Lewerke, Irvine, Smith win Saturday features at IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals

BOONE, IA (Sept. 9, 2006) – Once he got back in the lead, Rich Lewerke made up his mind that anyone who was going to pass him in the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals Modified main event would have to do it on the low side of the track.

Nobody did.

The veteran from Garner started seventh, regained the front spot for good on the 23rd of 40 circuits and held off a determined Mike Molle of Glidden to win his first championship in five career Saturday night Super Nationals feature appearances at Boone Speedway.

“This is what I’ve worked for probably since 1974 when I was racing go karts,” said Lewerke, runner-up at the big dance in 1998. “I never dreamed I’d win a race like this. This is the hardest race in the world to qualify for. Tell me where else you have to go to race against more than 300 other drivers.”

The 24th annual Super Nationals saw a new record with 789 cars competing in six divisions. That total bests the previous mark, set last year, by nine cars. Drivers from 25 states and one Canadian province made the trip to Boone.

Jimmy Gustin of Marshalltown moved up 28 spots in the Modified show, racing all the way from the back row to finish third. Kelly Shryock of Fertile was fourth in his 10th career main event. Todd Shute of Des Moines led the first 15 laps and again for laps 19-22, then stayed in the top three before pulling off with mechanical problems with seven circuits to go.

A pair of pole starters also raced their way to victory lane in flag to flag fashion Saturday, as Brian Irvine of Oelwein topped the Stock Car feature and Dustin Smith of Lake City captured a Hobby Stock show slowed by a single early yellow.

Irvine held the lead for 30 laps against a succession of challengers. Brandon Czarapata of Kaukauna, Wis., moved up 10 spots to finish second while Justin Temeyer of Independence passed 23 cars to take third. Jay Schmidt of Tama was fourth.

Smith, whose brother Donavon won at Boone two years ago, ran in front of Ankeny’s Kevin Sather all 25 laps, taking the checkers by a comfortable car length. Ryan Lundy of Knoxville was third and Jason Ward of Sioux City completed the top four.

Al Hejna of Clear Lake paced the Dirt Works Ron Efkamp Memorial Race of Champions for Modifieds, ahead of Lewerke and Jeremie Hedrick of Clintonville, Wis. Hejna had also won the Efkamp in 2000.

First place in the Sunoco Race Fuels Stock Car Race of Champions went to Jefferson’s Robert Stofer. Lance Borgman of Beatrice, Neb., was second and Toby Miller of Boyd, Texas, took third.

Joren Boyce of Minot, N.D., won Friday’s Fast Shafts All-Star Modified Invitational, ahead of Jay Noteboom of Orange City and Pat Graham of Ames.

Jason Mallicoat of Boone scored the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod feature win, in front of Doug McCollough of Webster City, Temeyer and Matthew Meinecke of Woodward. Seventy two SportMods were on hand for just the second appearance by the class at Super Nationals.

Curt Lund of Redwood Falls, Minn., added a bookend trophy to the hardware he took home in 1993, win-ning Tuesday’s Sprint Car feature. Chris Graf of Glencoe, Minn., was second in the event, which doubled as a Jackpot Junction Tour race, while Matt Stephenson of Des Moines and Keith Beckler of Litchfield, Minn., rounded out the top four.

The first champion crowned during the week was Todd Cooney of Des Moines, winner of the Deery Broth-ers Summer Series Late Model show on Monday.

Terry Neal of Ely was second, while the front running pair in series point standings, Rob Toland of Betten-dorf and Jeff Aikey of Waterloo, ran third and fourth, respectively.

Lewerke and Cooney both took home $2,000 for their winning efforts, while Lund, Hejna, Boyce and Irvine each earned $1,000. Smith pocketed $600, Mallicoat and Stofer $500 each. The total purse for Super Nation-als was approximately $275,000, with more than $50,000 in contingency awards given as well.

