RACES WITHOUT RAIN AT I-76

FORT MORGAN, COLORADO, June 27, 2009 – No rain!  It was a splendid race night at I-76 Speedway.  The pits were full, the track was good, the grandstands were filled with exuberant fans, eight classes of cars running and Fan Appreciation night, made a full night of fun.

The Mod-50 draw race was the most outstanding feature of the night.  25 Modifieds positioned themselves to get the 22 coveted spots in the 50-lap Main Event.  The kicker is that the 22 drivers qualifying for those spots then had to draw pills for their position in the Main.  Fort Morgan’s own Brad Kembel, was the lucky dog to draw the number 1 pill, putting him on pole, with Larry Jackson of Northglenn, outside.  The threatening force of Eddie Belec from Lakewood, sat right behind Kembel.  Kembel quickly took a strong lead for the first eight laps before Belec deftly maneuvered around him to take the lead.  Belec lead the next 43 laps with only one major challenge from Joe Mullins of Boulder, who came up to Belec’s door to let him know he had some real competition.  Belec went on for the win.  Ursetta and Belec have won five of the seven Main Events at I-76, giving up one win to their car-maker, Jeff Taylor of Arkansas and one to Bubba Alvarado of Kersey.  Mullins pulled up in second place, with Kyle Maloney of Keenesburg, third.  On lap 35 Greg Sharpe of Commerce City, got caught up in the wall on the front straight and came to a halt.  Don Geist of Loveland, behind Sharpe with nowhere else to go drove right over the top of Sharpe’s car.  Sharpe was taken to the pits by ambulance for observation, then was deemed to be okay.

Bob Geotchel of Fort Lupton, pulled out front from pole in the SportsMods Main Event, with Jim Kalous of Woodrow, right on his tail.  Kalous got around Geotchel by lap seven, stretched out his lead and went on to win.  Goetchel was second and Rick Cuckow of Orchard, finished third

The Street Stocks upped their field by three cars and was looking good.  Justin Simonson of Wheat Ridge, easily worked his way from the back of the pack to take the Main Event win again.  For Simonson every win is as exciting as the first.  Mike Mead of Thornton, finished second again, with Zac Alloway of Stasburg, third.

Jeff Richey of Brighton, came back to the winner’s circle in the Econos and picked up another Main Event win.  Chad Mann of LaSalle, finished second, with Steve Irsik of Brighton, coming in third.

Both classes of Mini-Sprints were on hand, with Clint Shubert of Calhan, winning in the Outlaw 1200 Mini-Sprint Main, and Brandon Steele of Lakewood, taking first in the 600 Mini-Sprints.

The Mini-Stocks and Hornets finalized the racing, and Kevin Hiner of Greeley grabbed the win in the Mini-Stocks Main another time, while John Symes of Wheat Ridge, also won again in the Hornets Main.

             The top ten finishes:

