By Jacob Blair
OSBORN, Mo. (May 8) – After a long wait for racing to return to the high banks of U.S. 36 Raceway, more than 100 IMCA entries hit the track on opening night Friday, May 8.
In the IMCA Modifieds, Kelsie Foley, out of Tucson, Ariz., led the first half of the feature. Jesse Sobbing lurked behind as he methodically worked his way through the field. Using the high line, Sobbing worked around Foley and led the remaining laps to win the opening Modified race of 2020. Chad Andersen charged from a ‘B’ feature and 15th place starting position to finish second, with Foley third.
Tyler Drueke dominated the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature, leading every lap and cruising to Westfall GMC Victory Lane. Stuart Snyder finished second, with Cincinnati, Ohio driver Saben Bibent in the third spot.
J.J. Baumli made quick work of the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car field, jumping to the early lead out of the fourth starting position. Mike Albertsen ran second most of the feature but never could run down Baumli. Mich Ross came from a ‘B’ to finish in the third position.
The Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod race became the Stallbaumer show as both Tim Stallbaumer and Luke Stallbaumer paced the field for much of the race. Luke Stallbaumer led early before Tim Stallbaumer made the pass for the lead in the back half of the race and drove to the eventual win. Derek Hall drove from the 10th starting position to finish third.
Thursday rains left the race in question and after many hours of work to roll the track and pits in, officials made the decision to race.
Up next at US 36 Raceway is a visit from the Sprint Series of Nebraska on Friday, May 15. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars are also racing.