8/12/2020
300 Raceway
Multiple upgrades set the stage for Wide Open Wednesday action.
FARLEY, IA (August 12,2020) - Big changes to the facility peeked the interest of race fans Wednesday night as they packed into the ever evolving 300 Raceway for Wide Open Wednesday presented by Matthews Distributing of Iowa. Four IMCA classes in competition for track, state and national points were on hand.
The Dunkel Auto Salvage IMCA stock cars were the first Feature on the speedway and a great race broke out for the top 2 spots between Manchester, IA’s Phil Holtz and eventually winner and Farley native Kyle Merkes. Merkes took off from the pole position and held off a hard charging Holtz becoming the first combatant to visit the new Simon Sez Motorsports victory lane. Sabula, IA's Chase Zaruba came home 3rd, followed by Jarod Weepie and Andrew Chelf rounding out the top 5 finishers.
Next up to the ultra fast 3/8 mile was the Dave Hall Construction IMCA modifieds. 18 cars checked into the pit area, all but 1 started the A main. Dylan Thornton took his 38T machine from the outside front row into an immediate race lead. A caution at the lap 5 mark bunched the field up and Bernard, IAs Timmy Current took the shot with a big Eldora style slider and snatched the lead off of turn 4. Trouble ensued as Thornton got into the outside wall then made contact with the rear of the leader ending his night on the hook. That moved the 7 of Ryan Duhme into the 2nd spot, and the “Darkside Duo” set sail for the remaining 14 laps in a 1-2 finish. Delhi’s Mark Schulte finished 3rd from the 6th starting position, Jed Freiburger came home 4th and veteran Jeff Aikey passed 6 cars to finish in the 5th spot.
The race of the night was in the Merfeld Brothers Automotive IMCA Sportmods. 15 laps, and each one was action packed. Chance Huston jumped out to the early race lead and looked to be formidable in the early going. Troy “King Kong” Bauer inserted the 9K into the race lead around the 6th lap with a slide job that started in Holy Cross and ended somewhere just north of Worthington. Huston fought back and a battle for the top spot went from 2 cars to 3 when Sherrill, IA's Tyler Soppe pulled the 3T machine into the picture. Waiting in the wings was eventually winner Jason Roth. The Hazel Green, WI native jumped into the 2nd spot and went to work trading sliders with Bauer in the closing laps. With 2 to go Roth grabbed the lead for good and never looked back. Bauer finished 2nd, Chance Huston 3rd, Soppe 4th and Bernard’s Justin Becker came home 5th.
The night cap on the evening, 25 laps for the Merfeld Brothers Automotive IMCA Late Models. A full field of 24 cars signed in at the pit gate, 22 made the call for the feature event. A eventful 1st lap saw “the big one” on the front chute as multiple cars checked up and a 5 car pile was left to a lengthy clean up leaving all but 1 car involved able to continue. Cedar Falls native Jeff Aikey rocketed his XR1 chassis to the race lead and set sail around the top side to pick up the feature win. “Aik” stated in Simon Sez Motorsports victory lane “I want to dedicate this one to my buddy Roger, I’m coming back to win the Yankee for him too.”
Cody Hicks will bring his country music party into the Milestone event center on Thursday August 13 with opening act Jesse Allen taking the stage at 6:30. On Friday and Saturday the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League rolls into town for a double header dubbed “Farley Nationals”. Show starts at 7 each night, an estimated 150 entries are expected to make hooks on the newest pulling track in America.
Just one racing event remains scheduled on August 26 before we double the population of the town of Farley when we open the doors for the 43rd annual Yankee Dirt Track Classic September 3-5.
“BIG” That was the theme for the efforts put in to 300 Raceway over the last month. Simon Sez “go for it”, “Do it for Roger” and that’s what we’ll continue to do. Strive for the highest level of excellence on the biggest stage because anything less doesn’t live up to the legacy he left behind.
Full heat and feature results are available on “MyRacePass” app available one iTunes or google play store.
Article Credit: Jason Frommelt
Submitted By: Derek Collum