|
Balcaen, Geringer, Strand, and Kennedy Take River Cities
Speedway Opener:
Date Posted: April 29th, 2007
Written By:
Mike Orness
River Cities
Speedway
season opener couldn’t have been on a nicer weekend compared
to recent years. With little precipitation lately, the track
had dried out nicely and was prepared for the 83 race teams
that entered the back gate. With saddened hearts and thoughts,
there was one face that was a staple Friday nights at River
Cities Speedway. That being the multi-champion, John Seitz.
But things
carried on just as John would have wanted them to and just as
if he was there. In some sort of way he was. The scoreboard
that carried the numbers 92 many times was illuminated with
his car number throughout the hot lap sessions and during a
short remembrance prior to the national anthems by Pat Mooney.
Drivers lined the top of the backstretch facing the crowd
while Mooney spoke of John and some great memories. All to
honor a great racer and man that circled our track.
As the
speedway’s race program carried out, the first set of
Unicel street
stock heat races rolled up on the track as the crowd was ready
to see the first race of 2007 season. Jim Geringer took the
checkered flag by a straightaway over Sheldon Peterson. The
second heat race was won by Aaron Olson with Dan Arends
finishing second after leading much of the race. Joe Potter
showed how strong he was by capturing the win over Tyson
Anderson.
New to the
speedway this year are the Midwest Modifieds. The Super Stock
class was replaced by this up and coming class, in which the
numbers seem to keep growing. The first Dempsey Truck Service
heat race was won by Dustin Strand over Bryan Dyrdahl. A
mid-race caution took out Bryan LePier and Patrick Sobolik.
Heat race two was won by Bobby Eckerdt who started in the back
of the heat race and took the lead with four laps to go. Bret
Schmidt was runner up with David Hultstrand third after
leading much of the race.
The first
of three DTRA Late Model races was won by a fast Cody Skytland
with Joey Pederson right behind him in a caution free race.
The second Atek Auto Parts heat race was won by Troy Schill
after he had passed Tom Corcoran for the lead late in the
race. Mike Balcaen won the third heat race from the fourth
starting spot with Brad Seng second after passing Tom Balcaen.
The two
NOSA Sprint Car heat races were action packed with the first
heat race being won by Austin Monson with Wade Nygaard chasing
him all race. Bad luck hit the 2006 track champion as he
slowed on the front stretch and was pushed pitside. Lou
Kennedy Jr led every lap with Bob Martin chasing him all race.
Martin slipped up a little which allowed Casey Mack and Dave
Sobczak a chance to get past and finished respectively second
and third.
After a
brief intermission, the Unicel Street Stock feature race
started with Arends and Potter on the front row. This year,
the Street Stocks will be ran on Goodyear tires and
co-sanctioned with the newly formed driver association, MDRA
and DTRA. Potter grabbed the lead and led all but the last lap
with Geringer hot on his bumper. A lap car slowed up potter
which allowed Geringer to grab the lead and the first win of
2007 at River Cities Speedway. Tyson Anderson also slipped
past Potter for the second spot after starting sixth.
David
Hultstrand and Rod Peterson led the field around to take the
checkered flag for the first ever Dempsey Truck Service
Midwest Modified feature
race. Before any laps were complete, there were two cautions
in which the field had to reset and given the green flag
again. Dustin Strand looked to be the one to beat as he used
the high groove of the speedway to his advantage and take over
the lead with 10 laps to go. As he stretched out his lead,
Eckerdt and Schmidt battled for the second spot lap after lap,
but it was Eckerdt that was able to take the second spot and
give Strand a run for his money late in the race. Eckerdt
tried both lines, hi and low, but was unable to overtake
Strand as he cruised to the
checkered flag. Halvorson and Nelson also put on a great show
for the fourth spot with Nelson capitalizing on the spot at
the line.
The Atek
Auto Parts feature race for the DTRA Late Models started all
twenty-one cars with Corcoran and Schill on the front row.
There were a couple of cautions before the whole field was
able to complete a lap. Corcoran and Schill battled for the
lead, but it was Pederson who slipped around them for the lead
and continued to lead through the next five cautions for
various cars. With twelve laps to go, Mike Balcaen appeared
from the eighth starting spot to challenge Pederson for the
lead. With two more laps complete, Balcaen made his move
around Pederson in turn three for the lead. From there on,
Balcaen was smooth in the corners and was able to continue on
through the checkered flag with Pederson in his mirror while
Corcoran and Schill scrapped for the third spot. Schill was
able to secure the third spot with Corcoran accepting fourth.
During the interview with Balcaen in victory lane, he
dedicated the win to Johnny.
The last
feature race of the evening was ready and all Sprint Cars were
pushed off. Jeff Vonasek had some issues and couldn’t keep the
engine fired so he was pushed to the infield while Bob Martin
and Scott McDonald led the field around for the green flag.
With the leaders crossing the line for the first lap, McDonald
and Burke made contact with McDonald getting the worse of it
and turned his sprinter over and was unable to continue. Jade
Fredrickson was also caught up in the meley, and rolled many
times near the front wall. Linnell’s front end was damaged too
much and was pulled to the infield. Chris Shirek’s top wing
was damged but made repairs and tagged the field. After the
field was refired, Burke used his front row spot to take the
lead and with authority was pulling away from Bob Martin while
Sobczak and Kennedy battled for the third spot. With Burke
coming up on lap traffic, Kennedy was able to find his way to
the second spot and pressure Burke. Nygaard was also making
his way to the front and found himself racing Martin for the
third spot. Lap cars were what held up Burke and enabled
Kennedy to complete the pass for the lead. By this time
Dobmeier had went to the back and raced his way back up to
about eighth. After a few more cautions, Kennedy found Nygaard
trying to pass him for the lead in the closing laps. Kennedy
seemed to change his line at each end of the track to close
the door on Nygaard. Kennedy held on for the win with Nygaard
and Martin second and third. Burke finished with a strong run
in fourth and Dobmeier rounded out the top five spots.
RIVER CITIES SPEEDWAY APRIL 27th RACE RESULTS SUMMARY
|
