Prestige, big payday follow checkers for LaCrosse at Night of 10,000 Stars
BRITT, Iowa (Aug. 9) – Benji LaCrosse talked about the prestige that went with winning the inaugural Night of 10,000 Stars special for IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modifieds at Hancock County Speedway.
The money was extremely good, too.
LaCrosse led all but one of 50 laps and took the Friday night checkers comfortably ahead of travel companion and Mad Man Chassis teammate Brian Mullen. The victory resulted in the biggest single payday for an IMCA Modified driver, $8,000. That amount included a $1,000 bonus for LaCrosse having won the Night of 1,000 Stars in 2011.
Jeremy Mills, Kelly Shryock and Richie Gustin completed the top five in another star-studded field at Britt.
“This is such a prestigious event because of the competition you race against,” LaCrosse said. “Any time you can race out of state and win it means a lot.”
He’d finished second behind Kyle Strickler in Thursday’s Night of 1,000 Stars feature. After starting 28th and working his way up into the top half of the field by the mandatory midway caution, some quick set-up changes made LaCrosse a contender on a track he hadn’t expected to rubber down.
LaCrosse won his Friday heat, started third and took the lead at the start. Cayden Carter was in front briefly before the stop at halfway but after that the show was all LaCrosse.
“The track was very smooth. I was running the bottom and when I saw Carter come up, he wasn’t as high as I thought,” said the new qualifier for the 2014 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. “I ran the middle the second half of the race.”
Mullen drove to second from 16th starting. Mills had started 18th and Shryock 31st .
Fifty-eight cars representing seven states vied at Night of 10,000 Stars.
Feature Results – 1. Benji LaCrosse, Green Way, Wis.; 2. Brian Mullen, Seymour, Wis.; 3. Jeremy Mills, Garner; 4. Kelly Shryock, Fertile; 5. Richie Gustin, Gilman; 6. Jimmy Gustin, Marshalltown; 7. Mike Jergens, Plover; 8. Randy Havlik, Boone; 9. Mark Elliott, Webster City; 10. Mike Van Genderen, Newton; 11. Tad Reutzel, Burt; 12. Troy Jerovetz, Green Bay, Wis.; 13. Clint Wendel, Mason City; 14. Clint Hatlestad, Glencoe, Minn.; 15. Levi Nielsen, Mason City; 16. Justin Jurgens, Lincoln, Neb.; 17. Jay Goosman, Merrill; 18. Scott Olson, Blairsburg; 19. Stacey Mills, Webb; 20. Rob Rose, West Des Moines; 21. Jamie Anderson, Mason City; 22. Rob Hughes, Humboldt; 23. Tyler Limoges, Redwood Falls, Minn.; 24. Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa; 25. Dustin Brown, Thornton; 26. J.J. Wise, Manly; 27. Brandon Beckendorf, Danube, Minn.; 28. Dustin Andersen, Omaha, Neb.; 29. Curt Lund, Redwood Falls, Minn.; 30. Austin Wolf, Algona; 31. Todd Shute, Des Moines; 32. Alex Hanson, Northwood; 33. Ricky Stephan, South Sioux City, Neb.; 34. Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, N.C.; 35. Kevin Stoa, Clear Lake; 36. Eric Dailey, Armstrong; 37. Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb.
1st heat (top two) – 1. Grabouski; 2. Wendel; 3. Jimmy Gustin; 4. Mullen; 5. Reutzel; 6. Kyle Brown, Kellogg; 7. Jim Mathieson, Sioux City; 8. Al Hejna, Clear Lake; 9. Justin Sackett, Pierson.
2nd heat – 1. Carter; 2. Strickler; 3. Scott Davis, Madrid; 4. Havlik; 5. David Brown, Kellogg; 6. Shryock; 7. Stacey Mills; 8. Jay Noteboom, Hinton; 9. Wise.
3rd heat – 1. Andersen; 2. Olson; 3. Chris Mills, Sioux City; 4. Adam Larson, Ames; 5. Richie Gustin; 6. Troy Swearingen, Thompson; 7. Thomas Buns, Woden; 8. Stoa; 9. Zach Rawlins, Kellogg.
4th heat – 1. Lund; 2. Jergens; 3. Josh Rogotzke, Sanborn, Minn.; 4. Stephan; 5. Jerovetz; 6. Jeremy Mills; 7. Jason Schneiders, Sioux City; 8. Scott Hogan, Vinton.
5th heat – 1. Dailey; 2. Limoges; 3. Jurgens; 4. Jeff Waterman, Quincy, Ill.; 5. Wolf; 6. Rodney Slagle, Eagle Grove; 7. Brian Joski, Abrams, Wis.
6th heat – 1. Shute; 2. Rose; 3. Beckendorf; 4. Goosman; 5. Van Genderen; 6. Nielsen; 7. Clint Homan, Bellevue, Neb.; 8. Anderson.
7th heat – 1. LaCrosse; 2. Hughes; 3. Hatlestad; 4. Dustin Brown; 5. Hanson; 6. Matthew Meinecke, Madrid; 7. David Pries, Medaryville, Ind.; 8. Elliott.
1st “B” feature (top five) – 1. Jimmy Gustin; 2. Jeremy Mills; 3. Hatlestad; 4. Wolf; 5. Goosman; 6. Kyle Brown; 7. David Brown; 8. Noteboom; 9. Rogotzke; 10. Larson; 11. Meinecke; 12. Homan; 13. Buns; 14. Anderson; 15. Wise.
2nd “B” feature – 1. Mullen; 2. Richie Gustin; 3. Stephan; 4. Van Genderen; 5. Jurgens; 6. Shryock; 7. Slagle; 8. Stoa; 9. Davis; 10. Elliott; 11. Dustin Brown; 12. Mathieson; 13. Schneiders; 14. Rawlins; 15. Pries.
3rd “B” feature – 1. Reutzel; 2. Beckendorf; 3. Havlik; 4. Hanson; 5. Jerovetz; 6. Nielsen; 7. Waterman; 8. Hogan; 9. Sackett; 10. Swearingen; 11. Stacey Mills; 12. Chris Mills, Sioux City; 13. Joski; 14. Hejna.
Sponsor provisionals – Stacey Mills, Shryock, Elliott, Nielsen, Anderson, Brown, Stoa and Wise.
Category: Iowa
