NEWS

Aikey takes Corn Belt Clash win at Fayette County Speedway
By Christine Rublack

The Fayette County Fair began on a hot and humid Tuesday night, as a large crowd filled the stands for some exciting racing at the Fayette County Speedway to kick-off the 2010 annual event.

Pole sitter Jason Utter took charge in the early laps, but it didn’t take long for Cedar Falls’ Jeff Aikey to work into the second position under Kurt Kile. Adam Hensel and defending CBC Champion Keith Foss began to challenge one another for the fourth position.

Aikey charged towards Utter using the high line and shot to the lead on lap 10. Aikey kept using the high groove as Utter hugged the bottom. Aikey began to distance himself from the field as he began to reel in lapped traffic. The lapped cars helped Utter stay in striking distance of the top spot multiple times, but once Aikey was free of the cars he began to expand his lead.

Jason Rauen began to move through the field running the high side as he moved forward and challenged Utter for second as the laps began to wind down. Aikey’s lead kept growing as the green flag flew. Rauen moved into the second position as Utter battled for position with the #44 of Adam Hensel and a hard charging Denny Eckrich. Aikey held on for the $2,000 win, with Rauen, Utter, Hensel and Denny Eckrich rounding out the top-five.

Feature Results:  1. Jeff Aikey; 2. Jason Rauen; 3. Jason Utter; 4. Adam Hensel; 5. Denny Eckrich; 6. Dean Wagner; 7. Keith Foss; 8.Kevin Kile; 9. Becky Roth; 10. Kevin Sather; 11. Scott Riechers; 12. Roger Torgerson; 13. Ron Klein; 14. Clint Wendel; 15. Chris Simpson; 16. Justin Kay; 17. Kurt Kile; 18. Randy Wheeler; 19. Curt Martin; 20. Chad Simpson; 21. Dave Eckrich.

Rauen Tops Field at Independence

By Christine Rublack

A solid field of cars were in attendance  at the Independence Motor Speedway Wednesday night, despite the scorching temperatures.         

Dave Eckrich started to advance himself from the field quickly but it was Jason Rauen who powered to the second spot within the first few laps of the race. The top two drivers quickly began to reel in the tail of the field as Rauen shot to the lead on lap ten. Jason Utter had moved into the third position with Terry Neal and Curt Martin right behind. At the halfway point Rauen had distanced himself from second place Eckrich as Utter was sitting solid in third. Martin was in fourth as Chad and Chris Simpson were side-by-side for the fifth position. One thing that Rauen didn’t want to see was a caution but with less then ten laps to go the final caution of the event took place. Rauen didn’t seem to be hurt by the restart as he pulled away from Eckrich and Utter. Utter used the restart to shoot pass Eckrich. Eckrich began slip back as Martin moved into fourth. The checkers quickly waved as Rauen took home the win. Utter, Martin with Chad and Chris Simpson following.

Feature Results: 1. Jason Rauen; 2. Jason Utter; 3. Curt Martin; 4. Chad Simpson; 5. Chris Simpson; 6. Dave Eckrich; 7. Kevin Kile; 8. Rick Wendling; 9. Jake Meier; 10. Terry Neal; 11. Justin Kay; 12. Jeremiah Hurst; 13. Tyler Bruening; 14. Joel Callahan; 15. Jill George; 16. Kurt Kile; 17. Kevin Sather; 18. Clint Wendel; 19. Travis Smock; 20. Joel Brasch; 21. Randy Wheeler; 22. Jeff Aikey.

Matthees Stops The Simpson Streak at Five at Fayette County Speedway
By Christine Rublack

West Union, Iowa - Lance Matthees put a stop to Chad Simpson's hot streak as he took home the win at Fayette County Speedway. From the start of the race Matthees looked to be the one to beat as he pulled away from pole sitter Jake Meier. Adam Hensel quickly found himself in the third position as he moved into the high line of the track. Hensel took no time to move around Meier and into the second position. Lap nine was the only time the event saw the yellow fly as mid pack starter Chad Simpson now found himself behind Jeff Aikey into the fifth position. Scott Riechers who was in third now felt the pressure from Aikey and Simpson upon the restart.

