9/4/05
Cresco Speedway
Cresco, IA
IRA
35 cars
Scott Young (14th car out to time) broke Brian Browns two year old track record with a lap of 13.415 seconds around the banked 3/8 mile oval. Travis Whitney (25th) also registered a time under the old track record and was second quick, followed by Jesse Giannetto (2nd), Colin Northway (12th), Don Droud Jr. (28th), KJ Skelton (5th), Tim St. Arnold (13th), Mike Kertscher (10th), Jason Johnson (1st) and Mike Reinke (11th). Joe Roe had his axel split in two and didnt get a lap in. He was able to make repairs for his heat race.
Heat one (started): 1. Kaley Gharst 44G (1) 2. Bill Warren 95 (3) 3. Droud 17G (5) 4. Young 3 (6) / 5. Scott Uttech 7 (7) 6. Johnson 44 (4) 7. Ty Bartz 75 (8) 8. Andy Hunt 9A (9) 9. Dave Uttech 68 (2)
The wicked fast surface was not conducive to much passing in the 10 lap heats. D. Uttech took the point early, but suffered a power steering problem on lap six and coasted to a stop. Gharst assumed the lead and Young benefited by claiming the final transfer. Hunt came to a rest on the final circuit, but little changed on one final restart.
Heat two (started): 1. Skip Jackson 2 (3) 2. Whitney 9 (6) 3. Reinke 02 (4) 4. Skelton 80 (5) / 5. Joe Symoens 96 (8) 6. Wayne Modjeski 77 (2) 7. Duane Olson 16 (9) 8. Steve Meyer 85m (1) 9. Mike Stefka 35s (7)
Meyer grabbed the early advantage before Jackson exploded to the point on lap two. Whitney shot around Meyer to move into second shortly after and Reinke and Skelton followed to grab transfers on a lightning fast track.
Heat three (started): 1. Todd Hepfner 28 (2) 2. Scott Neitzel 2w (3) 3. Kim Mock 1m (4) 4. Kurt Davis 6K (7) / 5. St. Arnold 7w (5) 6. Bill Wirth 53w (8) 7. Jim Melis 51m (1) 8. Giannetto D1 (6)
Giannetto got a rough start shooting above a ledge that had built in turns one and two and bouncing to a stop. On the restart he would get over the ledge again, trying to get around slower traffic. The result was a tumble. He was uninjured, but done for the night. Hepfner led flag to flag. St. Arnold came on late and with one lap to go was running fifth, when the fourth place machine of Melis slowed. St. Arnold bumped into the 51m and spun. He restarted at the tail for the green, white, checker finish, but fell one spot short of a transfer.
Heat four (started): 1. Todd King 97 (1) 2. Kertscher 80K (5) 3. Scott Biertzer 4B (2) 4. Northway 60 (6) / 5. Billy Balog 4 (3) 6. Joe Roe 61 (9) 7. Randy Anderson 81 (7) 8. Larry Ball Jr. 5J (4) 9. Fred Ebler 64 (8)
King was impressive in leading the distance. The lone caution came for a lap three spin by Ball. Kertscher gained second on the last lap from Biertzer after a good battle. Northway wrestled the final transfer from Balog with two to go.
B main (started): 1. D. Uttech (5) 2. Modjeski (6) 3. Melis (8) 4. Meyer (7) 5. Bartz (12) 6. S. Uttech (9) / 7. Anderson (11) 8. Roe (18) 9. Wirth (14) 10. Hunt (16) 11. Johnson (2) 12. Olson (17) 13. St. Arnold (1) 14. Ball (3) 15. Balog (4) 16. Stefka (10) 17. Ebler (15) 18. Symoens (13) DNS Giannetto
St. Arnold was cruising in this one until disaster struck the top four runners on lap nine of 15. Wirth slowed in front of St. Arnold who was forced to check up. He got sideways and took a tumble. He was unhurt but done. Also caught up were the second, third and fourth place cars of Ball, Balog and Johnson. Only Johnson would be able to continue. D. Uttech assumed the lead from fifth and Melis, Meyer, Bartz and S. Uttech inherited transfers.
A main (started): 1. Whitney (5) 2. Kertscher (1) 3. Jackson (10) 4. Northway (4) 5. Droud (3) 6. Neitzel (14) 7. Young (6) 8. Gharst (8) 9. Skelton (2) 10. Warren (13) 11. Meyer (18) 12. Mock (12) 13. Melis (19) 14. Reinke (11) 15. D. Uttech (15) 16. King (7) 17. Modjeski (16) 18. Davis (21) 19. Biertzer (17) 20. S. Uttech (20) 21. Bartz (22) 22. Hepfner (9)
Kertscher torched the field at the outset, opening up a huge advantage in the 25 lapper. He had four lapped cars between himself and the second place machine of Skelton when Hepfner spun on lap six. Kertscher took off again on the restart ahead of Skelton, Whitney, Droud, Northway and Young. Six more laps were in the books when Hepfner got upside down in turn two. He was uninjured but done. Kertscher caught a piece of Hepfners car while he was flipping and damaged the left side panel on the 80K. He showed no ill effects as he again pulled away from Skelton, Whitney, Northway and Droud. Whitney shot into the runner-up position on the restart, but couldnt reel in the leader. Mock was running seventh on lap 18 when he performed a 360 bringing out another caution. Time ran out on Kertscher and Whitney made his winning move when the green came out again. Jackson moved from sixth to third in similar fashion. Whitney pulled away despite one more stoppage, this one for Reinke. The win was his second in a row in IRA action. Neitzel earned hard-charger honors, moving up eight spots and maintaining his point lead over Young.