Mason City Motor Speedway
7/30/17
Mason City Motor Speedway
Mason City, IA
ASCS
26 cars
Dry conditions greeted the racers at Mason City. While the other classes had some good racing, the sprint cars suffered from rubber-down conditions starting in the heats. It was disappointing as this half-mile yielded a great track for the 2016 NSL visit. The B main was scrapped and the feature shortened from 25 laps to 20 to conserve tires.
Heat one (started): 1. Gregg Bakker 11x (1) 2. Wayne Johnson 2c (4) 3. Chris Martin 44 (3) 4. Dominic Scelzi 41 (2) 5. Blake Hahn 52 (7) 6. Skylar Gee 99 (5) 7. Terry McCarl 24 (9) 8. Seth Bergman 23 (8) 9. Harli White 17w (6)
Bakker led the entire eight-lap distance. Johnson pounced into second righ away. Hahn gained fifth from Gee on lap four. The top eight in passing points would redraw for the top eight starting spots in the feature.
Heat two (started): 1. Matt Covington 95 (2) 2. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (3) 3. Thomas Kennedy 1 (1) 4. Chuck Hebing 45 (4) 5. Kaley Gharst 7 (7) 6. Ian Madsen 18 (8) 7. Carson McCarl 5H (6) 8. Howard Moore 40 (5) 9. Chris Masters 98 (9)
Covington led flag to flag, pulling away. Hafertepe slipped by Kennedy for second on lap two. Madsen used a bit higher line in one and two to get around Moore and C. McCarl.
Heat three (started): 1. Ryan Bickett 17B (2) 2. Josh Baughman 17 (3) 3. Johnny Herrera 45x (6) 4. Jamie Veal 35 (4) 5. Alex Hill 77x (1) 6. Aaron Reutzel 87 (7) 7. Andee Beierle 41A (5) DNS – Tim Kaeding 3
Kaeding had motor issues after hot laps and scratched. Bickett rolled in clean air to the win. Herrera shot by Hill for third on lap three, with Veal in tow.
A main (started): 1. Bakker (1) 2. Hafertepe (3) 3. W. Johnson (5) 4. Herrera (8) 5. Covington (2) 6. Baughman (4) 7. Kennedy (9) 8. Hahn (10) 9. C. Martin (6) 10. Reutzel (16) 11. Hebing (12) 12. T. McCarl (15) 13. Bergman (22) 14. Gharst (11) 15. Gee (17) 16. White (23) 17. Moore (21) 18. C. McCarl (20) 19. Bickett (7) 20. Masters (24) 21. Hill (18) 22. Madsen (13) 23. Beierle (19) 24. Scelzi (14) DNS – Veal, Kaeding
Bakker shot out immediately, with most positions behind him settling in after the first couple of laps. Covington fell into second, ahead of Hafertepe and Baughman. W. Johnson picked up fourth from Baughman on lap two. That’s the way they would run until C. McCarl spun with two to go. The restart saw Bakker ahead of Covington, Hafertepe, W. Johnson and Baughman. Herrera would get by Baughman into the top five on the last lap. Coming into turn four, the second place car of Covington went up in smoke. Bakker won his first career ASCS National feature worth $3,000, with Hafertepe and W. Johnson completing the podium. Herrera snagged fourth, with Covington limping across the line fifth.
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