Modified Feature Results –
1. Rich Lewerke, Garner;
2. Mike Molle, Glidden;
3. Jimmy Gustin, Marshalltown;
4. Kelly Shryock, Fertile;
5. Jerry Luloff, Independence;
6. Jared Siefert, Green Bay, Wis.;
7. Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.;
8. Greg Cox, Altoona;
9. Todd Dart, Algoma, Wis.;
10. Jeremie Hedrick, Clintonville, Wis.;
11. Tim Echevarria, Junction City, Kan.;
12. Charley Brown, Maxwell, Neb.;
13. Justin Auringer, Evansdale;
14. Jake Durbin, Perry;
15. Randy Havlik, Cedar Rapids;
16. Joe McBirnie, Boone;
17. Scott Blessing, Kearney, Neb.;
18. Mark Elliott, Webster City;
19. Regan Tafoya, Farmington, N.M.;
20. Jim Cole, Sioux City;
21. Todd Shute, Des Moines;
22. Jay Noteboom, Orange City;
23. Drew Christianson, Minot, N.D.;
24. Jimmy Reeves, Laton, Calif.;
25. Al Hejna, Clear Lake;
26. Scott Baker, Boone;
27. Benji LaCrosse, Luxemburg, Wis.;
28. Jerry Hoffman, Oronogo, Mo.;
29. Reese Coffee, Hinton;
30. Troy Cordes, Raymond;
31. Dan Ratajczak, Luxemburg, Wis.;
32. Steven Pfeifer, West Fargo, N.D.;
33. Roger Hadan III, Waterloo, Neb.

Stock Car Feature Results –
1. Brian Irvine, Oelwein;
2. Brandon Czarapata, Kaukauna, Wis.;
3. Justin Temeyer, Independence;
4. Jay Schmidt, Tama;
5. Rodney Snellenberger, Pulaski, Wis.;
6. Jeremy Christians, Horicon, Wis.;
7. Eric Rempel, Palmyra, Neb.;
8. Keith Knop, Avoca;
9. Jason Czarapata, Pulaski, Wis.;
10. Mike Pruitt, Stuart;
11. Kyle Frederick, Gillett, Wis.;
12. Jeff Mueller, New London;
13. Scotty Brown, Dallas, Texas;
14. Clay Christian, Avoca;
15. Scooter Dulin, Cedar Rapids;
16. Wyatt Olson, Minot, N.D.;
17. Robert Stofer, Jefferson;
18. Damon Murty, Chelsea;
19. Mike Nichols, Harlan;
20. Timothy French, Nevada;
21. David Smith, Lake City;
22. Tony Ritterbush, Dunlap;
23. Chad Estes, Troy, Texas;
24. Charlie Kroll, Forestville, Wis.;
25. Brian Blessington, Breda;
26. Mike VanGenderen, Newton;
27. Travis VanStraten, Hortonville, Wis.;
28. Steve Campbell, Des Moines;
29. Nathan Burke, Minot, N.D.;
30. Shane Stutzman, Milford, Neb.

Hobby Stock Feature Results –
1. Dustin Smith, Lake City;
2. Kevin Sather, Ankeny;
3. Ryan Lundy, Knoxville;
4. Jason Ward, Sioux City;
5. Wayne Gifford, Boone;
6. Marcus Fagan, Casey;
7. Randy Embrey, Granger;
8. Dale Towne, Avoca;
9. Pat Mather, Greenfield;
10. Tim Wilcox, Ida Grove;
11. Todd Boulware, Jefferson, S.D.;
12. Chad Murray, Sioux City;
13. Chris Luloff, Independence;
14. Randy Roberts, Boone;
15. Brandon Pruitt, Dexter;
16. Nyle Godwin, Redfield;
17. Donavon Smith, Lake City;
18. Joey Patterson, Burleson, Texas;
19. Ashton Lee, Salix;
20. Kenneth Hansen, Audubon;
21. Dan Strandberg, Worthington, Minn.;
22. Andrew Burg, Adel;
23. Dustin Graham, Colo;
24. Tony Pogeler, Cherokee;
25. Trent Murphy, Jefferson;
26. Brady Schoen, Downs, Kan.;
27. Paul Nagle, Nevada.

Dirt Works Ron Efkamp Modified Memorial Race of Champions Results–
1. Al Hejna, Clear Lake;
2. Rich Lewerke, Garner;
3. Jeremie Hedrick, Clintonville, Wis.;
4. Hank Berry, Sidney, Mont.;
5. Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.;
6. Troy Cordes, Raymond;
7. Jay Noteboom, Orange City;
8. Dale Caswell, West Monroe, N.Y.;
9. Jerry Phillips, Galva, Kan.;
10. Kevin Larkins, Greenwood, Neb.;
11. Justin Auringer, Evansdale;
12. Ricky Stephan, South Sioux City, Neb.

