Late-race heroics the norm in Sports Park Raceway thrillers

May 15, 2020

Ty Griffith won the USRA B-Mod main event.

The Sports Park Raceway returned to action for a second straight week on Friday with five new faces gracing victory lane at the half-mile clay oval located just south of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Action in the Pickett Salvage USRA Hobby Stocks set the bar with the first feature race of the night and saw defending Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series National Champion Eric Stanton of Carlisle avenge his second-place finish last week with a last-lap pass of Slater’s Eric Knutson.

Following around the high side, Stanton found traction on the low side of turns one and two and edged in front of Knutson as they drag-raced down the back-stretch and then held him off at the flagstand to take the win in the 15-lapper.

Meanwhile, polesitter Jeremy Crimmins of Fort Dodge nearly snuck underneath the lead duo at the end but settled for a third-place paycheck behind runner-up Knutson while Drew Barglof of Sioux Rapids finished fourth ahead of last week’s winner, Tyson Overton of Carlisle.

Not to be outdone, the USRA Tuners waged a fierce battle for ten laps as John Gill of Marshalltown, Jade Lange of Humboldt and Ryan Bryant of Mason City waged a three-car battle from start to finish with Gill fending off Bryant at the end.

Lange briefly took the lead from Gill as the lead trio got the white flag but Gill snuck underneath in the first turn while Bryant tagged the rear bumper of Lange’s machine as he began to experience untimely mechanical trouble.

Bryant—the 2018 USRA Tuner national champ—gave it one last effort in the final turn but was unable to sneak past Gill.

Bruce Hower of Indianola, eighth-starting Michael Heun of Manson and Matt Oberhelman of Fort Dodge completed the top five.

The USRA B-Mods provided one of the most exciting finishes of the night as Webster City’s Ty Griffith was able to use lapped traffic to his advantage and get by race-long leader Jim Chisholm of Osage with two laps to go in the 18-lap main event.

Chisholm, who came from the 11th starting spot last week but wound up second at the finish line behind Griffith, left the track Friday night with the same taste in his mouth after another runner-up finish.

Nate Whitehurst of Mason City, Jason Bass of Fort Dodge and Doug McCollough of Webster City completed the top five.

A couple of caution flags kept the field close, but Duke Erickson of Sioux Falls, S.D., remained in control of the 15-lap USRA Modified main event from beginning to end while polesitter Garett Wilson of Carlisle chased throughout before settling for second.

Chase Ellingson of Williams garnered the third spot while another driver from Williams, Jerid Ratzke, finished fourth and Jeff Feaster of Dakota City was the fifth driver to see the checkered flag.

American Racer USRA Stock Cars were the final group to run their feature race with Cole Mather of Oelwein scoring a wire-to-wire victory in the 15-lap affair.

Webster City’s Todd Staley chased Mather around the top side of the Sports Park Raceway for most of the race and looked to the inside of the leader as they took the white flag but caution slowed the action when third-running Chanse Hollatz collided with Redi Keller at the exit of turn four.

When the green flag resumed, what was a two-car battle for the win became three when Pat Graham stuck his nose underneath both drivers in the first corner.

Graham slid up in between Mather and Staley to steal the second position but Mather sailed away from that point.

Graham held off Staley for runner-up honors, Bill Crimmins of Fort Dodge took fourth and the fifth position went to Tyler Pickett of Boxholm.

The Nostalgic Dirt Series made a special appearance Friday with Bob Soma of Madelia, Minn., taking the win in his 1955 Chevy over the 1960 Dodge Dart driven by Steve Tanner of Richmond, Mo.

Third went to Curt Moore of Rowan in his 1967 Chevelle followed by Chris Holt of Mason City in a 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and Don Masters of Fairmont, Minn., behind the wheel of a 1964 Chevy Nova.

After a weekend off for Memorial Day, racing is set to continue Friday, May 29, at the Sports Park Raceway with USRA Modifieds, USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods, Pickett Salvage USRA Hobby Stocks and USRA Tuners back in the spotlight.

The Sports Park Raceway is located 0.9 mile north of US 20 on US 169, then 0.5 mile east on 230th in Fort Dodge, Iowa. If you have any questions, visit SportsParkRaceway.com or email info@sportsparkraceway.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

To learn more about the United States Racing Association, visit USRAracing.com. You can also like us on Facebook, visit us on Instagram, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube. Keep up to speed with everything USRA and subscribe to the USRA e-Newsletter at USRAracing.com/subscribe.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series
Sports Park Raceway, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Friday, May 15, 2020

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown.

