BOONE, Iowa – Jesse Sobbing used a last-lap pass on Troy Cordes to steal the victory in Saturday’s Race of Champions feature for the modified division during the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s at Boone Speedway.
Also taking home Race of Champions victories on the final day of the Super Nationals were Kelly Shryock (stock cars), Johnathon Logue (Northern sportmods) and Cody Nielsen (hobby stocks).
Sobbing started second in the 12-lap modified feature and took the lead on the opening lap. Cordes, who started fourth, ran the top and went to second on lap two. Cordes was able to take the lead form Sobbing off the top with six laps left and appeared to be pulling away.
However, coming to the white flag Cordes made a mistake in turn four and ran up the track. That allowed Sobbing to run down Cordes and throw a massive slider into turn one. Sobbing cleared Cordes coming out of two, but Cordes crossed over and pulled below Sobbing heading into turn three.
Both drivers ran up the track in the final two corners, but it was Sobbing who got the better bite off turn four to get to the finish line first and win the Race of Champions for the first time. He earned $1,700 for his efforts, which included lap leader money.
“We got to racing hard there. Obviously he messed up. I wouldn’t have even had a shot at him,” Sobbing said of Cordes. “He had to have known a slide job was coming. I was expecting it back. I was glad I didn’t have that push in the middle like I had every other lap. I was just hanging on.”
Polesitter David Smith took the lead in the first corner of the stock car Race of Champions, with Shryock hanging tough on the top. Smith and Shryock battled for the first two laps before Smith pulled clear of him on the bottom on lap three.
Shryock stayed close to Smith and didn’t let him get away. With seven laps left Shryock made his move, overtaking Smith to steal the race lead. Once out front Shryock pulled away to a comfortable victory, his first in the stock car Race of Champions. He pocketed $1,175 for the victory.
“What can you say? There’s nothing like winning at Boone,” Shryock said from victory lane.
Colby Langenberg led the Northern sportmod field into the first corner with outside polesitter Logue chasing him into turn one. Logue took his car to the top on the second lap to try and hunt down Langenberg, then dove to the bottom on lap three to begin challenging for the lead.
Langenberg and Logue ran side-by-side for the lead, with Logue riding the bottom as they battled for the race lead. On the sixth lap Logue made the move stick, pulling clear of Langenberg on the bottom. He would lead the rest of the way to win the Northern sportmod Race of Champions for the first time, pocketing $700 for his efforts.
“Langenberg got me down here (in turn four) and caught me sleeping,” Logue said. “I thought there was going to be a little more grip up there, but I had the claws out digging and she just wasn’t going. Hats off to him for racing me clean. It was good, clean racing. This is the one I’ve wanted to win. I wanted this Eagle trophy in my shop so bad.”
The hobby stock Race of Champions started with Chuck Madden Jr. and Dylan Nelson leading the field into turn one, with Madden leading the opening lap. However, Nelson and Nielsen soon joined him in a three-wide fight for the lead, with Nelson leading lap two.
Sticking to the bottom, Nielsen was able to get around Nelson on the third lap to take the race lead. Once out front he was able to pull away to easily score the victory, his first in the hobby stock race of champions.
“The car is just working awesome right now,” said Nielsen, who earned $800 for the triumph. “I knew the track would be good, especially racing during the day like this.”
The finishes:
Modifieds: Jesse Sobbing, Troy Cordes, Joel Rust, Anthony Roch, Jason Wolla, Ricky Thornton Jr., Ryan McDaniel, Chris Mills, Chris Palsrok, Bob Moore, Randy Havlik, Jimmy Gustin.
Stock Cars: Kelly Shryock, John Oliver Jr., Ricky Thornton Jr., Jeremy Christians, Donavon Smith, Jason Schoenberger, Troy Swearingen, Jeffrey Larson, David Smith, Dustin Larson (DNS), Dan Mackenthun (DNS), Mike Nichols (DNS).
Northern Sportmods: Johnathon Logue, Adam Birck, Colby Langenberg, Tony Olson, Colby Fett, Jorddon Braaten, Jayden Schmidt, Cody Thompson, Jason Roth, Tyler Soppe (DNS), Jared Boumeester (DNS), Jake Hagemann (DNS).
Hobby Stocks: Cody Nielsen, Kaden Reynolds, Nathan Ballard, Brady Bencken, Chuck Madden Jr., Dylan Nelson, Aaron Rudolph, Brandon Nielsen, Malik Sampson, Solomon Bennett, Jeff Ware, Brandon Cox.
Every night of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s on Sept. 7-13 will be broadcast live via SPEED SPORT TV affiliate IMCA.TV. Check out all of our coverage of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals on our coverage index page!