ARLINGTON, Minn. (Aug. 3, 2022) – Opportunity knocked and Elijah Zevenbergen answered Wednesday night at Arlington Raceway.
The second-running Zevenbergen dove from the top of the track to the bottom following a late restart, taking the lead from Jim Horejsi and ultimately taking the $2,500 checkers in the Sibley County IMCA Sunoco Stock Car Shootout.
Already eligible to qualify for the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational, Zevenbergen was the fifth different leader in the 25-lapper and crossed the stripe ahead of Horejsi and Curt Lund.
Michael Jaennette had drawn the pole and ran in front of Jeffrey Larson before spinning out of first. Larson’s turn at the front ended with turn two troubles that saw him exit for the pits.
Lund inherited the lead, surrendering the point three laps later to Horejsi, who stayed in charge until the lap 22 restart.
Tim Pessek and Tim Johnson rounded out the top five. Matt Speckman was the $500 king of the hill winner.
Matt Looft repeated as the Shootout Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod winner and Taylor Manderfield won his career-first IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature.
Looft built onto a commanding lead from the drop of the green flag and never looking back, leading the distance in the $800 Northern SportMod win. Eric Larson and Eric Bassett were next to the finish as the top three cars had to contend with lapped traffic.
Tommy Anderson led the Hobby Stock feature before spinning on lap 10 and later heading pitside. That’s when Manderfield, a junior-to-be this fall at St. Clair High School, was able to secure the lead and remain the leader as Rod Manthey and Chad Volk raced him side-by-side down the backstretch.
Manderfield held onto the lead and earned a career-best $500 payday. The ninth starting Manthey was runner-up and Brent McConnell motored from 13th starting to third.