 MODIFIEDS

3b        Eddie Belec, Lakewood

46        Joe Mullins, Boulder

7m       Kyle Maloney, Keenesburg

8h        John Hansen, Brush

1s        Brad Shelton, Fort Morgan

6k        Brad Kembel, Fort Morgan

33        Nick Engen, Erie

7a        Tim Anderson, Fort Morgan

61        Larry Jackson, Northglenn

71        Tyson Groves, Orchard

SPORTSMOD

69        Jim Kalous, Woodrow

37        Bob Goetchel, Fort Lupton

96        Rick Cuckow, Orchard

14        Greg Gustus, Fort Lupton

G44     Darren Green, Fort Morgan

88        Corey Cox, Littleton

55        Chris Hall, Fort Morgan

38        Ed Lundquist, Linden

11        Becky Dechant, Denver

44        Pete Lopfer, Henderson

STREET STOCK

31        Justin Simonson, Wheat Ridge

15        Mike Mead, Thornton

65        Zac Alloway, Strasburg

12        Ted Nauta, LaPort

23d      Kelvin Schmer, Lingle WY

8h        Dustin Smith, Fort Morgan

ECONO

09        Jeff Richey, Brighton

39        Chad Mann, LaSalle

26        Steve Irsik, Brighton

06        Jeff Dempewolf, Denver

57        Loren Walker, Fort Morgan

70        Brad Hill, Flagler

12        Paul Krueger, Longmont

7          Todd Brotemarkle, LaSalle

10        Brittany Geist, Loveland

17        Ken Robbins, Brighton

1200 OUTLAW MINI-SPRINTS

44        Clint Schubert, Calhan

7          Scott Wilson, Arvada

31        Steve Becker, Denver

61        Matt Martinez, Aurora

08        K. C. Swain, Thornton

77        Ryan Dardano, Berthoud

4          Doug Parker, Monument

00        Bruce Swain, Lakewood

69        Jack Bongberg, Aurora

11        Alan Davis, Colorado Springs

600 MINI-SPRINTS

5          Brandon Steele, Lakewood

69        Paul Babich, Fort Collins

6          Ken Kouba, Denver

40        Todd Weland, Denver

10        Shannon Elliott, Denver

55        Sammy Gallo, Arvada

24        Jay Sant, Parker

56        Troy Simpson, Denver

MINI-STOCKS

87        Kevin Hiner, Greeley

10        Chris Walker, Fort Morgan

84        Jimmy Dyer, Greeley

21        Greg Peconi, Arvada

6          Cale Lindsay, Pierce

27t       Nathan Sears, Wiggins

HORNETS

1w       John Symes, Wheat Ridge

11        Jason Ludgate, Fort Morgan

55        Jason Chandler, Fort Morgan

5L        Bandon Hall, Denver

3         

9          Laurie Swain, Lakewood

LATE MODELS HIGHLIGHT AT I-76 SPEEDWAY

 FORT MORGAN, COLORADO, June 20, 2009 – The rain came in right on time, exactly at race time.  It’s hard to love the rain when it delays racing, but the super-fast track it left behind afterwards was awesome.  The track surface stayed tacky and ultra-smooth, no flying mud and no dust.

The CLMA Late Models brought in 17 of their powerful cars and Mike Stadel from Rapid City, SD,  put to rest any thoughts of somebody else winning.  Stadel started on pole, took the lead on the second lap, then became untouchable and unstoppable, stretching out his lead by eight car lengths.  Stadel won over Scott Cimfl of Arvada and Scott Lewis of Brighton, who finished second and third.

39 cars makes a huge statement in the Modified class and after four full Heat Races and two B-Mains, the action really got started.  Right out of the gate in turn one, John Hansen of Brush, dipped his nosepiece a little to the inside and Stan Dayley of Fort Morgan, came low under Hansen, lifting him up and barrel-rolling him three times.  Hansen got out of his car okay and was towed to the pits, while Dayley resumed racing.  With a couple more restarts the race went into dance mode, and by lap two Eddie Belec of Lakewood, had gained first position.  With the perfect track, Belec left everyone in his rear view and controlled the remainder of the race, reveling in his win and happy to take home the trophy.  Nick Engen of Erie, finished second and Bubba Alvarado of Kersey, was third.  Of note was Belec’s stablemate, Dominic Ursetta of Arvada, who had won the last three Main Events at I-76.  Ursetta was taken out in his heat race, then worked his way from mid B-Main to finish second, putting him in the Main.  Ursetta came from next to last row in the Main to finish 7^th, a great effort and a lot of hard driving.

The SportsMods looked great with an 18 car field for their Main Event, and with the Draw-25 race held over from last week’s rainout, Mike Ziegler of Fort Morgan, was the lucky draw for pole.  Ziegler tenaciously held on to his lead, dropping back only one lap in traffic, to finish first.  Rick Cuckow of Orchard, came up second, and Jim Kalous of Woodrow, was third.  Current points leader and three time Main Event winner, Greg Gustus of Fort Lupton, didn’t fare so well and was out of the race after the first lap. 