USRA B-MODS

Heat #1:
1. (1) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (6) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
3. (4) 21W Wade Gilliland, Callender, Iowa
4. (2) D1 Damion Elliott, Webster City, Iowa
5. (5) 7V Jarrett VanDenBerg, Oskaloosa, Iowa
6. (3) 28 Dayton Swatek, Cresco, Iowa

Heat #2:
1. (1) 4 Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa
2. (4) 9J Jeremiah Reed, Otho, Iowa
3. (3) 7+ Jared Timmerman, Norwalk, Iowa
4. (5) 1 Doug McCollough, Webster City, Iowa
5. (2) 88 Bryer McCoy, Webster City, Iowa
6. (6) 52 Ryan Sams, Fort Dodge, Iowa

Heat #3:
1. (4) 56 Ty Griffith, Webster City, Iowa
2. (2) 511 Matt Grall, Fort Dodge, Iowa
3. (3) 49 Nate Whitehurst, Mason City, Iowa
4. (1) 7 Danny Fye, Boxholm, Iowa
5. (5) 25P Justin Patterson, Fort Dodge, Iowa
6. (6) 40 George Gilliland, Lehigh, Iowa

Feature:
1. (6) 56 Ty Griffith, Webster City, Iowa
2. (1) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
3. (3) 49 Nate Whitehurst, Mason City, Iowa
4. (2) 4 Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa
5. (5) 1 Doug McCollough, Webster City, Iowa
6. (13) 7V Jarrett VanDenBerg, Oskaloosa, Iowa
7. (11) 511 Matt Grall, Fort Dodge, Iowa
8. (10) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
9. (12) 7+ Jared Timmerman, Norwalk, Iowa
10. (15) 25P Justin Patterson, Fort Dodge, Iowa
11. (7) 7 Danny Fye, Boxholm, Iowa
12. (18) 40 George Gilliland, Lehigh, Iowa
13. (8) 21W Wade Gilliland, Callender, Iowa
14. (9) D1 Damion Elliott, Webster City, Iowa
15. (16) 28 Dayton Swatek, Cresco, Iowa
16. (17) 52 Ryan Sams, Fort Dodge, Iowa
17. (4) 9J Jeremiah Reed, Otho, Iowa
18. (14) 88 Bryer McCoy, Webster City, Iowa

PICKETT SALVAGE USRA HOBBY STOCKS

Heat #1:
1. (1) 10 Danny Sassman Jr., Fort Dodge, Iowa
2. (2) 10A John Ades, Rippey, Iowa
3. (4) 50 Bryce Sommerfeld, Fort Dodge, Iowa
4. (5) 42T Tyson Overton, Carlisle, Iowa
5. (3) 7B Eric Stanton, Carlisle, Iowa
6. (7) 12K Eric Knutson, Slater, Iowa
7. (6) 55G David Gilliland, Fort Dodge, Iowa
DNS – 8F Aron Fye, Alden, Iowa

Heat #2:
1. (5) 15 Jeremy Crimmins, Fort Dodge, Iowa
2. (2) 8 Adam Tiernan, Granger, Iowa
3. (8) 112 Drew Barglof, Sioux Rapids, Iowa
4. (7) 22 Seth Butler, Scranton, Iowa
5. (4) 72H Miciah Hidlebaugh, Adel, Iowa
6. (6) 35 Riley Crimmins, Fort Dodge, Iowa
7. (1) 34 Lincoln Miller, Eagle Grove, Iowa
8. (3) 56G Bradley Gilliland, Lehigh, Iowa

Feature:
1. (7) 7B Eric Stanton, Carlisle, Iowa
2. (11) 12K Eric Knutson, Slater, Iowa
3. (1) 15 Jeremy Crimmins, Fort Dodge, Iowa
4. (10) 112 Drew Barglof, Sioux Rapids, Iowa
5. (9) 42T Tyson Overton, Carlisle, Iowa
6. (8) 72H Miciah Hidlebaugh, Adel, Iowa
7. (2) 50 Bryce Sommerfeld, Fort Dodge, Iowa
8. (4) 8 Adam Tiernan, Granger, Iowa
9. (12) 35 Riley Crimmins, Fort Dodge, Iowa
10. (3) 10A John Ades, Rippey, Iowa
11. (14) 34 Lincoln Miller, Eagle Grove, Iowa
12. (13) 55G David Gilliland, Fort Dodge, Iowa
13. (5) 22 Seth Butler, Scranton, Iowa
14. (15) 56G Bradley Gilliland, Lehigh, Iowa
15. (6) 10 Danny Sassman Jr., Fort Dodge, Iowa
DNS – 8F Aron Fye, Alden, Iowa

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat:
1. (6) 5D Devon Havlik, Iowa Falls, Iowa
2. (1) 3W Garett Wilson, Carlisle, Iowa
3. (3) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
4. (8) 14E Chase Ellingson, Williams, Iowa
5. (9) 15 Chris Loberg, Elma, Iowa
6. (4) 343 Jeff Feaster, Dakota City, Iowa
7. (2) 2 Jerid Ratzke, Williams, Iowa
8. (5) 45H Jason Hickingbottom, Duncombe, Iowa
9. (7) R21 Ryan Schaffer, Corning, Iowa

