By Ben Deatherage
RAPID CITY, S. D. – The high-horsepower half-mile clay oval of Black Hills Speedway roared to life again on Friday, for the third race of the 2024 campaign. Competitors in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Modified Hobby Stocks were in action.
At the drop of the green flag in the Modified main, Eric Mass immediately went to work and took the race lead from starting third going into the first corner. The Rapid City driver was looking for redemption from the week before when mechanical woes forced him to retire early.
Whether out in the open or dealing with a bit of lapped traffic, Mass dominated the field to the checkers. It was his second victory of the season.
Brent Nielsen and Nate Hand were second and third, respectively.
Sean Weber seized the lead in turn three from the initial pacesetter Lori Konst, setting the stage for an intense battle later on in the Hobby Stock show.
Things intensified on the sixth circuit when John Garrigan Jr., Weber and Brett Konst fought it out in turn four. Garrigan beat the trio to the wire. A couple of laps later, Weber made his way back around the Rapid City leader and they went back to three-wide action.
Unfortunately, shortly after Weber reclaimed the lead, he spun while in turn two and made hard contact with the inside, putting him out of action for the rest of the night. Garrigan inherited the lead, but on the restart, Konst powered his way past the pacesetter to lead lap nine.
The race reached its apex on the final lap, with Konst and Garrigan competing fiercely for the lead. They navigated a lapped car and, in a nail-biting finish, Garrigan emerged victorious by a mere twenty-seven thousandths of a second.
This was his third consecutive win at Black Hills. Konst was second while Alan McNeil was third.
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