Shianne Carter could say to her dad after the opening race of the Minneapolis Raceway Saturday night, "Happy Father's Day", albeit almost 2 months late as she beat off all challenges by Dan Flynn (her dad), to win the twice postponed Barry Brittendall Memorial Feature race for the Lott Implement IMCA Sport Compacts.
Carter started on the outside pole position, jumped to a big lead and never looked back to win the large trophy offered by Sam Brittendall to the winner. Flynn started back four rows and gained good position to challenge Carter close to half way through the 16 lap race. But Carter never let Flynn get close enough to mount a serious threat to win by a comfortable lead, gaining her 2nd Feature win of the year.
Shianne Carter leads the field during the Barry Brittendall Memorial Feature
Shianne celebrates on the front stretch with Sam Brittendall and Co.
Once the rescheduled Brittendall Memorial feature race concluded, the regular schedule for the week got under way for 5 IMCA car classes with 14 Heats, 1 "B" Feature and 5 Feature races. Forecasted rain stayed far away and great racing on a dry slick track was enjoyed by the good sized crowd.
In the Bank of Tescott IMCA Stock Cars, Bob Arnold started on the outside pole position looked as if he was going to do exactly as Carter had done in the Brittendall Memorial Feature. Arnold jumped to a good sized early lead in a race that had no cautions and appeared to have a win well in hand. However, Josh Hudson who started on the back row had other ideas. After working his way through the field to gain 2nd place, Hudson began pecking away at Arnold's lead by staying on the low inside groove. Finally coming out of Turn 4 with 3 laps remaining, Hudson gained the lead and then expanded it by several car lengths over the last 3 laps.
With the checkered flag Hudson gained his 3rd Feature win of the
season. The Heat races were won by Arnold and Tony Millholland.
Newlin and Hudson battle for the lead (and points!) in the A Feature
Hudson prevails and celebrates in O'Reilly Victory Lane!
After two early cautions in the T&R Dirt Construction IMCA Sportsman Modifieds Feature, the 2nd of which knocked out the front row starters of Eric Ingram and Brian Fink, Jason Nelssen gained an early lead. Nelssen carried the lead for 5 laps before surrendering it to Tyler Sutton. Sutton then held the lead for the remaining 9 laps, holding off the Division points leader, Tyler Frye, for the last few laps.
Sutton won by 4 car lengths to capture his 3rd Feature win of the
season. The B Feature was on by Kurt Kalivoda while the Heats were won
by Sutton, Frye, and Tracy Holloway.
Tyler Sutton took and held the lead for most of the race.
Celebrating his 3rd Feature win of the year in O'Reilly Victory Lane!
Starting on the 4th row inside position of the Coors Lite IMCA Hobby Stocks, Chris Pollet picked his way to the front position after a few laps. Pollet then held the lead until the end of lap 5, surrendering it to points leader Mike Traskowsky. Traskowsky then fought off challenges by GW Fuller over the last few laps before taking the checkered flag, his 4th of the season. The Heat races were won by Fuller, Mike Normandin, and Bill Rogers.
Traskowsky in the lead during the A Feature
A familiar spot for Traskowsky this year!
The Casey's General Store IMCA Modifieds were not to be outdone for providing exciting racing. Father and son, Steve and Corey Burch fought each other for the early lead with Corey gaining the upper hand. Burch later surrendered that lead to Brad Morris who held it for several laps. Meanwhile, Danny Morrison Jr. started mounting a challenge, closing the gap by driving the low inside groove. After a several lap challenge, Morrison Jr. passed Morris for the lead with one lap remaining. The defending champion then held the lead to take the checkered flag for his 2nd Feature win of the season. Corey Burch and Danny Morrison Jr. won the Heat races.
Morrison, Lagroon, and Peck during their heat race.
Morrison and Co. make the car disappear!
The final Feature of the night was the 2nd of the night for the IMCA Sport Compacts. Phillip Brown gained a lead after a few laps after battling with Jeremy Milum and Cody Johnson. Through several caution restarts, Andrue Halpain started picking his way through the field. Halpain then challenged Brown for a few laps before gaining the lead at the end of lap 7. Halpain then built a huge lead that no one else could challenge to win his 3rd Feature of the season and add to his large point lead in the division. Alan Rice and Tracy Montague won the Heat races.
Halpain on his way to a 3rd A Feature win!
Celebrating on the front stretch!
All five IMCA car classes are scheduled to return to the track next Saturday. The Pit gates will open at 4pm, while the Grandstands gates will open at 5pm. Hot Laps will start at 6pm with green flag racing to begin at 7pm.
