8/8/06
Southern Iowa Speedway
Oskaloosa, IA
Ultimate Challenge
35 cars
Heat one (started): 1. Brad Sweet 3J (2) 2. Shane Cottle 5G (1) 3. Terry Pletch 29P (4) 4. Cory Kruseman 38 (5) 5. Matt Westfall 54 (3) 6. Daron Clayton 92 (7) 7. Chris Urish 77u (6) 8. RJ Johnson 15 (8) 9. Dave Anderson 53A (9)
The format saw four heats with passing points issued, and then four qualifiers with an invert of six based on passing points accumulated in the heats. Qualifier passing points were added to heat totals to lock in the top 18 for the main event. Sweet took the lead in the 8 lapper early on. Johnson came to a stop on lap four bringing a yellow. At the time, Sweet led Cottle, Pletch, Westfall and Kruseman back to green. Kruseman would pass Westfall in tight racing for fourth, while Pletch held them off and Clayton couldn't quite run them down on a heavy surface.
Heat two (started): 1. Kyle Wissmiller 2K (2) 2. Critter Malone 7 (3) 3. Bud Kaeding 29 (5) 4. Levi Jones 11D (9) 5. Dale Howard 47 (7) 6. Jeff Davis 33 (8) 7. Mat Neely 2B (6) 8. Dave Darland 11 (1) 9. Kent Christian 1c (4)
Darland and Wissmiller touched wheels after the green fell. The contact slowed Darland on the backstretch and he would retire. Meanwhile, the wheel banging continued into turn three, and Christian underwent a hellish ride, getting some serious air time. He took a ride in to the hospital for observation and was done for the night. Wissmiller shot out to a lead the first three laps before Neely jumped the cushion in turn three while running third and flipped the Benic machine. He was uninjured. Wissmiller led the remaining five laps to claim the win. All heat winners raked in a Weld Racing Hub and a Butler Built steering wheel.
Heat three (started): 1. Jon Stanbrough 53 (2) 2. JT Imperial 6 (1) 3. Jay Drake 67K (6) 4. Charles Davis Jr. 21s (5) 5. Bryan Clauson 67 (7) 6. Jerry Coons Jr. 69 (9) 7. Darren Hagen 71 (8) 8. Preston Peebles II 11P (3) 9. Brady Short 36 (4)
Stanbrough, who has 18 wins in 2006, dominated this one. Short exited on lap six. Drake moved up well from sixth to third.
Heat four (started): 1. Don Droud Jr. 44 (4) 2. Jac Haudenschild 35 (3) 3. Jesse Hockett 75 (7) 4. Ray Allen Kulhanek 41K (8) 5. Jan Howard 46 (1) 6. Dickie Gaines 21x (2) 7. Scotty Weir 22 (5) DNS - Robert Bell 71x (6)
Gamesmanship on the start by Gaines resulted in contact between he and the polesitter, J. Howard. Contact between the two resulted in enough damage to sideline them. Gaines was the only one to get upside down. Weir also retired. Droud assumed the second starting spot and led a mostly single-file affair flag to flag in the Pace 44 as four cars finished the event.
Qualifier one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Davis (1*) 2. Haudenschild (4*) 3. Hagen (7*) 4. Hockett (5*) 5. Droud (6*) 6. D. Howard (2) 7. Kulhanek (3) 8. Short (9) 9. Johnson (8)
Davis grabbed the point early in the 8 lapper, while Hagen shot up to fourth in the first circuit. Hagen disposed of Hockett for third before a lap four Johnson flip in turn one. He was uninjured. Droud visited the work area during the stoppage and restarted at the rear. He was able to move up three spots to fifth by the end. Davis paced Haudenschild for the remainder of the event.
Qualifier two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Clauson (2*) 2. Sweet (6*) 3. Pletch (3*) 4. Cottle (4*) 5. Urish (7) 6. Darland (8) 7. Malone (5) DNS - J. Howard (1), Christian (9)
Clauson was without peer in this one despite one stoppage. On lap two, Darland slowed, collecting Malone, who suffered enough damage to join Darland pitside. Sweet's charge from sixth to second earned him the pole position in the main event.
Qualifier three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Coons (2*) 2. Clayton (1*) 3. Kaeding (4*) 4. Jones (5*) 5. Kruseman (3) 6. Wissmiller (6*) 7. Peebles (8) 8. Neely (7) DNS - Bell (9)
Coons blitzed the field. The best race was for third, where Jones poked his nose under Kaeding several times to no avail.
Qualifier four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Davis Jr. (3*) 2. Drake (5*) 3. Westfall (2) 4. Imperial (4*) 5. Stanbrough (6*) 6. Weir (7) 7. Anderson (8) DNS - Gaines (1)
Davis Jr. led the duration in impressive fashion after assuming the point in a mostly single-file affair.
B main (started): 1. Malone (2) 2. Kruseman (3) 3. Weir (7) 4. Westfall (1) 5. Kulhanek (5) 6. Peebles (9) / 7. Neely (8) 8. D. Howard (4) 9. Urish (6) 10. Anderson (10) DNS - Short, Darland, J. Howard, Gaines, Christian, Bell, Johnson
Malone took the early lead in the non-stop 12 lapper. Kruseman was quickly on his tail, dogging him for the duration. The California native took the lead completing the 11th lap, but it was Critter who came back to claim victory and a Hoosier right rear for his efforts. Weir moved up nicely, while Kulhanek qualified for the main event with his 360 under the hood on a fast surface.
A main (started): 1. Coons (9) 2. Clauson (6) 3. Haudenschild (2) 4. Droud (4) 5. Hagen (17) 6. Stanbrough (11) 7. Cottle (14) 8. Drake (3) 9. Kruseman (20) 10. Sweet (1) 11. Jones (10) 12. Hockett (5) 13. Westfall (22) 14. Pletch (12) 15. Clayton (18) 16. Malone (19) 17. Kulhanek (23) 18. Davis (13) 19. Peebles (24) 20. Imperial (15) 21. Wissmiller (16) 22. Davis Jr. (8) 23. Weir (21) 24. Kaeding (7)
Haudenschild outdragged Sweet into turn one for the early lead, reaching speeds never seen at a previous Ultimate Challenge on the still tacky surface. Kaeding exited early while smoking. Clauson shot under the "Wild Child" completing lap four before Imperial stopped bringing out a caution. With the split yellow rule in effect, Clauson was able to keep his advantage over Haud, Sweet, Droud and a charging Jones. Clauson pulled away for the next nine laps. Davis Jr. suffered a flat right rear on lap 14 and slowed. Weir launched over the flat tire head first into the turn four fence. He was unhurt, but done. Clauson led Haud, Droud, a charging Coons, Sweet and Jones back to green after what would be the last stoppage. Coons quickly dove under Droud, finding the low groove to his liking. After dueling with Haudenschild for several laps he moved past and disposed of Clauson for the lead on lap 21. He pulled away the last nine circuits, cashing in the $30,000 payday, the biggest of his illustrious career. Hagen was the winner of the Keith Hutton hard-charger award, moving up 12 spots and bringing home a new Winters Rear End. Stanbrough may have been the fastest car the last few laps, picking up four spots in the last five laps.