Saathoff sweeps IMCA Modified features at September Fest

BEATRICE, Neb. (Sept. 27-28) – Seven years separated Johnny Saathoff’s fifth and sixth main event wins at Beatrice Speedway’s season-ending special.
He went a day between wins number six and seven.

Saathoff checked out in topping $1,500 to win IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modified September Fest features. Both were Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events.
From Friday’s third starting spot, Saathoff caught Jesse Sobbing for the lead on the ninth of 25 laps. Dylan Smith had started from inside the sixth row and worked his way into second following a restart. With Saathoff well ahead, Smith bested Sobbing, Jordan Grabouski and Jeff Joldersma in the race for runner-up points and pay.
A similar scenario played out Saturday after Saathoff caught pole starter Chris Abelson with 11 laps left. He’d take the checkers by nearly a straightaway, with Grabouski, Abelson, Chris Alcorn and Hunter Marriott second through fifth, respectively.

“We had a caution Friday night where Smith and Sobbing were lined up right behind me but my car was good and I was able to drive away,” said Saathoff, who had racked up wins in what was then called October Fest at Beatrice in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2006. “On Saturday, there was more lapped traffic and I used the lower line to get from fifth starting to second.”
“I went to the top to reel in Abelson and ran side-by-side with him before I could get by,” Saathoff continued. “It’s been a while since I’ve won this race. It’s still soaking in.”
The wins were Saathoff’s seventh and eighth of the season, all of them coming at Beatrice.

Jesse Vanlaningham was also a double winner at September Fest, taking both IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock features.
He led from the second lap on both nights.

Ryan Roschewski, Roy Armstrong, Mike Hansen and Brendon Stigge completed the top five on Friday. On Saturday, Armstrong raced from 11th to challenge late in the contest. Next across the stripe were Mark Saathoff, the 20th starting Richards and R.J. Macku.

Doing double duty, Grabouski won the opening night IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main in front of Scot Granzella, Cody Clark, Lance Borgman and John Meyer.

Kyle Vanover motored from eighth starting to win the Saturday Stock feature. Grabouski didn’t have the laps left to catch up and settled for second, with Chad Borgman, Cody Clark and Lance Borgman next across the stripe.

Two of the division’s heaviest hitters prevailed in the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods, where Kyle Prauner ruled on Friday and Tyler Frye on Saturday.

Eleventh starting Greg Metz ran second behind Prauner and 16th starting Gary Saathoff was third. Dustin Schmidt and Kyle Olberding rounded out the top five.

Frye was on the gas from the get-go Saturday. Metz repeated his runner-up finish, Prauner was third, Cody Olsen fourth and Benji Legg fifth.

Once in front, Tyler Fralin built a comfortable advantage en route to the Mach-1 Sport Compact checkers. Shannon Pospisil, Ramsey Meyer, Matt Moyer and Cody Thompson were scored next.
Sept. 27 Feature Results

Modifieds – 1. Johnny Saathoff; 2. Dylan Smith; 3. Jesse Sobbing; 4. Jordan Grabouski; 5. Jeff Joldersma; 6. Brian Foote; 7. Tim Ward; 8. Hunter Marriott; 9. Chris Mills; 10. Chris Abelson; 11. Mike Densberger; 12. Stacey Wilhelm; 13. Danny Holdt; 14. Chad Anderson; 15. Jordy Nelson; 16. Bob Zoubek; 17. Travis Hatcher; 18. Patrick Donovan; 19. Jay Steffens; 20. Scott Bivens; 21. Jared Deterding; 22. Cory Wray; 23. Chris Alcorn; 24. Ricky Stephan; 25. Bill Bader II; 26. Benny Lovell.

Stock Cars ­– 1. Jordan Grabouski; 2. Scot Granzella; 3. Cody Clark; 4. Lance Borgman; 5. John Meyer; 6. Lisa Wagner; 7. Chad Borgman; 8. Jonathon Taper; 9. Zach Zentner; 10. Robert Walker; 11. Travus Snyder; 12. Kyle Vanover; 13. Tyler Phelps; 14. Robert Hoing.