Hot, Muggy, Bright and Sunny are perfect ingredients for a setup of great dirt track racing. Such was the case at the Minneapolis Raceway last Saturday night as drivers from 3 classes put on a superb night of racing for the fans to enjoy on a dry slick track.
In the Bank of Tescott IMCA Stock Car King of the Hill Competition, 8 drivers chose to take part in the tournament. In the quarter-final round Wylie Pumarlo beat Marion Woody, Tony Milholland beat Scott Condray, Scot Granzella beat Tony Steenson, and Dustin Newlin beat Scott Cossel. In the semi-final round Tony Millholland dispatched Wylie Pumarlo and Scot Granzella polished off Dustin Newlin. This set up the two lap championship round of Milholland and Granzella, with Milholland gaining the lead out of turn two in the first lap. Milholland then held off Granzella for the remainder of the race to take the checkered flag and the large King of the Hill trophy, his first.
Tony MilHolland takes the 2010 Bank of Tescott Stock Car King of the Hill Competition!
In the Terry Smith Plumbing Mod-Lite Series Dustin Forsberg won his 3rd straight Feature and 4th in the 2010 season. However, a Forsberg victory didn't look at all possible until the final lap. The feature started with Bud Lee sitting on the outside position of the 2nd row. After two caution restarts, Lee took the lead position of the race. Forsberg started on the 4th row inside and soon provided a challenge to Lee. Lap after lap, the format for the race was Lee on the low inside groove with Forsberg challenging from behind on the high outside groove. Lee looked up to the task but encountered lap traffic on the inside lane of the front stretch at the end of the next to last lap. This encounter slowed him up just enough for Forsberg to gain ground on the outside,enabling him to gain the lead coming out of turn two of the last lap. Forsberg won by a car length as they passed the checkered flag. With the win, Forsberg tied Lee for the most Feature wins (4) in the Mod-Lite division in a season. Brandon Gray and Forsberg won the Heat races.
The 21 and 3G go head to head for the 2nd week in a row!
Dustin Forsberg and crew celebrate in O'Reilly Victory lane!
Back in the IMCA Stock Car Feature, the newly crowned King of the Hill, Tony Millholland started on the 4th row inside position. Jason Caldwell started on the outside pole position and looked to be an early favorite to capture the race. But Caldwell got tied up in some bumping on the home stretch after one lap and ended up hitting the wall causing enough damage to put him out of the race. Out of the caution restart, Bob Arnold gained a lead that he held for a short ime. After the conclusion of two laps Millholland gained the lead. Millholland held the lead for six laps before surrendering it to Wylie Pumarlo. Pumarlo then held off all challengers to take his 2nd Feature win, both in 2010. The Heat races were won by Scott Cossel and Millholland.
43 had some traffic to get through to win the A Feature!
Wylie Pumarlo celebrating on the front stretch!
Last but not least, was the $1000 to win Feature race for the Casey's General Store IMCA Modifieds, sponsored by REV Honey. In the only race of the night without a yellow caution, Corey Burch started on the inside pole position. Burch held the lead until lap 11 before surrendering it to Joe Cleveland who battled his way up from a 5th row starting position. Burch didn't surrender the position easily, holding off Cleveland for several laps. Once Cleveland gained the upper hand however, it was lights out. Cleveland built and held a huge lead for the remainder of the race before capturing his 2nd Feature win of the season, and his 5th overall. Cleveland has also now won both $1000 purses that have been put up in the 5 season history of the Minneapolis Raceway. Burch, Rodger Peck, and Jarrod Johnston were the Heat race winners.
Once the 719 took the lead he didn't look back
Joe Cleveland, family, and crew celebrating in O'Reilly Victory Lane!
Next Saturday all 5 IMCA classes of Sport Compacts, Hobby Stocks, Sportsman Modifieds, Stock Cars Modifieds return to action at the Minneapolis Raceway. The rescheduled Barry Brittendall Memorial Feature race for the Sport Compacts is on tap, with extra prizes and awards. The Pit Gates open at 4pm, and Grandstands open at 5pm. Hot Laps begin at 6pm followed by Green Flag racing at 7pm!
After a week off, the drivers and fans at Minneapolis Raceway were anxious for the remainder of the season to be kick-started and get back in action. So 96 drivers in 5 car classes took to the track on a beautiful summer evening to do just that. A south wind dried the track out quickly allowing the track to rubber up in good shape for fast and exciting racing.
The crowd enjoyed all the action and excitement of a dry slick track!
