Hull, Hogan pick up wins in 34 Raceway Season Opener

Hull, Hogan pick up wins in 34 Raceway Season Opener

BURLINGTON, IA  (4-4-15) – The green flag flew for the 50th year of 34 Raceway Saturday night with the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders and IMCA Modified Frostbuster. Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, Missouri picked up the win in the  Sprint Invader series’ first race of the year. Scott Hogan, Vinton, took the win in the IMCA Modifieds. Mike Morrill, Pleasant Hill,  won the Mod Lite feature  and Austen Becerra, Carthage, Il., got the win in the 4 cylinder feature.

Coming up this week is a big event with the inaugural National Sprint League event bringing the 410 sprints to 34 Raceway. Big names like Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Danny Lasoski and many more will be taking on the 3/8 mile.  Also, competing will be the IMCA Sport Mods, IMRA Midgets and 4 Cylinders. For more information go to www.34raceway.com.

Late Pass Gives Jerrod Hull Sprint Invaders Opener at 34 Raceway!

(Bill Wright) Jerrod Hull took advantage of a late restart to pass Paul Nienhiser and go on to his sixteenth career Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders win Saturday night at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa.  The Sikeston, Missouri driver is second on the all-time wins list with the series, and it was his fifth such victory at 34 Raceway.

Randall’s Performance Shake-up Dash winner Jamie Ball paced the field from the pole.  After spins by Nate Van Haaften and Andy Huston negated the first start, Ball took the lead over John Schulz and Josh Schneiderman in the early going.  Harold Pohren’s 360 spin with a lap in the books slowed things again.  Nienhiser, who started fourth moved past Schneiderman into third on the restart.

The young driver from Chapin, Illinois overtook Schulz for second on lap three, using the low side, and shot under Ball for the lead on lap four.  Nienhiser pulled away to a sizable lead, while Schulz, Ball, Schneiderman and Hull exchanged positions two through five in some great racing action.

Hull was into third behind Schulz by lap nine, and took second from the veteran on lap 15.  Wayne Johnson, who started fourteenth, was working into the top five on lap eighteen, when contact with the lapped car of Pohren sidelined both and brought another caution.

Nienhiser’s lead evaporated and when he took the low line on the restart, Hull shot around him on the cushion.  Donnie Steward had moved into third riding the cushion himself by that point.  Two laps later, Joey Moughan, who was trying to work by Schulz for fourth, ran out of real estate between his fellow driver and the wall, breaking his front end.

Hull pulled away the final five laps to gain the $1,500 win.  Nienhiser held second, ahead of Steward, Schulz and defending series champion, Jon Agan.  Schneiderman, Tony Shilling, hard-charger Chris Martin, Ryan Jamison and Dustin Clark rounded out the top ten.  Steward, Pohren, Ball and Hull claimed heats.  Ball won the Dash, and Martin took the B main.  Daniel Bergquist flipped in his heat race, but returned for the B.  Kelly Graham made hard contact with the wall in hot laps, but he too returned for the B.

“I have the best crew chief there is in Scott Bonar,” said Hull in Victory Lane.  “The car was good everywhere on the track.  I pulled the wing back on the restart and we were better.  We had another one, and I pulled it back a little farther.  I have to thank Alec and Colton too.  I could go on the Outlaw tour with those three and win some races.  We’re going to win some races this year and have some fun.  I want to thank the fans for coming out, and they did a great job with the racetrack.”

“I think we found the way to run the bottom before anybody and that’s what got us the lead,” said Nienhiser.  “I didn’t know what kind of lead we had, but it felt good.  I thought if we didn’t have any cautions we’d be o.k.  I knew on the restart that they knew I was going to the bottom, and maybe I should have gone to the top.  That’s where Jerrod got around me, but hat’s off to him.  The last five laps he had the better car.  I sure hated to see the yellow come out on lap 18 though!”

“This is a brand new car for us, and we learned a lot tonight,” said Steward.  “Running here every week, we like the high side.  I made a few mistakes at the end there.  There were two lines and it got crazy for a while there.  We just kind of settled in, and it was fun to go through and pick off a few spots.  We’re excited about the way the car ran tonight.  I’m excited about the Sprint Invaders…we’re planning on running quite a few races with them this year, if not all of them.”

