Rust and Armstrong Take First Harris Clash Victories
by Jeremy Fox
Webster City, Iowa (August 9th, 2016) - The original plan to head to the Hamilton County Speedway for the 25th Anniversary of the Harris Clash but after a slow start to the day, I was unsure if I was going to be able to attend. However about 15 minutes to 6pm, I was able to head out the door and make the almost 80 mile drive and I would make it just in time to watch the last flight of Modifieds Hot Laps.
66 Modifieds checked in to be the winner of the 25th Annual Harris Clash and 51 IMCA Northern SportMods also checked in during Iowa Modified Speedweek.
Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods heat winners were Jake Sachau of Denison, Randy Roberts of Boone, Adam Armstrong of Carlisle, Shane Swanson of Forest City, Two-time Harris Clash Winner Doug Smith of Lanesboro and Nick Meyer of Whittemore. B-Feature winners were 2014 Harris Clash Winner Brett Lowry of Montezuma, Jack Housley of Runnells and Erik Laudenschlager of Minot, North Dakota.
In the 20 lap feature event, it was Randy Roberts and Adam Armstrong leading the field to the green. Armstrong wrestled the lead away and began to pull away only to see the caution come out on lap seven for debris in turn four. That appeared to be the only thing slowing down as he got a great restart and would go on and become the eighth different Harris Clash IMCA Northern SportMods winner. Jake Sachau tried to run down Armstrong but came up short after moving up four spots from sixth. Ty Griffith moved up six spots to finish third, Lowry came through the field to finished fourth after starting 13th and Nick Meyer was fifth. Doug Smith, 21st place starter Jared Van Deest, Roberts, Johnathan Logue and Brayton Carter rounded out the top ten. Van Deest was the Hard charging moving up 14 spots next closes was Jake McBirnie moving up 11 spots to finish 13th.
Chase Ellingson of Iowa Falls, Two-time winner (1992 & 1997) Kelly Shryock of Fertile, 2014 Winner Chris Abelson of Sioux City, Josh Ruby of Lakota, 2010 winner Richie Gustin of Gilman and Ryan Ruter of Kanawha, all took Heat Race Wins in the Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds. B-Features would go to Tom Berry Jr of Boone, Tim Ward of Harcourt and Corey Dripps of Reinbeck.
25th Annual Harris Clash also brought back a flavor of original format, as the first ones were ran having to qualify for the Clash by winning feature events so thanks to sponsor TiLube, the inaugural "Dash at the Clash" would take place. Drivers qualifed at ten different events at Marshalltown Speedway, Boone Speedway, 141 Speedway (Francis Creek, Wisconsin), Fairmont Raceway (Fairmont, Minnesota), Independence Motor Speedway, Arlington Raceway (Arlington, Minnesota), Kossuth County Speedway in Algona, Red River Valley Speedway (West Fargo, North Dakota), Hamilton County Speedway and Stuart International Speedway.
The qualifers included Ricky Thornton Jr of Harcourt (Marshalltown), John Logue of Boone (Boone), Luke Lemmens of Kewaunee, Wisconsin (141 Speedway), Eric Dailey of Armstrong (Fairmont), Scott Hogan of Vinton (Independence), Kelly Shryock of Fertile (Arlington), Jeremy Mills of Garner (Kossuth County), Dave Shipley of Argusville , North Dakota (Red River Valley), Ethan Dotson of Bakersfield, California (Hamilton County) and Chris Abelson of Sioux City (Stuart). However do to scheduling issues Dave Shipley was replaced by Rob VanMil of Barnesville, Minnesota and Eric Dailey was replace Josh Ruby of Lakota.
Chris Abelson drew the pole and took advantage right away in the ten lap $500 to win, $100 to start Dash at the Clash. Abelson saw Ricky Thornton Jr move in to second spot and saw Thornton begin to battle for the lead. Thornton grabbed the lead on laps four and five but Abelson would power back and take the lead back on lap six. Abelson and Thornton continued to battle it out but it was Abelson taking the win. Thornton finished second, Shryock was third, Ethan Dotson was fourth and Jeremy Mills was fifth. Rob VanMil, Scott Hogan, Josh Ruby, Luke Lemmens and John Logue finished sixth through tenth respectively.
