9/12/2016
Creek County Speedway
GOODMAN CONQUERS THE CHALLENGE, CHACON DOUBLES UP
(TULSA, Okla.) - Mike Goodman sweeps the night, while Jorge Chacon doubles up in the Dwarf Car Division.
It was an open-wheeled spectacular Saturday night for the second running of the Ironman 50 Challenge. Mike Goodman picks up a win in his heat race, turned around and won the $1000 dash for cash, then topped it all off winning the top prize of $3000 in the Ironman 50 race.
After winning his heat race, Goodman was included in the "dirty" redraw. During the redraw, the top 12 qualifiers re-drew for their starting spot.
Here's the catch...
They had to give up that number they pulled out of the hat, and give it to a fellow competitor. Goodman ended up starting 11th on the grid at the end of the re-draw.
The $1,000 dash-for-cash found Goodman leading the race on lap 2 of the 8-car, 8-lap dash. Goodman was involved in a opening lap crash, which he was able to restart, and found himself leading by lap 3. Goodman went on to win the $1,000, setting the cruise control after passing his team mate, Jason McDougal on lap 2.
The 50-lap Ironman feature event only saw one crash, which happened on lap 1 that brought out the red flag for two cars finding themselves upside down in turn one. Both drivers involved in the crash were checked out by track officials, but were ok. The remaining 49 laps of the race went green-to-checkered.
The race took the green flag with Brian McClelland leading the way until lap 18, when Goodman made the pass on McClelland to take the race lead. Andrew Deal, who started 2nd was following closely behind McClelland until he slipped up a little bit on lap 18, which allowed Goodman and McDougal to capitalize and gain position. McDougal made the pass on McClelland and Deal on lap 22 for second place to set his sights on Goodman. Deal made the pass on McClelland on lap 25 to
Behind them in the pack, Matt Sherrell, Alex Sewell, and Layne Himebaugh were shuffling positions back and forth trying to make their bid to challenge Goodman and McDougal for the race lead. The battle between Sherrell, Sewell, and Himebaugh went on for the next 10 laps as they were pulling slide jobs on each other. By lap 40, they had settled down into their eventual finishing positions, still making attempts to gain position in the closing laps. Sewell made his final attempt to take the fourth position from Himebaugh coming to the white flag, but was foiled by Sherrell who attempted to make a pass on Sewell, but slipped up coming out of turn 2 and fell back to 7th coming to the checkered flag.
In the Dwarf Car Division, Jorge Chacon came out on top, winning both 20-lap A-feature events. After drawing the last number in the pre-race draw, Chacon started his heat race on the last row, racing his way to the win in the heat. That put himself starting the first of two main event races in 6th place after the re-draw.
During the first 20-lap feature event, Chacon made quick work to get to the front of the field. Trailing pole position starter, Rob McQuary, Chacon found himself in a 15 lap battle with Tanner Phillips who was hot on McQuary's trail. Chacon made a move to complete the pass on Phillips on lap 17, when a late race yellow flag waved as McQuary came in contact with lap traffic. Chacon was able to capitalize on the yellow flag, as McQuary couldn't finish the race due to a suspension malfunction. Chacon moved up to second, as Phillips would inherit the lead. Chacon made a pass after the restart to take the lead from Phillips to go on a win the first A-Feature.
The second Dwarf Car A-Feature grid was set how the first A-Feature event finished, putting Chacon on the pole, right next to Phillips. Phillips was able to get around Chacon on the opening lap to take the lead early on. Phillips looked as if he was going to pull away from the field until a yellow flag waved on lap 4 for a car that was leaking fuel. That would stack the field back up and Chacon would have a second chance to try to take the lead back from Phillips. Chacon raced his way next to Phillips, but was unable to complete the pass. Phillips lead the race until lap 14, when Chacon took advantage of lap traffic to make the pass on Phillips to go on to win the second A-Feature. They raced each other, passing each other back and forth until Phillips found himself facing the wrong direction in turn 4 with only 3 laps left. Phillips was able to keep the car going before a yellow flag came out for a crash in turn two., allowing Larry Pense to take over the second position. Pense would then find himself in a race for position with Sam Champlain who made several attempts to complete the pass on Pense, but fell short coming to the checkered flag. Devin Bates, who started 7th, managed to work his way up to 4th, while Sam Stegeman secured a 5th place finish.
Creek County Speedway would like to thank Danny Smith and Same Day Auto Repair and Tire Pros, as well as David Stephenson and D&E Supply for putting the effort into making the Ironman 50 Challenge a success.
Creek County Speedway would also like to thank all of the fans, drivers, crews, staff, and sponsors for a successful 2016 season. We will see you at the Awards Banquet on Nov. 12th, and in the 2017 racing season.
Stay tuned to http://www.creekcountyspeedway.co and on our facebook page for more information and updates regarding banquet information, rules meetings, and schedule for our up-coming 2017 season.
Photo Credit: Dylan Duvall
Article Credit: Hank Duensing
Submitted By: Hank Duensing
