(Bill W) August 16, 2008 – Double the features meant double the fun for Bobby Mincer and Mike Houseman Jr. who claimed feature wins Saturday night at the 34 Raceway. For Mincer, even though he has many wins at his home track near West Burlington, Iowa, it was his first with the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders there. For Houseman, it was his first win period, anywhere, anytime. Donnie Steward was smiling as well. He collected the $500 bonus put up for the driver earning the most points during the night’s events on the strength of fifth and third place finishes in the features.
In the first 15-lap feature, it was all Nick Eastin for a time. He beat fellow front row starter Brian Hetrick to turn one at the outset and held the point through a lap three caution for debris. Mincer had moved into third before the caution and slid into second when the race went green again. Mincer hung with the leader, but was still behind him when another slowdown occurred on lap 10. During the caution, Eastin surrendered his lead to Mincer after suffering a flat right rear tire. Mincer led the last five laps for the win.
“I don’t know that we could have gotten by Nick,” said the winner. “The groove was low. The top was a long way around. After the first restart, we went through the middle, and then we got to racing with Nick on the bottom, and I thought I’d stay there and see what would happen.”
Mincer started at the tail of the second feature in quest of the $1,000 bonus for winning both features. With an invert of drivers on the lead lap from the first main event, Justin Newberry and John Schulz were slated to start on row one. Schulz got the jump to lead lap one, but drove over the turn one berm, losing several spots in the process. Newberry assumed the lead for lap two. Houseman pounced on the leader on lap three, but his pass for the point was negated by a caution for a spun Josh Schneiderman. Houseman made good on the restart and took the lead.
By the lap three restart, Steward had shot from twelfth to third. He quickly moved into second behind Houseman. He rode the rim, while the leader was true to the bottom. As the laps wound down, Rogerson threw his hat into the ring as well. On the last circuit, Rogerson shot under Steward for second and made a run at Houseman coming out of turn four. The two cars raced side by side to the flagstand, with Houseman holding on by half a nose wing in an exciting finish.
“I didn’t see him until the end,” said Houseman of Rogerson’s late heroics. “I heard someone, but I had no idea it was that close. I just saw the white wing at the checkers. That made me pretty nervous! I love this place…it’s elbows up in your face racing. I love Knoxville, but we’ve had a real rough year there…this place is great too. I’d like to thank Russ Hall, I got both my rear tires from him.”
“Once we got by Newberry, we were able to run the leaders down,” said Rogerson. “We were hitting the track a little higher and coming out low in the corners while everyone else was pushing out on the race track. Traffic played in our favor. We just came up three feet short.”
The Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders have six shows remaining, with the next one occurring on Sunday, August 31, at the CJ Raceway in Columbus Junction, Iowa.
Results
Quiklane Shottenkirk 15-lap A main #1 Finish (started): 1. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (4) 2. 35, Brian Hetrick, Stronghurst, IL (1) 3. 17, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (5) 4. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (12) 5. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA (7) 6. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (16) 7. 99w, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (3) 8. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (18) 9. 29, Matt Rogerson, Burlington, IA (19) 10. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (8) 11. 54, Brett Mather, Ames, IA (9) 12. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (13) 13. Y2, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (17) 14. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL (14) 15. 2, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (11) 16. 36, Justin Newberry, Burlington, IA (10) 17. 4J, Justin Parrish, Des Moines, IA (15) 18. 22x, Nick Eastin, West Burlington, IA (2) 19. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (6) 20. 1, Jayson Ditsworth, Gladstone, IL (20). Lap Leaders: Eastin 1-10, Mincer 11-15.
Quiklane Shottenkirk 15-lap A main #2 Finish (started): 1. Mike Houseman Jr. (4) 2. Matt Rogerson (8) 3. Donnie Steward (12) 4. Justin Newberry (1) 5. Brett Mather (6) 6. John Schulz (2) 7. Matt Harms (3) 8. Russ Hall (11) 9. Bobby Mincer (20) 10. Matt Sutton (5) 11. Korey Weyant (10) 12. Nick Eastin (17) 13. Ryan Jamison (7) 14. Josh Schneiderman (13) 15. Jimmy Davies (16) 16. Jordan Goldesberry (9) 17. Austin McCarl (14) 18. 9x, Bart Andrews, Muscatine, IA (19) 19. Brian Hetrick (15) 20. Justin Parrish (18). Lap Leaders: Schulz 1, Newberry 2-3, Houseman Jr. 4-15.
E.G. Staats & Company Heat Race #1 (8 laps, top four to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Brian Hetrick (1) 2. Korey Weyant (2) 3. Brett Mather (3) 4. Matt Sutton (6) / 5. Mike Houseman Jr. (8) 6. 31P, Travis Porter, Rock Island, IL (4) 7. 4B, Scott Boles, New London, IA (7) 8. 2B, Dennis Bordeau, Davenport, IA (5)
Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #2 (8 laps, top four to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Ryan Jamison (4) 2. Jimmy Davies (2) 3. Justin Newberry (1) 4. Matt Harms (3) / 5. Jordan Goldesberry (7) 6. Jayson Ditsworth (8) 7. 7H, John Hall, Marion, IA (5) 8. 16P, Cody Petersen, Hermosa, SD (6)
Dan Avery Memorial Heat Race #3 (8 laps, top four to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Donnie Steward (2) 2. Bobby Mincer (4) 3. John Schulz (6) 4. Justin Parrish (1) / 5. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (3) 6. 0, Nick Guernsey, Burlington, IA (5) 7. Bart Andrews (7) 8. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (8)
Ideal Ready Mix Heat Race #4 (8 laps, top four to A main, top two to Dash): 1. Nick Eastin (2) 2. Austin McCarl (4) 3. Josh Schneiderman (6) 4. Russ Hall (3) / 5. Matt Rogerson (7) 6. 93, Pat Moore, Moline, IL (1) 7. 18A, Dan Avery, Burlington, IA (5)
Case Construction Shake-Up Dash (6 laps): 1. Brian Hetrick (2) 2. Nick Eastin (1) 3. Korey Weyant (3) 4. Bobby Mincer (8) 5. Austin McCarl (6) 6. Jimmy Davies (4) 7. Donnie Steward (5) 8. Ryan Jamison (7)
Holtkamp’s Trailer Repair B main (12 laps, 4 transfer to the A): 1. Mike Houseman Jr. (1) 2. Jordan Goldesberry (2) 3. Matt Rogerson (4) 4. Jayson Ditsworth (6) / 5. Andy Huston (3) 6. Bart Andrews (7) 7. John Hall (10) 8. Scott Boles (5) 9. Ben Wagoner (9) 10. Cody Petersen (11) 11. Dan Avery (12) 12. Pat Moore (8) DNS - Travis Porter, Nick Guernsey, Dennis Bordeau
Contingency Awards:
Hard Charger – Bobby Mincer
The Brake Man – Austin McCarl
Diversified Machine – Rager Phillips
M&W Aluminum Products – Bart Andrews
Ultra Shield – Korey Weyant
Hepfner Racing Products – Jordan Goldesberry
Saldana Racing Products – Ryan Jamison
Rod End Supply – Matt Harms, Matt Sutton