(Dana Royer) – Scott Hogan, Vinton, took the lead from Brandon Rothzen on lap 15 of the  22 car 25 lap IMCA Modified feature Saturday night and went on to take the win by a large margin. Rothzen, Jeff Waterman, Mitch Morris and Carter Vandenberg rounded out the top five.

Mike Morrill, Pleasant Hill took the win in a nice field of of Mod Lites  after taking the lead from Devin Rouse on lap two of the 15 lap feature.  Randy Bryan, Jimm Halcomb, Terry Brown and Charlie Brown rounded out the top five.

2015 34 Raceway Track Champion Austen Becerra, Carthage, Il., took the lead on the first lap of the 15 car, 15 lap 4 Cylinder feature. Becerra had to hold off Brandon Setser for the first few laps before pulling away for the win.

SPRINT INVADERS

Shottenkirk.com A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (5) 2. 9, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (4) 3. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA (8) 4. 99, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (2) 5. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (10) 6. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (3) 7. 22, Tony Shilling, Knoxville, IA (9) 8. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (17) 9. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (11) 10. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (12) 11. 14P, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (15) 12. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (1) 13. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (16) 14. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (18) 15. 69, Justin Buchholz, Davenport, IA (20) 16. 17m, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (7) 17. 77x, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (14) 18. 10T, Tim Moore, Rock Island, IL (13) 19. 50P, Harold Pohren, Lowell, IA (6) 20. 59KB, Mike Philben, Grimes, IA (19). Lap Leaders: Ball 1-3, Nienhiser 4-18, Hull 19-25. KSE Hard-charger: Steward. Hard-charger: Martin.

4 CYLINDERS

FEATURE: 1. Austen Becerra, Carthage, Il., 2. Brandon Setser, Davenport, 3. Jerrod Nichols, Stronghurst, Il., 4. Kimberly Abbott, Camp Point, Il., 5. Steven Struck, Atalissa, 6. Cody Washburne, Mt. Pleasant, 7. Ron Kibbe, Danville, 8. Larry Miller, Burlington, 9. Shawn Baker, Burlington, 10. Bryerson Tharp, Grandview, 11. Jacob Brown, Wapello, 12. Billy Stanford, Wapello, 13. Steve Shull, Danville, 14. Kenny Smith, Donnellson, 15. Colton Keck, Mt. Pleasant, 16. Steven Phillips, Fulton, Il., 17. Tony Jacobs, Danville. HEAT WINNERS: Becerra, Nichols.

IMCA MODIFIEDS

FEATURE: 1.  Scott, Hogan, Vinton, 2. Brandon Rothzen, Raritan, Il., 3. Jeff  Waterman, Quincy, Il., 4. Mitch Morris, Eldridge, 5. Carter Vandenberg, Oskaloosa, 6. Bill Roberts, Jr., Burlington, 7. Tyler Glass, Cedar Rapids, 8. Dugan Thye, Burlington, 9. Ray Cox, Jr., Maquoketa, 10. Tony Von Dresky, Davenport, 11. Blake Woodruff, Galesburg, Il., 12. Ryan Cook, Hillsboro, 13. Larry McConnell, Danville, 14. Chadwick Giberson, Packwood, 16. Darrow Lillie, Burlington, 17. Steve Stewart, Burlington, 18. Dustin Smith, Tayler Ridge, Il., 19. Nathan Hall, Orion, Il., 20. Kelly Pestka, Preston, 21. Mike Flugel, Davenport, 22. Phillip Beard, Winfield, 23. Dakota Hayden, Wilson. HEAT WINNERS: Hogan, Rothzen, Morris.

MOD LITES

FEATURE: 1. Mike Morrill, Pleasant Hill, 2. Randy Bryan, Ames, 3. Jimmy Halcomb, 4. Terry Brown, Nevada, 5. Charlie Brown, Nevada, 6. Cory Sourman, Grimes, 7. Devin Rouse, Burlington, 8. Gary Snyder, Monmouth, Il., 9. Brad Lucy, Galesburg, Il., 10. Jared Halcomb, Monmouth, Il., 11. Kevin Grisham, Ogden, 12. Justin Rankin, 13. Graham Fate, Peoria, Il., 14. Joel Huggins, Des Moines.  HEAT WINNERS: Morrill, Jimmy Halcomb.