AFTER ROUGH OUTING LAST WEEK, HINRICHS CHARGES BACK WITH LATE MODEL WIN

WALL OF FAME INDUCTEES HONORED

STORY: Brad Grupe

PHOTOS: Jim Wittke-Speedway Souvenir

(Cedar Rapids, IA 06/25/11)—Yellowbook presented racing action in all six divisions of the Papa Johns’ Cup/I-Wireless Championship Series at Hawkeye Downs Speedway on Friday night. In addition to racing, the previously announced 2011 inductees of the Hawkeye Downs Wall of Fame were introduced during intermission.

Fans were treated to a rare sight during pre-race ceremonies as 42 cars from the Heartland Chevy Nova Reunion participated in the National Anthem Parade lap. The group was holding their fourth annual reunion and show at the nearby Clarion Hotel and as part of the activities the group organized a “cruise” to Hawkeye Downs. 1962-1979 Chevy II’s and Novas participated in the “Cruise” and parade lap.

BARRON MOTOR SUPPLY HOBBY STOCKS

On the track, Matt Petrzelka scored his second feature win of 2011 as he bolted into the lead from outside row one in the Barron Motor Supply Hobby Stock. While Petrzelka pulled away from the pack, Jeremy Robbins and point leader Nathan Ballard waged a side-by-side battle for second for a trio of laps before Ballard took the spot. Robbins then did his best to hold off Roland Bohnsack for third but with five circuits remaining Bohnsack slipped into third. Ballard closed on Petrzelka over the last few laps but couldn’t pull into a challenging position leaving the point leader to settle for second. Bohnsack, Robbins and Martin Ballard finished the top of the order.

HEAT 1- 1.Jeremy Robbins, Swisher; 2.Roland Bohnsack, Clutier; 3.Brad Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 4.Brian Bries, Norway

HEAT 2- 1.Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 2. Matt Petrzelka, Olin; 3. Martin Ballard, Marengo; 4.Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids

FEATURE (15 laps) 1.Petrzelka 2.Nathan Ballard 3.Bohnsack 4.Robbins 5.Martin Ballard 6.Chandler 7.Bries DNS-Siems

COCA-COLA SPORTSMEN

The Coca-Cola Sportsmen treated fans to a very entertaining feature with current point leader Cory Houdek taking the lead from Dave Ballstaedt with six laps remaining to secure the win. Ballstaedt had built what appeared to be a safe lead early as Houdek and Craig Stepanek battled for second. Stepanek faltered a bit allowing Houdek to slip underneath and claim second. With seven laps in the books Houdek was planted on the rear bumper of Ballstaedt. Two laps later Houdek was able to wrestle the lead from Ballstaedt but Ballstaedt charged back trying to regain the lead on the next trip under the flagstand. Houdek was just able to hold off Ballstaedt with Bob Ahrendsen nabbing third in his first outing of 2011.

HEAT- 1.Dave Ballsteadt, Marion; 2.Cory Houdek, Marion; 3.Craig Stepanek, Cedar Rapids; 4.Josh Williams, Cedar Rapids; 5.Ben Glascock, Indianola; 6.Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids; 7. Greg Hentrich, Hiawatha

FEATURE- 1. Houdek 2.Ballstaedt 3.Ahrendsen 4.Glascock 5.Stepanek 6.Williams 7.Hentrich

MCGRATH POWERSPORTS LEGENDS

The McGrath Powersports Legends field was down a few in numbers due to several other races in the area. Point leader Matt Blake had yet to win a feature in 2011 but changed that Friday night as he powered the #74 machine to an easy feature win after starting on the pole and winning an earlier heat race. Troy Burkhart was the closest contender finishing second ahead of Brogan Fiala. A couple cars in the top five tangled after crossing the flagstand on the checkered flag lap but there was relatively minor damage and no injuries.

HEAT- 1.Matt Blake, Cedar Rapids; 2.Troy Burkhart, Urbana; 3.Jason Beauregard, Cedar Rapids; 4.Dennis Diercks, Davenport; 5.Bryce Bailey, Cedar Rapids; Brogan Fiala, Fairfax

FEATURE (15 laps) 1.Blake 2.Burkhart 3.Fiala 4.Dennis Diercks 5.Beauregard 6.Al Diercks 7.Bailey

BUDWEISER MODIFIEDS

Even the addition of veteran driver Mike Schulte to the Budweiser Modified division Friday night didn’t faze point leader Tim Plummer as he easily outdistanced Brian Gibson to pick up his fifth win of 2011. What remains to be seen is if Plummer has amassed a big enough point lead to overcome missing some races later in the season to campaign the #74 late model. On the initial start of the feature Brian Gibson held the early lead but a spin by James Dixon scrubbed the first lap. Plummer timed the second start perfectly and shot into the lead as the green dropped. The field finished in just about the same order as they ran after the first lap as Gibson, Ryan Luedtke, last weeks’ winner Johnny Spaw and the aforementioned Mike Schulte crossed the stripe in that order.

