Jeremiah Davis

Storm Lake Times

After a week off due to rain, the weather was beautiful on Wednesday night in Alta as cars hit the track at Buena Vista Raceway.

The IMCA Modifieds were, as usual, the main event on this night, with the King of the Hill event kicking things off. The final was an all-Mills affair, with Jeremy and Stacey facing off, to the winner a cool $400, thanks to Youngren Farms of Odebolt.

Jeremy beat his brother in thrilling fashion, just nosing past coming to the checkers, setting up a chance at sweeping the evening’s races, with the Modified feature paying out $750.

At the start of the feature, it looked as though Jim Thies would run away with it, pulling to a half straightaway lead in the early going, with Brian Schmitt running a strong second.

Both Jeremy and Stacey Mills had less than stellar starts to the race, leaving both of them towards the back and having to race their way to the front.

As Thies led, both Mills cars made their way to the front, with Jeremy leading the way. Just prior to halfway, Jeremy moved past Schmitt for second and set his sights on the leader. The #10 machine looked extremely fast throughout the feature race, and Mills erased the gap between he and Thies in short order.

At the halfway mark, Jeremy slid past Thies to take the lead, to cheers from the crowd. On that same lap, brother Stacey took third from Schmitt, who was also having a great run. Unfortunately for Schmitt, the good run wouldn’t last much longer, as just a few laps later the Wall Lake driver lost an engine, knocking him from the event.

The blown engine brought out a caution and erased the large lead that Jeremy Mills had built, putting Thies and Stacey right on his back bumper.

Jeremy was not to be denied, however, and upon taking the green flag, rocketed away into the lead once again.

That left Thies to defend his second place position from Stacey. The two drivers gave it all they had over the final laps, with Thies holding strong to his position, never really letting Stacey make a real challenge for second.

In the end, though, it was Jeremy Mills’ night. The point leader cruised to the win, sweeping the night and bringing his winnings total to $1150 for the night. Thies held on to finish a solid second, while Stacey backed up his win from two weeks ago with a third on this night.

The IMCA Stock Car feature race looked to have a hometown flavor to it for three-quarters of the race. Alta native Josh Suhr raced for the early lead with Elijah Zevenbergen, taking the spot  two laps in, looking strong.

The close racing between Suhr and Zevenbergen allowed both Brian Blessington and Donavon Smith to join the battle.

The four drivers engaged in a great race over the next 8-10 laps, with each driver showing the strength to take the lead. Suhr held his ground for the majority of the race, running a great line and keeping the challengers at bay.

That was, at least, until Smith simply wore him out. The two raced side by side for nearly 5 laps before Smith ultimately took the lead, with Blessington close behind, waiting for either driver to make a mistake.

Just past halfway, Dustin Smith joined the race, challenging Blessington for third, and once again making it a four way race for the lead.

With three laps remaining, Dustin moved past Blessington and challenged Suhr for second. Blessington, not to be outdone, drove into turn one hard, sliding past Dustin and making contact with Suhr.

The contact backfired on Blessington, as it sent him spinning, effectively ending his chances at the win.

The caution erased the advantage that Donavon had built over the three that had been racing hard. Donavon wasn’t about to let it phase him,however.

On the restart, Donavon took off, while Suhr didn’t get such a great restart, falling several positions on the first lap after taking the green.

With Suhr falling back, it allowed Dustin Smith and older brother David to move to second and third respectively. Donavon never looked back in the final lap, cruising to the win.

Dustin and David held onto their positions in the final laps, making it the second straight week the Smith brothers claimed each of the top three positions.

After a frustrating week two weeks ago, another Smith looked to rebound in the Sport Mod feature.

Early in the going, however, Tim Rupp looked like he was going to be the man to beat. Rupp took the lead right from the green flag, and separated himself from the pack, looking to lead the whole way.

Behind him, Doug Smith raced with Tim Wilcox for second. The top three stayed the same, with Smith in second and Wilcox in third, over the majority of the race. Unfortunately for Rupp, it was not to be his night.

With five laps to go, something on the #33 car broke, ending his night. Doug inherited the lead, and he never looked back. Smith had put a good amount of distance between he and Wilcox, who had fallen into the clutches of Luke Wanninger.

Doug cruised to the win in the final laps, while Wanninger passed for second on the final lap, leaving Wilcox to settle for third.

The Hobby Stock class was once again the biggest class of the night, as it usually is at BVR. The large field didn’t disappoint, either.

Right from the start, cars were racing three and four wide all through the pack, with Daniel Smith taking the early lead. Smith looked to have a strong car in the early going, extending his lead to a decent margin over the battling field behind him.

While Smith led, point leader Shannon Anderson ran into trouble trying to make his way to the front, getting a flat tire five laps in. Luckily for him, his tire failure brought out a caution, keeping him on the lead lap.

On the restart, Matt Mahoney made a charge for the lead, challenging Daniel right from the green flag. Right behind the front two, Devin Smith lurked, just waiting for one or both to make a mistake.

Over the next few laps, Devin moved past Mahoney and made to challenge his little brother for the lead. The elder Smith wore out the back bumper of Daniel, eventually taking the lead with five laps remaining.

As Devin pulled away, Mahoney challenged Daniel for second. The two would bounce off each other several times over the next two laps, with unfortunate consequences for both.

With two to go, Smith and Mahoney made heavy contact, causing both to have cut tires, and congesting the whole field behind them. Several cars, including Justin Nehring and others, were held up by Smith and Mahoney.

This allowed Merle Bass to move to second and Shannon Anderson to move to third, rebounding from the cut tire.

Devin never looked back, taking his second win in a row, while Bass picked up his best finish of the season, taking second, and Anderson recovering to take third.

The Sport Compact feature saw a good race as well. Cain Mahlberg took the lead from the start, with Kyle Hill giving chase.

Behind those two Cory Flanigan and Josh Egesdal raced for third, with Flanigan taking the spot in the early going.

Hill never let Mahlberg out of his sight, and with two to go challenged for the lead, a challenge that Mahlberg couldn’t hold off. Hill held onto the lead over the final laps, taking the win, while Mahlberg had to settle for second. Egesdal also edged out Flanigan for third.