NICKELL, MCGRATH, FRANKS AMONG WINNERS ON A HOT, HUMID NIGHT AT HAWKEYE DOWNS

 

Cedar Rapids, IA (June 10, 2016)- A hot, humid night greeted a few thousand fans on 100.7 “The Fox” Night at Cedar Rapids’ Hawkeye Downs Speedway Friday night.

The heat also created a slick racetrack and for the most part the drivers adapted well making for some great racing as they battled for points in addition to the heat and humidity along with a late threat of a thunderstorm in the Hy-Vee Racing Series.

In Miller Time Hornets, Drew Nickel came away with a hard fought win over Dallas Chandler in one of the best races of the night. After a couple early cautions, the field settled in with Derek Parrott leading lap one but Drew Nickell took the point on the next trip around the quarter-mile and pulled away from the field a bit.

A lap five caution bunched the field back up and a couple laps after the restart Dallas Chandler nosed ahead of Nickell to the lead. Two laps later Nickell was back in front and two laps after that Chandler found himself on point again.

The pair remained virtually side by side over the final three laps with Nickell making a big run on the outside during the final lap and edging into the lead as they exited turn four. Chandler finished second while Ethan Parrott, who had a great view of the battle in front of him, finished third.

The win was the first of the season for Nickell.

Griffin McGrath scored a pair of wins in the Performance Concepts Late Models Friday night as the division ran a make-up feature from May 27 along with the regular Friday night feature for this week.

Brody Willet led much of the race in the make-up feature holding off Brad Osborn and Brian Gibson over the first 15 laps before McGrath moved into the picture with 10 laps remaining. McGrath was within striking distance with five laps remaining and that’s when things really heated up. The two battled side-by side, including some contact, over the next couple laps before McGrath made what would be the winning pass with laps laps left on the board.
Willett maintained second with Brian Gibson crossing the stripe in third.

In the second feature the script was pretty much the same only this time it was Mark Greb leading most of the race before McGrath chased him down and eventually took the win. Greb was at the head of a five-car breakaway consisting of himself, Brian Gibson, Zach Less, Brad Osborn and McGrath until things begin to change on lap ten.

McGrath moved to fourth with eleven laps remaining, slid into third on the next lap, scored second with eight laps to go and then he secured the lead from Greb with four trips around the half-mile remaining.

Greb, who is in his first year in a late model, held onto second at the stripe with Zach Less, Brian Gibson, and Brad Osborn filling out the top of the order.

The always interesting Mountain Dew Sportsmen feature saw Kevin Franks awarded the win after Greg Hentrich and Jim Hanson, who were running first and second, collided exiting the fourth turn on the final lap. The pair had been banging off one another over the course of the final two laps.

Franks had led much of the race early with Hentrich taking the lead with eight laps to go. Hanson followed him by Franks and the battle was on.
The finish order behind Franks was determined to be Greg Hentrich, CJ VanHorn, and Bob Ahrendsen, who was making his first start of the season.

Defending Dublin City Pub INEX Legends Champion Kevin Korsmo scored his second win of the season Friday night. Korsmo took the lead from Dennis Diercks on lap four and then outran Matt Blake and Brody Willett to the checkered flag. A caution on lap nine bunched the field but Korsmo was able to pull away from Blake and Willett again when green flag racing resumed.

Austin Slabaugh finished fourth and Cole O’Brien was fifth.

Finally, in Anderson Automotive Hobby Stocks, Jim Hanson wrestled the lead away from Scott Siems just past the halfway mark of the 15-lap feature and motored to his fourth win of the season in this division. Braxton Franks was his closest challenger over the final few laps posting his best finish to date.

Scott Siems held on to third place with Jasen Freeman and Gerald Hall also scored in the top five.

Racing returns Friday, June 17 with for Iowa Donor Network Night. The Mid-American Stock-Car Series will join the program with Mountain Dew Sportsmen eligible to run with that series.
MILLER TIME HORNETS
HEAT 1- 1. (16) Todd Ness 2.(87) Drew Nickell 3.(01) Derek Parrott 4.(1A) Logan Foye 5.(7) Michael Coulbourn
HEAT 2- 1. (72) Ethan Parrott 2.(76) Lucas Foster 3.(44) Troy Scott 4. (3) Dallas Chandler 5.( 9) James Montgomery
FEATURE- 1. (87) Drew Nickell, Cedar Rapids; 2.(3) Dallas Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 3. (72) Ethan Parrott, Marion; 4. (44) Troy Scott, Cedar Rapids; 5. (01) Derek Parrott, Marion; 6. (76) Lucas Foster, Cedar Rapids; 7. (9) James Montgomery, Cedar Rapids; 8. (1A ) Logan Foye, Marion; 9. (16) Todd Ness, Cedar Rapids; 10. (7) Michael Coulbourn, Cedar Rapids

