First Visit to Sports Park Raceway
by Jeremy Fox
When The Benton County Speedway in Vinton released their schedule, it scheduled a week off on Sunday Night (July 23rd) so that meant I was free to go to the races somewhere else so the decision was to head to the Sports Park Raceway in Fort Dodge. This was my first visit to the race track and I was very pleased with all the work Jason Vansickel, Dave Doughty and Marty Pringle have done to the facility to make it a hit in 2017. 78 cars signed into tame the 1/2 mile dirt oval on their next too last weekly points night.
First feature of the night was the Sport Compacts 10 lap feature event. Mick Evans and James Peterson led the field to the green and it was Evans that wrestled the top spot early. Evans out front comfortably until the caution came out on lap five for Caine Mahlberg in turn two. Evans began to try to hold off every challenge but Riley Paysen made the right move and took the top spot away on lap seven. Paysen went on to take his 8th win at Sports Park meanwhile Mahlberg worked his way back threw to finish in second, Bryan Vannausdle in third, John Gill was fourth and Scott Ellis was fifth.
Dillon Magnussen took advantage of the pole position in the Hobby Stocks 15 lap feature event by grabbing the lead. Magnussen and the field saw the caution come out on lap three when Danny Sassman Jr. spun in turns three and four. Magnussen held off the challenges until Chanse Hollatz took the top spot away on lap nine. Hollatz went on to take his first win on his first visit to Sports Park in 2017. Magnussen held off Matt Mundt for second, Mundt came across in third. Jeff Fink and Myles Michehl rounded out the top five.
In the 16 lap Sport Mod feature event, it was Brandon Toftee jumping out to the race lead front his outside second row starting spot. Toftee saw the caution come out on lap two for Ty Griffith stopped in turn one. Toftee had Rocky Caudle and Brett Meyer on his back bumper but he held them off until the next caution. The second caution came out on lap eight for Justin Patterson and Kendall Zuetlau in turn four. Toftee was not fazed but the caution came out again four laps later on lap 12 when Taylor Elliott experience trouble and came to a stop at the top of turn four. Toftee would go on take his second win at Sports Park as the caution was coming when Brett Meyer and Jeff Deal spun in turn four. Jason Bass came across the line in second ahead of Caudle, David Calmer and Ty Griffith.
Cody Gustoff led the field six laps of the Stock Cars 18 lap feature event. Calvin Lange took the top spot away on lap seven began to look comfortable in the top spot until the caution came out on lap 12 for Jesse Ely in turn three. Lange and the field saw the caution come again on lap 13 for Reid Keller and Cory Roe spinning on the back stretch after contact from Jeff Lyon, Keller and Roe was given their spot back and Lyon sent to the tail for questionable driving. Lange held off Keller and Roe to take his third win in a row at Sports Park. Roe finished second, Keller was third, Tyler Pickett was fourth and Greg Gill was fifth.
Next up was the Modifieds 18 lap feature event. Tyler Prochaska took the top spot early but the caution came out on lap six for Nick Roberts in turn four after contact with Bill Crimmins, Crimmins penalized for questionable driving but did not like the call so went to the pits. Prochaska held on to the lead until the halfway point when Kelly Shryock took the lead away. Shryock pulled away and went on to take his third win at Sports Park. Jeff James, Prochaska, Shane DeMey and Roberts finished second through fifth respectively.
Final feature of the night was the 15 lap Late Models feature. Doug McCollough lead lap one but it was "Chargin" Charlie McKenna wrestling the lead away on lap two. McKenna pulled away but Ryan Griffith began to chase him down on lap 12, McKenna was on the bottom and Griffith on the highside. Griffith was unable to get by McKenna, so McKenna would go on to take his fifth Sports Park win in 2017. Griffith was second, McCollough was third, Todd Johnson was fourth and Don Beckstrom was fifth.
Racing action finished at 9:26pm meaning I was back on the road around 9:30pm for 1.5 hour drive back to Marshalltown. I was very pleased how the show was ran and if I get another opportunity to visit I will make the trip back up way to go Sports Park Raceway!
Sports Park Raceway
July 23rd, 2017
Late Models
Feature - 1. 22 Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake; 2. 15X Ryan Griffith, Webster City; 3. 1 Doug McCollough, Webster City; 4. 66 Todd Johnson, Mitchellville; 5. 33 Don Beckstrom, Carroll; 6. 7 Jenna Johnson, Mitchellville.
Heat - 1. Griffith; 2. McCollough; 3. Beckstrom; 4. McKenna; 5. Todd Johnson; 6. Jenna Johnson.
Modifieds
Feature - 1. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile; 2. 71 Jeff James, Stanton; 3. 68 Tyler Prochaska, Iowa Falls; 4. 15M Shane DeMey, Denison; 5. 23JR Nick Roberts, Des Moines; 6. 41 Nate Hughes, Humboldt; 7. 41P Keith Pittman, Waterloo; 8. 64 Scott Williams, Steamboat Rock; 9. 35 Bill Crimmins, Fort Dodge.