Feature:
1. (2) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
2. (1) 3W Garett Wilson, Carlisle, Iowa
3. (3) 14E Chase Ellingson, Williams, Iowa
4. (7) 2 Jerid Ratzke, Williams, Iowa
5. (6) 343 Jeff Feaster, Dakota City, Iowa
6. (8) 45H Jason Hickingbottom, Duncombe, Iowa
7. (5) 5D Devon Havlik, Iowa Falls, Iowa
8. (9) R21 Ryan Schaffer, Corning, Iowa
9. (4) 15 Chris Loberg, Elma, Iowa

AMERICAN RACER USRA STOCK CARS

Heat #1:
1. (3) 1G Pat Graham, Ankeny, Iowa
2. (1) 35 Bill Crimmins, Fort Dodge, Iowa
3. (5) 14 Todd Staley, Webster City, Iowa
4. (4) 19 Reid Keller, Webster City, Iowa
5. (2) 59 Jeff Lyon, Duncombe, Iowa

Heat #2:
1. (1) 74C Cole Mather, Oelwein, Iowa
2. (3) 5A Tyler Pickett, Boxholm, Iowa
3). (5) 6 Chanse Hollatz, Clear Lake, Iowa
4). (4) 43 Calvin Lange, Humboldt, Iowa
5. (2) 99K Erick Knutsen, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Feature:
1. (2) 74C Cole Mather, Oelwein, Iowa
2. (3) 1G Pat Graham, Ankeny, Iowa
3. (4) 14 Todd Staley, Webster City, Iowa
4. (5) 35 Bill Crimmins, Fort Dodge, Iowa
5. (1) 5A Tyler Pickett, Boxholm, Iowa
6. (9) 59 Jeff Lyon, Duncombe, Iowa
7. (6) 6 Chanse Hollatz, Clear Lake, Iowa
8. (7) 19 Reid Keller, Webster City, Iowa
9. (8) 43 Calvin Lange, Humboldt, Iowa
10. (10) 99K Erick Knutsen, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

USRA TUNERS

Heat #1:
1. (3) 37 Ryan Bryant, Mason City, Iowa
2. (2) 88 Bruce Hower, Indianola, Iowa
3. (6) 02 John Gill, Marshalltown, Iowa
4. (5) 99 Chris Wilson, Britt, Iowa
5. (1) 38 Des Sells, Fort Dodge, Iowa
DNS – 3T Tyler Pederson, Pocahontas, Iowa

Heat #2:
1. (4) 43 Jade Lange, Humboldt, Iowa
2. (5) 440 Jaedon Erickson, Welcome, Minn.
3. (2) 41 Matt Oberhelman, Fort Dodge, Iowa
4. (6) 230 Michael Heun, Manson, Iowa
5. (1) 3H Calvin Hinz, Fairmont, Minn.
DNS – 81 Brandon Hartmann, Fairmont, Minn.

Feature:
1. (2) 02 John Gill, Marshalltown, Iowa
2. (6) 37 Ryan Bryant, Mason City, Iowa
3. (5) 88 Bruce Hower, Indianola, Iowa
4. (8) 230 Michael Heun, Manson, Iowa
5. (1) 41 Matt Oberhelman, Fort Dodge, Iowa
6. (4) 43 Jade Lange, Humboldt, Iowa
7. (10) 3H Calvin Hinz, Fairmont, Minn.
8. (7) 99 Chris Wilson, Britt, Iowa
9. (9) 38 Des Sells, Fort Dodge, Iowa
10. (3) 440 Jaedon Erickson, Welcome, Minn.
DNS – 81 Brandon Hartmann, Fairmont, Minn.
DNS – 3T Tyler Pederson, Pocahontas, Iowa

NOSTALGIC DIRT SERIES

Heat:
1. (3) 21 Don Masters, Fairmont, Minn. (‘64 Chevy Nova)
2. (2) XX Steve Tanner, Richmond, Mo. (‘60 Dodge Dart)
3. (6) 46 Bob Soma, Madelia, Minn. (‘55 Chevy)
4. (5) 99 Chris Holt, Mason City, Iowa (‘50 Oldsmobile Rocket 88)
5. (4) 96 Curt Moore, Rowan, Iowa (‘67 Chevelle)
6. (1) 77 Billy Van Hauen, Nora Springs, Iowa (‘65 Chevelle)

Feature:
1. (1) 46 Bob Soma, Madelia, Minn. (‘55 Chevy)
2. (3) XX Steve Tanner, Richmond, Mo. (‘60 Dodge Dart)
3. (4) 96 Curt Moore, Rowan, Iowa (‘67 Chevelle)
4. (5) 99 Chris Holt, Mason City, Iowa (‘50 Oldsmobile Rocket 88)
5. (2) 21 Don Masters, Fairmont, Minn. (‘64 Chevy Nova)
DNS – 77 Billy Van Hauen, Nora Springs, Iowa (‘65 Chevelle)