7/18/2011

By DALE LEECH

Special to the Journal

MINNEAPOLIS -- Weather extremes bring many challenges to dirt track racing in a six month season. Cold and wet weather plague early events while extreme heat and dry conditions present a new set of challenges by July.

Hot, dry and windy were the three words on everyone's mind Saturday night as 48 cars took to the track in four classes for the standard feature race format along with the final two King of the Hill competitions for the season. Brandon Gray took advantage of the opportunities presented to him and finished with wins in the Mod-Lite Series King of the Hill competition and feature race.

King of the Hill races

The King of the Hill competition opened with seven Mod-Lites drivers. First-round eliminations were Corbin Pickerill over Ryan Secrest, Brandon Gray over Ryan Ayers, Dustin Forsberg over Justin Kinderknecht and Pickerill came back to eliminate Brian Davidson.

In round two, Gray won out over Forsberg. In the final round, Gray jumped to a single car length lead over Pickerill which expanded to two car lengths as Pickerill lost traction in turn four of the first lap. Gray continued the lead throughout the second lap to win his first King of the Hill competition.

IMCA Modifieds first-round eliminations were Brian Knoell over Matt Henke, Corey Lagroon over Rodger Peck, Tad Davis over A.J. Scott, Jeff Welsh over Gary Bradford, Van Gemmill over Kenny Cross, Danny Morrison, Jr, with a bye and Chris Vogan over Tim Watts.

In the second round, the winners were Knoell over Lagroon, Welsh over Davis and Morrison over Gemmill. In the third round, Knoell dispatched Vogan while Morrison won over Welsh.

In the championship duel, Morrison fell back behind Knoell down the front stretch and crossed over behind Knoell in turn two to the bottom side. Using momentum from this cross over move, Morrison moved in front of Knoell on the backstretch and led by half car length as the two cars passed the flag stand with one lap to go.

Morrison then won going away as Knoell spun out in turn three of the final lap. With the win, Morrison won his second King of the Hill competition in a row in the IMCA Modified division and became the first driver at Minneapolis Raceway to win three King of the Hill championships.

IMCA Sport Compacts

Kevin Hackett moved past Josh Howard and Dayton Wollenberg in the first lap for the early lead. Rookie Matt Echevarria came out of a fourth row starting position by the end of the third lap to take the lead.

Echevarria survived all challengers out of one caution restart and put his car in cruise control to run away with the race and win his sixth feature of the season. The heat races were won by Hackett and Echevarria.

Mod-Lite Series

Dustin Forsberg moved to an early lead from his start on the pole position and established a six-car length lead over the field. His prosperity was cut short with the one caution restart of the race with seven laps to go, bringing the competition back in close to Forsberg.

Corbin Pickerill and Brandon Gray both moved past Ryan Ayers to battle for the second position with Gray gaining the advantage. With six laps remaining, Gray passed Forsberg on the backstretch and pulled away to win the feature by six car lengths.

This race was Gray's second feature win of the year and eighth overall. Forsberg won the heat race.

IMCA Stock Cars

This week Josh Hudson didn't get put to the back of the pack via a caution restart. He started the feature in the back row and battled his way from the back of the field to again find fortune at the end of the race.

Jim Stolzenburg gained the early lead in the feature after battling past Jesse Carr and Marion Woody in turn four of the second lap. Stolzenburg then established a large lead over the field while Hudson was picking his way through the rest of the competition.

By the end of nine laps, Hudson had Stolzenburg in his sights and gave chase with a great duel for the next four laps. Hudson gained the upper hand at the flag stand with three laps remaining and then cruised to a large lead for the win.

Hudson claimed his second feature of the season and eighth overall. The heat races were won by Justin Murdock and Trevor Thornton.

IMCA Modifieds

The feature started with Terry Malm gaining an early lead from his outside pole position start. In his new ride, Jeff Welsh moved past Gary Bradford and Tad Davis into the second position after the first lap.

Welsh then passed Malm for the lead out of turn two in the third lap. After the first of three caution restarts, Chris Vogan moved into the second position and challenged Welsh for about four laps but couldn't gain the momentum to pull off a pass.

After the second caution restart, Tim Watts moved into second past Vogan but was unable to get close enough to Welsh to mount a significant challenge for the lead.

Welsh got the checkered flag with a four car length lead over Watts to claim his second feature win of the season and his fifth overall. Winners of the heat races were Rodger Peck, Vogan and Larry Sutton.

Minneapolis Raceway will not be in action Saturday, July 23. The raceway will open for competition again on July 30 with a race card of six classes which will be the schedule for the next six weeks. The pit gates will open at 4 p.m. followed by the grandstands at 5. Hot laps are scheduled for 6 with the first green flag to drop at 7.

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