By Joyce Eisele
BOONE, Iowa (May 27, 2023) – It was a beautiful night Saturday for racing at Boone Speedway to kick off the Memorial Weekend. There were 148 cars checked in to provide the crowd with a full night of entertaining racing action.
The Stealth Racing STARS Mod Lites ran a 25-lap feature event for their second night of a three-race Corn Belt Classic series.
Ben George was the early leader of the main event but had big-time company in the likes of Josh May, Bryce Vowan and Jon Padilla. Bad luck bit George when a lapped car caused him to fall back on lap 10, with May taking over the top spot.
May never looked back after getting the lead and would take it the rest of the way home to the win. Second place went to Jon Padilla. Third place was Bryce Vowan.
Josh May was the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lite winner on night two of the Corn Belt Clash, at Boone Speedway. (Photo by Bruce Badgley, Motorsports Photography)
The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod 18-lap feature was next on the program.
The early portion of the race was a swapping of position for the lead between Dusty Lynch and Corey Pestotnik. The two diced it back and forth for lap after lap until bad luck reared its ugly head when Pestotnik had a tire cut down, putting him out of the running.
Lynch was now in command and being chased by Jeremiah Reed and Cam Reimers. A yellow flew on lap 16, setting up a green, white, checkered shootout when the race returned to green.
Reimers seized the opportunity and got the perfect restart, sliding into first place in turn two and then taking it on home to the checkers. Taylor Kuehl also got a daily double on the restart, passing two cars and finishing as the runner-up. Reed would cross in third spot, but would be penalized after the race for a deck height infraction, delegating him back to fifth place. This then would place Ryan Leeman in third and Dusty Lynch in fourth.
The IMCA Friesen Performance Modified came to the track next for their 20-lap feature event.
Ronn Lauritzen led the troops through lap 14 and was looking strong, circling the top of the track. Meanwhile, Todd Shute made his way from sixth starting spot and was now running in second place.
Two laps later, Shute pulled off a slider and snatched the lead. The closing laps saw Shute pull away to take the comfortable win. Lauritzen held on to second, Cory Sauerman ran at the front all race long and took third spot, fourth went to 14th place starter Jerry Flippo and Jacob Hobscheidt took fifth.
This was Shute’s second win at the speedway this season.
The Class Too Tough To Tame, the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, ran a 20-lap feature.
Jeff Mueller started third and took the immediate lead. He catfished on the bottom, holding the field at bay, as Devin Smith made his way into second spot.
Smith then went to work on Mueller, looking for a way around from about the halfway mark. Finally, Smith made the topside work with a lap to go, taking over the lead and then taking it on home to the checkers.
Mueller had to settle for the runner-up spot. Third went to Josh Daniels, fourth was Buck Schafroth, who started 11th, and 12th place starter Scott Davis came home in fifth. Smith matched his win from last week.
The IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks ran their 15-lap feature caution-free.
Joe Wollenhaupt, who came from Neola, Iowa, but now calls Boone home, led the opening laps until Andrew Burg threw his hat into the ring. Burg took the lead on lap five, but lap nine found Wollenhaupt back in command.
Meanwhile, young Mike Smith had been working his way from 12th starting and had caught the leaders.
Smith took over second spot on lap 11 and then began the constant hounding of Wollenhaupt. Just after lap 14 was the in books, Smith saw his way around Wollenhaupt and took the lead. He then took it the rest of the way to the flying checkers and the win.
Smith made it back-to-back wins as well as scoring win number three of the season, plus winning the Frostbuster special.
This Saturday, June 3 will begin summer start times. Pits open at 4:30 p.m., the grandstand at 5:30, hot laps are 6, and racing at 7. It will be Capital Sign Company presents the Topless 2-Fers Night where the Modifieds and SportMods shed their roof and run for $1,200 and $1,000 respectively in a draw/redraw show. The Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Mod Lites will also be in competition.
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