Heat - 1. DeMey; 2. Prochaska; 3. Roberts; 4. Shryock; 5. Crimmins; 6. James; 7. Hughes; 8. Pittman; 9. Williams.
Stock Cars
Feature - 1. 43 Calvin Lange, Humboldt; 2. 8R Cory Roe, Webster City; 3. 19 Reid Keller, Webster City; 4. 5A Tyler Pickett, Boxholm; 5. 28 Greg Gill, Muscatine; 6. 23 Cody Gustoff, Scranton; 7. 96 Christopher Wiltse, Charles City; 8. 10 Mike Stapleton, Denison; 9. 02 Tony Ritterbush, Dunlap; 10. Y5 Matt Byrne, Webster City; 11. 59X Matt Pinegar, Des Moines; 12. 55 Jordan Riesberg, Madrid; 13. 59 Jeff Lyon, Duncombe; 14. 211 Jesse Ely, Webster City; 15. 47 Parker Slagle, Eagle Grove.
Heat 1 - 1. Stapleton; 2. Gill; 3. Pickett; 4. Lange; 5. Gustoff; 6. Pinegar; 7. Riesberg; 8. Ely.
Heat 2 - 1. Roe; 2. Keller; 3. Lyon; 4. Wiltse; 5. Ritterbush; 6. Bryne; 7. Slagle.
Sport Mods
Feature - 1. 85T Brandon Toftee, Webster City; 2. 4 Jason Bass, Fort Dodge; 3. 99 Rocky Caudle, Ellsworth; 4. 21D David Calmer, Manson; 5. 56 Ty Griffith, Webster City; 6. 77AU Frank Packer, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia; 7. 62 Cory Pestotnik, Boone; 8. 138 Jon Peed, Webster City; 9. 25X Justin Patterson, Fort Dodge; 10. 98 Kendall Zeutlau; 11. 40 George Gilliland, Lehigh; 12. 17X Jason Beckman, Fort Dodge; 13. 22D Jeff Deal, Fort Dodge; 14. 1M Brett Meyer, Lytton; 15. T16 Taylor Elliott, Webster City; 16. 26 Jason Carney, Boone; 17. 28 Autum Anderson, Mason City.
Heat 1 - 1. Caudle; 2. Packer; 3. Toftee; 4. Gilliland; 5. Beckman; 6. Anderson.
Heat 2 - 1. Bass; 2. Pestotnik; 3. Elliott; 4. Peed; 5. Calmer; 6. Zeutlau.
Heat 3 - 1. Meyer; 2. Griffith; 3. Patterson; 4. Carney; 5. Deal.
Hobby Stocks
Feature - 1. 6 Chanse Hollatz, Clear Lake; 2. 28 Dillon Magnussen, Newell; 3. 25M Matt Mundt, Gowire; 4. 01F Jeff Fink, Denison; 5. 21 Myles Michehl, Fort Dodge; 6. 18 Ryan Boland, Fort Dodge; 7. 50 Bryce Sommerfeld, Fort Dodge; 8. 31 Kevin Berger, Otho; 9. 3T Tommy Beekman, Otho; 10. 57C Cody Wirt, Fort Dodge; 11. 55X David Gilliland, Lehigh; 12. Y5 Jayden Glenn, Webster City; 13. 51D Dalton Tripp; 14. 8 Nathan Simpson; 15. 21W Wade Gilliland, Callender; 16. 37 Dustin O'Brien, Glidden; 17. 20 Danny Sassman Jr., Fort Dodge; 18. 89 Dakota Feickert, Webster City; 19. 77 Conner Hildreth, Rockwell City.
Heat 1 - 1. Magnussen; 2. Feickert; 3. Hollatz; 4. Wirt; 5. Fink; 6. Wade Gilliland; 7. Glenn.
Heat 2 - 1. Beekman; 2. Michehl; 3. Berger; 4. Mundt; 5. Sommerfeld; 6. Tripp.
Heat 3 - 1. Hildreth; 2. Boland; 3. David Gilliland; 4. O'Brien; 5. Simpson; 6. Sassman.
Sport Compacts
Feature - 1. 65 Riley Paysen, Wall Lake; 2. 14M AJ Myott, Fort Dodge; 3. 15V Bryan Vannausdle, Villisca; 4. 02 John Gill, Marshalltown; 5. 00 Scott Ellis, Marshalltown; 6. 99 Mick Evans, Fort Dodge; 7. 79 James Peterson, Webster City; 8. 66 Nate Evans, Fort Dodge; 9. 13J Justin Nielson, Luverne; 10. 41 Matt Oberhelman, Fort Dodge; 11. 24M Caine Mahlberg, Dunlap; 12. 13 Lucas Jones, Fort Dodge.
Heat 1 - 1. Mick Evans; 2. Jones; 3. Gill; 4. Ellis; 5. Peterson; 6. Nate Evans.
Heat 2 - 1. Mahlberg; 2. Paysen; 3. Oberhelman; 4. Myott; 5. Vannausdle; 6. Nielson.
