Sweeps! Abbey, Elliott, Tucker all are double winners at Abilene’s Ice Breaker

Feature

Jeffrey Abbey’s second win of the Ice Breaker weekend at Abilene Speedway came in the open­ing event of the Sniper Speed Lone Star Tour for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Those checkers were good for $750. (Photo by Michael Diers, Pole Position Photo)

ABILENE, Texas (Feb. 15-16) – Three drivers brought the broom to Abilene Speedway’s season-opening Ice Breaker.

Jeffrey Abbey won both IMCA Sunoco Stock Car features, earning $750 for his Saturday Sniper Speed Lone Star Tour victory, Chris Elliott swept Friday and Saturday IMCA Modified features and Gabe Tucker topped both Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod mains. 

Eighty Stock Cars from 10 states were in town for tour action. Abbey was racing a Stock Car at Abilene for the first time and left the track 2-for-2.

“We put the car together for this tour. I ran it the weekend before at Stephenville (281 Speed­way’s Big Chill Throwdown) and won there,” he said, “so I came here confident and was able to come out with two wins.”

Friday’s checkers flew ahead of Elijah Zevenbergen and Dean Cornelius. Abbey had started third, caught Cornelius for the lead near midway of the 20-lapper and was catching up to the back of the field before a caution with three laps left.

He won his heat, drew the pole and led the distance in Sunday’s Lone Star show.

“There were a bunch of tough drivers in that field. (Older brother) Dean was there the whole race,” Ab­bey said.

Tripp Gaylord completed the top three. 

“We got good momentum going this weekend,” Abbey stated. “We hope to keep the top five fin­ishes coming and win the tour. We’ll see how things go.”

Elliott’s Friday win came ahead of Chris Bragg and Matt Guillaume. Tyler Iverson was the runner-up on Saturday while Guillaume repeated his bronze finish. 

“I had some good luck in the draw on Friday and started on the pole,” said Elliott, who led all 25 circuits at his hometown track for the opener. “My car was really good on restarts and I was able to check out a bit.” 

He started sixth and fell back a couple spots before using the high line to take the lead following a lap six restart on Saturday.

A caution with three laps left bunched the field back up but Elliott pulled away again when the green flag came back out.

“We did a lot of research and we worked really hard on the car over the winter,” he said. “We won­dered how this weekend would play out. My car was the best it’s ever been on a dry slick track or a heavy track. We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.” 

Tucker, the defending national champion, was a double winner at Abilene for the second straight February but was more in the mood to talk about the track than his efforts on it this time around. 

“(Promoter) Rob Poor and his crew did a great job on the track. It stayed really racy and with that many cars, doing that was a chore,” Tucker said. “Having 80 Stock Cars on Saturday was crazy. It was so cool.” 

Tucker led all 20 laps after starting third on opening night. Brad Poor and Robert Crabtree III were next across the stripe.

He was the fourth different leader after starting fourth the next night. Tucker passed Steve Hayes for the front spot and led the last 14 circuits.

Poor repeated as runner-up while Hayes bounced back from a tough Friday outing with third place honors.

“The track was wide and multi-lined. Winning again on Saturday made for a pretty good weekend,” Tucker said, echoing Elliott’s sentiments. 

Feb. 15 Feature Results

Modifieds – 1. Chris Elliott; 2. Chris Bragg; 3. Matt Guillaume; 4. Chad Hertel; 5. Tyler Iverson; 6. Brandon Clough; 7. David Goode Jr.; 8. Mark Carrell; 9. Fred Wojtek; 10. Dustin Robinson; 11. Neal Flowers; 12. Mike Van Genderen; 13. Mark Adams; 14. Dalton McKenney; 15. Joe Spillman; 16. Kade Ogle; 17. Andy Gage; 18. Austin Howes; 19. Mark Patterson; 20. Josh Most; 21. Charles Brewer. 

Stock Cars – 1. Jeffrey Abbey; 2. Elijah Zevenbergen; 3. Dean Cornelius; 4. Jason Adcock; 5. Westin Abbey; 6. Tommy Fain; 7. Curt Lund; 8. Shelby Williams; 9. Jason Rogers; 10. Tripp Gay­lord; 11. Troy Burkhart; 12. Michael Sheen; 13. Jason Batt; 14. Kirk Martin; 15. Joe Bellm; 16. Buck Schafroth; 17. G.W. Egbert IV; 18. Austin Bonner; 19. Kyle Pfeifer; 20. Dennis Bissonnette.

Southern SportMods – 1. Gabe Tucker; 2. Bradley Poor; 3. Robert Crabtree III; 4. Justin Shaw; 5. Tyler Fain; 6. Cory Williams; 7. Kyle Wisdom; 8. Don Reid; 9. Trevor Foley; 10. Jared Baird; 11. Matt Mueller; 12. Damon Hammond; 13. Kevin Manning; 14. Robby Edwards; 15. Terry Owen; 16.Robert Cook; 17. Tyler Bragg; 18. James McCreery; 19. David Boif; 20. Steve Hayes. 

Feb. 16 Feature Results 

Modifieds – 1. Elliott; 2. Iverson; 3. Guillaume; 4. Carrell; 5. Bragg; 6. Wojtek; 7. Robinson; 8. David Goode Jr.; 9. Flowers; 10. Vince Ogle; 11. Mike Petersilie; 12. Clough; 13. Van Genderen; 14. Michael Ables; 15. Howes; 16. Hertel; 17. McKenney; 18. Brewer; 19. Danny Hogue; 20. Da­vid Goode Sr.; 21. Most.

Stock Cars – 1. Jeffrey Abbey; 2. Dean Abbey; 3. Gaylord; 4. Rogers; 5. Lund; 6. Damon Murty; 7. Cornelius; 8. Jeff Mueller; 9. Westin Abbey; 10. Pfeifer; 11. Cory Williams; 12. Egbert; 13. Tyler Muir­head; 14. Batt; 15. Damon Hammond; 16. Aaron Corley; 17. Chris Ullrich; 18. Jordan Zillmer; 19. Brian Blessington; 20. Fain; 21. Adcock

Southern SportMods –  1. Tucker; 2. Poor; 3. Hayes; 4. Mueller; 5. Nabors; 6. Crabtree; 7. Wis­dom; 8. Shaw; 9. Hammond; 10. Colin Cloud; 11. Williams; 12. Taylor Florio; 13. McCreery; 14. Gregory Muirhead; 15. Reid; 16. Baird; 17. Houston; 18. Alley; 19. Boif; 20. Charles Baggett; 21. Tyler Fain.

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Westin Abbey aces IMCA Lone Star Tour opener at Abilene

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Events

Ice Breaker starts season at Abilene Speedway this weekend

ABILENE, Texas – Abilene Speedway hosts its traditional season-opening Ice Breaker on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16. IMCA Modifieds run for $700 to win and Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMods for $600 each night. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars run for $600 to win on Friday and for $750 to win their Lone Star Tour opener on Saturday. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Razor Chassis South Central and EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region, Texas State and track points will be awarded for both draw/redraw programs.  The pits open at 4 p.m. and racing begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, pit gates open at 3 p.m. and racing gets underway at 7 p.m.  More information about the Ice Breaker, presented by Smiley’s Racing Products, Showtime Signs & Designs and NAPA Auto Parts, can be directed to promoter Rob Poor at 325 725-3849 or 325 692-8800.  Overnight accommodations, with racers’ rates, are available by calling the Whitten Inn at 325 672-8462.  Additional information is also posted on Facebook.