Hobby Stocks – 1. Jesse Vanlaningham; 2. Ryan Roschewski; 3. Roy Armstrong; 4. Mike Han­sen; 5. Brendon Stigge; 6. Mark Saathoff; 7. R.J. Macku; 8. Chad Fegley; 9. Ryan Gilland; 10. Shawn Slezak; 11. Lee Horky; 12. Scott Spellmeier; 13. Timothy LaPointe; 14. Brandon Wergin; 15. Russ Specht; 16. Ben Becher; 17. Nick Lindblad; 18. Austin Brauner; 19. Dan Pittman; 20. Jeremy Brandt; 21. Keith Dragoo; 22. Adam Armstrong; 23. Bill Richards; 24. Eric Chab.

Northern SportMods – 1. Kyle Prauner; 2. Greg Metz; 3. Gary Saathoff; 4. Dustin Schmidt; 5. Kyle Olberding; 6. Cody Olsen; 7. Nick Topil; 8. Todd Boulware; 9. Shawn Harker; 10. Karl Brewer; 11. Trevor Baker; 12. Geoff Olson; 13. Zach Schultz; 14. Dillon Schultz; 15. Chris Lang­dale; 16. Josh Pfeifer; 17. Adam Vrbka; 18. Don Rinke; 19. Cameron Meyer; 20. Randy Rudolf; 21. Paul Donovan; 22. Mary Lenz; 23. Steve Swarthout; 24. Max Harder.

Sept. 28 Feature Results

Modifieds – 1. Saathoff; 2. Grabouski; 3. Abelson; 4. Alcorn; 5. Marriott; 6. Smith; 7. Joldersma; 8. Anderson; 9. Mills; 10. Ward; 11. Foote; 12. Stephan; 13. Nelson; 14. Sobbing; 15. Robert Tip­pery; 16. Mike Densberger; 17. Steffens; 18. Bader; 19. Zoubek; 20. Bivens; 21. Donovan; 22. Wray; 23. Lovell; 24. Hatcher; 25. Deterding.
Stock Cars – 1. Vanover; 2. Grabouski; 3. Chad Borgman; 4. Clark; 5. Lance Borgman; 6. Dean Wray; 7. Granzella; 8. Alvie Christofferson; 9. Meyer; 10. Snyder; 11. Zentner; 12. Walker; 13. Wagner; 14. Hoing; 15. Taper; 16. Phelps.

Hobby Stocks – 1. Vanlaningham; 2. Roy Armstrong; 3. Saathoff; 4. Richards; 5. Macku; 6. Stigge; 7. Horky; 8. Brandt; 9. Gilland; 10. Fegley; 11. Becher; 12. Slezak; 13. Lindblad; 14. Spell­meier; 15. Brauner; 16. LaPointe; 17. James Hadorn; 18. Jim Copeland Jr.; 19. James Sisk; 20. Hansen; 21. Adam Armstrong; 22. Travis Blythe; 23. Aaron Johnston; 24. Roschewski.
Northern SportMods – 1. Tyler Frye; 2. Metz; 3. Prauner; 4. Olsen; 5. Benji Legg; 6. Harker; 7. Boulware; 8. Schultz; 9. Swarthout; 10. Baker; 11. Jeremy Noonan; 12. Pfeifer; 13. Saathoff; 14. Harder; 15. Eddie Schwope Jr.; 16. Brewer; 17. Lenz; 18. Topil; 19. Olson; 20. Dana Deeke; 21. Rinke; 22. Schmidt; 23. Clint Baker; 24. Blain Petersen.

Sport Compacts – 1. Tyler Fralin; 2. Shannon Pospisil; 3. Ramsey Meyer; 4. Matt Moyer; 5. Cody Thompson; 6. Brooke Fluckiger; 7. Josh Johnson; 8. Justin Olsen; 9. Brandon Thornton; 10. Mitchell Wachter; 11. Joelle Gustin; 12. Ronda Mewes; 13. James King; 14. Zach Olmstead; 15. Kaylee Diekman; 16. Neal Reynolds; 17. Trent Brown; 18. Chris McAtee; 19. Erica Cronin; 20. Dustin McQuigg.