The final race of the night was the 25 lap finale for the IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modifieds. Kelly Shryock and Chris Abelson started on the front row with Joel Rust and Josh Ruby in row two. Abelson jumped out to the lead and began to pull away until Shryock chase down Abelson and got with in a few car lengths and by lap ten it was down to a car length. While two former Harris Clash winners battled it out, Joel Rust cut a half-straightaway deficit to the top two down to a handful of car lengths late in the race and had a front row view to the battle in front of him. On the last lap, Abelson and Shryock was side-by-side at the line, going in to turn one, Shryock went low and Abelson tried to cut him off but when neither one of them would give they made contact allowing Joel Rust to sneak on by both of them. Rust led the last three quarters of the last lap to escape to his first Harris Clash win of his career. Rust became the 20th different Harris Clash Winner. Josh Ruby finished second, Richie Gustin took third, Ryan Ruter was fourth and Tim Ward was fifth. Scott Hogan finished sixth, Abelson limbed across to seventh, Jimmy Gustin was eighth, Jesse Dennis was ninth and Corey Dripps was tenth. Hard Charger was Tim Ward advancing nine spots from 14th to fifth, next closest was Richie Gustin and Ryan Ruter, each moving up eight spots from 11th and 12th to finish third and fourth respectively.
For more information about the Harris Clash check out http://www.harrisclash.com/
IMCA Modified Speedweek continues Wednesday Night at the Buena Vista Raceway in Alta for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour Season Finale and then off to the Hancock County Speedway in Britt on Thursday for the Night of 1,000 stars, Friday for the Night of 10,000 Stars and Saturday for the Night of All Stars. All four events will be live on IMCA.tv
25th Annual Harris Clash
Hamilton County Speedway (Webster City, Iowa)
Tuesday August 9th, 2016
IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modifieds
Feature (30 laps) - 1. 26J Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 2. 30 Josh Ruby, Lakota; 3. 19G Richie Gustin, Gilman; 4. 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha; 5. 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt; 6. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 7. 1X Chris Abelson, Sioux City; 8. 19 Jimmy Gustin, Gilman; 9. 70 Jesse Dennis, Corning; 10. 31 Corey Dripps, Reinbeck; 11. 8K Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, N.C.; 12. 11X Tom Berry Jr., Boone; 13. 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern; 14. 11 Cody Laney, Torrance, Calif.; 15. 14E Chase Ellingson, Iowa Falls; 16. 66P Paul Stone, Winton, Calif.; 17. 19SB Lance Mari, Imperial, Calif.; 18. 174 Ethan Dotson, Bakersfield, Calif.; 19. 22T Tyler Prochaska, Iowa Falls; 20. 4ord Scott Olson, Blairsburg; 21. 4D Rob VanMil, Barnesville, Minn.; 22. 69 John Logue, Boone; 23. 20RT Ricky Thornton Jr., Harcourt; 24. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile.
Heat 1 (8 laps) - 1. Chase Ellingson; 2. Joel Rust / 3. Tom Berry; 4. Paul Stone; 5. 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 6. 96R Steve Reynolds, Springfield, S.D.; 7. X Josh Rogotzke, Sanborn, Minn.; 8. 4V Billy Vogel, West Fargo, N.D.; 9. 2L Adam Larson, Ankeny; 10. 75 Clint Wendel, Mason City; 11. 7SR Shawn Ritter, Keystone.
Heat 2 (8 laps) - 1. Kelly Shryock; 2. Scott Hogan / 3. Jesse Sobbing; 4. 7 Clay Money, Penokee, Kan.; 5. 8X Colt Mather, Keswick; 6. 10M Jeremy Mills, Garner; 7. 505 Racer Hulin, Laurel; 8. 8 Chase Conway, Westhope, N.D.; 9. 95 Ashley Schaaf, Lincoln, Neb.; 10. 33F Jardin Fuller, Memphis, Mo.; 11. 01T Ed Thomas, Waterloo.
Heat 3 (8 laps) - 1. Chris Abelson; 2. Scott Olson / 3. Corey Dripps; 4. 21 Jesse Hoeft, Forest City; 5. 12 Mark Elliott, Webster City; 6. 5R Tad Reutzel, Burt; 7. Cody Laney; 8. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 9. 01 Troy Jerovetz, Green Bay, Wis.; 10. 75M Justin Medler, Minot, N.D.; 11. 3Z Randy Havlik, Ankeny.
Heat 4 (8 laps) - 1. Josh Ruby; 2. John Logue / 3. Rob VanMil; 4. Tyler Prochaska; 5. 29 Ron VerBeek, Oskaloosa; 6. 007 Luke Lemmens, Kewaunee, Wis.; 7. 24B Brandon Brinton, Ames; 8. 10E Stacey Mills, Webb; 9. 10X Kelly Buckallew, Memphis, Mo.; 10. 15M Shane DeMey, Denison; 11. 49K Cody Knecht, Whittemore.