Hensel now had Matthees in his sights. He began to reel him in and going into the corner he shot low and into the lead but Matthees wasn't going to give up that easy as he powered back to the top spot. The top two began to distance themselves from the field as they worked into lapped traffic just after the halfway point. Simpson had now worked his way into the fourth position with Riechers bumper in his view he moved into third with few laps remaining. The battle for the lead increased as Matthees took the top spot and began to pull away again but Hensel wasn't going to let Matthees get too far. The checkers were in the air saw Matthees first followed by Hensel, Simpson and Riechers.

Feature Results:  1. Lance Matthees; 2. Adam Hensel; 3. Chad Simpson; 4. Scott Riechers; 5. Jeff Aikey; 6. Jason Rauen; 7. Curt Martin; 8. Kevin Sather; 9. Chris Simpson; 10. Terry Neal; 11. Denny Eckrich; 12. Jake Meier; 13. Joel Callahan; 14. Jill George; 15. Tyler Bruening; 16. John Kaanta; 17. Kelly Meyer; 18. Justin Kay; 19. Darin Burco; 20. Dennis Hillson; 21. Kevin Kile; 22. Dave Eckrich; 23. Justin Mitchell; 24. Kurt Kile.

Simpson is Two-For-Two with Victory at Mississippi Thunder Speedway

By Christine Rublack

Fountain City, Wis. – Chad Simpson seems to be the one to beat as he is two for two in the Corn Belt Clash this season.
            From his row two starting position Chad darted low and to the lead with the wave of the green. Adam Hensel was in pursuit of Chad with Keith Foss in third. A caution early in the race put Hensel and Foss tight on Chad’s bumper but the restarts seemed to be the ticket for Chad as he shot off like a rocket and began to pull away again. Foss began to work the low line under Hensel but Hensel gave him a fight. Foss final found his spot and shot low to second just prior to another caution. Simpson yet again shot off with Foss looking to close the gap. Jake Redetzke had moved into the top four as Chris Simpson began to power through the field. It didn’t take long for Chad to work into lapped traffic which helped Foss and Chris start to close the gap on Chad. The lapped cars seemed to be the ticket as Foss had reeled in Chad but Chris wasn’t far behind Foss. A caution with 8 laps to go placed Foss and Chris right behind Chad and it looked to be a shoot out with the low groove the place to be. Chad took off Chris and Foss were back and forth for second giving Chad the chance to expand his lead. Two more cautions kept the field bunched but it was Chad Simpson who was able to hold on to the lead from the start to finish. Foss, Chris Simpson and Jason Rauen followed.

Results:
Feature – 1. Chad Simpson; 2. Keith foss; 3. Chris Simpson; 4. Jason Rauen; 5. Jake Redetzke; 6. Justin kay; 7. Dave Eckrich; 8. Jake Meier; 9. Marshall Fegers; 10. Justin Mitchell; 11. Kevin Kile; 12. Jason Utter; 13. Eric Pember; 14. Brad Waits; 15. Lance Matthees; 16. Kurt Hile; 17. Darin Burco; 18. Todd Frank; 19. Adam Hensel; 20. Doug Herrick; 21. Nick Herrick; 22. Justin Gegers; 23. John Kaanta; 24. Justin Sass.

First B main – 1. Justin Sass; 2. Dave Eckrich; 3. Kurt Kile; 4. Kevin Kile; 5. Nick Herrick; 6. Brad Waits.

Second B Main – 1. John Kaanta; 2. Eric Pember; 3. Jason Utter; 4. Darin Burco; 5. Todd Frank; 6. Justin Mitchell.

Heat one – 1. Adam Hensel; 2. Justin Fegers; 3. Jason Rauen
Heat two – 1. Justin Kay; 2. Marshall Fegers; 3. Doug Herrick
Heat three – 1. Jake Redetzke; 2. Chad Simpson; 3. Keith Foss
Heat four – 1. Lance Metthees; 2. Chris Simpson; 3. Jake Meier

Penalties and Post-Race Tech Procedures for Corn Belt Clash Series Announced

In an effort to keep the Corn Belt Clash races on an equal a playing field as possible, CBC Officials announce that they will be taking a tire from each of the A-Main’s top five (5) finishers at each CBC event. In addition, they will be removing and weighing the weight on the applicable top-five finishers that have to run an addition piece of weight ahead of the midplate.

Additional penalties and fines have also been announced. 1) If you are under the minimum weight requirement in your pre-determined classification you will receive last place points and money for the feature. If you are light in a heat race, you will have to start at the tail of the B-Main. 2) If the CBC has deemed your tires to be ‘softened’ or ‘chemically treated’ the rules will be as following: First Offense, $250 fine and loss of all points and money for the event. Second Offense,  $500 fine, loss of points and money for the event, loss of all season points and one (1) race suspension. ALL fines must be PAID BEFORE a competitor is able to complete in the next CBC event.

