Season concludes with final weekend at Arlington Raceway, Loverude wins track title
Courtesy of Arlington
Raceway
ARLINGTON — The last race of the season at Arlington Raceway saw some strong racing action in both the heats and features.
The Jack Pines Resort IMCA Hobby feature saw Cory Probst, the point leader draw the top spot, which is where he stayed the entire distance as he won both the feature and track championship.
The race behind him had Brad Becker, who had started in 11th, charge forward and battle through the field to driving around lapped traffic to take second ahead of Joe Domeier. On the 10th lap, he had five laps to gain on Probst but lapped traffic was in the way and he didn’t have enough time. He settled for second, Domeier took third and Dan Probst took fourth place. Cory Probst won the $300 bounty money that had been put on him as well.
The Coors Light IMCA Sport Compact went flag to flag with Justin Dose starting in the front row and maintaining the spot throughout the race to win. Dale Gatton pulled off the track on Lap 3, Marc Grey had troubles and pulled off the next lap and Nicole Kelser pulled off on Lap 9 which shortened the field. Jason Bolte took second and Alan Lahr took third, which gave him enough points to win the track championship.
The eXmark Outlaw feature saw Garett Uecker start on the pole, there was a first lap yellow as the 99 of Zach Wisch spun on the start. The cars relined and Uecker again took the lead with Craig Groebner behind him. By the thirrd lap Dan Eckblad who had started in fifth place got around Groebner and was working on Uecker. By the eighth lap, Eckblad was in the lead with both Groebner and Karl Hewitt getting by Uecker, which is how they came across for the checkered flag.
Mark Oestreich won his first track championship in the eXmark Outlaw class.
Bryan Spaude had the advantage in the Arlington State Bank IMCA Northern Sport Modified feature starting on the pole. It didn’t take Matt Looft long to take the high side and get around four cars to take over the lead. On Lap 7, a yellow was thrown when Jeff Carter hit a tire in turn four, sending him to the work area. He was able to resume the race. When the race restarted, both Jeff Lloyd and Ben Reierson got by Spaude but could not catch Looft as he won the race and the track championship.
Neisen Construction & Sons sponsored a $500.00 to win King of the Hill Race and Looft won that as well, along with an extra $300 bounty money put on him.
The Rice Companies IMCA RaceSaver Sprint car feature saw a few yellow flags. The first one when Andrew Allen got sideways in turn four and Kyla Anderson got collected into him. They were both done for the night. On the restart, another yellow came out when Brett Allen was leading the race and Matt Johnson came from behind. Both cars were vying for the same spot in turn four and neither driver gave each other room. They got collected with Matt driving off the track and Brett continuing to race from the back of the pack. That gave Brandon Allen driving his Dad’s car the opportunity to take over the lead and remain the leader for the remaining 19 laps to win the race. Brandon Buyesse took second with Bill Johnson taking third. The track championship was won by Brett Allen.
Once again the B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock car race saw a steller field of cars with 27 starting the race. There were four different leaders. The first was Dakota Robinson but that only lasted for one lap as Ryan Bjerkeset got around him. The front of the pack was three and four wide around the entire track. Bjerekeset held onto the lead for the next seven laps until he lost momentum and Josh Larson, who had started fifth, took over the lead. With only five laps to go, Larson lost his brakes going into turn four, did a 360-spin and continued to race, but that gave Matt Looft the lead. Looft went onto win the race with Bjerkeset taking second, Matt Speckman in third and Robinson taking fourth place. Matt Looft is also the B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Car track champion and he also picked up a qualifying spot in the B&B Racing Chassis All-Star race next year. Matt Schauer led every lap of the King of the Hill Race picking up $500 from Neisen & Sons Construction and Arlington NAPA/Sunoco Fuels.
Trent Loverude continued his winning ways as he drew No. 1. He started up front, and that is where he finished winning the race, his 11th win of the season. Dalton Magers and Todd Stinehart were switching positions for the first 10 laps and then Magers brought out a caution. He went into the pit area. By the 12th lap, Dan Menk was challenging Loverude was able to gain quite a distance and went onto win the race. Menk took second with Stinehart taking third. Loverude won the track championship.
Emily McConnell was the early leader in the Jerry’s Home Quality Foods Auto Cross feature. There was a clogged track with cars everywhere and by the sixth lap Aaron Brinkman got around her. Brinkman went onto win the race with Hannah Buskey taking second. Emily’s car stalled on the last corner putting her at a fifth place finish. Jake Trebesch is the point champion.
There were two leaders in the EZ Wash & Storage Truck Cross feature, the first lap was led by the 51 of Robert Knuth but he later fell out of the race. Brett McConnell then motored around to gain the lead and led the remaining nine laps to win. Ryan Kisor took second and Dustin Theuringer took third. Aric Rolf was the track champion in this class.
Evelyn Hess dominated the Hess Technolgy Jr. Sportsman Go Kart feature event as she led from start to finish starting on the front row. There were three yellow flags at the start of the race and then two more on the fifth lap. Mason Powers got around Jase Schroeder to take second place after the caution flags were thrown. Silas Rustman held on for third place. Theo Pessek took fourth place and he also won the track championship.
Kyle Perrino was the early leader in the Hess Technology Jr Go Kart feature starting on the pole. On the fourth lap, a yellow came out and again on the seventh lap. Those restarts helped Noah Rustman move up and gain stops. As the white flag came out, Rustman took over the top spot with Perrino in second and Braylon Manderfield taking third. Brayden Allen was the track champion in this class.
Kayla Schauer out-bested the Hess Technology Stock Go Karts to win the feature and the track championship. Bill Wencl took second and Michael Powers took third.
There were mechanic races at the end of the night and the following mechanics won a trophy:
Jack Pines Resort IMCA Hobby-24 Loren Temple, Coors Light IMCA Sport Compact-81 Donavin Dose, eXmark Outlaw Hobby-39x Mike Vogt, Arlington State Bank IMCA Northern Sport Modified-1j Mike Stien, Rice Companies IMCA RaceSaver Sprint-24g Neil Bode, B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Car-74 Pat Kohn, Ottomotive Tire & Repair IMCA Modified-3 J Joey Reimers.