7/31/2017
Humboldt Speedway
Keeter Collects in Modified action while Willard, Collins, Westhoff, and Lamons Jr. also Capture Humboldt Speedway Victories!
July 28, 2017
(Humboldt, Kansas) A near-perfect day turned into night and with it came another solid night of racing at Humboldt Speedway on Friday. When the final checkered flag of the night flew over the field from flagman Tony Morgan, some familiar faces grabbed the headlines from their respective main-event victories. A total of 75 cars competed throughout the night for the fans on hand.
Entering the night, Webb City, Missouri’s Mitch Keeter had nine feature wins on the year and the NASCA Division One point lead to solidify his stature as one of the entire Midwest’s standout drivers of the season. By the end of the night, Keeter added a tenth win and $1,000 to his resume as he held off a hard-charging R.C. Whitwell in the night’s 25-lap featured race.
To start the night, 21 NASCAR Whelen Engineering Company, Inc. Modifieds competed in three preliminary heat races to setup the starting grid for the main event. John Allen of Chanute began the night with a heat-race victory by fending off the challenges of Tyler Wolff and Kip Hughes. Whitwell rolled to the win in heat two ahead of Darron Fuqua and Lance Mari while Keeter took the checkers in heat three over Paden Phillips and Chase Sigg.
Keeter and Allen occupied the front row over Whitwell and Wolff to begin the special event and it was Keeter who edged out Allen and Whitwell to lead the opening laps. Throughout the race, Keeter set a blistering pace as Whitwell kept the point’s leader in his cross-hairs. Fuqua advanced to third early in the vent with Wolff and Allen also solidifying their placement within the top five.
As the lap counts dwindled Keeter ran into lapped traffic by lap 12 as Whitwell searched for a way on the racy Humboldt Speedway surface to find a way to reel in the race-long leader. In the race’s closing laps, Whitwell made things interesting as he caught Keeter for a final two-lap showdown for the big-money win. However, as he’s done nearly all season, Keeter ultimately took the win despite last-lap pressure from Whitwell. It was Keeter’s tenth regular weekly NASCAR-sanctioned victory and eleventh overall at the track this year after he grabbed a USMTS victory earlier in the season. Whitwell finished a strong second followed by Fuqua, Wolff, and Allen to round out the top five in the caution-free, 25-lap event.
Nine drivers competed in the Pitt Steel Street Stock events for the evening as point leaders Shane Cook and Rusty Etherton brought their fierce point’s battle to the track for another week of racing. Etherton set the stage early with a heat-race win over Nick Fritch for heat number one while Jay Lamons, Jr., secured the win in heat two ahead of Brad Jarman.
Etherton and Lamons, Jr., brought the field to the initial green flag as several yellow-flag conditions slowed the race pace. Lamons Jr. set the pace early with Etherton spinning from contention early in the race, which relegated him to the rear of the field. Just past lap ten, Nick Fritch and Etherton collided to draw a turn-four yellow flag after Etherton had made his way back towards the front as Lamons Jr. led Brad Jarman and Hunter Oswald. After some on-track disagreements, Etherton and Fritch were ordered to the pit area bringing an end to their bid for the win. The race ended under a green, white, and checkered flag finish with Longton, Kansas driver and point’s leader Shane Cook trying to chase down Lamons Jr. for the victory. In the end, Lamons Jr. fended off Cook for his fifth victory of the season with Cook in second. Jarman finished third ahead of Oswald while Chris Kircher rebounded from an earlier spin for fifth.
A solid field of 16 Whitworth Construction Factory Stocks took to the speedway for a pair of heat races during the night’s events. John Westhoff advanced from fifth on the starting grid to claim the opening heat victory ahead of Ethan Vance and Todd Kidwell. The heat-two victory went to Chanute, Kansas driver Joey DeCoster ahead of Bryce Weldon and Wayne Johnson.
For the 16-lap main event, Westhoff and Weldon led the charge with DeCoster and Kidwell in tow. Westhoff assumed command of the event from the drop of the green flag with second in points Weldon doing all he could to hang with the point’s leader’s furious pace. With three caution periods waving over the field in the opening ten laps, Weldon stayed close to Westhoff to break the tie of six wins that each of the drivers have accumulated so far in the season. However, on this night it Westhoff who claimed win number seven for the year despite heavy pressure from Weldon in the closing lap. Weldon was second at the finish line with DeCoster, Ethan Lamons and Wayne Johnson completed the top five.
In the Ray’s Metal Depot B-Mod events, 19 drivers took to the track for three preliminary heat races and the main event. Previous feature winner Tyler Kidwell began the B-Mod action with an opening heat-race victory ahead of Mason Sigg. Ethan Isaacs took the victory in heat-race two ahead of Luke Phillips and Tim Phillips drover to victory for the third and final heat race win over sixth-starting Shane Collins.
Collins racked up the most passing points for the night and started on the pole for the main event alongside of Tyler Kidwell. After a couple of early race caution periods, Collins showed the way with Kidwell locked into a furious battle with Ethan Isaacs for second. Kenton Allen was an early retiree from the event as was Sigg. Meanwhile, point’s leaders Cody Jolly and Riley Whitworth raced their way into the top five. Kidwell took second place back from Isaacs just passed the lap ten while Jolly raced his way up to the top three by lap 13. In the closing stages Kidwell put heavy pressure on Collins of Thayer, Kansas; however, it was Collins who wrapped up his third main-event win of the season with Kidwell posting a runner-up finish. Isaacs grabbed the third position back to hold off twelfth-starting Cody Jolly in fourth while Riley Whitworth rounded out the top five.
In the O’Reilly Automotive Sport Compacts division, ten drivers competed in a pair of heat races to start the night. Second in points Barry Luthi captured the victory in the opening heat race with Cayden Vance and Curtis Wilson in second and third. John Willard of St. Joseph, Missouri finishing ahead of Eric Ikehorn and Gannon Reed to claim the win in heat race number two.
Luthi and Vance earned the front row starting positions with Curtis Wilson, Jr. and Reed occupying row two. Willard started the event in tenth positions as Luthi took command of the 16-lap event leaving Cayden Vance and Ikehorn to battle for second-place honors. The race ran smoothly in the opening laps with Willard threading his way through the field to move into the top five by lap five. With Luthi in command, Willard then set his sights on the leaders and moved to second by lap eight. One lap later, Willard took command of the event and ultimately went on to score his eleventh victory of the year. Vance stayed strong the entire distance and finished second as Marisha Collins advanced from her sixth-starting position to finish third. Wilson Jr., came away fourth while Trenton Wilson rounded out the top five. Willard gave away another bicycle during the night’s win and stated he would be back with another back and a free admission for a young race fan in the coming weeks.
When racing returns next Friday, August 28th, the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) return for a $3,000-to-win Hunt race. Joining in on the action will be NASCAR B-Modifies, NASCAR Street Stocks (Sport Compacts have the night off). For further information and full results, please visit www.humboldtspeedway.com or follow us on Facebook or @humboldtspeedway on Twitter. Humboldt Speedway is located at 1663 Georgia Road in Humboldt, Kansas.
Article Credit: Humboldt Speedway
Submitted By: Jeff Fehr