Corn Belt Clash officials hope to debut a ‘tire sniffer’ at the upcoming CBC event at the ‘Palace of Speed’ in Farley, Iowa on May 7th. “We hope that by using this new piece that we can help curtail some of the cheating that is going on with Dirt Late Models across the country. We are doing our part at the CBC to help put on a fair and level race for all those involved,” states CBC President Cam Granger.

The next events on the 2010 schedule are the May 7th event at Farley Speedway and a back-to-back two night excursion as the series makes a stop at Cresco Speedway in Cresco Speedway on May 13th and the next night makes its first ever stop in the state of Wisconsin as the CBC invades Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wisconsin the next night on May 14th.

CHAD SIMPSON DOMINATES CORN BELT CLASH SEASON OPENER

Courtesy of Bill Nelson

With 130 cars in the pit area on a cool but sunny Saturday night 36 Corn Belt Clash Latemodels were on hand for the season opening event in 2010 on Gillund Enterprises,  Justice Brothers night at the speedway.  The first corner saw a three car pileup for the first and only caution of the 35 lap feature event.  With a complete restart Chad Simpson jumped out to the early lead with Chad Mahder close behind in second.   Dave Eckrich was in third with Adam Hensel in fourth early on.  With three completed Keith Foss was pressuring Hensel for fourth as Simpson had pulled out to a nice early lead.  Hensel held onto the fourth spot.  With six completed Eckrich was working Mahder over hard for the second spot while Kevin Sather and Jake Redetzke were side by side in sixth spot on Foss's rear bumper.  Simpson was using the high groove of the speedway with Mahder working the low groove on the smooth and fast racing surface.  With fifteen completed lapped traffic came into play.  With the lapped cars battling for position the leaders had to tip toe through the pack.  Simpson struggled to get through the first pack as Mahder caught up to his rear bumper.  Then Simpson cleared the cars and left Mahder to struggle through.  With eighteen down Sather worked into the top five.  Twenty laps down and Mahder still battled through the traffic allowing Eckrich and Hensel to catch up to his bumper.  Finally Mahder made it through the pack with Eckrich and Hensel now going door to door on the speedway.    Five laps later Hensel got in the right groove and worked past Eckrich who was being held up by traffic and took over the third spot.  With three laps to go Eckrich again tried to regain the third spot as he and Hensel ran side by side to the white flag.  At the line it was Simpson with the dominating win, Mahder, Hensel, Eckrich and Sather rounded out the top five.  Heat race winners were Keith Foss, Justin Sass, Adam Hensel and Chad Simpson with "B" main's going to Kyle Jumbeck and Cory Mahder.

Corn Belt Clash Late Models
Feature - Chad Simpson, Chad Mahder, Adam Hensel, Dave Eckrich, Kevin Sather, Jason Utter, Jake Redetzke, Chris Simpson, Keith Foss, Curt Martin, Eric Pember, Tim Isenberg, Kelly Anderson< Andrew McKay, Mike Prochnow, Kyle Jumbeck, Doug Herrick, Craig Schueffner, Jake Meier, Jerry Bloom, Chris Schroeder, Justin sass, Cory Mahder, Nick Beyenhof

"B" Main 1 - Jumbeck, Schueffner, McKay, Prochnow, Dennis Hillson, Roger Torgerson, Joe Ludemann, Jordan Yaggy, Nick Kramer, Justin Mitchell

"B" Main 2 - C. Mahder, D. Herrick, Beyenhof, Bloom, Brad Waits, Nick Herrick, Lanny Haukom, Curt Schroeder, Lucas Peterson, Ron Klein

Heat 1 - Foss, Anderson, Chr. Simpson, C. Martin, Jumbeck, Schueffner, Ludemann, Torgerson, Prochnow
Heat 2 - Sass, Redetzke, Sather, Utter, D. Herrick, C. Mahder, Beyenhof, Bloom, C. Schroeder
Heat 3 - Hensel, Eckrich, Meier, Pember, Mitchell, McKay, Yaggy, Hillson, Kramer
Heat 4 - Chad Simpson, C. Mahder, Isenberg, Ch. Schroeder, Haukom, Peterson, N. Herrick, Klein, Waits