HEAT 1- 1.Brian Gibson, Walford; 2.Ryan Luetke, Norway; 3.Jason Beauregard, Cedar Rapids; 4. James Dixon, Cedar Rapids

HEAT 2- 1. Tim Plummer, Cedar Rapids; 2. Johnny Spaw, Cedar Rapids; 3.Mike Schulte, Norway; 4.Craig bender, Cedar Rapids; 5.Steve Lindell, Marion

FEATURE (20 laps) 1. Plummer 2.Gibson 3.Luedtke 4.Spaw 5.Schulte 6.Beauregard 7.Bender 8.Lindell 9.Dixon

SUNLINE HORNETS

Hallie Hanson led the first couple circuits in the caution-free Sunline Hornets feature before a battle ensued between brothers Brad and Dallas Chandler for the point. Brad led until lap twelve when Dallas slipped around but his lead was short-lived as Brad regained the point two laps later. Brad picked up his second win of 2011 with brother Dallas right on his tail. Derek Parrott ran a strong third while Hallie Hanson posted her strongest finish to date finishing fourth. Kurt Bohnsack ran fifth.

Earlier in the evening, Joe Bean of Cedar Rapids took home the hardware in the Innovative Signs Trophy Dash.

INNOVATIVE SIGNS TROPHY DASH- Joe Bean, Cedar Rapids

HEAT 1- 1. Brad Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 2. Dallas Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 3.Hallie Hanson, Marion; 4.Jose DeJesus, Cedar Rapids; 5. Casey Bilden, Cedar Rapids; 6.John Ness, Cedar Rapids; 7.Dakota Dains, Marion; 8.James Yochum, Cedar Rapids; 9.Robert Hill

HEAT 2- 1.Kurt Bohnsack, Iowa City; 2.Nate Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 3.Derek Parrott, Marion; 4.Parker Anderson, Cedar Rapids; 5.Aaron Jarvis, Center Point; 6. Joe Bean, Cedar Rapids; 7.Todd Ness, Cedar Rapids; DNS- Jason Freeman

FEATURE (20 laps) 1.Brad Chandler 2.Dallas Chandler 3.Parrott 4.Hanson 5.Bohnsack 6.Jarvis 7.Todd Ness 8. Bilden 9.Anderson 10.Dains 11.John Ness 12.Bean 13.Hill 14.DeJesus 15. Nate Chandler 16. Yochum DNS-Freeman

PERFORMANCE CONCEPTS LATE MODELS

After suffering damage last week and missing the feature, Kyle Hinrichs charged back by winning the Performance Concepts Late Model feature on Friday night. Travis Thompson had the strong car early leading Chad Siems and Mason Mitchell but Tim Plummer and Siems apparently touched sending Siems spinning which brought out the caution flag, Once racing resumed, Hinrichs moved to second on lap eight and then took the lead from Thompson on lap eleven. Once in the clear Hinrichs rocketed away from the pack ultimately finishing 3.5 seconds ahead of teenager Mason Mitchell. Thompson finished third, Andy Edwards was fourth and Plummer recovered from the earlier caution to finish fifth.

Of note, point leader Brad Osborn suffered a mechanical failure at the beginning of his heat race, hitting the wall exiting turn four. Osborn was not injured but the front end of the ’00 suffered significant damage.

HEAT 1- 1.Kyle Hinrichs, Swisher; 2.Mason Mitchell, West Des Moines; 3.Chad Siems, Shellsburg; 4.Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids; 5.Jay Jaspers, Steamboat Rock; 6.Brad Osborn, Janesville

HEAT 2- 1. Tim Plummer, Cedar Rapids; 2.Andy Edwards, New Hartford; 3.Travis Thompson, Cedar Rapids; 4.Brian Allen, Hiawatha; 5. Tucker Cory, Quincy, IL

FEATURE (30 laps) 1. Hinrichs 2.Mitchell 3.Thompson 4.Edwards 5.Plummer 6.Allen 7. Chad Siems 8.Jaspers 9.Scott Siems 10.Cory DNS- Osborn

Racing returns next Friday night with Hawkeye International Trucks presented the action. The Lil’ Racer Car Club also has bike races scheduled for next week. Kids are encouraged to bring their bikes, helmets, and pads to the track. A special holding corral will be set up to safely store the bikes until race time for the kids.