Sunoco Race Fuels Stock Car Race of Champions Results–
1. Robert Stofer, Jefferson;
2. Lance Borgman, Beatrice, Neb.;
3. Toby Miller, Boyd, Texas;
4. Brian Blessington, Breda;
5. Damon Murty, Chelsea;
6. Tony Ritterbush, Dunlap;
7. Ryan Rose, Boone;
8. Kevin Opheim, Mason City;
9. Eugene Gregorich, Kewaunee, Wis.;
10. Jason Schoenberger, Gorham, Kan.

Fast Shafts All-Star Modified Invitational Results –
1. Joren Boyce, Minot, N.D.;
2. Jay Noteboom, Orange City;
3. Pat Graham, Ames;
4. Benji LaCrosse, Luxemburg, Wis.;
5. Kevin Stoa, Polk City;
6. Dan Fitzgerald, Las Vegas, Nev.;
7. Henry Witt Jr., Waco, Texas;
8. Johnny Saathoff, Beatrice, Neb.;
9. Justen Yeager, Green River, Wy.;
10. Todd Dart, Algoma, Wis.

Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod Feature Results –
1. Jason Mallicoat, Boone;
2. Doug McCollough, Webster City;
3. Justin Temeyer, Independence;
4. Matthew Meinecke, Woodward;
5. Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown;
6. Austin Kaplan, Ankeny;
7. Cody Warrick, Boone;
8. Nathan Chodur, Lake Mills;
9. Randy Kleinberg, Sioux City;
10. Keith Williamson, Maxwell;
11. Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls;
12. Scott Davis, Madrid;
13. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids;
14. Jeff Brunssen, LeMars;
15. Brett Meyer, Ames;
16. Tracy Wassenberg, Shawano, Wis.;
17. Jacob Murray, Hartford;
18. Randy Rudolf, Grand Junction;
19. Nick Lakes, Sergeant Bluff;
20. Kyle Bentley, Fairbank;
21. Jay Wolfe, Rubicon, Wis.;
22. Andy Tiernan, Woodward;
23. Jared Vote, Boone;
24. Danny Dvorak, Vinton;
25. Ryan Lundy, Knoxville;
26. Kyle Wahlert, Des Moines;
27. Brian Miller, Ankeny.

Sprint Car Feature Results –
1. Curt Lund, Redwood Falls, Minn.;
2. Chris Graf, Glencoe, Minn.;
3. Matt Stephenson, Des Moines;
4. Keith Beckler, Litchfield, Minn.;
5. John Greenwood, Woodward;
6. Gary Serbus, Olivia, Minn.;
7. Brett Allen, Kasota, Minn.;
8. Jesse Cripe, Rice, Minn.;
9. Dwain Wilmes, Kasota, Minn.;
10. Bruce Allen, Mankato, Minn.;
11. Sid Denzer, LeSueur, Minn.;
12. Brandon Allen, Mankato, Minn.;
13. Jennifer Eriksen, Savage, Minn.;
14. Billy Johnson, St. Peter, Minn.;
15. Mike Sargent, Cleveland, Minn.;
16. Brett Geldner, St. Peter, Minn.

Late Model Feature Results –
1. Todd Cooney, Des Moines;
2. Terry Neal, Ely;
3. Rob Toland, Bettendorf;
4. Jeff Aikey, Waterloo;
5. Greg Kastli, Waterloo;
6. Boone McLaughlin, Mediapolis;
7. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown;
8. Ryan Griffith, Webster City;
9. Mike Murphy, Jr., Colona, Ill.;
10. Andy Nezworski, Buffalo;
11. Travis Roth, Bancroft, Neb.;
12. Jeremy Grady, Story City;
13. Jeff Bair, Solon;
14. Eric Gustaf, Moline, Ill.;
15. Hershel Roberts, East Moline, Ill.;
16. Al Johnson, Story City;
17. Matt Ryan, Davenport;
18. Craig Roberts, Des Moines;
19. Sam Halstead, New London;
20. Ron Gustaf, Moline, Ill.;
21. Mike Smith, Jewell;
22. Robby Warner, Quincy, Ill.;
23. Kelly Tapper, Boone;
24. Mark Preston, Port Byron, Ill.