CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY FOR ROSS, HOUDEK, AHRENDSEN AT HAWKEYE DOWNS
By Brad Grupe
(Cedar
Rapids, IA 07/26/02)—Hawkeye Downs Speedway held “Christmas in July” Friday
night with Santa and an elf or two delivering winning hardware to the five
winners in the ASA/ Papa Johns Cup Presented by Iowa Wireless division races.
The evening of racing was sponsored by Rexco Bobcat and featured the now famous
“World’s Largest Bobcat Parade.”
Kyle Hinrichs of Swisher picked up
his sixth trip of the season to Coca-Cola Victory Lane after starting sixth in
the 25 lap Foreman Hydraulics Legends feature.
Hinrichs took the point with 10 laps to go and then held off a charge
from Chris Sevey which was set up by a caution with two laps to go.
Sevey, who had led the race earlier,
finished in second with Mike Foreman crossing the stripe in third.
Anamosa rookie Cory Houdek picked up his first career feature win in
the Barron Motor Supply Super Stocks. Houdek started on the pole and led the
entire race finishing ahead of John
Ness and Bob Ahrendsen.
The feature saw close quarters
racing throughout the pack with multiple position changes throughout the race.
Jim Ross of Cedar Rapids took top
honors in the Performance Concepts Late Model feature, taking the lead
from pole-sitter TJ Schaefer on the 17th
lap of the 30 lap feature. Schaefer blasted away from the pack early but a
caution on lap 14 bunched the pack and gave Ross the opportunity to challenge
for the lead just past the halfway mark of the race.
Schaefer fought back on a couple
later restarts but Ross was able to hold him off. Schaefer finished in second
while Johnny Spaw finished in third
after starting 12th. Spaw’s third place finish coupled with point
leader Brian Gibson’s 11th place finish put Spaw into the points
lead by two markers. Scott Delsing finished an impressive fourth while rookie
Brad Osborn notched fifth.
Bob Ahrendsen picked up his second
win of the season in the Budweiser Sportsmen division after starting on front
row and leading all 25 laps. Scott Wennermark continued his strong run since
returning to the track finishing second after starting 9th.
Ironically, Wennermark’s crew chief has been working with Ahrendsen on his car
setup.
Point leader Curt Van Der Wal
rallied to a third-place finish after starting in the fourth row.
Brian Allen of Hiawatha earned his
fourth win of the season in the Miller Time Modifieds. Allen took the lead
early after starting in row two and built a substantial lead over the rest of
the pack. Defending champ Mike Schulte
ran second but couldn’t gain any ground on Allen as the laps ticked off.
Larry Clausen finished in third.
Heat
#1- TJ Schaefer, Solon
Heat
#2- Jim Ross, Cedar Rapids
FEATURE
DNS- Dave Johnson, Ankeny
Heat #1- Steve Kibort, Milan, IL
Heat#2- Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids
FEATURE
Heat-
Chad Willett, Cedar Rapids
FEATURE
DNS- Sonny Parker, Cedar Rapids
Heat #1- Cory Houdek, Anamosa
Heat #2- Jim Hanson, Cedar Rapids
FEATURE
Dash-
Kyle Hinrichs, Swisher
Heat-
Mike Foreman, Cedar Rapids
FEATURE