WEST UNION, Iowa (Aug. 23, 2024) – Ethan Braaksma had all kinds of momentum on his side when he pulled into the pit area at Fayette County Speedway Friday night.
He rode that momentum straight to victory lane, winning the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature and $1,200 on opening night of the Fall Finale.
“I feel pretty confident going to momentum race tracks and coming from go kart racing, I feel like Fayette County is one of those,” explained Braaksma, who’d also won the Rage 40 special at West Union in July. “I like when the track is slick and I can just roll around it. You have to get up on the wheel but at the same time keep the tires underneath you and you should be pretty good.”
He was pretty good from the drop of the green, starting from the pole and leading the distance of a 25-lapper interrupted by four cautions. Braaksma hit lapped traffic late but put some real estate on teammate and crew chief Drew Janssen, debuting a new Rage Chassis of his own, the final times around the track.
Brennen Chipp, Mark Schulte and Justin O’Brien rounded out the top five.
Braaksma was coming off a sweep the previous weekend at Maquoketa Speedway. The Friday night checkers were his IMCA 18th of 2024 … pretty impressive for any driver, especially one who’d gone winless in 62 “A” feature starts over the last two seasons.
“I hate giving up on anything. I have a really good team behind me and Drew helps me out a lot. He’s very smart with the wrenches. We’ve gone traveling and have learned a lot about these race cars,” Braaksma said. “It was pretty cool to run one-two with him. We work really well together as a team and it’s cool to see our hard work pay off.”
With 13 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying feature wins on his resume, he’ll take this week off to prepare for the upcoming IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s.
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