Storm Lake Times night kicks off 2010 season at BVR

By Jeremiah Davis  

Storm Lake Times Staff Writer

 

After what could be described as one of the worst winters in recent memory, Wednesday night saw the start of the 2010 season at Buena Vista Raceway.

And while the calendar read May 5, the weather felt more like winter time, with the temperature dipping to the mid-40s by the end of the night.

But, as always, the racing at “The Beaver” didn’t disappoint.

Seventy-five cars in all showed up to race at BVR on Wednesday night, including one young man who just might see the NASCAR ranks one day.

             Brett Moffitt, who is signed as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, started mid pack in the Sport Mod A-Main event, but didn’t stay mid pack long.

“It was our first time here ever,” Moffitt said. “We didn’t really know what to expect when I got here. But we were obviously good enough to get the job done, and that’s what we’re here to do.”

Moffitt competes in the NASCAR K & N Pro East Series as a part of the driver development program.

             And on this night, Moffitt sure seemed worthy of a development deal, taking the lead from Spencer native Zach Norgaard.

Once in the lead, Moffitt never looked back, cruising to the win. Norgaard and Tim Rupp of Cherokee spent the rest of the race fighting it out for second, with Norgaard holding on in the end.

The IMCA Stock Cars also gave the fans in attendance a great race.

To the chagrin of most other racers, the Smith brothers from Lake City were once again dominant throughout the course of the night.

Dustin Smith, coming off a stellar 2009 at BVR, wasted no time getting to the front, passing older brother David just two laps into the race.

From there it was pretty much smooth sailing for Dustin. Smith’s number 85 car led all but two of the laps en route to the victory.

But about a half straightaway behind him, David waged a spirited battle for second place with fellow veteran “Flyin” Brian Blessington.

The two raced side by side for several laps, much to the delight of the crowd. In the end, Blessington inched past the elder Smith to take second.

After the race, while being congratulated in victory lane, Dustin was asked by his sister if he’d seen the close finish between his brother and Blessington.

“I said, ‘Uh, no’,” Smith said with a laugh. “I’m glad I wasn’t back there. I know how tough it is to win here in Alta with all these guys out here.”

The IMCA Hobby Stock A-Main provided a rehashing of an ever-present rivalry between two of the best Hobby Stock drivers in the area.

For the first nine of the 12 laps in the feature race, Devin Smith and Shannon Anderson dueled for the win.

The two beat and banged, running side-by-side until Anderson finally took the lead with three to go.

Behind them, John Briggs of Sutherland, Michael Murphy of Jefferson and Justin Nehring of Storm Lake all raced hard for the third position.

Anderson pulled away over the final three laps, cruising to the win over Smith. Briggs won the battle for third, coming in just ahead of Murphy and Nehring.

The IMCA Modifieds were once again the final race of the night, and had the cleanest race of the evening.

Apart from a quick caution after only a lap, the rest of the 19 remaining laps were ran under green flag conditions, a rarity in dirt track racing.

And despite the efforts of Luke Wanninger, who was making his first Modified start at BVR, Justin Sackett dominated the event and took the win.

“I could hear [Wanninger] behind me the whole way,” Sackett said. “I knew he was back there. I made him bobble up there towards the end, which probably made the difference.”

Behind the two in front, Chris Abelson and Jim Thies battled for the third position. Abelson spent the first 15 or so laps trying everything he could to get around Thies’ number 23 car, and finally did so with just four laps remaining.

Abelson didn’t have enough time to catch the top two, and had to settle for third, with Thies close behind in fourth.

The Sport Compact A-Main also saw one car lead flag to flag.

Storm Lake native Cory Flanigan got his year started off right. He initially shot off to a large lead, but as the race wore on, Kyle Hill of Cherokee whittled away at the lead.

Hill caught Flanigan on the final lap, and nearly completed the pass coming off of turn four. The two crossed the line side by side, with Flanigan just edging out Hill for the win.

Returning to BVR in 2010 was the BVR Bomber class.

Their feature race saw Wall Lake native Jess Bieret cruise to the easy win over Nicholas Smith.