BRITT, IA (July 7, 2000) — Oh, what a night! Three of the four feature wins last Friday (July 7) at Hancock County Speedway were photo finishes with inches deciding the winner of each class. The fourth and final feature was even in the corner of three and four with the winner taking the checkered by two car lengths. Westview Care Center of Britt was the sponsor for the night, and presented each of the victors with their winning trophy.

Josh Omans of Garner started on the front row and jumped out to the lead with Lance Gardner also of Garner slipping into second spot from his second row start. The feature was marred by only one yellow and these two drivers ran first and second for the entire event. On the last lap, coming out of the fourth corner, they sprinted to the finish line with Gardner edging out Omans by inches for the win. Don Reimers from Rockwell won the dash. Larry Cook of Fort Dodge leads the points in this class.

Jared Dirks of Belmond got off to a great start and gained the lead on the second lap from his second row start in the hobby division. He led for the rest of the race until the last lap when Earl Webner of Garner moved into position on the last corner, set his sights on the checkered flag and squeaked by Dirks at the finish line for the victory, and the second photo finish of the night. Brent Hanson of Mason City won the dash. Dan Hanselman still leads the points race for the Hobby division, but his lead has been cut to two points over Webner, when Hanselman was forced to retired early after being involved in a mishap early in the contest.

After these two great finishes, most fans would probably think they had seen the best excitement the night had to offer. Not! The stock cars took the track for the feature with Tony Trower of New Hampton the early leader from the pole position. Tony had earlier won dash and became the twelfth qualifier for the Bud Shootout. Travis Hoeft of Forest City took over the lead on the fourth lap of the feature after a second row start. Todd Foster of Webster City held down second spot for much of the event until a flat tire sidelined him. Enter Scott Bloemke of Belmond, point leader of this class into second spot. Bloemke dogged Hoeft for the final five laps of the contest. Once again, the top two came out of the fourth corner and charged to the finish line. This win was meant for Hoeft and he held on for the third photo finish win of the night. This was Hoeft’s first feature win of the 2000 season at Britt.

Ron Pope of Mason City took the $1200 challenge and started in the back of the field of 24 modified cars after winning last weeks feature and the dash for this evening. Ron Houdak of Owatanna started on the pole. Kevin Stoa of Austin, MN had a flat on the very first lap, causing a yellow and eliminating him from the event. Keith Schmitz of Swaledale looked strong early, and led the event briefly until Al Hejna of Ventura powered his way into the top spot from his twelfth place start. By the eighth lap Tommy Myer of Blooming Praire, MN was into second position. A yellow on the tenth lap tightened up the field and a dual developed between Hejna and Myer. Myer took the lead on the nineteenth lap and yellow came out two laps later. Al got the advantage on the lap after the restart and grabbed the lead away from Myer, only to have Tommy take it from him on the next lap.

The two ran the last four laps of the event with Myer in the lead. Coming out of corner three on the final lap, Al went for broke and had a slight bauble on corner four, recovered nicely to maintain his second place finish behind the winner Tommy Myer. Jon Wood of Woden drove a consistent and controlled race maintaining third position for seventeen laps of the twenty five-lap event and finished in third position. Ron Houdak finished out the top four. Ron Pope finished seventh in his quest for the challenge. Mike and Al Hejna continue to lead the point race with Mike having a twenty-six points edge over Al.

Racing into the Millennium continues next Friday July 14, with the Land of Hob Auto Parts of Britt Night.

The challenge will be $1,300. Tommy Myer will have a chance to go for the bonus, if he chooses. Hot laps at 7:00 Races at 7:30. Complete results, point standings, photos, and schedule at www.hcspeed.com.

RESULTS

IMCA MODIFIED

Heat 1 - Ron Houdek, Jon Wood, Kevin Hoeft, Bret Hansen, Al Hejna, Todd Stinehart, Nathan Chodur, Brad Bakken, Jeff Metli.

Heat 2 - Ron Pope, Ryan Hiscocks, Bill Cook, Mike Hejna, Patrick Graham, Scott Anderson, Rick Schuller, Scott Olson.

Heat 3 - Keith Schmitz, Kevin Stoa, Tommy Myer, Jimmy Davis, Larry Portis, Ross Wyatt, George Gilliland, Rick Smith, Scott Badker.

Dash - Ron Pope, Ron Houdek, Jon Wood, Keith Schmitz, Kevin Stoa, Ryan Hiscocks.

Feature - Tommy Myer, Al Hejna, Jon Wood, Ron Houdek, Keith Schmitz, Mike Hejna, Ron Pope, Jimmy Davis, Bill Cook, Brad Bakken, Scott Olson, Rick Smith, Nathan Chodur, George Gilliland, Scott Anderson, Todd Stinehart, Larry Portis, Patrick Graham, Ross Wyatt, Scott Badker, Ryan Hiscocks, Bret Hansen, Kevin Hoeft, Kevin Stoa, Rick Schuller, Jeff Metli.

IMCA STOCK CAR

Heat 1 - Tony Trower, Lavern Carey, Todd Foster, John Pletcher, Jeff Dolphin, Scott Bloemke, Kevin Opheim, Russell Trulson, Kim Schleuger, Jon Groven.

Heat 2 - Travis Hoeft, Brent Powers, Todd Wendel, Craig Berhow, Darin Toot, Cody Miller, Joe Hiscocks, Jim Mitchell, Curt Moore, Jim Read.

Dash - Tony Trower, Brent Powers, Todd Wendel, Todd Foster, Lavern Carey, Travis Hoeft.

Feature - Travis Hoeft, Scott Bloemke, Brent Powers, Jeff Dolphin, Craig Berhow, Kim Schleuger, Russell Trulson, Jim Mitchell, John Pletcher, Tony Trower, Joe Hiscocks, Kevin Opheim, Cody Miller, Jon Groven, Todd Foster, Jim Read, Curt Moore, Lavern Carey, Todd Wendel, Darin Toot.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK

Heat 1 - Shane Monson, Jason Daniels, John Simpson, Earl Webner, Rob Hughes, Randy Hadacek, Jeff Lodin, John Madson.

Heat 2 - Brent Hanson, Jared Dirks, Dan Haugland, Scott Anderson, Dan Hanselman, Dan Stromer, Jim Smith, Chad Doyle.

Dash - Brent Hanson, John Simpson, Dan Haugland, Jason Daniels, Shane Monson, Jared Dirks.

Feature - Earl Webner, Jared Dirks, Shane Monson, Jason Daniels, John Simpson, Randy Hadacek, Jim Smith, Jeff Lodin, Chad Doyle, Dan Stromer, John Madson, Dan Haugland, Scott Anderson, Rob Hughes, Dan Hanselman, Brent Hanson.

LIMITED 360 MODIFIED

Heat - Josh Omans, Don Reimers, Lance Gardner, Ed Green, Steven Inman, Chuck Gatewood, Ben Holt, Scott Sheehan, Larry Cook.

Dash - Don Reimers, Lance Gardner, Josh Omans, Chuck Gatewood, Steven Inman.

Feature - Lance Gardner, Josh Omans, Ed Green, Don Reimers, Steven Inman, Ben Holt, Larry Cook, Scott Sheehan, Chuck Gatewood.