Ross, Ryan roar to East Moline Late Model wins
Larson, Balensiefen, Owen, Burk, Gonzales, Begyn also take checkers
BY ROB HINCKLEY
EAST MOLINE, Ill. (June 13) – Joe Ross looked up and then said he couldn’t remember when he won last.
“Especially at East Moline,” he said in winners circle and laughed.
The Ross family special was a bullet on the high side. The Thomson, Ill. veteran passed Gary Webb about halfway through and cruised to the 25-lap Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Late Model feature Sunday evening at East Moline Speedway.
“I found it good on the high side in (turns) one and two and the bottom was better in three and four,” Ross added. “I had no idea where anyone was behind me so I just kept rolling.”
There were several cautions early, but the field settled down and put on good battles.
Webb held off Andy Nezworski, followed by early leader Leroy Brenner and Chuck Hanna.
Mike Haines crashed and ended up on his roof during the feature, but he was not injured.
Earlier in the evening, Matt Ryan flew to the 25-lap make up feature from May 16, beating Nezworski, Ross, Hanna and Webb.
Jeff Larson kept the hot streak going with his third straight J&J Camper Sales IMCA Modified 20-lap finale. Larson passed Travis Denning for the top spot. Brandon Durbin, Jim Sandusky and Brandt Cole were next.
Nathan Balansiefen also made the top side work, sped from eighth and to the winners circle. He topped the 19-car Legacy Corporation IMCA SportMod feature. Missouri driver Adam Birck led early and held on for the runner up spot in the 15 lapper. Cody Calam, Kevin Goben and Chuck Fox followed.
Jesse Owen won for the third consecutive week in the County Waste Systems Street Stocks, holding off Rob Henry, Rick Schriner, Peter O’Dell and Kyler Hickenbottom in that 15-lapper.
Drew Burk beat Randy Lamar, Adam Parker and Steven Rangel in the Rudy’s Tacos IMCA Hobby Stocks, winning his third 12-lap main.
R.J. Gonzales started at the back, rocketed to the front and held off Mike Zemo, Jr. for the Weekend Performance IMCA Mod Lite 15-lap ender. Mike Morrow, Anthony Guss and Rob Guss followed.
Dustin Begyn took off from the front row and dominated the 12-lap Riverbend Pizza Place Sport Compact feature. Dustin Forbes, Cyle Hawkins, Tommy Staggs and Jimmy Dutlinger came next.
A water truck issue meant less water on the racing surface and made the track almost impassable at the first green flag. However, the problem was overcome by the track crew, water was put down and the difference was noticeable. Three and four wide racing was common the rest of the night.
A total of 89 entries hit the quarter-mile oval and, with the delays, racing was concluded by 10:15 p.m.
The season continues on the quarter-mile dirt oval this Sunday June 13. The Nostalgic Stock Car Racing Club joins in and Hobby Stocks have the night off. Gates open at 4 p.m. Hot laps are at 5:30 with racing to follow.
For more information, log on to the East Moline Speedway Facebook page or call 563-343-8250.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Late Models
Make up Feature from May 16 (25 laps) – 1. 07 Matt Ryan 2. 7 Andy Nezworski 3. R19 Joe Ross 4. 65 Chuck Hanna 5. W56 Gary Webb 6. 10 Jacob Waterman 7. 53 Leroy Brenner 8. 1H Mike Haines 9. 71H Anthony Haines 10. 14 B.J. Jackson 11. 99 Brian Harris (Did Not Start – 70 Shawn Mulvany).