The Street Stocks are still low on cars, but high on action.  Justin Simonson of Wheat Ridge, held on to the Main Event lead and won, while he holds on to his points lead.  Mike Mead of Thornton, finished second and Dustin Smith of Fort Morgan, finished third with his car puffing smoke.

The Econos took advantage of the fast track and took their Main Event from flag to flag without mishap.  Brad Hill of Flagler, won the Main leading it from lap one, holding off Loren Walker of Fort Morgan, second, and Todd Brotemarkle of LaSalle, third.

Fred Schneider of Palmer, took the Dwarfs on another non-stop Main Event, exchanging the lead five times with Andy Rogers of Akron, to get his win.  Rogers finished second, and Stu Carlson of Loveland, was third.

The night got late, but the Mini-Stocks and Hornets were still able to get in short Mains.  Kevin Hiner of Greeley, took the win in the Mini-Stocks, while John Symes of Wheat Ridge, bested the Hornets.

            The top ten finishes:

LATE MODELS

7          Mike Stadel, Rapid City SD

25        Scott Cymfl, Commerce City

99        Scott Lewis, Brighton

R24     Craig Bauckema, Elizabeth

23c      Chris Persichetti, Lakewood

05        Gary Dechant, Northglenn     

3c        Curt Daniels, Paonia

14        Dean Moore, Grand Junction

4          Dave Garmann, Milliken

24L      Rick Leiser, Greeley

MODIFIEDS

3b        Eddie Belec, Lakewood

33        Nick Engen, Erie

ww2     Bubba Alvarado, Kersey

7a        Tim Anderson, Fort Morgan

7m       Kyle Maloney, Keenesburg

5          Jeff Meeker, Northglenn

6u        Dominic Ursetta, Arvada

12        Brett Smith, Fort Morgan

10        Don Geist, Loveland

54        Blake Smith Jr, Erie

SPORTSMOD

1z        Mike Ziegler, Fort Morgan

96        Rick Cuckow, Orchard

69        Jim Kalous, Woodrow

55        Chris Hall, Fort Morgan

38        Ed Lundquist, Linden

G44     Darren Green, Fort Morgan

2          Brandon Williams, Fort Morgan

39        Lance Brandt, Linden

66        Alan Phelps, Cheyenne WY

11        Becky Dechant, Denver

STREET STOCK

31        Justin Simonson, Wheat Ridge

15        Mike Mead, Thornton

8h        Dustin Smith, Fort Morgan

23v      Dan Vavrina, Platteville

33        Richard Barnum, Loveland

ECONO

70        Brad Hill, Flagler

57        Loren Walker, Fort Morgan

7          Todd Brotemarkle, LaSalle

39        Chad Mann, LaSalle

26        Steve Irsik, Brighton

09        Jeff Richey, Brighton

17        Ken Robbins, Brighton

12        Paul Krueger, Longmont

10        Brittany Geist, Loveland

9          Mark Lawson, Arvada

DWARFS

11c      Fred Schneider, Palmer

55        Andy Rogers, Akron

44        Stu Carlson, Loveland

16        Jerry Hunter, Greeley

8          Joe Davis, Loveland

77        Don Morrison, Firestone

60        Danny Rogers, Akron

41        Stan Grippin, Brush

10        Frank Beck, Federal Heights

11r       Charles Drager, Loveland

MINI-STOCKS

87        Kevin Hiner, Greeley

6          Cale Lindsay, Pierce

84        Jimmy Dyer, Greeley

21        Greg Peconi, Arvada

10        Chris Walker, Fort Morgan

HORNETS

1w       John Symes, Wheat Ridge

11        Jason Ludgate, Fort Morgan

9          Laurie Swain, Lakewood

5          Bill McDougal, Fort Morgan

08        Ruger Swain, Lakewood