DAVENPORT, Iowa — After a month off for the fair and rain, the Davenport Speedway roared back to life for Season Championship night. Track champions were crowned Monday night in all six weekly classes. Track champions at this time are unofficial, awaiting verification from track scorers and IMCA.
There was plenty of drama for yo momma in The Outhouse / Storage to Go – IMCA Late Models. Logan Veloz came into the night with a sizeable point lead, but then the unthinkable happened. Veloz lost a rear wheel and axle during his heat race. After being towed off the race track, Logan had to borrow the car of Rob Guss for the feature and would start dead last.
Cruz Birkhofer started the night second in points, 18 back. Cruz caught a break in the invert and started the feature on the pole. Birkhofer jumped out to the lead and led all 25 laps in a race that went green-white-checkered.
Tommy Elston had the fastest car on the track, but started in 11th position. Without the aid of a caution, Elston worked his way to a second place finish. Dalton Simonsen, Nathan Balensiefen, and Blaise Lewis ran top five all the way, finishing third through fifth in that order.
Late Model heat race wins went to Zach Zeitner. Matt Ryan, and Tommy Elston.
Veloz drove the borrowed car to a 15th place finish, just enough to earn him the track championship by three points over Birkhofer. The victory was Birkhofer’s second of the season, making him the only repeat winner in the class at Davenport this year.
The Midwest Recyclers / Del’s Metal Co. – IMCA Modified feature went much the same as their season. Once Spencer Diercks got out front, everyone else was racing for second place. Spencer drove to a big lead early, but was hunted down late in the race by Jace Eckrich. Diercks held on for the win, his third straight and fifth of the season. He also clinched the track championship, his second in a row.
Eckrich finished second, followed by Brandon Durbin, Logan Veloz, and Chris Zogg.
The battle for the Koehler Electric – Street Stock championship went down to the final lap and then some. Entering the main, Jesse Owen held a three-point lead over Tony VonDresky. VonDresky took the early lead from his front row starting spot. Owen got caught up in traffic hanging onto the top five.
Late in the race, Tony had to fend off a charging Nick Proehl to secure the win. Jake Lund took third with Owen finishing fourth ahead of Cary Brown. The three position finishing difference put VonDresky and Owen tied with 253 points. VonDresky owns the tie-breaker with two feature wins on the season. The title is Tony’s third Street Stock crown at Davenport.
There were only a few surprises in the Freds Towing / Cantrell Towing / QC Towing – IMCA SportMods. Ben Chapman needed only to start the feature to claim his fourth Davenport SportMod title. Ben started sixth and would not see the lead until lap seven. Once in front Chapman cruised to victory.
Josh Starr led a couple laps early and held on to finish second. Some of the IMCA Northern SportMods top competitors were on hand Monday. Third in national points, Coy Vlies from Wisconsin finished third. National point leader Jarrett Franzen was fourth. Tyler Maschmann took fifth.
The D & K Home Products – IMCA Stock Car feature had a weird feel. Only seven cars answered the call for the start of the race. Point leader Jacob Ellithorpe came with a three point advantage over Kodey Miles and five over Jordan Miles.
The feature started with Jerry Miles and John Oliver Jr. battling for the lead. Oliver took the lead on lap five and protected the bottom to score his second feature win of the season at Davenport. Kodey Miles gave a great effort, but finished second, a couple car-lengths behind. Jerry Miles and Jordan Miles were third and fifth respectively. Jacob Ellithorpe’s fourth place was just enough to give him a one-point advantage for the track championship.
The Wangelin’s Auto – IMCA Hobby Stocks started with three drivers still having a shot at the title. Third In points Randy LaMar blasted out to the early race lead, holding the top spot for the first eleven laps.
A lap-12 restart would allow Carson Butt to drive under LaMar for the lead. Carson held the lead in the final laps for his second feature win of the season and claimed his first track championship at Davenport. LaMar took second over Josh Starr in third. Dan Wenig and Tristan Wenig finished fourth and fifth.
