Wray is A-OK at Boone Speedway

By Joyce Eisele

BOONE, Iowa (May 11, 2024) – A beautiful night for racing greeted the 175 race cars checked in at the Boone Speedway on Saturday.

First-time winner Cory Wray enjoyed his visit to victory lane in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds. Jake McBirnie took the win in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and it was Cam Reimers with a thrilling finish at the line in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods.  Eric Knutson also took the checkers in the final moments in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Travis Stensland repeated his win from last week in the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites.

Mod Lites ran 15 laps kicking off the night’s feature racing. It didn’t take long for sixth place starter Stensland to get to the front, taking command on lap two.  From there on he would lead every lap, pulling away at the end. He finished well ahead of second place Cory Sonner. Austin Gray came from 11th to finish third.

Up next was 18 laps for the SportMods.

Mike Munson led early but after a caution flew at lap six, Taylor Kuehl took advantage as the race returned to green, taking over the top spot.  Soon she had her hands full with Matt Avila and Reimers right on her tail. As the race wore on however, she pulled away and it was looking like checkers for her on this night.

Hold the phone!

A caution flew late which set up a green, white, checkered run to the finish.  As the race restarted, Reimers was now in second and immediately pressuring Kuehl, and on that final lap was able to get the pass and beat Kuehl to the checkers.

Reimers captured his second win of the season and Kuehl, who had started 12th, crossed in second place. However, post-race inspection deemed an infraction for deck height, docking her two positions and relegating her to fourth. Second place was awarded to 18th place starter Tyler Inman. Third place went to Dustin Lynch.

Modifieds ran a 20-lap main event.  

Wray, from Trenton, Mo., has been making weekly appearances at Boone Speedway this year. He started on the outside front row and immediately took command. Jeremy Mills was soon tightening the screws but it didn’t faze the leader, even through lapped traffic.

Wray hung onto that top spot the rest of the way to capture his first-ever weekly win at the track. Mills kept the runner-up spot and third went to Nick Roberts.

The 20-lap feature for Stock Cars had a few problems as the caution flew several times in this contest.  When the checkers finally flew, it was McBirnie seeing the checkers first.

McBirnie started eighth and used the topside of the track to rip the lip most of the race to get his place in victory lane. Michael Jaennette came from 14th starting to take the runner-up spot. Troy Jerovetz led in the early portion of the race and finished third.

The Hobby Stock 15-lap feature put a nightcap on the evening’s racing.

Daniel Smith led the race through lap five when he lost the handle at the top of turn four, bringing out the yellow and piling up several cars.  When the race restarted and the cars were realigned, it was young Mike Smith holding down the lead.  He looked to be on his way to victory, but a flat tire would change the complexion of this race.  He had to exit at lap nine, handing the lead over to Solomon Bennett.  A lap later, it was Tom Killen, Jr. taking command.

Killen still held down the lead with two to go, but now it was 12^th place starter Knutson charging hard in third and looking for more. The final circuit saw Knutson grab the lead and make it to the checkers first to seal the win.  Killen had to be content with the runner-up spot on this night. Third went to Bennett.

Saturday night, May 18, will be another night of IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing. Pits open at 3:30 p.m., grandstand at 4:30 p.m., hot laps at 5 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.