Heat 5 (8 laps) - 1. Richie Gustin; 2. Jesse Dennis / 3. Tim Ward; 4. Lance Mari; 5. 05 Mike Mashl, De Pere, Wis.; 6. 21K Kyle Brown, State Center; 7. 62 Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Mo.; 8. Kyle Strickler; 9. 9E Eric Elliott, Boone; 10. 00K Trey Kline, Schleswig; 11. 00 Tristan Vesterby, Webster City.
Heat 6 (8 laps) - 1. Ryan Ruter; 2. Jimmy Gustin / 3. Ricky Thornton; 4. Ethan Dotson; 5. 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.; 6. 69X Jon Snyder, Ames; 7. 10B Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 8. 41 Nate Hughes, Humboldt; 9. 64ZC Brandon Leeman, Roland; 10. 8J Jeff Coon, Elysian, Minn.; 11. 66H Gordon Head, Des Moines.
B-Feature 1 (12 laps) - 1. Tom Berry; 2. Rob VanMil; 3. Paul Stone; 4. Tyler Prochaska / 5. Clint Wendel; 6. Ron VerBeek; 7. Adam Larson; 8. Shane DeMey; 9. Stacey Mills; 10. Shawn Ritter; 11. Cody Knecht; 12. Billy Vogel; 13. Josh Rogotzke; 14. Brandon Brinton; 15. Luke Lemmens; 16. Auringer; 17. Reynolds; 18. Buckallew.
B-Feature 2 (12 laps) - 1. Tim Ward; 2. Kyle Strickler; 3. Jesse Sobbing; 4. Lance Mari / 5. Kyle Brown; 6. Colt Mather; 7. Jeremy Mills; 8. Racer Hulin; 9. Hunter Marriott; 10. Mike Mashl; 11. Clay Money; 12. Chase Conaway; 13. Trey Kline; 14. Tristan Vesterby; 15. Ed Thomas; 16. Ashley Schaaf; 17. Eric Elliott; 18. Jardin Fuller.
B-Feature 3 (12 laps) - 1. Corey Dripps; 2. Ricky Thornton; 3. Cody Laney; 4. Ethan Dotson / 5. Ronn Lauritzen; 6. Jesse Hoeft; 7. Justin Medler; 8. Mike Hansen; 9. Troy Jerovetz; 10. Troy Cordes; 11. Brandon Leeman; 12. Nate Hughes; 13. Mark Elliott; 14. Jeff Coon; 15. Jon Snyder; 16. Gordon Head; 17. Tad Reutzel; 18. Randy Havlik.
Dash at the Clash (10 laps) - 1. Chris Abelson; 2. Ricky Thornton; 3. Kelly Shryock; 4. Ethan Dotson; 5. Jeremy Mills; 6. Rob VanMil; 7. Scott Hogan; 8. Josh Ruby; 9. Luke Lemmens; 10. John Logue.
Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods
Feature (20 laps) -
1. 6A Adam Armstrong, Carlisle; 2. 14 Jake Sachau, Denison; 3. 56 Ty Griffith, Webster City; 4. 72 Brett Lowry, Montzeuma; 5. 2X Nick Meyer, Whittemore; 6. 12 Doug Smith, Lake City; 7. 80J Jared VanDeest, Holland; 8. 3R Randy Roberts, Boone; 9. 69JR Johnathan Logue, Boone; 10. 01 Brayton Carter, Oskaloosa; 11. 2 Robbie Conway, Westhope, N.D.; 12. 10H Jack Housley, Runnells; 13. 82 Jake McBirnie, Boone; 14. 77AU Frank Packer, Madrid; 15. 6 Ryan Jenkins, Omaha, Neb.; 16. 49 Erik Laudenschlager, Minot, N.D.; 17. 99 Rocky Caudle, Ellsworth; 18. 86 Cory Rose, Boone; 19. 55 Shane Swanson, Forest City; 20. 65J Josh Appel, Mason City; 21. 555 Josh Sink, Red Oak; 22. 36A Andy Edwards, Parkersburg; 23. 14H Todd Boulware, Jefferson, S.D.; 24. 138 Jon Peed, Webster City.
Heat 1 (6 laps) - 1. Jake Sachau; 2. Ty Griffith / 3. Andy Edwards; 4. 2B Robert Moore, Maxwell; 5. 62 Cory Pestotnik, Boone; 6. 13T Taylor Musselman, Urbandale; 7. Frank Packer; 8. 3L Clint Luellen, Minburn.
