DUBUQUE, Iowa (July 25) – Wayne Johnson glanced both right and left from the cockpit.
He liked what he saw at full speed and was first to the checkered flag in the Sprint Invaders 25-lap feature Wednesday evening at the Dubuque County Fair.
“It was great to start out front,” Johnson said in Hoker Trucking / C&W Trucking / Kam Koncepts Victory Circle. “I knew I had a good car when I looked and Terry (McCarl) wasn’t there and we caught some of the good ones in traffic.”
The Hall of Famer McCarl had actually dropped a few spots. But closing quickly was Illinois driver Paul Nienhiser. The field spread out and Johnson increased his advantage.
“I knew we cranked it on the bottom (groove) and lapped cars were everywhere,” the Oklahoma veteran pilot added. “But, if I couldn’t pass the lapped cars, they couldn’t either.”
Jamie Ball, John Schulz and Carson McCarl rounded out the top five in the 21-car field.
The race was only slowed twice by caution early in the event.
Matt Gansen had not won his hometown fair race in several years. The strategy flowed throughout the 20-lap IMCA Modified main. Gansen started out front and had to hold off the charges of Jeff Larson and Mark Schulte to get that elusive win.
Kenny Kostenbader and Troy Cordes followed as Gansen celebrated from the top of his car in Victory Circle.
Mitch Manternach made a last minute decision to race this night and that choice paid off. He paced all 15 IMCA SportMod laps, beating Wes Digman, Rusty Deshaw, Kip Siems and Tyler Soppe.
Soppe came from the tail after a restart. Deshaw and Siems made late passes for their spots.
Jason Utter waited out several cautions and then pulled away to win the 30-lap INEX Legends finale over Tim Brockhouse, Minnesota pilot Jackson Lewis, Ryan Mech and Francesca Hoch.
A total of 86 race teams wowed a huge fair night crown and the last checkered flag flew about 10 p.m.
Racing continues as part of the 66th Dubuque County Fair this Sunday July 28. In action will be Eichmann’s Bar and Grill IMCA Late Models, Merfeld Brothers Automotive IMCA Modifieds, Peosta Warehousing Logistics IMCA SportMods, K Motorsports IMCA Stock Cars, Kinsella Concrete IMCA Hobby Stocks and the 4 Cylinders.
Gates open at 4 p.m. First green flag is set for 6:30 p.m.
Advance tickets are now available. Trackside Promotions also promotes the action at Maquoketa Speedway.
For more information, log on to tracksidepromotionsia.com
- Derek Collum on Jul 25, 2019
- Article Date: 7/24/2019 by Rob Hinckley