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Courtesy of Arlington Raceway
ARLINGTON - Matt Luebke took the checkered flag Saturday at the Arlington Raceway to earn his first career feature win.
Jeff Carter was the early leader in the Arlington State Bank IMCA No. Sport Modified feature leading for six laps until Matt Luebke found extra grip on the backstretch getting by Carter to take the lead. Luebke was a quarter of a race track ahead for the remaining laps to win his first career feature. Behind him Carter was battling with Eric Larson trying to hold on to second place but as the checkered flag was thrown, Larson got around Carter to claim second place with Carter settling for third ahead of Joey Reimers.
Longtime veteran driver Brett Geldner of St. Peter found victory lane in the IMCA Sprint car division by leading from start to finish in the 15-lap race. He was uncatchable taking off at the start and never looking back. Matt Johnson was about a ¼ lap behind him in second the entire distance to take second and Brett Allen finished right behind Johnson.
The Ottomotive Tire & Repair IMCA Modified feature saw a first lap yellow when a car spun out in Turn 4, all the cars avoided any carnage and the race was restarted. That gave an advantage to Dan Menk as he was able to move ahead three spots on the restart and take over the point. Yet another caution for a spinning car again on the top of Turn 4 brought out the caution again. This time the advantage was taken by Matt Looft as he lined up on the top side of the Delaware start behind Menk. Both drivers took to the high side of the track and it was Looft who came out the leader and remained the leader for the next five laps to twin the race. Menk settled for second ahead of Chad Porter.
There was a battle royal in the Olson Snowplowing & Lawn Care Outlaw feature with Craig Groebner starting on the high side of the track and moving his way to the lead on the first lap. Behind him was hard charger Karl Hewitt Jr., who had started in seventh place and lap by lap passed another car to get up next to Groebner and race side by side for several laps until Hewitt pulled away after doing a cross over maneuver to take over the top spot to win the race. Groeber took second and Cody Flewelling took third place.
The Jack Pines Resort IMCA Hobby feature was infested with caution flags. On the second lap, the #16 spun on the backstretch and Travis Koester got collected in it. Both cars were out of the race with damage. The following lap another yellow came out when Cory Probst made contact with Jonathan Schroeder, Probst restarted in the back of the field. Yet another yellow occurred the following lap when Chad Volk had troubles which sent him to the pit. The race was restarted again with Ted Goettl leading but on the fifth lap, Austin Jahns had troubles which sent him to the pit for the night. The next few laps were calm with Goettl leading and Schroeder behind him in second place but all the yellow flags gave Probst extra breathing room and he had moved up through the pack to challenge Goettl. After a yellow flag on the ninth lap, Probst was able to take the lead from Goettl and remain the leader for the last three laps to win. Goettl took second and Schroeder hung on for third place.
Rookie Mason Berger led two laps of the Coors Light IMCA Sport Compact feature but by Lap 2, Alan Lahr was racing side by side with him and nosed his way to the front to take over the lead and go onto win the race. Dale Gatton got around Berger and tried to catch Lahr but had to settle for second place. Lahr's grandson Gavin took third place ahead of Gary Schumacher, with Berger rounding out the top five.
There was plenty of action in the B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Car feature with three different leaders throughout the 20-lap race. Matt Speckman led the first couple of laps and then the 00 of Ryan Bjerkeset along with AJ Zimmerman were all racing three wide for the first couple of laps. By the third time around, Bjerkeset was the leader but two laps later Speckman took over again when a yellow came out for the 92 having troubles and going to the work area. On the restart, Speckman took over the lead with Bjerkeset and Tim Pessek all racing side by side around the track. Halfway through the race, a red flag was thrown when the 87B car of Brent Uecker's ford powered car had a small fire under it. He was out of the race. That gave the restart advantage to Bjerkeset once again as he took over the lead but the 18x car of Daniel Eckblad came a calling and was now in the mix with the top cars. Eckblad found the lead by hugging the bottom side of the track and making his way to the point. For the next six laps the top three cars were bumper to bumper with Eckblad inching out the win at the checkered flag. Speckman took second and Pessek took third.