Heat 2 (6 laps) - 1. Randy Roberts; 2. Jon Peed / 3. Jack Housley; 4. 25 Dan Paplow, Dundee, Minn.; 5. Brayton Carter; 6. 21D Dan Drury, Eldora; 7. 75 Christopher Elliott, Webster City; 8. 22D Jeff Deal, Fort Dodge; 9. 12X Mike Lemay, Westhope, N.D.
Heat 3 (6 laps) -1. Adam Armstrong; 2. Rocky Caudle / 3. Erik Laudenschlager; 4. Johnathan Logue; 5. Jared VanDeest; 6. Jake McBirnie; 7. 198 Sam Wieben, Dysart; 8. 66 Tim Plummer, Norway; 9. 74 Rick Rohr, Beatrice, Neb.
Heat 4 (6 laps) - 1. Shane Swanson; 2. Todd Boulware / 3. Brett Lowry; 4. Josh Appel; 5. 85T Wayne Dotson, Bakersfield, Calif.; 6. 00 Colby Fett, Algona; 7. 29V Brett Vanderheiden, Earlham; 8. 40 George Gilliland, Lehigh; 9. T16 Taylor Elliott, Webster City.
Heat 5 (6 laps) - 1. Doug Smith; 2. Cory Rose / 3. Robbie Conway; 4. 14T Trent Roth, Columbus, Neb.; 5. Ryan Jenkins; 6. 1R Brad Ratcliff, Webster City; 7. 28 Autum Anderson, Mason City; 8. 7 Carter VanDenBerg, Oskaloosa.
Heat 6 (6 laps) - 1. Nick Meyer; 2. Josh Sink / 3. 49W Nate Whitehurst, Mason City; 4. 14X Austin Schrage, Cresco; 5. 38 Craig Garner, Clarinda; 6. 94 J.J. Andersen, De Pere, Wis.; 7. 26B Bryan Johnson, Roland; 8. 11 Paul Price, Iowa Falls.
B-Feature 1 (10 laps) - 1. Brett Lowry; 2. Josh Appel; 3. Frank Packer; 4. Andy Edwards / 5. Colby Fett; 6. Robert Moore; 7. Clint Luellen; 8. Taylor Elliott; 9. George Gilliland; 10. Cory Pestotnik; 11. Brett Vanderheiden; 12. Taylor Musselman; 13. Wayne Dotson.
B-Feature 2 (10 laps) - 1. Jack Housley; 2. Robbie Coneway; 3. Brayton Carter; 4. Ryan Jenkins / 5. Carter VanDenBerg; 6. Dan Paplow; 7. Brad Ratcliff; 8. Trent Roth; 9. Autum Anderson; 10. Christipher Elliott; 11. Jeff Deal; 12. Dan Drury; 13. Mike Lemay.
B-Feature 3 (10 laps) - 1. Erik Laudenschlager; 2. Johnathan Logue; 3. Jared VanDeest; 4. Jake McBirnie / 5. Tim Plummer; 6. Sam Wieben; 7. J.J. Andersen; 8. Austin Schrage; 9. Paul Price; 10. Craig Garner; 11. Bryan Johnson; 12. Rick Rohr; 13. Nate Whirehurst.
List of Harris Clash Winners
Modifieds
Kelly Shryock (1992 & 1997)
Denny Hovinga (1993)
Bill Davis (1994 & 1998)
Tim Donlinger (1995)
Mark Noble (1996)
Troy Folkerts (1999)
John Logue (2000)
Johnny Saathoff (2001)
Scott Allen (2002)
Greg Metz (2003 & 2005)
Gary Clark (2004)
Jeremie Hedrick (2006)
Clayton Christensen (2007)
Jay Noteboom (2009)
Richie Gustin Jr (2010)
Eric Dailey (2011)
Kyle Strickler (2012 & 2013)
Chris Abelson (2014)
Ethan Dotson (2015)
Joel Rust (2016)
* 2008 was Rained Out thanks to Mother Nature *
SportMods
Jacob Murray (2006)
Brett Moffitt (2007)
Matt Lettow (2009 & 2012)
Jared Timmerman (2010)
Jesse Sobbing (2011)
Doug Smith (2013 & 2015)
Brett Lowry (2014)
Adam Armstrong (2016)
* 2008 was Rained Out thanks to Mother Nature *
