds, Cedar Rapids