Feature (25 laps) – 1. 19R Joe Ross 2. W56 Gary Webb 3. 7 Andy Nezworski 4. 53 Leroy Brenner 5. 65 Chuck Hanna 6. 10 Jacob Waterman 7. 14 B.J. Jackson 8. 007 Lake Knutti 9. 07 Matt Ryan 10. 007N David Norton 11. 91 Jeremy Conaway 12. 71H Anthony Haines 13. 1H Mike Haines
1st Heat (10 laps) – 1. Brenner 2. Waterman 3. Nezworski 4. Ross
2nd Heat (10 laps) – 1. Ryan 2. Webb 3. Hanna 4. Jackson
J&J Camper Sales IMCA Modifieds
Feature (20 laps) – 1. B1 Jeff Larson 2. 56D Travis Denning 3. 15D Brandon Durbin 4. J1 Jim Sandusky 5. C9 Brandt Cole 6. 85 Andy Nezworski 7. 19C Mark VerVynck 8. 81C Casey Franks 9. 23 Alex VerVynck 10. 3C Richard Vela 11. 007 Lake Knutti 12. 613 Dan Hahn 13. 313 Doug Lenth
1st Heat (8 laps) – 1. Sandusky 2. Larson 3. Denning 4. A. VerVynck
2nd Heat (8 laps) – 1. Lenth 2. Hahn 3. Durbin 4. M. VerVynck
Legacy Corporation IMCA SportMods
Feature (15 laps) – 1. 79 Nathan Balansiefen 2. 112 Adam Birck 3. B33 Cody Calam 4. 4G Kevin Goben 5. 76 Chuck Fox 6. 88 Trey Grimm 7. 33 Jarett Franzen 8. 18C Dakota Cole 9. 43LV Logan Veloz 10. 157 Clint Morehouse 11. 55C Jacob Copley 12. S4 Steven Spiker 13. 21 Cam Reimers 14. 09R Rob Nylin 15. 1A Dirk Piening 16. 34 Josh Marth 17. 54F Andrew Francis 18 88D C.J. Durbin 19. 92 Dustin Schram
1st Heat (8 laps) – 1. Birck 2. Spiker 3. Balensiefen 4. Calam
2nd Heat (8 laps) – 1. Cole 2. Grimm 3. Morehouse 4. Reimers
3rd Heat (8 laps) – 1. L. Veloz 2. Fox 3. Copley 4. Goben
County Waste Systems Street Stocks
Feature (15 laps) – 1. 95 Jesse Owen 2. 00 Rob Henry 3. 8 Rick Schriner 4. 37 Peter O’Dell 5. 8H Kyler Hickenbottom 6. 7T Robert Cottom 7. 3P Alex Pappas 8. 83 Jim Rutsaert 9. 36 Ben O’Dell 10. 94 Erick Turner 11. R00 Veronica Anderson 12. 7 Austin Riggs 13. 61S Jeff Streitmatter (Did Not Start – 99D Rick Delles
1st Heat (8 laps) – 1. Schriner 2. P. O’Dell 3. Pappas 4. Hickenbottom
2nd Heat (8 laps) – 1. Owen 2. Henry 3. B. O’Dell 4. Streitmatter
Rudy’s Tacos IMCA Hobby Stocks
Feature (12 laps) – 1. 77W Drew Burk 2. 4R Randy Lamar 3. 81 Adam Parker 4. 09R Steven Rangel
Weekend Performance IMCA Mod Lites
Feature (15 laps) – 1. 18G R.J. Gonzales 2. Z Mike Zemo, Jr. 3. 17M Mike Morrow 4. 29 Anthony Guss 5. 91 Rob Guss 6. 54 Zach Holerud 7. 21 Dillon Letts 8. 11P Jon Padilla 9. 00B Brittani Dominguez 10. 5 Michael Dominguez 11. 131 Bryan Wonick
1st Heat (8 laps) – 1. Zemo 2. A. Guss 3. Letts 4. M. Dominguez
2nd Heat (8 laps) – 1. Morrow 2. Padilla 3. R. Guss 4. Holerud
Riverbend Pizza Place Sport Compacts
Feature (12 laps) – 1. 22DB Dustin Begyn 2. 815F Dustin Forbes 3. 28 Cyle Hawkins 4. 24X Tommy Staggs 5. 28X Jimmy Dutlinger 6. 7T Kyle Taets 7. 11P Codie Proehl 8. 514 Jason Rhoads 9. 28M Alex Modaff 10. 4 Chris Kissel 11. 21KC Nathan Kirby 12. 42A Troy Anderson 13. 28E Andrew Bolio (Did Not Start – 43J Joel Simpson, 14 Drew Wise; Disqualified – 106 Cris Courson).
1st Heat (6 laps) – 1. Staggs 2. Hawkins 3. Taets 4. Kissel
2nd Heat (6 laps) – 1. Begyn 2. Dutlinger 3. Rhoads 4. Proehl
Category: Illinois
