by Christina Danielsen & Doug Matern

BRITT, IA (June 9, 2000) - It was a warm, windy, event filled evening for racing fans that came to see the exciting, fast-paced Jackpot Junction Midwest IMCA Sprint Tour Special at the Hancock County Speedway on Friday (June 9). Sprint cars from around the Midwest came together Friday night to battle with not only one another, but with the windy conditions as well. The cars were harder to control as the night went on and the wind continued to dry out the track making for faster than normal racing conditions. It was KIOW of Forest City Night and they also sponsored and presented the trophies to the winners.

The Sprint Car feature got off to a horrific start that had two sprints flipping and rolling over the edge of corner three on the very first lap. The drivers involved were Ron Smith and Dwain Wilmes, and both came away without injuries, but not the same could be said about their cars, which were done for the night. Terry Reilly of Watertown, SD picked up the feature win ahead of Kent Winters of Butterfield, MN. and Sidney Denzer of LeSeuer, MN who pursued a close second and third place finish as they delighted the crowd with their power and speed.

Reilly won the sprint tour feature last year at Hancock County Speedway on his way to the series title last season. His win Friday night put him at the top of the stats in the series win column with five feature wins in the four-year history of the tour. Curt Lund of Redwood Falls, MN has a total of four feature wins in this series.

Al Hejna of Ventura took the Modified Challenge after winning his cash dash. Traditionally Al does not take the challenge, choosing a more cautious and calculated strategy, but tonight he chose to put it all on the line. Starting in back, Al worked his way up the pack through thrills and spills until he met his toughest contender, his brother Mike of Clear Lake. Although many fans speculated Mike would back down to let his brother take the win and added bonus prize, he did not and in doing so, made it a hard fought battle to the finish. Keith Schmitz of Swaledale came in a close third to round out the winner's circle. The Hejna brothers, Mike and Al, top the Modified point race.

In the Stock Car division of the evening John Pletcher of Britt took a considerable lead over Brent Powers of Garner and points leader Scott Bloemke of Belmond in the cash dash. Pletcher came out ahead in the end, qualifying him for the Big Bud Shootout in August. Powers also qualified for the special event.

In the Stock Car feature race of the evening Pletcher started on the pole but could not hold onto first place after leading for half the race, but did manage to finish second in the contest that had four different leaders. Todd Foster of Webster City took home the trophy as Brent Powers of Garner and Craig Berhow of Belmond came in third and fourth. This is Foster's second win in three starts at Britt this season. Point leader Scott Bloemke had motor problems and was forced from the event early.

The Hobby Stock class gave the crowd a spectacular show as they raced three abreast in the corners for a tight race 'till the end. Dan Hanselman of Algona took the checkered flag with Jason Daniels of Britt, Earl Weber of Garner, and Nick West of Mason City following close on his heels. Hanselman leads the points.

Larry Cook of Fort Dodge dominated early as the Limited 360 Modified feature got underway. Cook held onto his lead to take the feature win pulling him further ahead in the point race. Lance Gardner and Josh Omans, both of Garner, came in second and third.

"Racing into the Millennium" continues next Friday June 16 at Britt sponsored by Kiefer-Built of Kanawha and Schroeder & Terhark Trailer Sales of Garner. The Econo Stocks will be testing the banks of the Hancock County Speedway as they make their debut on this oval in addition to the regular weekly show. ISU Cheer Squad and "Cy" are scheduled to be at the track for the Iowa State Cyclone, "Salute to Racing" promotion. Hot Laps start at 7:00 with racing at 7:30. For more information, log on to www.hcspeed.com.

RESULTS

IMCA SPRINT CAR

Heat 1 - John Greenwood, Al Hargrave, Bruce Allen, Terry Reilly, Bruce Defries, Jason Tostenson, Lyle Sylvester, Donnie Pangburn

Heat 2 - Kent Winters, Dave Heskin, Bob Hildreth, Ron Smith, Sidney Denzer, Dwain Wilmes, Jim M. Smith

Feature - Terry Reilly, Kent Winters, Sidney Denzer, John Greenwood, Bob Hildreth, Al Hargrave, Dave Heskin, Bruce Allen, Lyle Sylvester, Jim M. Smith, Jason Tostenson, Donnie Pangburn, Bruce Defries, Dwain Wilmes, Ron Smith

IMCA MODIFIED

Heat 1 - Al Hejna, Kevin Hoeft, Larry Portis, Mike Hackenmiller, Ross Wyatt, Bill Cook, Nathan Chodur, Todd Stinehart

Heat 2 - Keith Schmitz, Mike Christians, Brad Bakken, Joe Schmitt, Carl Allbee, Jason Slegh, Jimmy Davis, Terry Zieman, Patrick Graham

Heat 3 - Scott Badker, Jon Wood, Scott Olson, Kevin Stoa, Mike Hejna, George Gilliland, Ron Houdek, Ryan Hiscocks, Rick Schuller

Dash - Scott Badker, Kevin Hoeft, Mike Christians, Al Hejna, Jon Wood, Keith Schmitz

Feature - Mike Hejna, Al Hejna, Keith Schmitz, Brad Bakken, Scott Olson, Carl Allbee, Jason Slegh, Jon Wood, Jimmy Davis, Todd Stinehart, Rick Schuller, George Gilliland, Mike Christians, Mike Hackenmiller, Patrick Graham, Nathan Chodur, Kevin Stoa, Kevin Hoeft, Scott Badker, Joe Schmitt, Bill Cook, Ross Wyatt, Terry Zieman, Larry Portis, Ron Houdek, Ryan Hiscocks

IMCA STOCK CAR

Heat 1 - Travis Hoeft, Scott Bloemke, John Pletcher, Kevin Opheim, Todd Foster, Jeff Dolphin, Todd Wendel, Cory Oftendahl

Heat 2 - Cody Miller, Brent Powers, Russell Trulson, Craig Berhow, Darin Toot, Joe Hiscocks, Kim Schleuger

Dash - John Pletcher, Brent Powers, Scott Bloemke, Travis Hoeft, Russell Trulson, Cody Miller

Feature - Todd Foster, John Pletcher, Brent Powers, Craig Berhow, Joe Hiscocks, Russell Trulson, Kevin Opheim, Jeff Dolphin, Todd Wendel, Cody Miller, Travis Hoeft, Darin Toot, Scott Bloemke, Kim Schleuger, Cory Oftendahl

LIMITED 360 MODIFIED

Heat - Larry Cook, Lance Gardner, Ed Green, Chuck Gatewood, Josh Omans, Steven Inman, Scott Sheehan

Feature - Larry Cook, Lance Gardner, Josh Omans, Steven Inman, Chuck Gatewood, Ed Green, Scott Sheehan

IMCA HOBBY STOCK

Heat 1 - Dan Haugland, Randy Hadacek, Jim Smith, Ryan Lund, Chad Doyle, Shane Monson, Scott Anderson, Dan Stromer, John Madson

Heat 2 - Dan Hanselman, Rob Hughes, Earl Webner, Jason Daniels, Brent Hanson, Jeff Lodin, Remington Hill, Jared Dirks

Feature - Dan Hanselman, Jason Daniels, Earl Webner, Dan Haugland, Rob Hughes, Scott Anderson, Jim Smith, Dan Stromer, Chad Doyle, Jared Dirks, John Madson, Remington Hill, Randy Hadacek, Ryan Lund, Jeff Lodin, Brent Hanson, Shane Monson