Ryan, Larson take East Moline Speedway openers Reimers, Clark, Wauters, Zemo, Hawkins also take checkers

 

BY ROB HINCKLEY

 

EAST MOLINE, Ill. (April 25) – It was a night of experimenting. Jeff Larson and Matt Ryan planted the right rear tires next to the wall and skated around the bottom groove.

The research paid off as both picked up convincing wins during the 62nd season opener at East Moline Speedway.

Ryan scooted past Gary Webb following a lap 7 restart and motored to the 25-lap Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Late Model feature win.

“Track was pretty good tonight,” Ryan said in the EMS Winners Circle. “The cushion, I thought that was going to be the place to be early. Then I got down on the bottom on the restart and stayed there.”

Webb, the 18-time EMS champ and beginning his 50th year behind the wheel, also used both the high and low grooves. He beat Chuck Hanna, Jacob Waterman and BJ Jackson to the checkered flag.

For Larson, it capped another historic weekend after the checkers fell on his J&J Camper Sales IMCA Modified 20-lap victory.

“Three wins, three nights, three states. That’s the third time I’ve done that,” Larson said. “Right now the car is working good. Whoever gets to the front first – (Eric) Barnes, (Brandon) Durbin, Travis (Denning) – is going to be tough and we happen to get lucky enough tonight to do that.”

He started eighth and was to the front before halfway. He held Denning at bay and later had to hold off a charging Barnes and Durbin. Brandt Cole and Andrew Hamburg completed the top five. Denning faded late to sixth.

Larson also picked up a $100 bonus for sweeping wins at Maquoketa Speedway and EMS. He won Friday in Wisconsin.

Central Iowa ace Cam Reimers paced all 15 laps of the Legacy Corporation IMCA SportMod ender. Cody Calam, Logan Veloz, Nathan Balensiefen and Trey Grimm rounded the top five.

Veloz was the night’s hard charger, gathering nine spots before the checkers.

Indiana visitor Michael Clark started on the pole and went flag to flag in the County Waste Services Street Stocks 15-lap finale. Zach Zuberbier charged from 10th starting to take the runner up spot. Kyle Anderson, also from Indiana, but a frequent EMS visitor, took third ahead of defending champion Jesse Owen and Kyler Hickenbottom.

Kyle Fuget took a nasty roll during his heat race, but was not injured.

Speaking of weekend sweeps, Daniel Wauters completed that feat in the Rudy’s Tacos IMCA Hobby Stocks 12-lapper. Randy Lamar, early leader Drew Burk, Donnie Cole III and Jared Coppenjans came next.

Wauters also won at CJ Speedway and Maquoketa to start the weekend.

Mike Zemo, Jr. started fifth, got out front early and checked out on the rest of the Weekend Performance IMCA Mod Lites. Jon Padilla motored from 10th to beat Anthony Guss, Rob Guss and Nick Proehl in the 15-lapper.

Blake Gonzales rolled his mount during the heats. He started the feature, but dropped out early.

Cyle Hawkins took the green from the third row, fought through traffic and parked it at the end of the Riverbend Pizza Place Sport Compact 12-lap feature. Dustin Begyn, Tommy Staggs, Jimmy Dutlinger and Nick Johnson followed.

Ninety nine entries jammed the EMS pits for a great season opener.

Night two of the 2021 season hits the quarter-mile dirt oval this Sunday May 2. Racing takes place in all seven classes. 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.

RESULTS:

Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Late Models

Feature (25 laps) – 1. 07 Matt Ryan 2. W56 Gary Webb 3. 65 Chuck Hanna 4. 10 Jacob Waterman 5. 14 BJ Jackson 6. 7 Andy Nezworski 7. 99 Brian Harris 8. 70 Shawn Mulvany 9. R19 Joe Ross 10. 007 Lake Knutti 11. 71H Anthony Haines

1st Heat (10 laps) – 1. Ryan 2. Webb 3. Nezworski 4. Ross

2nd Heat (10 laps) – 1. Hanna 2. Mulvany 3. Harris 4. Waterman

J&J Camper Sales IMCA Modifieds

Feature (20 laps) – 1. B1 Jeff Larson 2. 1 Eric Barnes 3. 15D Brandon Durbin 4. C9 Brandt Cole 5. 57A Andrew Hamburg 6. 56D Travis Denning 7. 19B Austin Blume 8. 81C Casey Franks 9. 85 Andy Nezworski 10. 89 TJ Patz 11. 23 Alex VerVynck 12. 37 Steve Gustaf 13. 8L Chris Lawrence 14. 77 Joe Beal 15. 007 Lake Knutti 16. 57 Tim Hamburg 17. 313 Doug Lenth 18. J1 Jim Sandusky (Did Not Start – 19C Mark VerVynck)