The respective winners of each of the Feature races were Dustin Forsberg in the Terry Smith Plumbing Mod-Lite Series, Shane Meek in the T&R Dirt Construction IMCA Sportsman Modifieds, Bob Arnold in the Bank of Tescott IMCA Stock Cars, Roger Peck in the Casey's General Store IMCA Modifieds, and GW Fuller in the Coors Lite IMCA Hobby Stocks. It was Forsberg's 3rd Feature win of the season, matching his win totals for each of the previous two seasons. Meanwhile the other Feature winners brought home their first Feature trophys of the season from the Minneapolis Raceway.
After some early spinouts and wrecks in the Mod-Lite's Feature Race, both Bud Lee and Dustin Forsberg emerged from their 3rd row starting positions to battle for the lead. Lee held the lead for about 5 laps before surrendering it to the hard charging Dustin Forsberg. After taking the lead, Forsberg didn't look to surrender it, despite challenges from Lee and Brandon Gray on 2 caution restarts late in the race. After each restart, Forsberg was able to mount a good lead and ended up winning the race by several car lengths. Forsberg and Lee won the Heat races.
The 3G takes the high line
Forsberg and Co. in a familiar setting in O'Reilly Victory Lane!
Also early in the IMCA Sportsman Modified Feature, a wreck occurred that took Ethyn Hafner, Tyler Frye and Brian Fink out of the race. On the restart, Josh Rice who it was thought had escaped damage in the multi-car wreck, literally flamed out after the caution restart with his car coming to a stop in front of the flagstand with a massive fire in his engine compartment. Rice was able to get out of the car safely while the safety crew quickly arrived and put out the fire. Meanwhile Shane Meeks who had started on the outside pole position came out of the 2nd caution restart strongly to take a good lead. With only one additional caution restart in the Feature, Meeks maintained his lead and finished with his 2nd Feature win of his career at the MRW. The Heat races were won by Hafner, Frye, Meeks, and Rice, while Tyler Sutton won the B Feature. Sutton also won a $100 cash prize from track sponsor Speedy Cash for finishing in the highest place of the Feature out of the 4 drivers that transfered from the earlier B Feature to the A Feature.
Shane Meeks celebrates on the front stretch
Josh Rice's car is quickly put out by the Safety Crew
In the IMCA Stock Cars, Bob Arnold started on the outside pole position and quickly established a lead on the field. His lead was large at first but as the race wore one, his challengers closed the gap. The last few laps the challenge was on, but Arnold survived a caution restart to finish with a several car length lead and capture his first ever Feature win at Minneapolis Raceway. Tony Milholland and Josh Hudson won the Heat Races.
Bob Arnold leads in his heat race
Bob Arnold celebrates on the front stretch!
Twenty drivers took to the track for the IMCA Modifieds A Feature. From his 2nd row outside starting position, Rodger Peck was able to pass Brad Morris, Delbert Smith, and Brian Knoell for an early lead after some caution restarts due to spinouts. Peck gained the lead by diving low inside Brad Morris on turns 3 and 4, and quickly established a blocking lead in front of Morris. From there, Peck maintained that lead despite a hearty charge and challenge from Joe Cleveland. This was Peck's 5th Feature win of his career at the MRW. The Heat races were won by Cleveland, Danny Morrison Jr., and Corey Lagroon.
Peck battles during his heat race
Rodger Peck si all smiles after his A Feature win!
The final race featured the IMCA Hobby Stocks with 21 drivers. Ron Rous started on the inside pole position and used that position to jump to an early lead. However, Dennis Berry and GW Fuller who started on the 2nd row didn't let him get away. Fuller passed Berry and then imitated Peck in the Modified Feature by passing Rous from the inside through turns 3 and 4 and then blocked Rous out for the lead. Fuller maintained the lead and looked set to take the checkered flag on the last lap when one of the lap cars spun out and brought out a caution flag. By rule, the caution restart left 2 laps remaining in the race. Fuller jumped to a good lead out of the restart and didn't let any trailing drivers get close enough for a significant challenge before taking the checkered flag for his 5th career win at Minneapolis Raceway. Berry, Rous, and Chris Pollett won the Heat races.
The 1X takes the high line during his heat race.
Fuller on the front stretch with the A Feature trophy
Next Saturday, July 17th, Minneapolis Raceway will feature King of the Hill Competition for the IMCA Stock Cars. Also racing will be the Mod-Lite series and the IMCA Modifieds. The Pit gates will open at 4pm followed by the Grandstands opening at 5pm. Hot Laps will begin at 6pm followed by green flag racing at 7pm.
Divisions
Click the graphic above for more information about the Martin Newlin Memorial Stock Car Race.
