By Joyce Eisele
BOONE, Iowa (April 8, 2023) – Saturday night became bonus night for three drivers as Boone Speedway kicked off its 2023 racing season with a Frostbuster special that saw 166 racing machines checked into the pits.
Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods kicked off the feature racing with the running of their 20-lap main event.
Brayton Carter started second on the lineup grid and immediately grabbed the lead. Carter had the field covered as he would go on to lead all laps on his way to victory. Taylor Kuehl, last year’s Frostbuster winner, was runner-up ahead of Cam Reimers, Adam Armstrong and Braden Richards.
Carter had won the first night of the Frostbuster on Friday at Marshalltown and earned the double bonus payout of $1,000 for Saturday’s win.
Tim Ward won the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified 25-lap main and he, too, earned a double bonus of $2,000 after his win at Marshalltown on Friday.
Ward started seventh and worked his way to the lead with 15 laps in the books after a dandy battle with Johnathon Logue and Todd Shute, haymakers being thrown much of the way.
The final laps found Ward pulling away and scoring his second win in as many days, his seventh of the season and 78th in the class. Already Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligible, he’s now tied for 98th place on the all-time wins list for the division.
Shute took second, Jimmy Gustin was third, and Jerry Flippo, the Bakersfield, Calif., native who now calls Clear Lake, Iowa home, came from 14th to nab fourth. Cory Sauerman drove his machine from 14th starting to fifth.
The IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars came to the track next for 25 laps of feature racing and for the third time of the night, a repeat winner from Frostbuster no.1 the previous night grabbed the double bonus payout.
Josh Daniels led the race through lap 12 but Troy Jerovetz by this time had raced his way from 12th into the second position. A well-timed yellow and subsequent restart was just what Jerovetz had hoped for.
On the restart, Jerovetz was able to nose under leader Daniels in turn two and take over the number one spot. In the closing laps, Jerovetz drove off and finished under the checkers a comfortable distance ahead of Daniels, Tom Berry Jr., Dan Mackenthun and Jay Schmidt.
Jerovetz, already B & B Racing Chassis All-Star eligible, went home with $1,500 for his repeat 2023 Frostbuster win.
The night’s racing ended with the 20-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Mike Smith started sixth and had the lead by lap one after a called back restart for a pileup in corner four worked to his advantage.
Smith never looked back from there as he sailed home to the win. Curt Reed took second, third went to Luke Ramsey, fourth was Chad Rigby and John Watson came all the way from 18th to finish fifth.
This Saturday night, April 15 will be opening points night at the speedway. Pits open at 3:30 p.m., the grandstand at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m. IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars, Northern SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites are on the program.