1st Heat (8 laps) – 1. Durbin 2. Barnes 3. Denning 4. Lenth

2nd Heat (10 laps) – 1. T. Hamburg 2. Cole 3. Sandusky 4. A. Hamburg

3rd Heat (10 laps) – 1. Larson 2. Franks 3. Lawrence 4. Blume

Legacy Corporation IMCA SportMods

Feature (15 laps) – 1. 21 Cam Reimers 2. B33 Cody Calam 3. 43LV Logan Veloz 4. 79 Nathan Balensiefen 5. 88 Trey Grimm 6. 88D CJ Durbin 7. 55C Jacob Copley 8. S4 Steven Spiker 9. 14J Matt Speidel 10. 33 Jarrett Franzen 11. 4G Kevin Goben 12. 34 Josh Marth 13. 54F Andrew Francis 14. 1JR Ben Chapman 15. 92 James Vierig 16. 18C Dakota Cole 17. 76 Chuck Fox (Did Not Start – 115 Jacob Lenth).

1st Heat (8 laps) – 1. Goben 2. Fox 3. Chapman 4. Copley

2nd Heat (8 laps) – 1. Calam 2. Balensiefen 3. Grimm 4. Veloz

3rd Heat (8 laps) – 1. Reimers 2. Speidel 3. Durbin 4. Marth

County Waste Systems Street Stocks

Feature (15 laps) – 1. 91 Michael Clark 2. 4Z Zach Zuberbier 3. 1A Kyle Anderson 4. 95 Jesse Owen 5. 8H Kyler Hickenbottom 6. 0 Kraig Hughes 7. 8 Rick Schriner 8. 94 Jim Parr 9. 83 Jim Rutsaert 10. R00 Veronica Anderson (Did Not Start – 5 Tom Riggs, 36 Ben O’Dell, 72 Kyle Fuget

1st Heat (8 laps) – 1. Owen 2. K. Anderson 3. Schriner 4. Hughes

2nd Heat (8 laps) – 1. Zuberbier 2. Clark 3. Hickenbottom 4. V. Anderson

Rudy’s Tacos IMCA Hobby Stocks

Feature (12 laps) – 1. 09 Daniel Wauters 2. 4R Randy Lamar 3. 77W Drew Burk 4. B4 Donnie Cole III 5. 12 Jared Coppenjans 6. 81 Adam Parker

1st Heat (6 laps) – 1. Wauters 2. Burk 3. Cole 4. Coppenjans

Weekend Performance IMCA Mod Lites

Feature (15 laps) – 1. Z Mike Zemo, Jr. 2. 11P Jon Padilla 3. 25M Anthony Guss 4. 91 Rob Guss 5. 29 Nick Proehl 6. 03 James Beebe 7. 5 Michael Dominguez 8. 54 Zach Holerud 9. 18G Sean Ervin 10. 21 Dillon Letts 11. 131 Bryan Wonick 12. 00B Brittani Dominguez 13. 17M Mike Morrow 14. 16G Blake Gonzales

1st Heat (8 laps) – 1. Padilla 2. Proehl 3. M. Dominguez 4. Ervin

2nd Heat (8 laps) – 1. Zemo 2. Morrow 3. R. Guss 4. Beebe

Riverbend Pizza Place Sport Compacts

Feature (12 laps) – 1. 28 Cyle Hawkins 2. 22DB Dustin Begyn 3. 24X Tommy Staggs 4. 28X Jimmy Dutlinger 5. 30J Nick Johnson 6. 92 Brandon Schneider 7. 53 Norm Marcov 8. 17 Jacob Ritter 9. 14 Drew Wise 10. 21C Butch Curtis 11. 74X Brandon Ricker 12. 28E Andrew Bolio 13. 3X Cody Montgomery 14. 22 Lane Wise 15. 514 Jason Rhoads 16. 4 Chris Kissell 17. 7T Kyle Taets (Did Not Start – 815 Dustin Forbes)

1st Heat (6 laps) – 1. Dutlinger 2. Hawkins 3. Curtis 4. Rhoads

2nd Heat (6 laps) – 1. Johnson 2. Wise 3. Kissell 4. Taets

3rd Heat (6 laps) – 1. Staggs 2. Marcov 3. Begyn 4. Ricker

Category: Illinois