by Christina Danielsen

BRITT, IA (June 30, 2000) — It was exactly five years ago last Friday, on Friday June 30, 1995, that former Governor Terry Branstad stood in the flag stand at Hancock County Speedway and dropped the green on the very first race to be run at the brand new facility. Many green and checkered flags have flown since that night, and as always the drivers treated the spectators to another fast paced exciting show for the KLSS of Mason City Special.

Brad Willier of Mason City led all laps of the Limited 360 Modified heat and the feature. Point leader Larry Cook of Ft Dodge tried his best to get around him, but Willier had the combination and Cook could not surpass his speed and had to settle for second in the contest. This was Willier’s second feature win at Britt in 2000.

Shane Monson of Clear Lake picked up his second feature win at Britt this season in the Hobby Stock class. He started second row and moved to the front midway through the event. He made an impressive showing, out maneuvering pole setter Brent Hanson of Mason City who hung on for second. Scott Anderson of Mason City was third, with point leader Dan Hanselman of Algona settling for fourth place. Earl Webner of Garner was the dash winner.

The stock car feature had every fan in the stand on their feet as the top three cars charged to the finish line.

Craig Berhow of Belmond only led for a few moments of the race, but it was the moment that counted as the flagman had the checkered flag waving. Point leader Scott Bloemke of Belmond and Ed Wolf of Algona charged through the pack and took over the lead from pole setter Travis Hoeft of Forest City halfway through the event. Berhow was involved in a yellow early in the event and found himself with the challenge of working his way back to his eight place starting spot and then to the front.

Berhow was in third by the thirteenth lap right behind Bloemke and Wolf. These three battled it out for the remainder of the contest. Berhow edged Wolf coming around to the white flag. Bloemke looked very strong, and it seemed as if Berhow would have to do a magic trick to pull this one off. Berhow took the high side and went for broke on corner three. Bloemke, Berhow, and Wolf were even coming out of the fourth corner with Berhow winning the drag race to the finish line. This was the first feature win for Berhow at Britt in 2000.

Joe Hiscock of Britt qualified for the Bud Shootout on August 11 sponsored by Kabrick Distributing of Britt. He finished second in the dash behind Berhow, who was already qualified for the event.

Al Hejna of Ventura and Tommy Myer of Blooming Prairie, MN took the Modified challenge which was $1,100 and both started in the back of the pack. Ron Pope of Mason City started on the second row and grabbed the lead on the very first lap of a very clean, fast paced, and exciting event. Kevin Stoa of Austin, MN started on the third row and was in second by the seventh lap. The race was caution free until the thirteenth lap when Tommy Myer had ignition problems that ended his bid for the night.

The race resumed with Pope and Stoa dueling for the lead. With four laps to go, Stoa broke a belt to his fuel drive, and the second yellow of the contest eliminated Pope’s closest back door competitor. Pope protected his lead for the next four laps holding off Scott Olson of Ellsworth, Keith Schmitz of Swaledale, and Jimmy Davis of Janeville, MN. This was Popes first win at Britt for the 2000 season. Al Hejna finished fifteenth.

“Racing into the Millennium” continues this Friday, July 7, with Scout Night, sponsored by Westview Care Center of Britt. All scouts in uniform or showing proof of current scout membership will be admitted to the grandstand FREE. The challenge is at $1,200. Hot laps start at 7:00 with Races at 7:30.

RESULTS

IMCA MODIFIED

Heat 1: Kevin Hoeft, Jimmy Davis, Nathan Chodur, Mike Hejna, Ryan Hiscocks, Brad Bakken, Bret Hansen, Bill Cook

Heat 2: Kevin Stoa, Al Hejna, Scott Olson, Larry Portis, Keith Schmitz, Rick Schuller, Mike Hackenmiller, Ross Wyatt

Heat 3: Joe Schmitt, Tommy Myer, Ron Pope, Patrick Graham, Jon Wood, Mike Christians, George Gilliland, Todd Stinehart

Dash: Tommy Myer, Joe Schmitt, Kevin Stoa, Jimmy Davis, Ron Pope, Nathan Chodur

A Feature: Ron Pope, Scott Olson, Keith Schmitz, Jimmy Davis, Joe Schmitt, Mike Hejna, Jon Wood, Todd Stinehart, Larry Portis, Bret Hansen, Nathan Chodur, Bill Cook, Brad Bakken, Rick Schuller, Al Hejna, Ryan Hiscocks, George Gilliland, Mike Christians, Patrick Graham, Kevin Hoeft, Kevin Stoa, Tommy Myer, Mike Hackenmiller, Ross Wyatt

IMCA STOCK CAR

Heat 1: Brent Powers, Travis Hoeft, Craig Berhow, Jeff Dolphin, Darin Toot, Scott Bloemke, Todd Wendel, Tony Trower, Curt Moore

Heat 2: Kim Schleuger, Kevin Opheim, Joe Hiscocks, Ed Wolf, Russell Trulson, John Pletcher, Todd Foster, Tom Scheffers, Cody Miller

Dash: Craig Berhow, Joe Hiscocks, Kevin Opheim, Travis Hoeft, Kim Schleuger, Brent Powers

A Feature: Craig Berhow, Scott Bloemke, Ed Wolf, Kevin Opheim, Russell Trulson, John Pletcher, Travis Hoeft, Brent Powers, Todd Wendel, Cody Miller, Curt Moore, Kim Schleuger, Joe Hiscocks, Tony Trower, Jeff Dolphin, Todd Foster, Tom Scheffers, Darin Toot

IMCA HOBBY STOCK

Heat 1: Dan Hanselman, Brent Hanson, Scott Anderson, Jared Dirks, Jeff Lodin, James Ringham, Rob Hughes

Heat 2: Dan Haugland, Jim Smith, Shane Monson, Jason Daniels, John Madson, Michael Henely, Ryan Lund

Heat 3: Earl Webner, Tony Smidt, Randy Hadacek, Nick West, Brian Stein, Dan Stromer, Chad Doyle

Dash Earl Webner, Brent Hanson, Jim Smith, Dan Hanselman, Dan Haugland, Tony Smidt

A Feature: Shane Monson, Brent Hanson, Scott Anderson, Dan Hanselman, Earl Webner, Dan Haugland, Jim Smith, James Ringham, Brian Stein, Nick West, Jared Dirks, John Madson, Chad Doyle, Jeff Lodin, Dan Stromer, Michael Henely, Randy Hadacek, Jason Daniels, Tony Smidt, Rob Hughes, Ryan Lund

LIMITED 360 MODIFIED

Heat 1: Brad Willier, Steven Inman, Larry Cook, Don Reimers, Ed Green, Josh Omans, Chuck Gatewood

A Feature: Brad Willier, Larry Cook, Don Reimers, Josh Omans, Ed Green, Steven Inman, Chuck Gatewood