Ryan Stars At Davenport

DAVENPORT, Iowa — It was race night Friday at the Davenport Speedway with beautiful weather, a pit area full of cars and fans in the grandstand for the first time this season.

In Petersen Plumbing & Heating IMCA Late Model action, Matt Ryan pulled out his first win of the season at Davenport. Ryan started inside fourth row and charged to the front. Matt wrestled the lead from Jacob Waterman on lap six and sped away from the field.

As the laps wound down, Justin Kay slowly reeled in the leader. Kay also started in the fourth row, but would have to settle for a second-place finish. Waterman held on for third. Terry Neal took fourth followed by Andy Nezworski.

Milo Veloz proved he can still get it done by winning the Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Modified feature. Jordan Hicks led the first two laps, before Veloz put his car into the lead. In the final laps, Spencer Diercks was gaining on Veloz on the high side of the race track.

The caution flag came out with two laps remaining, setting up a green, white, checkered. On the restart, Veloz pulled away and secured the win. Diercks, who came out of B-Main #1, finished second. Brandon Durbin, who also came out of a B-Main, was third. Chris Zogg and Ryan Duhme rounded out the top five.

Thirty-five IMCA SportMods were in competition Friday. When the checkered flag fell, it was Ben Chapman in the Hooker Trucking victory lane. Halfway through the fifteen lap feature, Chapman glued his car to the bottom to get past race leader Jeremy Gustaf. Once in front, Chapman cruised to the win. Gustaf held on for second with Tyler Soppe taking third. Jarrett Franzen and Shane Paris finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The Koehler Electric Street Stocks were a battle of the four cars. Zachary Zuberbier (4z) and Jeff Struck Jr. (4s) dominated the feature race. Zuberbier got to the lead first, taking the point after a lap three restart. Struck gave chase to the leader, but was never in position to pass for the lead. Nick Hixson rallied late to take third, followed by Donnie Louck and Frank Waters.

Joe Lafrenz charged through the field to win the QCjeeps.com Sport Compacts feature. Lafrenz started seventeenth and did not see the lead until the final couple laps. Levi Heath, who held the lead before Lafrenz finished second. Shawn McDermott, Dustin Forbes, and David Prim rounded out the top five.