Mixed emotions for Eastern Iowa racers on Opening Night of IMCA Supernationals

BOONE - For most racers in the Midwest - and any IMCA racer across the country - IMCA Supernationals is the marquee event of every racing season. Hundreds of the best racecars and thousands of racers and race fans descend on Boone Speedway every September for the so-called 'America's Racin' Vacation.”

Just qualifying for the main event on Saturday night is an accomplishment, so running well puts drivers in elite company.

The 33rd Supernationals kicked off Monday night with one IMCA Sport Mod qualifier and two Hobby Stock qualifiers. Eastern Iowa was well-represented in Monday's A-mains that sent eight drivers each straight to the championship main events.

Cedar Rapids driver Tony Olson earned top billing among that group, battling through a three-wide race for the lead in Sport Mod between him, Kyle Prauner (Norfolk, Neb.) and defending Supernationals Sport Mod champ Jonathan Logue (Des Moines).

All three drivers traded the lead at one time or another, with Prauner blocking Olson off Turn 4 and Olson throwing a slidejob into the next turn. Ultimately Prauner won the race, with Olson second and Logue third.

'That was awesome. I don't know what more I could've done,” Olson said. 'I went high, low, middle; diamonded it. I just did everything I could possibly do. I had a couple good runs on the top and kind of ran out of room and had to hit the brakes, figuring I was in the show in second.

'It's a lot of run when they're intense like that.”

The second-place finish sets Olson up to start fourth, inside row two for the three-wide start in Saturday night's main event.

After a heat race win on Monday and his podium in the qualifier, Olson was obviously feeling great about the start to this year's Supernationals. More than anything, starting up front makes everything easier.

'We've got race of champions to get through now, but I can't really ask for much better,” Olson said. 'I'd say the bottom (is the place to start). Middle, you don't know if you can go high or low, or if you're going to get pinched. On the bottom there's a way out.

'If you're sitting in those front two rows for the big show, you're not just a nobody.

Olson wasn't the only Eastern Iowa driver to lock himself into the Sport Mod A-main on Monday night. Dysart driver Sam Wieben finished eighth - the final transfer spot - to make his way in.

Wieben had to drive is way into the main event qualifier through a B-main earlier in the night after being credited with second in his heat race. He was fortunate to even be in a B-main, and not a C-main, on Monday night, as he finished third on track in his heat, but second place was disqualified.

He survived a wreck-filled Monday night main event, though, and has a spot on Saturday.

'We're still learning this car,” Wieben said. 'Running third in the heat wasn't what we really wanted, but we got a little luck.

'A lot of it is luck and preparation. We had to make sure everything was tight, especially with the track the way it was today. It was pretty choppy. Staying clean, staying focused and not getting tangled up (is what matters).”

Hobby Stocks ran two A-main event qualifiers Monday night as well. Marengo's Nathan Ballard started outside pole and ran second the whole race before a flat tire ended it prematurely - on the white flag lap, no less. He'll have one more chance to lock himself in on Tuesday, with a whole new qualifying program on the docket.

'I tried a different line because I saw that (Adam) Armstrong roll and figured it was bad up top,” Ballard said. 'It was my own fault. I went low and caught a rut and ended our night.”

Two Eastern Iowa racers did lock themselves into the A-main in Hobby Stock by way of the qualifier, though. Independence driver Leah Wroten finished A-main qualifier 1 in fourth, and Oelwein's Benji Irvine was fifth in that same race.

Wroten was all smiles as she awaited tech inspection. She was second in her heat race, but had to start near the back of her A-main qualifier. Avoiding the ruts in Turn 1 and carnage elsewhere was as much a reason for her finish as her car's handling and speed were.

'We're pretty darn happy to be here,” Wroten said. 'This is probably the only track in the state of Iowa, after the rain they got (Sunday) night, that could've raced. We had to deal with some of those elements and make sure you didn't hit the ruts wrong.

'I went in with two to go and hit a rut pretty hard. I was worried about it. The next lap I moved up to make sure I missed it. If I got passed and finished fifth because I moved up a groove, I was OK with that because we were still in a qualifying position.”

Irvine found both joy and relief in qualifying into Saturday's main event after starting last in his heat race and 17th in his A-main qualifier.

The rest of the week should be fairly smooth now for his No. 79 car, which will free him up to work at the Performance Bodies (his day job) tent, putting new parts and pieces on wrecked cars - of which there were many Monday night.

'We're in the show on the first night, and you can't complain about that,” Irvine said. '(Tuesday) I've got to go to work (for Performance Bodies), so that doesn't make the rest of the week easy. The racing aspect is easier - we don't have to screw around.

'Hopefully everybody can get everything put back together. We'll be busy.”

All wasn't well, obviously, in the pit area after the races - especially given all the work so many racers have ahead of them with bodies, parts and pieces torn up.

With an event of this caliber, some racers were more than unhappy with the racing surface and expected more for the biggest race of the year.

'I think they've got a problem with this track. They should be grating it or something,” Ballard said. 'We come here for this big show - and, I mean, we had a lot of rain, sure, but they also have a grater. They probably should've been grating it. It was about unraceable, to tell you the truth.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com