5/24/2015
Park Jefferson International Speedway
5/23 Roger Hackett Memorial Race Report
The second night of racing at Park Jefferson Speedway took place on 5/23 with the First Annual Roger Hackett Memorial. 80 race cars entered the pits looking to take home the victory in their class along with a $100 bonus thanks to the Roger Hackett family. Race winners on the evening's program include Ramsey Meyer in the Sport Compacts, Andy Hoffman in the Hobby Stocks, Kaleb Kennedy in the Pederson Machine Sport Mods, Elijah Zevenbergen in the J&J Fitting Stock Cars, and Anthony Roth in the Sign Masters A Modifieds.
The Sport Compact feature saw the 21R of Ramsey Meyer jump to the lead from his 4th starting position in the opening laps and pull away from the field in dominating fashion. Luke Jackson followed behind in 2nd, and Deb Braasch rounded out the podium in third.
Hobby Stock feature action saw 8X Andy Hoffman start in the third position and quickly take the lead on lap one in turn one. Gaylen Freese overtook Tony Fetterman at the halfway point and set his sights on Hoffman but Hoffman had a sizable cushion that was too much for Freese to make up. Mike Hanson also passed Fetterman with 4 laps remaining to take the final podium spot. Hoffman took him his 2nd victory of the year in a caution free race at Park Jeff with Freese and Hanson coming in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
The Sport Mod feature witnessed front row starter 5X Kaleb Kennedy jump out to an early lead and never look back. The race for third provided plenty of excitement as Todd Boulware, Kirk Beatty, and Karl Brewer raced hard for the final podium position. In the end, T. Boulware used the inside line to take third place from Beatty. Kennedy took home the win, Travis Birkley crossed the line in 2nd but was docked two positions after the race, which slotted T. Boulware to 2nd, and Beatty to 3rd.
Elijah Zevenbergen in his 66Z took the top spot early in the 18 lap Stock Car race while the field jockeyed for position behind him. Roger Verdoom stalked Zevenbergen rear bumper through the mid point of the race, but Verdoom had to switch his attention to the hard chargers behind him as Chris Palsrock and Jason Ward were manuevering to the front. Palsrock and Ward caught Verdoom and went three wide for the runner up position. Palsrock won that battle but time had run out to catch Zevenbergen as he had amassed a straightaway advantage over the field in the final laps. Zevenbergen took home the win and the $100 bonus, Palsrock settled for 2nd, and Verdoom held off Ward at the finish line for third.
The Modified feature was a wild one as early leader James Slawson suffered mechanical problems three laps into the 20 lap feature. Sean Barrigan inherited the lead on the restart, but 4 laps later on another restart Anthony Roth darted to the lead with a power move on the bottom into corner one. Jay Noteboom put his car on the extreme high side and tracked down Roth to challenge him for the lead. A lap 11 restart would bunch the pack back together, but proved costly for Noteboom as he drove his 7N machine over the banking in turn three attempting a pass on Roth. On the next restart, it was Bob Moore's turn to challenge Roth, and he succeeded by passing Roth to lead one lap, but on the next lap Roth was able pass Moore back for the lead. While the race for the lead was going on, Jim Cole and Jim Thies battled back and forth for the third position. Roth took home the final race of the night just as rain started to fall, followed by Moore and Cole at the finish line.
Racing continues next weekend at Park Jefferson Speedway with a Friday, Saturday show featuring MLRA and CBC Late Models. Stay up to date with happenings at Park Jefferson Speedway by checking www.parkjeff.com and https://www.facebook.com/ParkJeffersonSD. You can also text PARKJEFF to 84483 for any weather related announcements.
Submitted By: Michael Lund