ALTA, Iowa (Aug. 9) – Chris Abelson took the checkers while Kelly Shryock took the championship of the Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour Wednesday at Buena Vista Raceway.
Abelson passed Shryock for the lead early in the IMCA Modified 30-lapper, stayed in front to the finish of a feature that ran caution-free and pocketed $1,000 for
his second tour victory of the season.
After finishing in the top five in all but one of the nine tour events – and placing second in each of the last three – Shryock earned a $1,000 share of the tour point fund, along with a Traeger Lil’ Tex Elite Pellet Grill courtesy of Arnold Motor Supply.
“Winning a championship is cool,” said Shryock, the eighth different driver to win the Hawkeye Dirt Tour title in as many years. “Maybe we can repeat next year.”
Abelson, the 2016 tour champion, has run part-time this season at Alta. He drew the fifth starting spot for the main event and didn’t need much time to get to the
front.
“We had kind of a rough start to the year,” he acknowledged, “but winning tour races at Knoxville (on July 20) and Alta sure helped.”
Lapped traffic wasn’t a factor and Abelson won half a straightaway ahead of Shryock. Joel Rust, Corey Dripps and Hunter Marriott completed the top five.
With his latest runner-up finish, Shryock became the fourth driver to win the Hawkeye Dirt Tour title without winning a feature: Mike Jergens did so in 2010, Ronn Lauritzen in 2013 and Kyle Brown in 2015.
“The feature at Clay County (on Aug. 7) was our saving grace. We restarted at the back and somehow came out of dead last to salvage a good finish,” Shryock said. “We got a rare good draw tonight and started up front. Chris was unbelievably fast early and I knew he would be coming.”
While he makes plans to defend his championship next year, Shryock will also be looking to sharpen his grilling skills.
“We haven’t grilled much,” he said. “But we’re going to learn.”
Other winners Wednesday at Alta were Devin Smith in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Dillon Magnussen in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Jake Sachau in the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and Andrew Harris in the Mach-1 Sport Compacts.
IMCA Speedweek for the Modifieds continues with three events at Hancock County Speedway in Britt, the Aug. 10 Night of 1,000 Stars, the Aug. 11 Night of 10,000 Stars and the Aug. 12 Shryock Memorial All Star special.
All three will be broadcast by IMCATV.
Feature results – 1. Chris Abelson, Sioux City; 2. Kelly Shryock, Fertile; 3. Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 4. Corey Dripps, Reinbeck; 5. Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Mo.; 6. Bob Moore, Sioux City; 7. Jacob Murray, Hartford; 8. Steven Bowers Jr., Topeka, Kan.; 9. Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, N.C.; 10. Clint Luellen, Minburn; 11. Ethan Dotson, Bakersfield, Calif.; 12. Travis Hatcher, Honey Creek; 13. Jason Briese, Cleghorn; 14. Kody Scholpp, Estevan, Sask.; 15. Tom Berry Jr., Medford, Ore.; 16. Ricky Stephan, South Sioux City, Neb.; 17. D.J. Shannon, Merced, Calif.; 18. Shawn Ritter, Keystone; 19. Harvey Vande Weerd, Alton; 20. Steve Reynolds, Springfield, S.D.; 21. Alex Reetz, Dunlap; 22. Cory Sauerman, Grimes; 23. Jim Mathieson, Sioux City; 24. Stacey Mills, Webb; 25. Clayton Christensen, Spencer.