MOUNTAIN DEW SPORTSMEN
HEAT- 1. (88) Jim Hanson 2.(35) Greg Hentrich 3.(54) CJ VanHorn 4.(6A) Bob Ahrendsen 5. (9) Dave Ballstaedt 6.(57) Jeremy Clement 7. (6x) Mike Mitchell 8. (77) Kevin Franks DNS- Gerald Hall
FEATURE 1.(77) Kevin Franks, Cedar Rapids; 2. (35) Greg Hentrich, Hiawatha; 3. (54) CJ Van Horn, Marion; 4. (6A) Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids; 5. (88) Jim Hanson, Cedar Rapids; 6. (88JR) Gerald Hall, Cedar Rapids; 7. (9) Dave Ballstaedt, Marion 8. (57) Jeremy Clement, Cedar Rapids; 9. (6x) Mike Mitchell, Cedar Rapids
ANDERSON AUTOMOTIVE HOBBY STOCKS
HEAT 1- 1. (14j) Jacob Floyd 2.(8)Braxton Franks 3.(12k) Kandi Floyd 4.(88) Gerald Hall 5. (3) Chris Rolinger 6. (11) Brian Bries 11. (57) Malena Clement DNS- Brandon Herb
HEAT 2- (1) Scott Siems 2.(07) Jim Hanson 3. (41) Jasen Freeman 4. (54) Jason Sherman 5.(2) Matt Lacoursiere 6. (54H) Dale Sherman 7. (43) Ed O’Brien
FEATURE 1. (07) Jim Hanson, Cedar Rapids; 2.(8) Braxton Franks, Cedar Rapids; 3.(1) Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids; 4. (41) Jasen Freeman, Cedar Rapids; 5. (88) Gerald Hall, Cedar Rapids; 6. (54) Jason Sherman, Marengo; 7. (3) Chris Rolinger, Cedar Rapids; 8. (43) Ed O’Brien, Cedar Rapids; 9. (2) Matt Lacoursiere, Cedar Rapids; 10. (54H) Dale Sherman, Marengo; 11. (12K) Kandi Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 12. (11) Brian Bries, Norway; 13. (57) Malena Clement, Cedar Rapids; 14. (14J) Jacob Floyd, Cedar Rapids; DNS- (12) Brandon Herb, Marion
DUBLIN CITY PUB INEX LEGENDS
CARPETLAND USA “FLOOR IT” DASH- Pat Cady, Wellman
HEAT 1- 1. (12) Sammy Smith 2.(52) Kevin Korsmo 3.(95) Al Diercks 4.(99) Dennis Diercks 5.(66) Gary Dyer 6. (28) Pat Cady 7. (6) Austin Slabaugh DNS- (4) Brady Fox Rhode
HEAT 2- 1. (00) Brody Willett 2. (25) Cole O’Brien 3. (88) Matt Blake 4. (77) Warren Ropp 5. (13) Stacy Olson 6. (16) Mer Slabaugh 7. (17) Sydney Henderson
FEATURE 1. (52) Kevin Korsmo, Atkins; 2. (88) Matt Blake, Cedar Rapids 3. (00) Brody Willett, Alburnett; 4. (6) Austin Slabaugh, Kalona; 5. (25) Cole O’Brien, Cedar Rapids; 6. (2) Sammy Smith, Des Moines; 7. (95) Al Diercks, Davenport;8. (77) Warren Ropp, Kalona; 9. (66) Gary Dyer, Bluegrass; 10. (13) Stacy Olson, Walford; 11. (28) Pat Cady, Wellman; 12. (16) Mer Slabaugh, Kalona; 13. (17) Sydney Henderson, Walford; 14. (99) Dennis Diercks, Eldridge; DNS- Brady Fox Rhode, Loretto, MN

PERFORMANCE CONCEPTS LATE MODELS
FEATURE (May 27 Make-up) 1. (64) Griffin McGrath, Cedar Rapids; 2. (00) Brody Willett, Alburnett; 3. (17) Brian Gibson, Walford; 4. (72) Brad Osborn, Janesville; 5. (20) Zach Less, Manchester 6. (71) Mark Greb, Coralville; 7. (10) Nick Beaver, Rosemont, MN; 8. (43) Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids; 9. (3) Dave McCalla, Cedar Rapids; 10. (76) Chad Siems, Shellsburg;
FEATURE (June 10) 1. (64) Grffin McGrath 2. (71) Mark Greb 3. (20) Zach Less 4. (17) Brian Gibson 5. (72) Brad Osborn 6. (00) Brody Willett 7. (10) Nick Beaver 8. (3) Dave McCalla 9. (43) Scott Siems 10. Chad Siems

Category: Hawkeye Downs Speedway, Iowa