By Jerry Mackey
COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (July 23) – After two weeks of no racing due to the heavy rains in the Columbus Junction area the CJ Speedway returned to racing action on Friday night.
The night featured Bike night for the kids which saw well over 40 kids leave the track with new bikes or scooters thanks to a long list of donors to the CJ Kids Fan Club.
The racing action was highlighted by the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Scott Jordan led before eighth starting Jason See was able to take the point position. See was challenged late by David Brandies, who had started 10th. The two raced several laps with See holding off he constant challenges of Brandies. The final lap saw Brett Lowry shoot by Brandies for second as See took the win. A post-race incident saw Brandies DQ’d and relegated to the final position on the lead lap. Tad Payne was scored third ahead of Pat Rachels.
The IMCA Modified feature win went to Kurt Kile. Kile took to the high line on the initial start and worked to the front from a sixth position start. Kile went on to lead every lap in scoring an impressive win over Derrick Stewart. Stewart was able to close late in the race but Kile held on for the win. Stewart finished second ahead of Dakota Simmons and Jarrett Brown.
The Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod feature saw 21 drivers take the initial green flag. Shane Paris found the high line of the track to his liking in working to the front from a third row start. Paris shot by early leader Mike Clausen and went to score the hard-fought win ahead of starting Colton Livezey. Troy Phillpot ran up front the entire race and settled for third at the finish line.
Randy Lamar took the win in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature event. Lamar held off the consistent challenges of Daniel Wauters in scoring the win. CJ newcomer Matthew McAtee crossed under the checkers in third.
Alex Hayes scored the win in the Mach-1 Sport Compacts. Hayes came on strong late in the main event to take the checkers first ahead of Shane Barnes and Christian Grady.
The 129th annual Louisa County Fair will be held next week and the five class racing program will headline the Friday night action. Following the races, fans will be treated to a fireworks display. Hot laps get underway at 7:15 pm.