Runge Nabs Barstad Memorial Win

   Hartford, S.D. — Mitch Runge led all 20 laps in winning the innaugural Loren Barstad Memorial race for IMCA 360 Sprint Cars at I-90 Speedway Saturday night.  The win did not come without a couple of close calls, however.  Jake Peters briefly moved ahead of Runge on the seventh lap but lost it in the fourth turn as Runge battled back on the inside.  Peters car came all the way around as it came out of the turn, collecting Lee Grosz and Eric Lutz who were running third and fourth respectively.

   With three laps remaining, Ryan Bickett moved one lane higher than Runge and made a couple of legitimate attempts at the lead before settling for second.  “He didn’t come here to finish second,” said Runge while complimenting his opponent’s effort.  Runge also gave due to his father for building the winning car and to his Roush Yates motor.

   Runge’s victory also turned out to be his first one at I-90 Speedway in a 360 Sprint Car.

   Three-time defending track champion Matt Steuerwald earned his first win of the year in the Express Copy and Printing Late Model Street Stock division.  Steuerwald took the lead away from Tim Ferguson on the fifth lap and then edged Eric Moser in an exciting finish.  Moser had come from the fifth row to challenge the eventual winner.

   Kenny Scholten gained the lead of the B-Modified feature from Justin Saathoff on the fifth lap and then drove away from the field in picking up his first 2011 win at I-90 Speedway.  Zach Van Voorst turned in a strong second place performance.  Van Voorst is relatively new to the B-Mod division after racing a Sportsman last season.

   Don Brady was awarded the night’s Hobby Stock feature.  Jason Mehlhaff was disqualified after leading all 12 laps of the race.  It was the second time in three nights of racing that the Hobby Stock winner failed to pass the post race inspection.

   In other action, Harley Baumann won her second straight Fast Auto Wash Super Chargers feature and Wade Russell of Dunkerton, Iowa, wheeled his 1930s era Super Modified to victory as the Central Vintage Racing Association cars made their lone visit to the Hartford track.

 

 

IMCA 360 SPRINT CARS

Heat Winners:  Eric Lutz, Justin Jacobsma, Brandt O’Banion, Lee Grosz

B Feature Winner:  John Lambertz

Feature:  1. Mitch Runge, 2. Ryan Bickett, 3. Brock Dump, 4. Micah Schliemann, 5. Justin Zitterich, 6. John Lambertz, 7. Justin Jacobsma, 8. Brandt O’Banion, 9. Lane Brenden, 10. Dylan Peterson, 11. Greg Gunderson, 12. Justin Saathoff, 13. Dustin Beenken, 14. Kevin Flowers, 15. Zeb Larsen, 16. Lee Grosz, 17. Eric Lutz, 18. Jake Peters, 19. Jordan Martens, 20. Tommy Barber

LATE MODEL STREET STOCKS

Heat Winners:  Don Bickett, Matt Steuerwald, Cory Yeigh

Feature:  1. Matt Steuerwald, 2. Eric Moser, 3. Jesse Akkerman, 4. Tim Ferguson, 5. Scott Borkowski, 6. Jamie Tieszen, 7. Kipp De Groot, 8. Don Bickett, 9. Marshall Pater, 10. Billy Prouty, 11. Fred Konechne, 12. Sam Johnson, 13. Cory Yeigh, 14. Michael DeJong, 15. John Hoing, 16. Brylee Gough, 17. Kevin Larson, 18. Brandon Ferguson

B-MODIFIEDS

Heat Winners:  Justin Saathoff, Dave Kennedy, Tracy Johnson

B Feature Winner:  Jesse Ebbesen

Feature:  1. Kenny Scholten, 2. Zach Van Voorst, 3. Brad Haas, 4. Dave Kennedy, 5. Tyler Johnson, 6. Mitch Van Engen, 7. Tim Dann, 8. Craig Hanisch, 9. Devon McMartin, 10. Jesse Ebbesen, 11. Jeremy Rozeboom, 12. Dustin Kruse, 13. Doug Folkens, 14. Greg Roemen, 15. Trevor Tesch, 16. Justin Saathoff, 17. Greg Eden, 18. Tracy Johnson, 19. Aaron Penning, 20. Darrin Noyes

HOBBY STOCKS

Heat Winners:  Don Brady, Tim Waltner, Travis Schreurs

Feature:  1. Don Brady, 2. Daniel Stranberg, 3. Paul Hartley, 4. Dustin Gulbrandson, 5. Dylan Fitzpatrick, 6. Travis Schreurs, 7. Zach Olivier, 8. Jordan Kott, 9. Brian Hoing, 10. John Ross, 11. Nick Brady, 12. Tim Waltner, 13. Dustin Medenwald, 14. Jay Torgerson, 15. Terry Larsen, 16. Michael Powell, 17. Jason Mehlhaff, 18. Mike Chaney

SUPER CHARGERS

Heat Winners:  Keith Johnson, Harley Bauman

Feature:  1. Harley Bauman, 2. J.R. Richards, 3. Jessica Brandt, 4. Laura Ebbesen, 5. Joe Blake, 6. Cory Stark, 7. Andrew Siemonsma, 8. Kyle Crawford, 9. Keith Johnson, 10. Tyler Martin