Hovden, Jones, Spilde collect checkers in Decorah

  • August 16, 2014
  • by Tyler Rinken

DECORAH, Iowa -- The Northeast Iowa "bullring" saw its thrills and spills on Saturday night at the Upper Iowa Speedway. The red light was hit twice with a head-on collision into the wall on the front stretch and a vicious tumble for one driver during a feature event.

Scott Spilde started on the pole for the main event in the USRA Hobby Stock class. Spilde jumped out to an early lead, but multiple cautions kept bringing the field back together. Once the drivers started to settle in, so did the No. 18 machine of Spilde. Spilde took the checkers by more than a straight-away on Saturday night, claiming his second feature win of the season at the Upper Iowa Speedway.

In victory lane Spilde said, “I kept looking around for the guys but nobody was there. I couldn’t believe how far ahead I was. We made some changes this past week and the track and car were perfect.”

The USRA Stock Car class saw a familiar face on the pole Saturday night. It was none other than the notorious Mitch Hovden. Hovden found his grooves early on the dance floor and held a marginal lead until a mid-race multiple-car caution brought Jake Lambert and company back together. On the restart, Lambert and Hovden dualed as Hovden began rooster-tailing dirt off in between the corners.

Hovden eventually broke away from the rest of the pack. Even a late-charging Kevin Donlan, who picked up a win on Friday night at the Fayette County Speedway, could not run Hovden down.

Casey Knutson started on the pole for the feature event in the USRA B-Mod class. Knutson had jumped out to a straight-away lead despite an early caution on lap 2. The lead was quickly erased after a multiple-car wreck in front of the grandstand. The caution brought Matt Jones and Dan Hovden closer to the No. 12k of Knutson. On the restart, Knutson jumped out to a slim lead but a three-way battle was on between Knutson, Jones and Hovden.

Jones was eventually able to make the pass on the outside of Knutson, but everyone in attendance was allowed to catch their breath for a split second as a caution was waved with two laps remaining. Jones was able to maintain the lead despite heavy pressure from Knutson on the inside and Hovden on the outside.