By Ben Deatherage
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Connor Friske and John Garrigan Jr. were back in victory lane after Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars were back in action Friday at Black Hills Speedway.
When the green flag was released to the Modifieds, Adam Boggs won the battle going into turn one, but the yellow would come out, so they would have to try it again. On the second attempt, Mike Dimond got control of the lead, only to be overtaken on the outside of turn two by Brent Nielsen.
Boggs, Friske and Darran Conrad all had a great race for second, with Friske grabbing the runner-up position before the caution waved once again.
When the green light turned back on, Friske was master class on the restart and motored his way around Nielsen and became the new leader. Nielsen was under fire around the sixth circuit when Conrad tried to make a move around Nielsen, but Nielsen did a great job holding on to second.
Friske dominated the rest of the distance to win his second race at BHS in a row by a commanding 8.229 seconds. Nielsen held off Conrad to finish second after repeated attempts to get around him. In the end, Boggs made a last lap overtake on Dimond for fourth.
The $1,000 showdown for Hobby Stocks saw Travis Landauer and Garrigan engage in a fierce battle for the early lead, ultimately with Landauer winning the race to the line of the opening lap.
But Garrigan kept the pressure on as Brett Konst joined the lead pack and turning it into a three-car tussle, quickly moving into second himself.
Konst had a fantastic run on the outside, taking the lead on the backstretch and becoming the new race leader with 11 to go. The next time around, Landauer got a little out of the shape in turn two, allowing Garrigan to make a move around him for second.
Garrigan got close to Konst just before midway, tried to get underneath and finally got the necessary run on lap nine and obtained the lead. Konst tried to answer on the high side the next time down the backstretch, but Garrigan held on.
Landauer made it around Konst via the inside on lap 11 but Konst took the position back the next time they crossed the line.
Garrigan began to pull away from second and third. On the final circuit, the yellow would come out due to Landauer spinning in the second turn, setting up for a green, white, checkered finish.
Garrigan remained in control but out of nowhere, Landauer recovered to second and got beside Garrigan in the final set of corners. Still, Garrigan beat him out at the checkered flags. Third went to Konst.
John Garrigan Jr.’s latest IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature win at Black Hills Speedway was good for $1,000. (Photo by West River Media Productions)
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